IAA Session on Gender Sensitivity on 8th Sept 2017, Mumbai
Featuring Anuja Gulati, state programme coordinator, UNFPA India, Shalini Kamath, independent director, Meenakshi Menon, managing partner, Spatial Access, Rohit Suri, head - talent and HR, GroupM and Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, the panel discussed whether advertising and media are really gender-sensitive. The session was moderated by Megha Tata, COO, BTVi, and VP, IAA India Chapter.
Vats set the tone for the evening by claiming strides have been made but the pace of change could be better.
Spatial Access' Menon called for more equality in the rules for both genders. She said, "Reservations have been at the heart of so many problems in our country. The advertising industry is purely driven by talent. Initially, it was about vernaculars not getting jobs, but with Indian-ising of advertising, we have seen the end of that."
Shalini Kamat observed that when women reached a certain level, they ended up losing steam instead of vying for the top.