ShodhPatra: International Journal of Science and Humanities

Impact of Media on Rural and Urban Women Empowerment – A Comparative Study

This study investigates media’s role in women empowerment focusing on rural and urban women providing comparative insights. Media is a strong means of information and advocacy and this serves to enhance the understanding, attitudes and actions against gender violence. The research looks into the roles of various types of media in traditional and social in promoting the economic and cultural empowerment of women in these different settings. The consideration of rural and urban beneficiaries makes it possible to account for differences in the availability of media, the relevance of its content and the media and empowerment effects. A survey and focus group discussions were used to collect data in the rural and urban women targeted by the research. The results show that although media empowerment in both contexts does help women in urban areas, there are considerable gaps. Women in urban areas seem to be more empowered in terms of access to information and digital channels due to more enabling them opportunities for education, employment and advocacy. On the other hand, women in rural areas have limited exposure to the internet and mainly depend on radio and television. Community based radio stations also help to solve community issues.