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Hanaa Septiana: Membangun Kesetaraan Gender di Sektor Media
During her time at university, Hanaa Septiana learned that progress on gender equality is usually slow. But in a few short years, she has helped to lead positive change in the media, both within newsroom culture and reporting.
Her work has gained further momentum from an Australia Awards Short Course. Since joining the course in 2022, Hanaa has launched a new channel for content on disability issues and expanded her work in media training.
Hanaa first became interested in issues of gender equality, disability and social inclusion as a student at Universitas Airlangga, in East Java.
"During my time as a political science student, I noticed that women face unique challenges while rising to leadership positions, particularly in (student) organisations,” she said. “Achieving any level of leadership, including that of division coordinator, is challenging. It’s tough to make headway."
She launched herself into learning about gender issues and became an active essay writer, winning her first essay competition in 2014 on the theme of women and politics. In 2016, she was elected President of the Indonesian Student Association for Political Science for the local chapter of Universitas Airlangga.
She went on to become a trainer in women's empowerment and human rights at the Women and Youth Development Institute of Indonesia, and interned as a junior research analyst at the Center for Security and Welfare Studies.
"It helped me to see the problems, not only about gender but also about poverty, employment, and disability issues," said Hanaa.
In 2018, after earning her bachelor's degree, she entered the journalism industry, and experienced gender discrimination firsthand.
Working to Change the Media
In her first years in journalism, Hanaa personally saw and experienced instances of harassment, discrimination, threats of violence, and other forms of abuse directed towards female journalists.
In the newsroom, sexist jokes were directed at women, and the opportunities for female reporters were limited.
"Female reporters, for instance, were assigned to cover family and related lifestyle issues," said Hanaa, who started her journalism career at Jawa Pos.
Hanaa was among those assigned to write lifestyle. However, she used the position to report on social justice concerns related to women and disability. In 2021, she was awarded the Journalism Fellowship for Inclusivity and Disabilities Labor Issues from USAID and The Alliance of Independent Journalists Indonesia (AJI).
"I covered two features in Jawa Pos that talked about the challenges for youths with disabilities in Surabaya when looking for a job," said Hanaa. "Beyond what we can see from the outside, or from the employer’s perspective, are internal obstacles too, such as self-confidence and other anxieties."
These events led Hanaa to believe there should be more advocacy for people with disability within the media. She joined AJI and assumed responsibility as Program Coordinator of Gender and Minority Issues in the Surabaya branch.
She designed development programs for journalists reporting on people with disability, migrant workers, labour rights and LGBTQ issues in Surabaya and East Java, as well as workshops and discussions.
Along the way, she kept her colleagues informed about gender issues in the media outlets where she worked, including Jawa Pos and Detik Jawa Timur. Among other things, she encouraged individuals to refrain from using sexist language, from assigning “women’s issues” to women reporters, and to adopt gender-sensitive perspectives.
"If we look at media reporting about sexual violence, for example, in the past, the identities of the victims, women and even children were reported,” explained Hanaa. “There was even objectification, such as the mention of ‘beautiful’ women in news headlines. Now, it is changing. Gender sensitivity (training) works."
Skilling Up and Branching Out
In 2022, Hanaa participated in the Australia Awards Short Course on Youth Participation in Social Justice Issues. Her efforts to promote gender understanding and marginalised communities took an even brighter turn.
Two projects emerged from the two-week course. The first centred on supporting the independence of people with visual impairment during menstruation. The second project saw Hanaa collaborate with the student press for workshops on reporting about sexual violence on campus.
"While at the Queensland University of Technology, I gained an understanding of the ways to create engaging content and keep page views high for news about marginalised groups and women. You can't do it alone. It has to be multiplatform. For example, by collaborating with NGOs or content creators or intensively promoting on social media," said Hanaa.
Furthermore, she used her experience from the Short Course to develop Radio Braille Surabaya in partnership with AJI Surabaya. The YouTube and social media channels provide information, education, and advocacy for disability groups.
Hanaa says cases of harassment among journalists have decreased with growing awareness of gender equality. She has also conducted internal workshops about sexual violence for members of AJI.
Power of Networking
Recently, Hanaa has had the opportunity to make vital connections in the region.
In her current position as a contributor at Tempo Media, she had the opportunity to attend the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's first digital content regional storytelling training session. The event in August 2024 brought together 20 journalists in Malang, East Java, with former ABC Indonesia Correspondent Mark Bowling as a guest speaker.
Next, Hanaa exchanged experiences with Southeast Asian colleagues when she represented Indonesia at the Australia Awards 2nd Regional Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Alumni Leadership Summit in Manila. She used the event to speak about Radio Braille Surabaya.
"It was a busy two days,” she said. “But I learned a lot about voicing the interests of marginalised groups and gained many perspectives from many countries.”
Hanaa’s future plans include developing more programs for Radio Braille Surabaya and, in her role as Secretary at AJI, conducting workshops for editors on using the media to empower people with disability.
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