Gender equality in the media

Arcom's legal powers

Prior to 2014

Before the introduction, in 2014, of a specific provision relating to the fight agains violence against women in the law of September 30, 1986, Arcom's interventions with TV and radio channels were based on the following general ethical principles, which appeared in the law(article 15), decrees(the decree relating to advertising, sponsorship and teleshopping), the specifications of missions and charges of public channels and the agreements of private channels:

• respect for human dignity;
• respect for public order;
• prohibition of incitement to delinquent or uncivil behavior;
• prohibition on presenting degrading treatment;
• fight agains discrimination on the grounds of sex.

In 2014

The law of August 4, 2014 on real equality between women and men represented a real turning point, as it inserted new powers for Arcom and new obligations for publishers into the law of September 30, 1986:

• legal sanctions for Arcom in the area of "women's rights" : article;
• the obligation for TV and radio channels to self-assess and report their results annually to Arcom: article;
• strengthening requirements for public service : article.

In 2017

A broadening of Arcom's remit concerning the representation of women in commercials with the law of January 27, 2017 and the insertion of a new provision inArticle 14 of the 1986 law: it now oversees respect for the dignity of all persons and the image of women appearing in these advertising programs.

Arcom's actions

Arcom's action on the issue of the representation of women on television and radio has two dimensions:

• Monitoring: it intervenes with TV and radio channels that do not abide by their obligations in terms of women's rights, as set out in the 1986 law, in their mission statement for public channels, or in their agreement for private channels;
• Incentives: we carry out numerous studies on the subject, engage in dialogue with broadcasters, and draw up and sign charters.

Monitoring :

As with the other obligations that Arcom ensures are respected, its interventions can take the form of :

• regulatory reminders (informative or educational)
• a warning letter (letter noting a proven breach) ;
• a formal notice (intervention with warning value), the latter being a necessary prerequisite to the opening of legal sanctions proceedings.

Since 2014, Arcom has intervened 32 times (on the basis of the law of September 30, 1986):

• 19 letters have been sent ;
• 8 warnings have been issued;
• 3 formal notices have been issued;
• 2 legal sanctions were issued: one, on June 7, 2017, against C8 (the program Touche pas à mon poste) and the second, on November 22, 2017, against NRJ (the program C'Cauet).

Its incentivisinig action:

Conducting studies and signing charters.

Key dates:

• 2009: first data on the representation of women on television with the barometer of diversity.
• 2013 : study on the place of women in audiovisual works (TV dramas); comparative approach between French and American drama.
• 2014 : study on the presence of women in news programming carried out by INA on behalf of Arcom (formerly French Superior Audiovisual Council). Three studies on female stereotypes in drama, animation and entertainment series.
• 2016 : first annual report on the representation of women on television and radio.
• 2017 : study on the representation of women in TV commercials.
• 2018 : study on the representation of women in the most viewed videos on YouTube. Adoption of the charter of voluntary commitments to fight sexual, sexist and gendered stereotypes in advertising. Development of Arcom training courses on gender equality.
• 2019: active participation of Arcom in the ERGA "Gender diversity" working group. Signature of a charter for the mixed representation of toys.
• 2020 : study on the representation of women in audiovisual media during the Covid-19 epidemic. Fifth report on the representation of women on television and radio (fiscal 2019) drafted in partnership with the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA). Signing of a "For Women in the Media" charter to fight sexual harassment or sexist behavior.
• 2021 : Sixth report on the representation of women on television and radio. Arcom participation in the Génération Egalité Forum.

Focus on two Arcom productions that illustrate our approach and actions

• Focus on the annual report on the representation of women on television and radio: a quantitative and qualitative self-assessment

Since the law of 2014 and the deliberation of February 4, 2015, TV and radio channels have been submitting to Arcom, quantitative and qualitative indicators on the representation of women and men in their programs. Also, every year, Arcom reports on the trends observed and issues notices in a report it publishes on "International Women's Rights Day" (March 8).

Key findings :

• Percentage of women present on air: 43% on television, 39% on radio; while radio stations are marking time, television stations are showing an increase, and are continuing to move closer to parity;
• Speaking time given to women on air: lower (35%) than presence percentage (41%). This suggests that, for the same amount of airtime, women express themselves less than men, which raises the question of why;
• Increasing presence of women on television: a growing presence between 6pm and 8pm, which has not yet translated into more speaking time (35% vs. 37% in 2019);
• The proportion of female experts on TV and radio continues to increase (41%, up 3 points on 2019 and 11 points on 2016);
• The rate offemale political guests, TV and radio combined, shows the most significant increase (33%, +6 points on 2018);
• Strong involvement of TV channels and radio stations in the diffusion of programs fighting violence against women: special programming, diffusion of the emergency number and awareness raising messages.
• The TV channels with the highest proportions of women in categories where they are underrepresented are notably those that have made quantified commitments in this area, whether as part of their contracts of objectives and means (France Médias Monde and France Télévisions), or as part of the Arcom deliberation of February 4, 2015 (Radio France). This commitment-based approach seems to be bearing fruit, as it enables teams to take responsibility for precise objectives to be achieved, within a pre-established timeframe;
• Arcom is pleased to note that channels are now using this data internally to increase the representation of women on their teams. Arcom is also pleased to note that some groups, at its instigation, have set up media training sessions for their female experts, and carried out studies to identify the obstacles encountered by some of their female employees in developing their careers.

Focus on the study on the representation of women in TV commercials

In 2017, Arcom, strengthened by its new competence entrusted by the January 27 law and determined to contribute actively to this cause, published a study on October 31 on the image of women in television commercials. Based on the viewing of 2,055 commercials diffused on 24 TV channels, between October 2016 and April 2017, the study has provided unprecedented data on the representation of women in TV commercials.

Main findings:

A stereotyped breakdown of product categories.

• Women are predominantly represented in ads for body care (63%) and skincare/perfumery (57%).
• Men are almost exclusively experts (82% vs. 18% experts).
• Two-thirds of ads featuring sexualized characters feature women (67% vs. 33% for men).
• 78% men in gaming ads, 64% in automotive ads and 59% in insurance/banking/mutual insurance ads.
• 54% of ads depicting partial or total nudity of characters feature women (vs. 46% for men).

The findings of this study have reinforced Arcom's conviction of the need for further reflection on the influence of gender stereotypes on viewers, and on means to identify the stereotypes portrayed in these messages. Accordingly, on March 6, 2018, it signed a charter of commitments with industry professionals to fight sexual, sexist and gendered stereotypes in advertising.