Publish Date: Mar 04, 2025

#ForAllWomenAndGirls is a rallying call for action on the 30thanniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Harmful stereotypes are one of the root causes of discrimination, abuse and violence in manifold areas, can lead to violations of a wide array of human rights and limit people’s full potential. When brands and advertisers challenge stereotypes, they challenge inequality. 

The International Advertising Association (IAA) is a network of over 4,000 individual and corporate members spanning marketing, advertising, media, IT communications and academic sectors. Its India chapter (IAA India) was established over 30 years ago.

We spoke to Nina Elavia Jaipuria, IAA India’s Chairperson, Women Empowerment Committee about how IAA India works with the entire ecosystem to establish positive gender portrayals in content across all media platforms and formats.

How can the advertising industry help to advance rights, equality and empowerment?
 

“Advertising has the power to influence the viewer’s mind-sets, values and beliefs thus shaping the social narrative,” says Jaipuria. Which is why it is “important and imperative” to portray gender in the most positive and equitable manner. 

“It is essential to have a positive influence and paying close attention to gender representation can help achieve rights, equality and empowerment for all.”

Jaipuria shares what she sees as the biggest challenge to equitable gender portrayals:. “The creator ecosystem is not fully sensitized towards positive gender representation. Sometimes, the product category and the brand objective are also deterrents for equitable gender portrayal.”

Smashing stereotypes will ensure that ALL women and girls have equal say and feel empowered across demographics and spectrums – at home, at school, workplace and in society.

- Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Chairperson, Women Empowerment Committee, IAA India Chapter

Partnerships for Progress

To combat the status quo and create and portray gender sensitive and equitable content across all platforms and formats, IAA India joined forces with UNICEF India and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender Representation in Media for the ‘Voice of Change’ initiative. Together, the initiative has sensitized stakeholders, empowering them to smash stereotypes. 

The IAA Voice of Change has spread its message through road shows and summits in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and more. According to Jaipuria, they saw “active participation” from various agencies and advertisers including Leo Burnett, Havas, Madison, Saatchi & Saatchi, Google and its summits have brought together prominent leaders, creators and media professionals. Influential personalities including Smriti Irani, Poonam Mahajan, Dia Mirza, Vidya Balan and Taapsee Pannu have also contributed meaningful conversations at the events. 

Jaipuria asserts that the initiative has “addressed the entire advertising ecosystem in India including advertisers, creative agencies, influencers and all the stakeholders to be mindful to create unbiased communication thus breaking the bias together and create a positive impact on ALL women and girls.”

Looking back and powering forward

 

In late 2024, IAA India hosted the third edition of its 'Voice of Change' summit. In a special address to the summit, UNICEF India highlighted the pervasive impact of gender socialization on opportunities for girls in India, emphasizing the role of media and community engagement and initiatives like Voice of Change.

Jaipuria co-led the summit’s opening session which discussed the evolution of the Voice of Change initiative since its inception in 2021. She reflected: ““In the previous editions of IAA: Voice of Change, we covered advertising, television and OTT content, while this edition focuses on gender representation in Digital.”

Addressing emerging, and emerged, technologies can help to futureproof progress. Jaipuria shared her vision of such a future: “freedom and escape from stereotypes means complete equality.” 

“Smashing stereotypes will ensure that women have equal say in the society and feel empowered across demographics and spectrums – be it at home, school, workplace and society in general.”

The IAA Voice of Change initiative believes in breaking the bias and smashing stereotypes. With this common goal in mind joining forces with the Unstereotype Alliance, convened by UN Women, was a no brainer.

“IAA has the power to influence the advertising ecosystem comprising content creators, influencers, ad makers, agencies and advertisers. Thus, this partnership will make a larger lasting impact”.