1. Background and Justification 

There is in general, a dearth of material on the region's women and their contribution to the development of Caribbean countries. Nearly all literature before the Second World War neglected women, and even when women appear they are cast in uncomplimentary, unresearched and disparaging roles, mirroring the dominant perception of women as objects, not to be taken seriously.

Because of the low value accorded women, women writers themselves often disguised their identity behind male sounding noms de plume. This was also the case in the field of popular media . In fact, even entry into mainstream media was extremely difficult for female professionals who usually joined the work force from another discipline. It was not until the 20th Century post-was years that a significant number of women began to enter the field of media development by direct access.  

The Gender Studies Unit of the University of the West Indies has for some time been developing an audio-visual series on outstanding women in general in an effort to promote more and more positive images of women in the media. The intention of this project is to build on the work already carried out , by producing a series of profiles for television on women who have gained access to the media beginning in the past century, as well as the later media professionals per se, and to build the archives of any material existing on this subject, for use by researchers. The project will also strive to sharpen, through apprenticeship training, investigative and production skills of young professionals in the field of audio-visual media. In addition, it would also provide the opportunity for women professionals in the region to work together to produce works of quality and permanence intended to redress the imbalance in recording the contributions of men and women.  

This is expected to be done through a collaborative effort between the Mary Seacole Foundation , a Jamaican media related NGO and BANYAN/Earth Ltd. of Trinidad and Tobago.

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