Seven Writers win big at 14th Laadli Media and Advertising Awards 2024

Media can shape the way we think, what we believe, and how we, as individuals and societies, value women and girls. By amplifying diverse voices and stories, and challenging stereotypes, the media has the power to transform social norms and promote gender equality and inclusion.” said UN Under-Secretary General and UNFPA Executive Director of UNFPA in her keynote address at the Laadli Media & Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2024. She was speaking as the chairperson of the ceremony which recognised 42 stellar contributions in the media, literature, cinema and advertising space across India and 14 journalists from seven South Asian nations on Wednesday evening at the Tata Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai.

 Literature was at the forefront at the 14^th Laadli Media & Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2024. After thoroughly considering each review, we narrowed down hundreds of books to Seven winners across five categories like Hindi Non-Fiction, English Non-Fiction, English Fiction, English Translation and English memoir. The winners were for Hindi Non-Fiction Dr. Sandeep Kumar Meel for Bharat Mein Stree Vimarsh, in English Non-Fiction Nandita Jayaraj and Ashima Dogra for Lab Hopping: A Journey to Find India’s Women in Science and Angela Saini were awarded for The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule. In the English Fiction category Parini Shroff for The Bandit Queens, in English Translation Ruth Vanita was awarded for On the Edge - 100 Years of Hindi Fiction on Same-Sex Desire and for English memoir Category Ashok Alexander won the award for How the Light Gets In.

 Echoing her, eminent film, TV, web and theatre actor Ratna Pathak who was the Chief Guest of the occasion said “It was a revelation. It was wonderful to see the kind of work being done all over our country. So many young people are being awarded for their in-depth work in gender sensitivity. I am extremely happy that they are being felicitated here at Laadli Media Awards and their work is being celebrated.”

  The Laadli Media and Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity celebrate the media’s role in shaping perceptions towards gender, aiming for a fairer society. Apart from India, the fourth edition of the South Asia Awards covered Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Maldives.

 These awards -which coincide with 50th year of UNFPA in India - are an initiative of Population First, a Mumbai-based social impact organisation that has been working for over two decades to promote gender sensitivity in media nationwide. Following a successful collaboration over the past several years, the initiative is once again being supported by UNFPA. The collaborating partners for this edition are South Asian Women in Media (SAWM). NCPA, Madison Outdoor  Media, Manifest and Social Samosa were the cause partners.

 The Ex-CEO and Trustee of Population First, Dr. A.L. Sharada called the awards "a way of acknowledging the significant contribution of content creators across literature, advertising, films, and OTT platforms," while the current Director Yogesh Pawar said "In my 30 years of journalism I’ve seen a lot of amazing work but what these awards aim to recognise and celebrate stands out. I feel proud to belong to a fraternity which includes the 10 exceptional awardees nationwide and the 14 South Asian journalists.”

 The esteemed Laadli of the Century Award was presented to Dr Armaity Desai and the Laadli Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Bachi Karkaria. Hetall Dedhhia received the Laadli Woman Behind the Screen Award, while Advocate Vrinda Grover was honoured with the Laadli Gender Champion Award.

 This year’s Film Awards for Gender Sensitivity celebrated Kaathal - The Core, Laapata Ladies, and All We Imagine as Light. The web series Taali was also recognised for its gender-sensitive narrative.