A Passion for Radio

PROJECT SUMMARY: The Feminist Radio Colective in Peru was started in 1989 by five women’s organizations based both in the capital, Lima, and in rural areas. These groups had links to other networks throughout the country. The National Network of Rural Women, for example, had twenty radio production teams who work with peasant women. Due to the political situation in Peru, the group did not begin to broadcast immediately, but did make preparations to have their own radio station.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the collective was to have a women’s radio station which would serve the needs of all women, but which would keep in mind a gender perspective. They wanted to have a space where women controlled the media, and produced the media. This did not necessarily mean that men could not work on programs, though.

METHOD: The group began by researching, producing, evaluating, and training. They listened to each other’s programmes and criticized and evaluated each other. The biggest problem initially was that the groups did not know each other very well. They had to overcome communication barriers between them to make the collective work. As the collective was not broadcasting, the first concrete project was to do a series of radio "spots" for November 25th, the Day of Non Violence Against Women. These spots were broadcast on a variety of commercial stations, at some points bringing in enormous feedback. The project was extremely successful, and was repeated for International Women’s Day. The collective has since continued to produce a large variety of programs.

The largest problem for the collective was the technical aspect of radio. Some of the women from the group went to be trained in a women’s radio station in Chile. The group has also held national training workshops for women radio producers. These workshops use a hands on approach to training: the women learn by doing radio themselves.