Gender and ICT

Gender and ICT

We would be justified in saying that one of the most potent forces shaping the 21st century are the new Information and Communication Technologies. Their revolutionary impact affects the way we live, learn, work, spend our leisure time, and communicate. ICTs are becoming a vital engine of growth for the world economy. They have the potential to enable many enterprising individuals, firms, communities, in all parts of the planet, to address economic and social challenges with greater efficiency and imagination. While ICTs and the Internet offer vast, new and unprecedented opportunities for human development and empowerment in areas ranging from education and the environment to healthcare and business, they are also one of the key contributing factors to social and economic disparities across different social and economic groups. The gender divide is one of the most significant inequalities to be amplified by the digital revolution, and cuts across all social and income groups. Throughout the world, women face serious challenges that are not only economic but social as well as cultural – obstacles that limit or prevent their access to, use of, and benefits from ICTs. Improved understanding and awareness of these challenges, but most importantly of the opportunities that ICTs could provide for women, are important steps towards bridging the gender digital divide and towards transforming it into digital opportunity. The involvement and engagement of women in the Information Society on an equal footing with men will directly contribute to improving the livelihood of people, making it more sustainable and thereby promoting the social and economic advancement of societies.

Use of Radio Networking in Brazil

CEMINA (Communication, Education, and Information on Gender)b is a Brazilian organization with the mission of improving education on gender equality, health and environment issues and strengthening poor women’s rights and citizenship through the use of radio. In 1995, a group of women’s radio programmes founded the Women’s Radio Network, which includes 400 women’s radio programmes distributed across Brazil reaching thousands of listeners located in the poorest communities. CEMINA is committed to integrating the Internet into a more traditional media that people are already familiar with in order to address cultural barriers which constitute a major challenge to overcoming the gender digital divide. CEMINA aims to empower women communicators by providing them access to the Internet through the creation of community radio telecentres and a defined space on the Internet with gender content.

Women represent the main economic force in most developing countries. As economies become more and more information-driven, the issues of women’s access to and use of ICTs is growing in importance for both 5 Preface developed and developing economies. The ease with which information and communication technologies can transmit and disseminate information for development is well recognized. But women’s access for women to ICTs cannot be assumed to occur “naturally” when gender-blind approaches and technologies are implemented. As a result of profound, gendered applications and implications of ICTs in employment, education, training and other areas of life, women need encouragement and support to take their rightful place in the information revolution. Women are underrepresented in all decision-making structures in the ICT sector, and this undermines the negotiation of gender-sensitive investment decisions and introduction of innovative patterns, policies and standards in the ICT sector. Equitable access to ICTs and the autonomy to receive and produce information relevant to women’s needs and concerns are central to women’s empowerment, and to the construction of an Information Society for all.

Mobile Phones for Rural Women in Senegal

The Senegalese telephone company Sonatel, and Manobi, a French company, provided cell phones with Web Access Protocol (WAP) to rural women agricultural producers in Senegal, thereby extending their access to the Internet. This technology helped women obtain information about market prices of the inputs for their food processing activities and for the sale of their produce. The women preferred cell phones to computers because of the ease of transport. Women in the project appreciated the economic benefits of the technology, and other women were interested in becoming part of the project.

ICTs are understood to include computers, the rapidly changing communications technologies (including radio, television, mobile telephony and Internet), networking and data processing capabilities, and the software for using the technologies. ICTs provide us with the capacity to harness, access and apply information and disseminate knowledge in all kinds of human activities, thus giving rise to the information- or knowledge-based economies and societies. These have the potential to create new types of economic activity and employment opportunities, thereby improving the quality of daily life. For example, ICTs are changing the way business operates through e-commerce applications, and have brought improvements in health-care delivery. As an information and knowledge-based tool, ICTs can enhance networking, participation, and advocacy within society. They also have the potential to improve interaction between governments and their citizens, fostering transparency and accountability in governance as a result. Information and communication technologies could give a major boost to the economic, political and social empowerment of women, and the promotion of gender equality. But that potential will only be realized if the gender dimensions of the Information Society – in terms of users’ needs, conditions of access, policies, applications and regulatory frameworks – are properly understood and adequately addressed by all stakeholders. Poverty, illiteracy, lack of computer literacy and language barriers are among the factors impeding access to the ICT infrastructure, especially in developing countries, and these problems are particularly acute for women. But women’s access to ICTs is constrained by factors that go beyond issues of technological infrastructure and socio-economic environment. Socially and culturally constructed gender roles and relationships remain a cross-cutting element in shaping (and in this case, limiting) the capacity of women and men to participate on equal terms in the Information Society. 9 Introduction: Gender and the Digital Divide UNESCO believes that unless gender issues are fully integrated into technology analyses, policy development and programme design, women and men will not benefit equally from ICTs and their applications.

Women’s Use of TeleCentres in Asia

In 2002, UNESCO explored the potential of ICT to contribute to poverty reduction in nine locations within five countries in South Asia. Access to ICT represented real and symbolic access to modernity, the future, education and knowledge. ICT centres constituted a space in which people could develop a sense of change and possibility. The study showed that gender perspectives played a significant part in determining both the barriers as well as the positive effects of ICT for empowerment. Social and economic exclusion due to gender-based restrictions on mobility was found in many households, with most women’s interaction generally restricted to their immediate family, a few neighbours and some extended family. The restrictions resulted in narrowing women’s access to the information and resources that ICT centres provided.

Benefits for Women at an ICT Centre in India         

As women became involved in the Baduria ICT Centre in West Bengal, India, they reported that they gained more respect in their local communities as a result of the ICT skills acquired at the centre—learning to use a computer and accessing and distributing information to local people. This resulted in greater respect at both the family and community levels. Younger women felt they were able to approach the job market with greater confidence. There was also an emergence of solidarity; since women learned to use computers together at the ICT Centre, they often discussed their problems, creating a sense of unity among them and bringing forth leadership qualities.

ICT and Empowerment of Women           

In developing countries, there has been an increase in pro-poor ICT for development initiatives. A study by the International Development Research Centre of Canada (IDRC) on ICT for poverty reduction strategies states that trends show that “ICT have been applied to systemic improvements important to poverty reduction such as education, health and social services delivery, broader Government transparency and accountability, and helping empower citizens and build social organization around rights and gender equality”.91 However, the study also cautions that while documentation of experiences is increasing, there continues to be a need to consolidate research and evaluate lessons that will facilitate effective ICT for development strategies, including support for pro-poor initiatives such as girl’s access to primary education. Women’s empowerment is focused on increasing their power to take control over decisions that shape their lives, including in relation to access to resources, participation in decision-making and control over distribution of benefits. For women who can access and use them, ICT offer potential, especially in terms of reducing poverty, improving governance, overcoming isolation, and providing a voice. However, existing persistent gender discrimination in labour markets, in education and training opportunities, and allocation of financial resources for entrepreneurship and business development, negatively impact on women’s potential to fully utilize ICT for economic, social and political empowerment. 

There is a growing body of evidence on the benefits of ICT for women’s empowerment, through increasing their access to health, nutrition, education and other human development opportunities, such as political participation. Women’s sustainable livelihoods can be enhanced through expanded access of women producers and traders to markets, and to education, training and employment opportunities. By using one of the most important democratizing aspects of the Internet—the creation of secure online spaces that are protected from harassment—women are enjoying freedom of expression and privacy of communication to oppose gender discrimination and to promote women’s human rights. Experiences throughout Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean illustrate creative solutions to provide access to and use of ICT as a tool for participation and, most importantly, to contribute to women’s empowerment. For example, the Multimedia Caravan project in Senegal provided rural women with the opportunity to develop their own ideas on how ICT can be used to further their development needs and goals. In Kenya, women and men weavers were trained in using the Internet to learn new weaving techniques and access more realistic prices for their products.

In Uganda, the Uganda Media Women’s Association established a radio programme—Mama FM—where women can actively participate and learn about development issues such as human rights, children, governance, nutrition, health, among others. In Poland, the Network of East-West Women disseminated information to enhance women’s participation in the European Union accession process in European Union candidate countries. These projects illustrate the scope of ICT and clearly show that technologies such as radio, television and CD-ROMs are perfectly acceptable, and in many cases more effective forms of ICT than web-based solutions, as they can resolve issues such as language, illiteracy or access to the Internet. The advent of new technologies and the growing convergence of all media have had a major impact on In April 2002, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University launched a six-week online module on “Violence against Women on the Internet”. The course synopsis stated “In this series, we will explore the various ways in which violence against women is facilitated through the use of the Internet, as well as ways in which the Internet may be used as a site of resistance to such violence. Violence against women is a critical social problem that affects all of us in some way. Whether we have directly experienced abuse, know a friend who has been victimized, or have been confronted with the myriad other forms such violence take, it impacts how we view the world and shapes our experiences and opportunities”. 

Online module on violence against women on the Internet in the U.S. the information and communication work undertaken by the women’s movement. The new technologies offer potential for innovative social interaction, including peer and bottomup communication, and creative opportunities for the creation, reproduction and dissemination of information relevant for women. There are increased opportunities for national, regional and global distribution of women-generated news, much of which, in the past, was limited in outreach. The Internet has brought women’s news and views into the public domain, with countless websites targeted specifically, if not exclusively, to women.93 Availability of technology is only one aspect influencing the potential for empowering effects. Potential for empowerment is also affected by socio-cultural aspects, such as class, age, ethnicity and race. Women from the same social context may not enjoy equal access to ICT.