BENGALURU: Harnessing information and communications technologies (ICTs) to advance women empowerment may be something most countries are attempting, but only sales of mobile phones isn't enough.
The "digital divide" between men and women in developing countries doesn't paint a rosy picture and reiterating this is the latest research by the Web Foundation, established by Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
According to the October 2015 survey conducted in nine developing countries (including India), women are 50% less likely than men to access the Web in poor urban areas.
Stating that "... just the dramatic spread of mobile phones is not enough to get women online, or to achieve empowerment of women through technology," the study says women are still nearly 50% less likely to access the Internet than men in the same communities, with Internet use reported by just 37% of women surveyed (versus 59% of men).
Once online, women across countries are 30%-50% less likely than men to use the Internet to increase their income or participate in public life, the study says, pointing out that women identify a perceived lack of know-how and high costs as the two primary barriers keeping them offline.
"Women are 1.6 times more likely than men to report lack of skills as a barrier to Internet use, while one gigabyte of data costs as much as 76% of monthly poverty line incomes in the countries," the study says.
Ingrid Brudvig, the author of the study points out that informal networks are a vital social insurance mechanism for the poor and ICTs have become an indispensable tool for strengthening these relationships.
However, she says that there is a real risk that online social networks simply recreate the inequalities that poor women face in their offline lives, rather than helping them to open up new horizons, and policymakers must take steps to ensure the Internet becomes a truly empowering force.
Issue of equity:
Agreeing with the findings, Rajani SS, an independent consultant with more than 10 years of experience in working with city makers, waster-pickers and other urban poor, says: "One must keep in mind the literacy rates. Just urban growth does not mean urban development. There must be a concrete effort in understanding the varying demography and systems must be in place."
Pointing out to a recent scheme meant for waste-pickers in Bengaluru, she said: "The BBMP was suppose to make a database of waste pickers and share it with all bulk generators through a website. And the waste-pickers through a mobile phone supplied to them, were to gain access to the information on generators. While the first part has been successful, the second part (waste pickers accessing technology) has failed."
Advocate Clifton Rozario, also the general secretary of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), says the problem is on inequality, where the magic of technology has limited powers.
"The urban poor barely know how to use mobiles, forget accessing internet through the same. The problem is that the notion that technology can solve all issues is not true in all contexts," he said.
"... There are equity issues and the inequality caused by lack of education cannot just be solved by technology," Clifton pointed out.
Toeing Clifton's line, Web Foundation CEO Anne Jellema says: "Most poor urban women are confined to an ICT ghetto that does little to help them break out of the real ghetto of poverty and gender discrimination.
Governments, she said, "need to make digital skills the right of every girl and boy as part of a wider commitment to quality education for all, move faster to bring costs down and develop strategies that explicitly aim to increase women's civic, political and economic power through technology."
The study shows that women's access to education is a strong determinant of Internet use. "Maintaining existing family and neighbourhood ties through social media is the main Internet activity for urban poor women, with 97% of male and female Internet users surveyed using social media."
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