Abstracts
Panel Title: Women and ICTs in South Asia: Exclusion or Empowerment?
The gender digital divide in rural Pakistan: How wide is it and how to bridge it?
Karin Astrid Siegmann*
Nazima Shaheen**
SDPI has measured the ‘gender digital divide’ in rural areas of Pakistan, where the gap is likely to be most pronounced. A mixed-method survey was conducted in four of the most disadvantaged districts of Pakistan in terms of their levels of human development, namely Batagram, Bolan, Muzzafargarh and Tharparkar.
In these districts, mobile phones are the information and communication technology (ICT) that is most commonly available. Almost half of all surveyed households own at least one mobile phone set, reflecting the phenomenal growth of mobile connections in the country during the past decade. Radios and TV sets are the second most widespread technologies, available in a quarter of and 13 percent of the surveyed rural households, respectively. The study results also indicate, however, that the availability of mobile phones alone is insufficient to enable rural women to telecommunicate. The sets at hand are largely owned by their husbands, fathers and brothers, whose permission to make calls is required by more than 40 percent of all female respondents. This indicates that rather than network coverage and the presence of mobile phones alone, socio-cultural factors also determine whether ICTs reach female users in rural areas.
The hurdles women and girls face include negative perceptions of their technological skills. A large majority of respondents strongly agreed with the statement that ‘Men have a natural advantage in the use of technologies’. Sadly, female respondents have an even more negative perception of their own technological abilities than have male interviewees. Apart from the low regard of women’s skill to use technologies, some ICTs themselves have a bad image. While several interviewees see some TV channels as promoting vulgarity, mobile phones are regarded as dangerous in girls’ hands, in particular. Mothers fear that their daughters will use mobiles to date boys and will that way disgrace their families. The role of boys in such socially unacceptable use of telecommunication technology is largely ignored – at least no comparable constraints are keeping them from making mobile phone calls.
Cultural norms may also represent an obstacle in the Government’s efforts to provide affordable access to ICTs to the rural population through telecommunication centres. Apart from the (e-)literacy issues involved in making telecommunication, computers and internet use-ful for women and girls in rural areas, they usually cannot move freely outside home.
 *Holding a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Bonn, Germany, Karin Astrid Siegmann works as a lecturer in Labour and Gender Economics at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague. During the past years, she has investigated gender dynamics of labour markets influenced by global restructuring. Before joining the ISS, she worked as a research fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad, Pakistan.
 **Nazima Shaheen is working as a Project Coordinator in the project “The Gender Digital Divide in Rural Pakistan – to Measure and to Bridge it” at the SDPI. She holds a masters degree in Environmental Sciences from Fatima Jinnah Women University.
Reference
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/in-paper-magazine/economic-and-business/the-great-digital-divide-199">Siegmann, A. Karin. September 2009, ‘The Great Digital Divide’, Dawn News, published on 21 September 2009.
Exploring gender gaps in rural E-Governance in India: A Case study of e-gram Suraj (E-Rural Good Governance Scheme) scheme of Chhattisgarh state of India
Anupama Saxena*
The bulk of India’s population lives in rural areas. In 1993 the Panchayati Raj (Village Level Local Self Governance) System was introduced as an instrument of rural self-governance. A key feature of the system is that 33 percent of elected seats are reserved for women in approximately 250,000 local government bodies. So far, many studies have shown that even with 33 percent seats reserved for women, they have not been able to participate equally in the process of rural governance. So far, this process has been undoubtedly male centric. The introduction of information and computer technologies (ICTs) is expected to bring about positive changes in the entire process of rural governance. What difference this emerging phenomenon of using ICTs in rural governance will be able to make in terms of women’s progression in the realm of rural governance is a pertinent question. In this context the present study seeks to address the following research questions through a gender evaluation of E-Gram Suraj (Village Good Governance) Scheme of Chhatisgarh State of India. Have rural women been able to participate in the e-governance initiatives to the same extent as their male counterparts? If there is a gender gap what are the factors responsible for this? What impact has this e-governance scheme had from a gender perspective in terms of its outcome for rural women? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in the paper.
Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) for Information Communication Technology for Development Projects is used for conducting the study. A combination of methods was adopted to collect data that included surveys, personal interviews, story telling and focused group discussions with various groups of informants. A review of government records is also done to gather relevant information. To understand the context and to analyze the data, earlier researches, government policy documents and reports have also been reviewed.
The author finds that the inferior status of women in rural societies restricts their equal access to technology and inhibits them in acquiring a level of competency that will equip them to use the technology effectively. Male dominance in the domain of rural governance restricts women’s equal participation in rural governance and consequently in e-governance as well. The rural e-governance policies and programs lack a gender perspective. Consequently in the Indian context, where rural women are already less visible in the public sphere due to socio-cultural factors and men are already the dominant sex, e-governance is more available and accessible to men. To avoid the emergence of a gender based digital divide in rural governance that would further marginalize the rural women, it is necessary that women’s abilities, needs, perceptions and building women’s capacities to use the ICTs should be given due consideration while planning rural e-governance.
 * Dr. Anupama Saxena is presently working as an associate professor of Political Science and In-charge-Director of Women’s Studies and Development Center at the Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India (www.ggu.ac.in). The present research is conducted in partnership with WNSP-Association for Progressive Communication. The author acknowledges contributions from the whole GEM team.
ICTs for women empowerment: Learning from best practices
Nazima Shaheen*
Karin Astrid Siegmann**
Imran Sikandar Baloch***
In Pakistan, the communication sector has become one of the major sectors attracting foreign direct investment, during the past five years. Despite the increased number of mobile phone users and computer applications, the rural areas remain underserved. Furthermore, access and usage of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) demand affordability, accessibility, and literacy and these factors are usually gender sensitive, the very definition of gender digital divide. The ‘digital divide’ refers to the uneven distribution of benefits of ICTs and drastic differences in levels of ICT access between different population groups. This divide is especially pronounced for rural and marginalized women and girls.
However, on the other hand the potential of ICTs for women’s empowerment has also been shown through various best practices in various sectors including employment, education, health and other sectors. ICT applications have translated into an improved access to financial information for female users. Besides, the employment creation and business promotion, ICTs have provided innovative ways for women and girls to obtain access to education and skills and facilitate women and girls’ access to health-related information and facilities. Distance learning, as another example, gives flexibility of access and study times. This may be of special importance for females in rural areas or those facing social barriers that limit their access to schools. Health educators have used radio to communicate information related to women’s sexual and reproductive health. Besides, information tools like CD, databases and mobile ICT devices can enhance public health delivery.
The paper will look at the best practices related to ICTs and women empowerment. The research is intended to answer questions regarding the objectives of the projects, whom the project was developed for, the coverage, the process, the opportunities raised, the challenges confronted and also the major milestones achieved. The paper is based on national and international case studies related to women empowerment and ICTs, using the paradigmatic case method.
Some of the case studies reflect the fact that through e marketing of hand made and embroidered products, the livelihoods of women improved. Moreover, a significant number of underserved females successfully completed ICT training, which opened new doors of employment opportunities for them. A woman-to-woman video project was an excellent opportunity for the illiterate & marginalized segment of society to communicate its views to policy makers. Additionally, the radio programs by Internews, created awareness amongst the general public about sexual harassment at the workplace, child labor, family planning, prostitution, and women in politics.
**Nazima Shaheen is working as a Project Coordinator in the project “The Gender Digital Divide in Rural Pakistan – to Measure and to Bridge it” at the SDPI. She holds a masters degree in Environmental Sciences from Fatima Jinnah Women University.
*Holding a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Bonn, Germany, Karin Astrid Siegmann works as a lecturer in Labour and Gender Economics at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague. During the past years, she has investigated gender dynamics of labour markets influenced by global restructuring. Before joining the ISS, she worked as a research fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad, Pakistan.
|
