By Khushi Jain
As the world is becoming increasingly digital, with all essential services like education to banking moving online, the Digital Divide has become so prominent that its impact can be seen within our own households. For example, a common sight in India (and likely other places) is mothers and teenagers sharing a single phone. This highlights the challenge of limited digital resources for families. Mothers might need to negotiate with their children for phone time to manage finances or connect with others. Teenagers may struggle to complete online school work if their phone use is restricted by their mothers’ needs. While research suggests 14 might be a suitable age for a child’s first smartphone, the expectation that females should share their phones, rather than families finding a way to equip everyone with the tools they need, perpetuates gender inequality in access to technology.The digital world presents both opportunities and challenges for everyone, regardless of gender. But unequal access to technology and digital skills can create a barrier for women’s participation. Women continue to be significantly underrepresented in many sectors, one of the most prominent being technology. The lack of ICT access for females creates a digital divide, hindering their potential for change and accomplishment.
The gender digital divide highlights the disparity in how often men and women can access and utilize information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as smartphones, computers, and the internet. This gap can have a ripple effect, impacting everything from job opportunities and educational attainment to a person’s ability to stay connected with loved ones. Particularly in developing countries, girls and women struggle to afford technology and internet access.
According to GSMA’s Mobile Gender Gap Report 2024, “Women are now 15% less likely than men to use mobile internet and of the 785 million women who are still not using it, around 60% live in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The smartphone gender gap also narrowed slightly to 13% but the gender gap in overall mobile ownership remains relatively unchanged at 8%.
Unequal access to technology widens all other existing gender gaps. We must address the digital divide to create a more equitable society. Apart from having access to mobile phones and the internet, basic digital skills in today’s digital world are essential for most jobs and everyday tasks. A lack of digital skills puts girls at a disadvantage in the job market, leaving them with fewer employment options.
Plan International states “If 600 million more women are connected to the internet in 3 years, this would translate to a rise in global GDP of between US$13 billion and US$18 billion.”To tackle the digital gender gap, focus on three key components:
Implement measures to address women’s fear of personal information misuse and targeted attacks.
Access:
- Provide necessary equipment and resources to get online.
- Address financial barriers due to the gender pay gap.
- Address social barriers, such as restrictions on women’s mobile phone use and internet access in some rural communities in northern India.
Digital Literacy:
- Provide access to skills needed to navigate the digital world effectively, including locating, evaluating, creating, and sharing digital content.
- Ensure women have equal access to opportunities as men for men developing strong digital literacy skills
Safety:
- Address online harassment and abuse, which are significant concerns for women.
- Take in to account that 59% of young women who experienced online abuse report impacts on their well-being, relationships, confidence in using the internet, and overall capability.
- Implement measures to address women’s fear of personal information misuse and targeted attacks.
Bridging the digital gender gap requires robust collaborations and partnerships among governments, the private sector, NGOs, development banks, and funding institutions. Governments can create and enforce policies that promote equal access to digital resources and skills training for women. The private sector can invest in affordable technologies and inclusive digital platforms. NGOs can drive grassroots initiatives, providing digital literacy programs and advocating for women’s rights in the digital sphere. Development banks and funding institutions can provide the necessary financial support and resources to scale these efforts. By working together, these entities can create a comprehensive approach to eliminate barriers and ensure that women have equal opportunities to participate in and benefit from the digital economy.
A wide range of efforts are being implemented by NGOs, governments, and international organizations at the local, national, and global levels. Following are some examples of such collaborative initiatives being taken globally and specifically in India.
Initiative Taken to Tackle the Digital Gender Gap
Collaborative Initiatives in India
Internet Saathi is a joint initiative launched in 2015 by Google and Tata Trusts that tackles the digital gender divide in rural India. This innovative initiative helps women within rural communities, equips them with digital literacy skills and the tools to use the internet effectively, and then empowers them as trainers for their communities – a “Train the Trainer” Model.
They also established Foundation for Rural Entrepreneurship Development (FREND), to provide these saathi livelihood opportunities by engaging them in transformative work. The program covers more than 20 Indian states.
A 2018 TNS study, as cited by Tata Trusts, found that the Internet Saathi initiative had significant impacts like:-
- 70% of women in rural areas used the internet for the first time
- 53% of women who have been trained now use the internet for upskilling themselves
- Health care and accessibility to health have been improved significantly by 30%.
- 2 in 10 women started their own business
Free/Dem initiative is a joint effort by a NGO and Ideosync Media that provide a platform to girls and women from marginalized background to learn digital literacy and bridge the gender digital divide. Tajpur Pahadi, an urban slum within the National Capital Region (NCR), is the site of this initiative.
The purpose of Free/dem is to enable equality in digital literacy and they use digital media literacy as a tool for empowerment of women and girls who are living in urban marginalized areas.
With the help of digital pathshalas, they provide a public library. This allows women to explore the functionalities of smartphones, learn digital literacy and access the internet. Once girls have completed their 16- weeks course offered by them, they are given a stipend to produce media content to give voice to their concerns.
They develop digital literacy by learning about media, smartphones, and the internet. This includes creating and sharing their own content, understanding data privacy, and using media to address developmental challenges, and Active participants have the opportunity to become Free/Dem Fellows. As Fellows, they’ll contribute a regular stream of content and receive a stipend for their successful creations.
Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)
PMGDISHA aims to bridge the digital divide especially targeting rural population including the marginalised sections of society, women and girls by covering 6 crore rural households. The program imparts basic literacy skills to users. It aims to empower the people in rural areas by training them to operate computer or digital access devices (like tablets, smart phones, etc.), send and receive e-mails, browse internet, access government services, and undertake digital payment.
The scheme is implemented via a multi-stakeholder model led by the Central Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The scheme is implemented by CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) incorporated under the Companies Act 1956, (with active collaboration of all the State Governments and UT Administrations. District e-Governance Society (DeGS) under the District Magistrate/ District Collector play a key role towards the last mile implementation and monitoring of the Scheme. The implementation of the Scheme at the ground level would be done through the involvement of around 2500 Training partners and Centres. Efforts would be made to increase the number of training partners to and about 2.5 Lakhs the Training Centres
Global Partnerships
Women in Digital Economy initiative was launched by the US Government in March 2023, with the objective of bridging the digital gender gap, to improve women’s livelihoods, economic security, and resilience. It was launched with initial funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Known as Women in Digital Economy Initiative Fund (WiDEF). A total of $60 million was committed by USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation by 2026, with at least half directed towards Africa. USAID pledged $50 million, while the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed $10 million.
This initiative focuses on Five pillars :
- Access and Affordability: to close the digital divide for women by ensuring affordable, reliable, and secure internet access, devices, and user-friendly digital services (including finance and data) that are accessible to everyone, regardless of ability.
- Relevant Products and Tools: to empower women with income-generating opportunities by creating user-friendly technology solutions (developing and offering accessible interfaces, voice assistants, mobile apps, and online services that address their specific needs and encourage them to use smartphones, internet, and other devices).
- Literacy and Skills: Empower women to thrive online by equipping them with strong digital skills, media literacy, and secure access to digital services.
- Safety and Security: Promote a safer digital environment by addressing technology-enabled gender-based violence and harassment. This will be achieved by fortifying protections for user privacy, financial transactions, cybersecurity, and mitigating fraud.
- Data and Insights: This includes collecting information categorized by sex, age, and disability. This data will be used for research and gender analysis that can help identify social norms and systems that create barriers for women in technology.
WomenConnect Challenge was launched by USAID globally in 2018, to fuel the involvement of women in the digital world. It has empowered nearly 6 million women in 16 countries. The Challenge was created to inspire, uncover, and develop effective, culturally appropriate interventions that target the root causes of the gender digital divide
WomenConnect Round One, awarded in 2018, awarded nine grants and WomenConnect Round Two, awarded three in 2019. The fourth round was launched in India jointly by USAID and Reliance Foundation in 2020 and focuses on India’s gender and technology gap and support solutions to improve women’s participation in everyday life. The grants support local and culturally contextual innovative solutions. The grantees will focus on closing the gender digital divide and increasing women’s economic empowerment through challenging social and cultural perceptions, developing skills and opportunities, building confidence, growing community advocates, and designing creative women-centric technology.
EQUAL – The Global Partnership
EQUAL – The Global Partnership launched in 2016 by five founding partners – the International Telecommunication Union, GSMA, the International Trade Centre, the United Nations University and UN Women aims at reversing digital gender divide by 2030,y. EQUAL is now a network of 100+ governments, organisations, NGOs, etc. EQUALS aim to close the digital gender gap by 2030 by empowering women through their use of information and communication technologies. An action plan of data gathering, knowledge sharing and advocacy strengthening drives the network partnership. They focus on Four Core problems – Access, Skills, Leadership And Research
Ellenomics 