cultural diversity

Copyright and patents legislation has spread rapidly over the past century. This has a particular impact on indigenous women and the holders of traditional knowledge, as copyright ignores the possibility that knowledge can be held communally and has definitions of knowledge that exclude information held in a spiritual context. In this article, GenderIT writer Sonia Randhawa examines how women's…

Natalia Fernández-Diaz identifies the difficulties of understanding feminist concerns regarding the needs and potential benefits of emerging technologies in what is usually known as ‘Arab countries’. Locating the relationship between women and ICTs in women’s movements, Fernández-Diaz interrogates the concepts of technologists, producers, users, victims and indirect beneficiaries in this complex…

As both a mirror and an extension of social relationships, the internet’s virtual space differentiates itself from traditional media by its decentralised and open architecture. This subverts power relationships between citizens, institutions, governments and markets. Confusion. Impunity. Unbounded freedom. Can and should this anthill be organised? What is the ethical reach of doing so? This…

Exactly one year after the successful introduction of GenderIT.org - the gender and information and communication technology (ICT) Policy Monitor in English - the APC WNSP now presents GenderIT en español, the Spanish counterpart of the monitor with original resources and coverage in Spanish, as well as in Portuguese.

Africa Grassroots Caucus has prioritised the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as part of development. This was the outcome of the second Grassroots Caucus Regional Consultation that took place in Lusaka, Zambia on 26-28 July 2005. The participants from Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Congo Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo…

As the international community prepares to join the United Nation’s 49th Session of the Commission on the Status on Women (CSW), women media practitioners are asking: where is women’s “J” spot? Despite the fact that the latform for Action (PFA) contemplates Section “J” in Chapter 3, about Women and Media, the issue is hardly found in the provisional agenda for the evaluation process. The U.N.…

The UN Secretary-General's report (E/CN.6/2010/2) in preparation for the 54th Commission on the Status of Women who undertook the 15 year review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BpfA), including the section J – Women and Media. Media and ICT are mentioned throughout the Report as important tools for awareness raising and information dissemination, for example, under the…

As the international community prepares to join the United Nation’s 49th Session of the Commission on the Status on Women (CSW), women media practitioners are asking: where is women’s “J” spot? Commonly known as “Beijing +10,” the role of the official UN session is to evaluate what governments have done to implement the Platform for Action (PFA) of the Fourth World Conference on Women 10 years…

The African Copyright…

This paper examines the discussion on intellectual property rights (IP) for traditional knowledge (TK) in medicine from a gender perspective. It argues that a gender analysis of these issues adds to the understanding of how trade decisions can have important and unintended impacts on the lives of disempowered people.