digital divide

Privacy was initially understood simply as the right to be left alone. The increasing use of internet, social media, surveillance and algorithmic processing has however shifted the meanings of privacy, and here we explore the conceptual understandings of privacy and its links to autonomy, human dignity and self-determination.

Access to the internet is finally a priority for companies and acknowledged as human right by governments. However the gender digital divide persists, and in this article we explore what uses women make of the internet in urban and rural parts of Manipur. Is this use limited to social media, what about the generation gap, and the rampant spread of election propaganda?

GenderIT is looking for writers, artists, creators and filmmakers from Southeast Asia to pitch stories around the theme: Access to the internet, for its Asia regional edition 2022. Deadline to submit pitches is August 26, 2022.

Lulú Barrera(Luchadoras, Mexico) recorded a video of Srilata Batliwala (CREA, India) talking about movements, feminism, and disruption at the Making a Feminist Internet meeting in Malaysia in early October. This video and the short piece are to be read together as a dialogue between Srilatha Batliwala and “Primavera Violeta”.

Gendered barriers to internet access can range from social and cultural barriers imposed within family or by partners to extraneous factors relevant to all - such as affordability of data and devices. In this column Chenai Chair examines the specificity of how access is different for women and men.

The gender balance is far from equal even in progressive movements such as the free and open source software community, Mozilla user groups, and others. Despite all the rivers of ink that were written about the gender imbalance in these areas, the changes are slow to arrive.

Pokémon exploded as a game that could be played on mobile phones in 2016. Of the many debates around it, Angélica Contreras explores the gendered aspect of videogames and how Pokémon struck a chord with many women in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and parts of Latin America. This article was originally written in Spanish, and is part of a column series that explores young women and their lives…

The non-territorial, transborder Internet has added layers of complexity to the human rights debate. The idea of substantive equality – a compass for human rights and the key to gender justice – must be interpreted anew and afresh, as the force of digital technologies complicates the nature of social relations and institutions. The easy binary divisions of online and offline cease to make sense…

Digital technologies have spread rapidly in much of the world. Digital dividends—the broader development benefits from using these technologies—have lagged behind. In many instances digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities,and improved service delivery. Yet their aggregate impact has fallen short and is unevenly distributed.

Join us and add your voice to Global Fund for Women’s online petition, co-presented with UN Women, calling for governments and the United Nations to take action to end the gender gap in technology to advance women’s rights. Sign the petition today to demand women and girls’ equal access to and control of technology.