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EXPLOITING THE POTENTIALS OF INTERNET IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT BY
Hope Chinyere Ilorah
2004, The Nigerian Library Link
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Abstract
Empowering women particularly is currently an issue of concern. Exposing women to
information
and communication technology will improve the lives of women economically, socially, and
politically. This paper looks critically at the way by which Information and Communication
Technology has been employed in enhancing the powerlessness and voicelessness of women in
various parts of the developing countries. It also raises questions about some basic
considerations
to be made in the planning and execution of empowerment approaches for women
Key takeaways
AI
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) significantly enhances women's empowerment in developing countries.
Access to education is crucial for women's socio-economic development and rights awareness.
Empowerment of women requires removing institutional barriers and promoting collective action.
Successful ICT initiatives must consider local languages and community-specific content.
Women have used the Internet to organize for rights and development effectively since the 1995 Beijing Conference.
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EXPLOITING THE POTENTIALS OF INTERNET IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
BY
NWOFOR, F. A.
ILORAH, H. C.
EZEJIOFOR, V. O.
Abstract
Empowering women particularly is currently an issue of concern. Exposing women to
information
and communication technology will improve the lives of women economically, socially, and
politically. This paper looks critically at the way by which Information and Communication
Technology has been employed in enhancing the powerlessness and voicelessness of women in
various parts of the developing countries. It also raises questions about some basic
considerations
to be made in the planning and execution of empowerment approaches for women.
Introduction
Empowerment refers broadly to the expansion of freedom of choice and action to shape
one’s life.
It implies control over resources and decision. For women that freedom is severely curtailed by
their voicelessness and powerlessness in relation particularly to the state, market and society at
large. There are important gender inequalities including that within the household. This is
embedded in a culture of unequal institutional relations. World Bank (2000) defines
empowerment
as “the expansion of assets and capabilities of poor people to negotiate with, influence,
control and
hold accountable institutions that affect their lives”.
Empowering women requires the removal of formal and informal institutional barriers that
prevent
them from taking action to improve their well being individually or collectively and limit their
choices. The key formal institutions include the laws, rules and regulations upheld by states,
markets, civil society and international agencies. Informal institutions include norms of social
solidarity, sharing social exclusion, corruption and others.
Airiohuodion (1996:12) indicated that the term empowerment of women is often misconstrued to
mean “women liberation” or “women militancy”. Put in fine words – to antagonize men folk.
In
our context here, empowerment of women is concerned with improving the lot of women for
development at all levels. The powerlessness of women is multidimensional and they need a
range
of assets and capabilities at the individual level (such as health, education and housing) and at
the
collective level (such as the ability to organize and mobilize), to take collective action to solve
their problems. Empowering women is an end in itself and is also critical for development
effectiveness. It is a way of facilitating development with the conviction that women are the most
The Nigerian Library Link, Vol. 1. No.2, October, 2004, pp. 37-44.
invaluable partners in the task of poverty reduction and economic growth. It involves
programmes
that help build in people self-confidence and respect for their dignity. Empowerment also
reduces
the human degradation of powerlessness and releases the energies of people to contribute to their
societies. It represents not only key inputs to development effectiveness but also criteria by
which
the development efforts of the 21st century will be judged. Empowerment is of intrinsic value and
has instrumental value because given lack of voice and power and deeply entrenched social
barriers, even in many formal democracies, poor people, nay women, are often unable to take
advantage of opportunities to invest in their individual rights.
Empowerment approaches place the voiceless and marginalized as the most important resources
worthy of honour, respect and dignity, capable of exploring their knowledge, skills, values,
initiatives, motivation to solve problems, manage resources and rise above poverty level.
However, because the societies are not homogenous, but predominantly different in terms of
class,
ethnicity, caste, religion and gender, there is need to vary the institutional strategies employed in
empowerment approaches. Any successful effort to empower people must apply these four basic
elements (World Bank 2002:19).
- Access to information
- Inclusion and participation
- Accountability
- Local organization
Empowerment Approaches
Empowerment is relevant at the individual and collective levels and can be economic, social,
political, legal and educational, geared towards using their assets in different ways to increase
their
wellbeing. Areas in which women could be empowered include the following: education,
economic and entrepreneurship, protection of legal rights, information, etc. This paper discusses
the need to empower women by giving them access to education and information necessary for
exploitation of internet facilities.
Dimensions of women empowerment
Education
There is an old saying that “when you educate a woman you educate the entire family and
subsequently the entire nation”. Women empowerment through education opens up
new choices
and creates new roles for the women within their families and societies. Female education is
recognized as one of the critical path-ways to promote social and economic development. Efforts
are being made at all levels by African governments, non-governmental organizations and
donors
to develop programmes that address the problems associated with improving girls’
educational
participation (Odaga & Heneveld (1995) thus, ensuring that educational institutions are made
The Nigerian Library Link, Vol. 1. No.2, October, 2004, pp. 37-44.
responsive to the needs of the less privileged and the poor. This has become imperative
considering Abubakar’s (2001) assertion that
The Nigerian girl children are less likely to have access
to formal Education, are more likely to be Pushed too early
in their lives into the labour market or even get married off…
it is not strange that parents continue to give greater priority
to the male child and not much values is attached to the need
of the girl child education.
Subsequently, females have disproportionately low access to all sub-sectors of the educational
system. Available data on education gives insight into these desperate positions. Where curricula
are not gender sensitive, girl children drop out of school earlier than boys, and they are not
sufficiently educated to recognize to enforce their fundamental human rights. Efforts are being
made to remove those multiple, interrelated school, socio-economic, socio-cultural, political and
institutional factors hindering female education. An educated woman is more disposed to
knowing
her rights, being independent, productive and will participate in politics and local governance.
In fact, in the society, women struggle to reconcile activities outside the home with their
traditional roles of home keeping, child birth and upbringing. They cannot participate fully in
economic and public life, have limited access to positions of influence and power, coupled with
narrower occupational choices than men. Too often they have little or no voice in decisions made
outside the household, even their reproductive health is ignored.
These inequalities must be redressed to fulfill women’s rights, roles, improve their status
and enable countries to progress towards sustainable development. This is a task that must be
tackled holistically by joint efforts of society and government through education, orientation,
sensitization of the citizen and importantly backed by legislation and sanctions. The National
Policy on Education (1981 and 1998) indicate the government’s stand on this issues.
Section 3.17
of the 1981 and section 5 (40) of the National Policy on Education specifically stated
that “more
effort shall be made to encourage women to embrace technical education. Section 6(e) of the
National Commission for College of Education Decree (1989) also has similar provisions. This
National Policy on Education (1981) emphasized that “special efforts will be made by
Ministries
of Education and Local Government Authorities in conjunction with Ministries of Community
Development to encourage parents to send their daughters to school”. Moreover various
United
Nations Agencies have in various activities promoted education, emancipation and
empowerment
of women through their programmes in Nigeria. The WHO, UNIDO, UNICEF, UNDP,
UNESCO,
ILO, FAO and UNIFEM have initiated and sustained efforts to harness the potentials of women
in
Nigeria (Okwudili, 1995:23). Niger and Bauchi states have enacted laws prohibiting the removal
of girls from school for marriage (Abubakar, 2001:15). In addition, it is recommended that
The Nigerian Library Link, Vol. 1. No.2, October, 2004, pp. 37-44.
government should make education realistically accessible to every citizenry in a manner that
would render it inexcusable for girls to be removed from school as a result of poverty or cultural
bias.
Urgent attention should be given to this situation because empirical studies have shown that
societies that discriminate on the basis of gender tend to experience more poverty, slower
economic growth and lower quality of life than societies in which gender inequality is less
pronounced.
Moreover, if the level of literacy rises, more women will have access to information that will
dissuade them from harmful traditional practices and health risks associated with them, lead to
smaller healthier families and better reproductive health. More than any other investments, the
education of girls and women is the key to enhancing their status and this is critical to the
development process itself. There is a significant relationship between the education of girls and
women’s ability to escape from poverty, early marriages and its attendant complications,
unplanned families, high infants and maternal and mortality rates. It will break this vicious cycle
of low status, poverty, redundancy, discrimination and increase their ability to participate at all
levels.
Information
Access to information is power and it is a vital tool for the empowerment of women. When
women
have information on government policies, legal rights, reproductive health, facilities and services
they are better equipped to take advantage of opportunities, access services, exercise their rights,
negotiate effectively and hold state and non state actors accountable. Without information that is
relevant, timely and presented in forms that could be understood, it is impossible for poor people
to take effective action. Information dissemination should vary depending on the peculiarities of
the society-from the written word to group discussions, poetry, story telling, debates, street
theatre,
soap operas and other culturally appropriate forms. Other media include radio, television,
brochures, flyers, information tables at community events, meetings with women groups and the
internet. Information presented in the local languages provide enabling environment for
production of informed citizenry.
Moreover, timely access to information at the local level from independent sources is also a
necessary requirement as more countries adopt the local government structure of government.
Uninformed people cannot hold governments accountable.
Information flow from the governments to the citizens and back is of critical importance for
responsible citizenship and for responsive accountable governments. Information about rules and
rights to basic government services, about state and private sector performance, about financial
The Nigerian Library Link, Vol. 1. No.2, October, 2004, pp. 37-44.
services, markets and prices can only then be better appreciated. Information communication
technologies (ICT) play important roles in connecting poor people to these types of information.
For governments to be responsive to their poor people, they must device ways of collecting
information about their priorities and preferences. Mechanisms for providing a systematic
feedback from them must be institutionalized (World Bank, 2001:19). In fact empowering
women
is more than providing them with education, health care and protection of their legal rights. It
implies removing the barriers that prevent women from realizing or even exploring their full
potentials and recognizing their roles as vital and valuable members of society.
The Internet and Women Empowerment
According to Sadler (1995) “the Internet is not a single network of computers but a
network of
nets – a large network that connects many smaller networks to one another”. The
combination of
all these networks and the ability to exchange information between them is essentially what the
internet is all about. Presently, the real spirit of the internet is the willingness to share
information
with others so that everyone might benefit.
Information and communication technologies often play a pivotal role in broadening access
to information which is a sine qua non for empowerment to be successful. It is only the informed
that can participate, and utilize information so obtained to improve and empower themselves.
Information and communications technology (ICT) creates economic, social and political
empowerment opportunities for women in the developing world. The ICT consists of hardware,
software, networks and media for collecting, storing, processing, transmitting and presenting of
information that can be in the form of voice, data, images or text. Although most poor people and
women remain isolated from the new information revolution, cellular phones and telecenters and
other innovative solutions are in fact beginning to provide low cost ways for women’s access
to
ICT. The telecenters are shared locations that provide access to ICT for educational, personal,
social and economic development. As these technologies open communication and spread
information, ICT is helping poor people and the less privileged overcome powerlessness and
voicelessness even while structural inequalities exist in the distribution of traditional assets such
as education, land and finance.
Quite a lot of innovation has gone into the development of technology to empower
humanity, the poor and women. The “Simputer” (Simple Inexpensive Multilingual
Computer),
developed by scientists at the Indian Institute of Science and a software Company in Bangalore,
is
a user friendly and inexpensive handheld computer particularly suitable for illiterate people. The
device features locally relevant icons, touch sensitive screens and a text-to-speech function in
different languages. The Simputer can be adapted to meet a range of functions including
microbanking,
data collections, Internet access and agricultural information. It is designed to be shared
by a local community of users. It can also be rented out for a charge in telecenters (Cecchini, in
press).Women have used the Internet for organizing and lobbying at the regional and
international
The Nigerian Library Link, Vol. 1. No.2, October, 2004, pp. 37-44.
levels for many years beginning most notably in 1995 to prepare for Beijing + 5 – the fifth
anniversary of the Beijing Conference – more than 40 women’s media network formed
‘Women’s
action’. This has developed global and regional websites on women’s issues and has
also initiated
workshops to train women from all regions in the construction of websites, facilitated regional
and
national dialogues, and repackaged information downloaded from the Internet for its constituents
(Carr & Huyer, 2001).
Information technology can empower women in a broad area including the provision of
basic services, improved local and national governance, and support for entrepreneurship and
access to financial services. Through the exploitation of the potentials of the Internet, women
have
increased access to information on finance, government, education, health and agriculture.
In addition, the ‘Smart Card’ technology (Mathew, 2001) personalizes the device by
smartcard interface. The smartcard looks like a plastic credit card and has a microprocessor or
memory chip embedded in it. The chip stores electronic data and programmes that are protected
by security measures enabling controlled access by appropriate users. Smart cards provide data
portability, security, convenience and transparency of financial records and transactions. It is
available at the International Women’s Tribune center website at
httpw.w.w.iwtc.Org/start.html.
In Kothmale, Sri Lanka a joint project between the United Nations Educational Scientific
and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission of Sri Lanka uses the radio as an interface between rural people and the Internet. A
daily one hour live radio programme is broadcast during which an announcer and a panel of
resource persons browse the Internet responding to listeners requests in real time. This process
enables the project to overcome linguistic barriers to Internet use by non-English speakers. In
addition to the live programmes, the Kothmale community radio station maintains a public rural
database primarily by packaging public domain information often requested by listeners for
online
use. The radio station also functions as a mini-Internet service provider by offering Internet
access points at two public libraries located within the radio’s target area and running an
Internet
café at the radio station (Grace et al, 2001). In Uganda,a CD-ROM produced by the International
Women’s Tribune Centre in partnership with International Development Research
Center (IDRC),
Nairobi office, is providing business training and best practice information to women
microentrepreneurs.
“Rural Women in Africa: Ideas for Earning Money” developed both in English
and in local languages is available for use at rural telecenters which enables the process of peer
learning among groups of women entrepreneurs. By using sound and visuals, the CD-ROM
content is accessible to women with low levels of education. In addition to providing useful
information, the new tool was designed to give first time computer users a positive experience,
which has encouraged them to continue to use computers as well as other technologies (World
Bank, 2002:100).
In Mexico, an NGO, Women to Women, used e-mail connections with women’s groups in
California to obtain information on business practices, project structures and ownership of a
textile
The Nigerian Library Link, Vol. 1. No.2, October, 2004, pp. 37-44.
company that had announced plans to build a plant in the community. As a result, they were
better
prepared for negotiations with plant officials and management as well as with local government.
In India, the women’s rights NGO, Sakshi, faced difficulties in lobbying for sexual
harassment legislation. With help from International Women’s Networks, through the internet,
Sakshi was able to receive advice and technical assistance on legal issues surrounding sexual
harassment. As a result of these on-line discussions, the group was successful in convincing the
Indian Supreme Court to establish sexual harassment guidelines in work-places and brought the
issue within the purview of Human Rights violations.
In Nigeria, women organizations such as the Women’s Rights Advancement and
Protection Alternative (WRAPA), a non-governmental charitable organization formed in 1999
have created e-mail and website
[email protected]
[email protected]
and www.wrapa.org. It
offers legal aid counseling for women, free reconciliation/counseling for families, sensitization,
mobilization, advocacy on women’s rights and adult literacy and vocational training for
women.
It also publishes the WRAPA Newsletter, a quarterly publication for the enlightenment of women.
Its historic achievement in case of legal rights of women, discrimination against women,
economic
empowerment of women through entrepreneurial development and training is laudable (Bappare,
2001:18). It was among the NGOs that went into Networking relationship with ALF Foundation
to mobilize women with 200 participants from Nigeria who were trained in skill acquisition,
gender awareness studies, management and leadership training and principles of business
management. As a member of Electoral Reform Network (ERN), the WRAPA has made a lot of
contributions in the politics of the country and also sensitized its members on various political
matters. Through its advocacy programmes in liaison with international organizations such as
UNICEF, it campaigned against violence on women and protection of children’s rights.
Through
its prison and Legal Aid Outreach project, it has attended to the situation of women in our
prisons
and effected the release of 38 women from prison (Imahnobe & James, 2001:4). The celebrated
case of Safiya the woman condemned to death by stoning for adultery and the ease of Aisha
Maikudi who lost her hands to violence are all cases fought for and pursued by WRAPA in
Nigeria.
Conclusion
Exploiting the potentials of ICT to improve the lives of women is not automatic, it requires
supportive policies and strategic project design. The primary factor for reaching women is low
cost access to information infrastructure. However, inadequate or absence of connectivity and
unstable power supply limit the usage and jeopardize the economic viability of most ICT
projects.
Rigorous and regular monitoring, evaluation and beneficiary impact assessment are additional
key
considerations. Others include appropriateness of the content, effective intermediaries, and local
ownership are necessary for realizing the empowerment potentials of ICT.
To make it more relevant, it must make content available in local languages, convey
concepts with visuals and graphics. The information needs of a community should be thoroughly
The Nigerian Library Link, Vol. 1. No.2, October, 2004, pp. 37-44.
assessed in a participatory process that includes the active involvement of the target community
pursued by organizations and grassroots intermediaries that have appropriate incentives.
The Nigerian Library Link, Vol. 1. No.2, October, 2004, pp. 37-44.
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What explains the multidimensional nature of women's powerlessness in society?
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The paper reveals that women's powerlessness is linked to institutional barriers, both formal and informal, which hinder their control over resources and decision-making. Additionally, gender inequalities embedded in culture exacerbate their voicelessness in both household and societal contexts.
How do education and information access influence women's empowerment?
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The research shows that improved access to education and information significantly enhances women's ability to understand their rights and participate in economic and political spheres. For instance, educated women are more likely to break the cycle of poverty and achieve greater independence.
What role does ICT play in enhancing women's economic opportunities in developing countries?
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Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) create new opportunities for women's economic empowerment by facilitating access to essential information about services, rights, and market opportunities. For example, telecenters provide low-cost access to ICT resources that can significantly benefit women's entrepreneurial activities.
When did global networking initiatives for women's empowerment via the internet begin?
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Global networking initiatives gained momentum in 1995 with the preparation for the Beijing + 5 Conference, where over 40 women's media networks collaborated to advocate for women's rights online. This laid the groundwork for ongoing digital engagement among women's groups worldwide.
What specific innovations have been developed to support women's access to ICT?
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The 'Simputer' and community radio projects like those in Kothmale, Sri Lanka, illustrate innovative solutions that enhance women's access to ICT tools and the internet. These initiatives utilize user-friendly technology and local language broadcasting to effectively bridge the digital divide.
Hope Chinyere Ilorah
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka-Nigeria, Faculty Member
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EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
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Women empowerment is defined as an environment created by the women in which the women can take decisions for their own benefits and the society at large. Women's empowerment is dependent on many variables like geographical location (urban and rural), educational status, social status (caste, class, and religion) and age. Policies related to women's empowerment are there at various levels of the country or its states or local levels comprising of issues related to their health, education, opportunities in economic and political sectors and the violence that are gender-based. But there is quite a lot of difference between what is observed at the local level and what is written in the policies at large. Today, we have different laws and schemes of the Government of India as well as State Governments to empower the women in Indian society. But, the technological advances in electronic and social media in society have to play a significant role in women empowerment. The gap between female population and technological advances/social media prohibits the fundamental right to information in addition, to keep women population in dark regarding the misuse of the female and the distortion of the truth. It is said that " when women move forward, the family moves, the village/city moves, and the nation moves ". It is essential to their thought and their value systems lead the development of a good family, good society and ultimately a good nation. The best way of empowerment is perhaps through inducting women in the mainstream of development by proper technological usages and effective participation of women in social activities. Society must take initiative to create a climate with proper use of modern technology and full participation in social media in which there is no gender discrimination. Also, there are opportunities for the women for taking decisions in various walks of the country for decision and actively participate in various sectors without any discrimination. This paper highlights the role of technological advances through electronic communication in furthering the empowerment of Indian women.
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The Empowerment Potential of Internet Use Is A Way to Gender Equality
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IARCON Journals
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According to UN Human Development report the human development paradigm contains four main components-productivity equity sustainability and empowerment. T hrough enhanced capabilities, the creativity and productivity of people must be increased so that they become effective agents of growth. Economic growth must be combined with equitable distribution its benefits. Equitable opportunities must be available both to present and to future generations. And all people, women and men, must be empowered to participate in design and implementation of key decisions that shaped their lives. Human Development is impossible without gender equality. As long as women are excluded from the development process, development will remain weak and lopsided. T o understand how a group of individuals might engage in different processes of empowerment, such as utilizing the flexibility of expression offered on the Internet, we must first understand how individuals and groups are marginalized and disempowered by social institutions in real life. Author has attempted to trace a brief history of empowerment and its implications for Indian women. I have shown that the instruments for empowerment have to contend with entrenched prejudices and patriarchal modes of oppression. At the same t ime, there are indications the with conscientisation programmes and concerted efforts at changing world-views, women will garner confidence and men will learn to accept that power is not a male prerogative. For, whlile empowerment may be at the cost of a growing sense of disempowerment among the once powerful, to be meaningful and effective, capacity buildin g has also to inculcate the skills of rolesharing and participatory behaviour among the new elite.
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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Women Empowerment
Jeemina Baglari
International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences, 2014
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are emerging as a powerful tool for women empowerment in a developing country like India. The advancement of ICTs has brought new opportunities for both knowledge sharing and knowledge gathering for both women and men. To the extent that the global community can reach heretofore unconnected individuals, families, and populations to better understand their needs and challenges. Several reports have also discussed opportunities for women empowerment through ICT, e.g. through education and knowledge creation, poverty alleviation and employment generation. But there is a high degree of illiteracy inhibits use of ICT. Women especially in developing countries, lacks financial resources to purchase hardware, software and to connect to the internet. They also lack sufficient computer education and training facilities to develop the needed competencies to seize the opportunities opened up by ICTs. Therefore the step need is to open up doors o...
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EMPOWERMENT THROUGH INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES- WOMEN'S PERSPECTIVE IN INDIA
Seied Beniamin Hosseini
I n the present study, the researcher through brief overview of ICT's operation going to discuss about the impact of ICT on the women's life in India. As we know, accessing to ICT can promote sustainable socioeconomic development and develop the women's life as a significant portion of the world's population. Technology exists in a social world and when technology is considered under the social context the issues of women become of interest. Because in other words technology can affects women just as women can affects technology. But unfortunately the research and experiences determined that the more men than women have access to ICTs especially in the global south. This paper will explore that the empowerment of women can help to build their capacity to get involved in decision making in better way to effective overcome in era of social, political and economic barriers as well as strengthening them to participate in to the same processes. The researcher will express that the ICTs play very important role in empowerment of weaker segment including women, especially in rural part of India and to promote gender equality. Therefore there is need to recognize the potential of ICTs as a tool for the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment and to understand how women can have more access to participate in ICTs projects and new technologies with the aim of developing their own path. The present research work will prove that the women should not be considered as passive recipients of information and technology but as developer. And more function of NGOs towards making awareness and clarifying facilities of using this strategy for making a big improvement within women's community and their lives to be needed.
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The Utilisation of Information Communication Technology (Ict) for Women Empowerment: A Study in North 24 Pargana District
Ramesh Yadav
Global Journal of Enterprise Information System, 2020
Purpose: Women in developing countries face barriers in accessing ICT devices like mobile, computer and Internet. Being citizens of developing countries like India, women's ICT access is affected by the socio-cultural aspects and specifically in particular to rural areas. The empowerment level and ICT access pattern are two factors affecting the gender inequality index of the country. The purpose of the study is to explore the access pattern, barriers of ICT usage among women and to analyse the use of ICT by the women for empowerment. Research Design/ Methodology: This study is based on field study and statistical analysis of collected data. The researcher has used a quantitative approach in this study. The researcher has collected data from surveys among rural and urban women to access their ICT access pattern and empowerment level. The researcher uses the interview schedule method to collect the data from the selected sample size. The quantitative approach is chosen here as the researcher analyses the relationship between the variables and quantification of the variables. Findings: The study reveals that empowerment level is different in rural and urban areas as the socioeconomic situation is different in two places. Rural women don't have much access to ICT tools like the Internet and smartphones, while urban women are developed in this arena. Rural women are economically active, but they mostly belong to lower-income strata. The cultural set up of rural women is also different. Their use of ICT in economic activity is lesser than urban women. Originality/ Value: India is such a country where women face lots of problem with gender discrimination in a patriarchal society. Gender inequality is more in India and in particular to West Bengal, which is the study area. ICT provides a vast platform and opportunity for women. Keeping this in mind the study explores the role of ICT in women empowerment.
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Promoting gender equality? Some development-related uses of ICTs by women
Anita Gurumurthy
Development in Practice, 2006
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have created new economic and social opportunities all over the world. Their use, however, continues to be governed by existing power relations whereby women frequently experience relative disadvantage. Amid this inequality are individuals and organisations that are working to use ICTs to further gender equality. These are the issues addressed by the BRIDGE Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and ICTs. The first section of this article consists of extracts from the Overview Report in the Pack. It describes ways in which women have been able to use ICTs to support new forms of information exchange, organisation, and empowerment. The second section, taken from the textbox ‘Telecentres: Some Myths’, describes three assertions which frequently lead to problems in all forms of investment in development-related information exchanges with poor or less powerful groups, not only those relating to telecentres and women.
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Use of ICT in Curbing Gender Inequality and Improving Women Empowerment
olayode motunrayo
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The nature of Nigerian society is characterized with male domination, irrespective of women’s effort, they seems to be always under appreciated. The emergence of ICT has given a ray of light and comes with lot of promising solution to this inequality, more reason why emphasis has been laid on women empowerment because they are most times at the receiving end of gender inequality. The objective of this study is to explain how ICT can help reduce gender inequality and how women can be empowered through the use of ICT. Although ICTs evidently can play an important role in Nigerian development, it must be emphasized that its literacy is what will encourage the usage. The best approach to incorporating gender consideration through ICT is make sure that women are ICT literate. The first would be to make ICT policies more effective; the second would be to develop comprehensive mechanisms to treat gender issues in all ICT policies and programs. The paper recommends empowering women towards ...
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An Empirical Study of Information and Communication Technology for Empowerment of Rural Women in Ghana
Peter Adebayo A Idowu
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Empowering Women Through ICT
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Gender Empowerment through ICTs: Potential and Challenges for Women in the Caribbean
Nancy Muturi
Redes. com, 2004
Information communication technologies (ICTs) have been promoted as tools for national development and for gender empowerment in many developing countries. In the Caribbean, governments, non-governmental organizations and training institutes play a key role in ensuring access to ICTs among women. Gender empowerment is equated to access to information and technology but there are several concerns related ICT access and their effective use among women that are not adequately addressed. This study addresses these issues as well as social, cultural, economic and other factors that challenge women's access and use of communication technology. The study recommends further research in policy development to focus on identifies challenges and strategies that will ensure women's participation in their own empowerment through ICTs.
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