OLD Jayne Blog on nonprofits/ngos, communications, community engagement, volunteerism, aid & development, women's empowerment, & random thoughts

Creating women-only public Internet access points - why & how

15:22, 10 February 2010

.. Posted in Development, Relief and Advocacy Efforts


.. Link

Many women and girls cannot or may not access public Internet access points, particularly in developing and transitional countries. Home and family obligations, lack of transportation, low-literacy and perceived lack of value keep many women and girls from accessing public Internet access points.

But there's another factor that is rarely talked about: in transitional and developing countries in particular, many of these public access points can be male-dominated, with mostly male users and few -- or no -- female users, and for many women, particularly women in developing countries, this makes the public access point off-limits to them. It's off-limits because

• of how a girl or woman might be treated by the men and boys there
• a female would be uncomfortable with what some of material the men and boys around her may be looking at on the computer
• the culture discourages women and girls from being in a public place with men and boys who are not relatives
• the culture requires women and girls to have a male relative as a chaperone to be in a public place, and no chaperone is readily available
• the woman or girl could be branded as less-virtuous/dishonorable, jeopardizing her community reputation and even her safety

In Afghanistan, women and girls are denied Internet access for all these reasons. It means even educated women and girls from economically-stable families may be denied by access to the Internet for professional development, educational needs and health care information. Even if she has Internet access at home, she may have to wait until all of the men of the home are done with such - and is denied opportunities community Internet centers can bring (classes, mentoring and learning from peers).

Afghanistan -- and other developing/transitional countries -- need women-only public Internet access points. Or at least women-only hours at such points. I wish I was in a position to make it happen myself. Until then, I'm collecting information that might be helpful to a person or organization interested in undertaking such venture. Please contribute! Or, let's discuss.

(I've been compiling this information for years, but I didn't pull it all together onto a web page until I was invited to speak to DTC 475 Digital Diversity, taught by Kathi Rick, at Washington State University Vancouver. Thanks to Nicolas Wilson for the invitation to the class!)