On the 8^th of March ever year, the International Women’s Day is observed. This year the theme is ‘DigitAll: Innovation and technology for gender equality’. It is important because it brings focus on the digital gender divide. The digital divide, or technology gap, is the difference between groups with access to technology and the internet and those without. Around the world, women and girls have lesser access to digital technology than men. The physical inequality of access and ownership of resources is replicated and mirrored in the digital world.

According to International Telecom Union’s latest data, the proportion of women using the Internet globally amounts to 57%, compared to 62% of men. In relative terms, the global Internet use gender gap stands at 8%. Women remain 7% less likely than men to own a mobile phone, and are 16% less likely to use mobile internet. In absolute numbers, nearly 264 million fewer women than men access mobile internet. Overtime, these gaps grow into a gap in digital skills and use of digital tools, gaps in participation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and a gap in tech sector leadership and entrepreneurship.

Why is it important to bridge these gaps? The world cannot move forward if it leaves behind nearly half of its population in the new technological revolution. The advancement of women is key to alleviating poverty, and the digital revolution provides new avenues for the economic empowerment of women. Mobile phones, Internet, digital platforms, and digital financial services open up opportunities for women including the possibility to earn income, increase employment opportunities, and access knowledge and information.

What keeps women behind? Access to education, affordability of upskilling and data services, and inherent socio-cultural biases against women.

In India too, this divide is fairly stark. As per the NFHS (2019-21) data, only 33.3% of the female population had ever used the internet, as compared to 57.1% men.  This gender gap was present across all states. In rural India, men are about twice as likely as women to have used the internet (49% vs 25%). Women’s mobile phone ownership did increase during the Covid-19 pandemic, being concentrated in smartphones, so expanding internet access. There are many flagship programs of the government like National Digital Literacy Mission and the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan that are trying to address this problem, but the road ahead is long.

The companion issue with the digital gender divide is online abuse and trolling of women. Data indicates an increase in cyber-stalking and other forms of cyber-sexual harassment, mirroring the harassment that women face in the physical world. Many women leave the online world because of this harassment.  Along with bridging the gender divide, structural changes are imperative to ensure that entrenched patriarchy and misogyny in society does not intimidate women online.

Being part of the digital transformation taking place can empower women, increase their resources and also benefit the entire society. As per research, greater inclusion of women in the digital economy brings value, both social and economic. For example, innovations coming from mixed teams are more economically valuable and have higher impact than those that only men work on.

All of us need to work in our respective spheres towards digital inclusion of women and girls, because technologies provide new opportunities to make progress, but they cannot address the underlying structural problems that create these gaps.

Published in Hindi in the Dainik Bhaskar on 21-3-2023.