GenderIT.org feminist talk

In this article, Serene Lim takes a closer look at how questions of access to the internet relate to the struggles of indigenous people and their movement for rights. Rather than the top-down imposition of connectivity, projects for access should align with their social context and as part of their right to sustainable development and right to equal participation.

There is no opting out. Internet connectivity and information technology are now embodied in our collective shared human condition, cutting across geographical boundaries and different spheres of our lives and identities. As governments move towards e-government, whether you like it or not, you are in a digital system of some kind or other even if you do not have access to the internet.

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Editatonas - are Wikipedia edit-a-thons that are exclusively for women. The reason for these events is to deal with the stark difference and lack of representation for women on Wikipedia as compared to men. This is also reflected in that only 10% of Wikipedian editors are women. Carmen Alcazar explores what editatonas do to change that.

Photograph of Editatona Mujeres Internacionales en la Biblioteca Vasconcelos, México by Wotancito. Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Translated from here

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Editatonas - are Wikipedia edit-a-thons that are exclusively for women. The reason for these events is to deal with the stark difference and lack of representation for women on Wikipedia as compared to men. This is also reflected in that only 10% of Wikipedian editors are women. Carmen Alcazar explores what editatonas do to change that.

Photograph of Editatona Mujeres Internacionales en la Biblioteca Vasconcelos, México by Wotancito. Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

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Ni Una Menos (Not One Woman Less) is a popular feminist uprising originating in Argentina that spread across parts of Latin America, and then across to Poland, Spain and Italy as well. This article traces the origins of this fiery and defiant moment that became a hashtag and a movement, and how it links to technology and social media and to other movements across the world.

Photograph by TitiNicola, under Creative Commons License Attribution Share Alike from Wikimedia Commons.
Translated from here

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Ni Una Menos (Not One Woman Less) is a popular feminist uprising originating in Argentina that spread across parts of Latin America, and then across to Poland, Spain and Italy as well. This article traces the origins of this fiery and defiant moment that became a hashtag and a movement, and how it links to technology and social media and to other movements across the world.

Photograph by TitiNicola, under Creative Commons License Attribution Share Alike from Wikimedia Commons.

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In July 2017, an eclectic and vibrant group got together in Harare, Zimbabwe, including feminists in journalism, visual art, internet rights activism, digital security, movement building, as well as sex and sexuality rights activism. These are their reflections on the feminist principles of the internet and their value in their own context.

Image Source: Photograph by Fungai Machirori

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In July 2017, an eclectic and vibrant group got together in Harare, Zimbabwe, including feminists in journalism, visual art, internet rights activism, digital security, movement building, as well as sex and sexuality rights activism. These are their reflections on the feminist principles of the internet and their value in their own context.

Image Source: Photograph by Fungai Machirori

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In this last column by Chenai Chair following the gender implications of the research by Research ICT Africa on access, she explores how researchers and activists can proactively explore gender dimensions. Even as ITU figures point to a progressively increasing gender digital divide, there are steps to take to understand and address this divide.

Image Source: Research ICT Africa. Photograph by C Stork. Location: Mozambique surveys

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In this last column by Chenai Chair following the gender implications of the research by Research ICT Africa on access, she explores how researchers and activists can proactively explore gender dimensions. Even as ITU figures point to a progressively increasing gender digital divide, there are steps to take to understand and address this divide.

Image Source: Research ICT Africa. Photograph by C Stork. Location: Mozambique surveys

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The sustainable development goals explicitly mention gender equality, yet how will this be achieved and how is this linked to the potentially transformative role that ICTs could play. If the SDGs are going to use ICTs as a vehicle to achieve the goals then we need to use an intersectional and multi-pronged approach to ensure that women, girls and other marginalized groups are not left behind.

Short answer, everything

I recently attended the Sri Lankan Internet Governance Forum (IGF) where I spoke on a panel that discussed the linkages between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Internet. My intervention was framed around two questions.

1. Technology and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been recognized as major drivers for achieving sustainable development and achieving targets across the SDGs. How are women and girls placed in this?




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The sustainable development goals explicitly mention gender equality, yet how will this be achieved and how is this linked to the potentially transformative role that ICTs could play. If the SDGs are going to use ICTs as a vehicle to achieve the goals then we need to use an intersectional and multi-pronged approach to ensure that women, girls and other marginalized groups are not left behind.

Short answer, everything

I recently attended the Sri Lankan Internet Governance Forum (IGF) where I spoke on a panel that discussed the linkages between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Internet. My intervention was framed around two questions.

1. Technology and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been recognized as major drivers for achieving sustainable development and achieving targets across the SDGs. How are women and girls placed in this?




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As the Supreme Court of India determines the contours of the right to privacy and who in Indian territory has it, Mythri Prasad-Aleyamma critiques many of the assumptions around the opposition to Aadhar. This critique is grounded in the differences of how surveillance and privacy are known and experienced by those who are vulnerable for varied reasons, but especially those who are migrants or Muslim.

Queing up for Aadhar. Image source: By Biswarup Ganguly, 2012 from Wikimedia Commons. CC license Attribution.

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As the Supreme Court of India determines the contours of the right to privacy and who in Indian territory has it, Mythri Prasad-Aleyamma critiques many of the assumptions around the opposition to Aadhar. This critique is grounded in the differences of how surveillance and privacy are known and experienced by those who are vulnerable for varied reasons, but especially those who are migrants, Muslim or of lowered castes.

Queing up for Aadhar. Image source: By Biswarup Ganguly, 2012 from Wikimedia Commons. CC license Attribution.

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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.

Image source: author

Connecting the next billion, is rightly so, an important issue in ensuring everyone has the choice to access the internet. Women, and in particular those with low levels of income and education, are more likely to be the unconnected. However, gaining access is one thing, but what are the challenges that limit men and women’s experience of the internet and present a barrier to access? In this penultimate article reflecting on the finding from Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Rwanda, we look at the gendered barriers to internet access and use.

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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.

Image source: author

Connecting the next billion, is rightly so, an important issue in ensuring everyone has the choice to access the internet. Women, and in particular those with low levels of income and education, are more likely to be the unconnected. However, gaining access is one thing, but what are the challenges that limit men and women’s experience of the internet and present a barrier to access? In this penultimate article reflecting on the finding from Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Rwanda, we look at the gendered barriers to internet access and use.

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In this column, Samukelisiwe explores how women in the global South have started using social media to make up for the lack of representation of black and brown women in mainstream media. Women of colour, people with disability, gender non conforming persons and others now use the internet to explore their image and their body, and form communities that celebrate different ways of being.

Image sources: Photograph(left) by Amanda Hirsch; Photograph(right) by Nicole Marie Edine. Licensed under CC Attribution

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In this column, Samukelisiwe explores how women in the global South have started using social media to make up for the lack of representation of black and brown women in mainstream media. Women of colour, people with disability, gender non conforming persons and others now use the internet to explore their image and their body, and form communities that celebrate different ways of being.

Image sources: Photograph(left) by Amanda Hirsch; Photograph(right) by Nicole Marie Edine. Licensed under CC Attribution

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The Stockholm Internet Forum 2017 focused their discussions on the links between access and power. In this article Shaikh Rafia Sarwar examines how access is linked to women's empowerment and particularly their economic empowerment. And whether the debate around access should focus on economic, cultural and social empowerment of women through and outside technology, rather than ensuring access to devices and internet via civil society projects.

Photo taken by author at SIF 2017

Hundreds of activists, advocates, journalists, researchers, donors, and just about everyone else converged into the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea – the city of Stockholm – to discuss powe“r and access online. 10PM sun aside, this year’s Stockholm Internet Forum (#SIF17) for easy tracking of the event on Twitter) was stronger than ever before and saw its participants and panelists talk about some real hard and somewhat depressing questions.

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Africa is flooded with zero rating services such as Free Basics (Facebook’s zero rating scheme) and other subsidised data strategies. Do these schemes make internet more affordable and bring access to more people? In this column Chenai Chair examines whether ordinary people perceive such schemes as useful.

Photograph by Omaranabulsi under CC BY-SA 3.0 license

 

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In this new column on reclaiming social media for addressing women's issues and feminist concerns, Samukelisiwe Mabaso begins by looking at the rising rates of femicide in South Africa (and other parts of the world). Various spontaneous movements led and powered by women have arisen and use technology and social media to amplify their voices and ensure their demands are met.

In May 2017, countless South African women took to Twitter and Facebook to share their harrowing experiences of abuse under the hashtag #MenAreTrash. The outpour of tweets and Facebook posts was sparked by the murder of Karabo Mokoena, a 22-year-old woman who was allegedly killed and burned by her boyfriend. Although the wording of #MenAreTrash has caused controversy, that will not be the focal point of this column.

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