CSW: Digital gap threatening push to leave no woman, girl behind

A woman uses a smartphone. In 2022, she said, 259 million more men than women were online.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • UN Women executive director Sima Bahous says that in 2022, 259 million more men than women were online, a worrying reality that jeopardises the global push of leaving no one behind.
  • Further, globally, while women occupy fewer positions in the technology sector, they also face a gender pay gap of 21 per cent, she said.

Women are 18 per cent less likely than men to own a smartphone, and far less likely to access or use the Internet, a digital divide  limiting women’s access to life-saving information. This is according to UN Women executive director Sima Bahous, who spoke yesterday during the opening of the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

The two-week global conference on gender equality ends on March 17. She said without a smartphone and internet access, women are cut out of mobile money products, agricultural extension, or online public services. In the end, she said, it affects their ability to finish their studies, make informed choices about their body or own bank accounts where they can save money and use it to invest.

"The gap in access to digital tools and opportunity is widest where women and girls are often most vulnerable," she said.

"This gap disproportionately affects women and girls with low literacy or low income, those living in rural or remote areas, migrants, women with disabilities, and older women," she added.

In 2022, she said, 259 million more men than women were online, a worrying reality that jeopardises the global push of leaving no one behind. Further, globally, while women occupy fewer positions in the technology sector, they also face a gender pay gap of 21 per cent, she said.

And  nearly half of all women working in technology have faced workplace harassment. Connection to the internet however exposes the women and girls to online violence including sexual abuse, exploitation and gender based violence.

The UN Women chief noted that studies have found that  80 per cent of children in 25 countries are at risk of online sexual abuse and exploitation,  with adolescent girls the most vulnerable.

Going forward, she said, countries must close the gender digital divide, thus ensuring equal access to digital services. She also called on governments to consider women and girls' challenges in access and use of technology when designing digital systems of delivering  government services.

She further said: "We must invest in digital, science and technology education for girls and women, including those girls who missed out on education first time around."