2023-04-27 19:02:21
Nearly 90% of adolescent and young women living in low-income countries do not have access to the internet, while their male peers are twice as likely to enjoy of that accessalerted the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday.
In a new report released on International Girls in Information and Communication Technology Day, UNICEF examines the digital gender divide among young people aged 15-24 by analyzing available data on internet use, mobile phone ownership and digital skills in most low-income, lower-middle, and some middle-income economies.
The study explains that, according to this information, girls lag behind in an increasingly digital worldalthough it clarifies that there are no rigorously disaggregated figures by gender.
UNICEF warns that girls have less likely to develop the skills necessary for learning and employment of the 21st century due to lack of opportunities.
In this sense, it explained that in 32 countries and territories, girls are 35% less likely than their male counterparts to learn digital skills, including some functions as simple as copying or pasting files or folders, sending emails or transferring files.
Discrimination starts in the family
But the barriers go much deeper than lack of internet access, the report clarifies, revealing that the findings indicate that educational environments and family members play a fundamental role in the digital gender divide.
As an example, he mentions that families favor men when it comes to granting them a cell phone, thus leaving young women out of the connectivity and access to digital technology that this device allows.
It specifies that, of the 41 countries and territories studied, 40 register gender disparity in the ownership and use of cell phones in the 15-24 age group.
UNICEF found biggest gender gaps in pakistanwhere being a woman decreases the probability of owning a mobile phone by up to 60% compared to men of the same age in the same family.
“These findings have implications, as adolescent and young women’s limited access to mobile phones reduces their ability to access education, employment and other essential services critical to their well-being,” the agency warned.
Internet access is not enough
On the other hand, UNICEF affirms that promoting girls’ access to the Internet is important, but not enough for their digital training since the proportion of those with internet access at home is higher than that of those with digital skills.
She adds that gender inequality online is driven by gender inequality outside the digital world.
“The Internet can provide a pathway to mitigate the gender inequality that adolescent girls, girls and young women experience offline, but offline gender inequality can also drive the gender inequality they face online,” the report notes. .
Of the 41 countries included in the study, only nine have gender parity in terms of the digital skills of the population group between 15 and 24 years of age. Cuba ranks second from that list.
The analysis found that in countries with higher levels of gender discrimination, the parity index for digital skills tends to favor men, which shows that digital inclusion of women must start with offline laws, attitudes and practices.
Likewise, it recognizes that the barriers to access higher education opportunities and the labor market, discriminatory gender norms and stereotypes and concerns about online safety may further restrict girls’ digital inclusion and skill development.
Early exposure and access required
The study also argues that even when girls have equal access to basic reading and math skills, and perform on par with or better than their male peers, it doesn’t always translate into digital skills.
According to the document, breaking down the barriers that hold girls back requires early exposure and access to technology, training in digital skills, and efforts that address harmful gender stereotypes – especially within families – and online violence.
To close the gender gap and ensure girls have the chance to succeed in a digital world, UNICEF recommends:
- Teaching digital skills equally to girls and boys in and out of schoolincluding community programs
- protect security of girls online through safe virtual spaces, policies and laws, and education
- Promote girls’ access to peer learning, mentoring, internships and job shadowing in the digital world
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