Women empowerment as a concept was introduced at the International Women Conference in 1985 at Nairobi, but it is yet to be achieved. Living in 21st century where both the genders are being taught and trained on women empowerment all over the world, there is a massive divide and an evident gap, both in terms of power and resources given to the women. Women are lagging behind men in almost every area. This gap become bigger if one looks into the digital realms and digital professions where women do not have the equal accessibility, affordability, and ICT-based education as compared to their male counterparts. In this backdrop, the chapter, by utilizing various national and international reports and inquiring various factors of digital gender divide, is an attempt to shed sufficient light on this prerequisite for women empowerment. The chapter concludes with the way forward which will lead us to a more digitally gender inclusive and sustainably developed society.
TopIntroduction
Ever since, women empowerment as a concept was introduced at the International Women Conference in 1985 at Nairobi, which defined it as redistribution of social power and control of resources (material, human and intellectual) in favour of women, more than three decades have been passed and still it is far yet to be achieved. Living in 21st Century where both the genders are being much taught and trained on women empowerment all over the world, still there is a massive divide and an evident gap, both in terms of power and resources given to the women. Women are lagging behind men in almost every area. This gap become more bigger if one looks into the digital realms and digital professions where women are not having the equal accessibility, affordability and ICT based education as compared to their male counterparts. The persistence of growing digital skills gender gaps, even in countries that rank at the top of the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap index (reflecting strong gender equality) demonstrates a need for interventions that cultivate the digital skills of women and girls (UNESCO, EQUALS Skills Coalition, 2019). Though there are some silver linings but still it is a long journey of bridging the gap. In this backdrop, the present paper by utilizing various national and international reports and inquiring various factors of digital gender divide is an attempt to throw sufficient light on this prerequisite for women empowerment. The paper concludes with the way forward which will lead us to a more digitally gender inclusive and sustainably developed society.
In this review-based research paper, the author by utilizing various national and international reports on digital gender divide attempts to fulfil the following objectives:
- 1.
To understand the development of the concept of women empowerment
- 2.
To understand the concept of gender digital divide
- 3.
To inquire into the factors responsible for digital gender divide
- 4.
To suggest ways leading to more digitally gender inclusive society
TopDevelopment Of The Concept Of Women Empowerment And Digital Divide
The issue of ‘women empowerment’ is now a global phenomenon. Since the origin of the United Nations Organization, the issue of women’s development has attracted the attention from the scholars worldwide, and the concept has come in the political agenda of a large number of countries. At present, the term “empowerment” has replaced the erstwhile term “development”. It took about twenty-five years for the United Nations to proclaim the year 2001 as the ‘International Year for Women’s Empowerment’ after declaring the ‘Women’s Decade’ in 1975. India also declared the year 2001 as the ‘Women’s Empowerment Year’ (Mandal,2013). Empowerment of women is not only imperative but also crucial for all-round development of society and the nation as a whole. Subsequently, it has also become a major concern of the social scientists, politicians, bureaucrats and researchers (Bhadra, 2001).