access
Review
How internet shutdowns affect the lives of women in Manipur
What is the experience of living through frequent network shutdowns and bans on mobile internet in the context of Manipur, a region located northeast of India. This article reviews a report on shutdowns in the region, and explores the specific impacts on women, and more broadly on people living in a sensitive region.
In depth
Inclusion, mobility and connection: diverse uses of mobile phones for women with disability
Can technology-based solutions improve the quality of life for people with disabilities? Srinidhi Raghavan interviews various women who talk about how mobile phone usage has benefitted them in terms of communication and social interaction, but also about their real concerns around privacy.
Column
Gender and community networks: Researching social and gender impact
In this fourth column on gender and community networks, Nic Bidwell looks closely at the processes and difficulties of research on the social and gender impact of Community Networks in rural places, and focuses on some issues encountered in the nitty-gritty of such research.
Column
Gender and community networks: Building a movement around community networks and gender equality
In this third column on gender and community networks, GenderIT interviews Carlos Rey Moreno on what movement building around community networks is all about. How do we get policy makers, organisers, community based organisations and others invested and interested in community networks? And in this constellation of actors and organisations, how do we start talking about gender equality and...
Feminist talk
[COLUMN] Gender and community networks: Busking in policy spaces
n this column on community networks and gender, the writers will explore how communities can provide and run their own internet infrastructure, the existing forms of community networks, the legal and policy environment in which they have to exist and what are the gender dynamics around these networks. Here we interview Steve Song about the policy and regulatory environment for community...
Feminist talk
[Review] Measuring the digital divide: Why we should be using a women-centered analysis
How do we measure the difference between access to the internet for men and women? It is without a doubt that such gender internet access gap indicators contribute to defining goals for international and country-level policies. But it is important for us to interrogate the role of indicators and measures in access related work and research. Nic Bidwell analyses the use of tools proposed to...
Feminist talk
Talking community networks at AfChix TechWomen Summit 2018
In this report back from AfChix TechWomen Summit 2018, Kazanka Comfort talks about the inclusion of young women in science and tehcnology programs in university, discussions around the possibilities offered by community networks to own and manage infrastructure by the people. In particular Kazanka looks at how women are affected by sectarian conflict and working with ICTs and training in...
Feminist talk
[COLUMN] Gender and community networks: Candid reflections 10 years later
In this column on community networks and gender, the writers will explore how communities can provide and run their own internet infrastructure, the existing forms of community networks, the legal and policy environment in which they have to exist and what are the gender dynamics around these networks. The first column asks a fundamental question - what would be the costs of women NOT having...
Feminist talk
What are we looking for? : Research on Community Networks
Community networks offer an alternative to how connectivity, especially in remote areas, is largely determined by the market or state infrastructure. In this article Tigist Hussen explores the place of gender and feminist analysis in community networks, and specifically in the Zenzeleni network in Mankosi, South Africa. What she finds is surprising, humbling and insightful for researchers and...
Feminist talk
Participation, creativity and design in research methodology around ICTs
In the field of research around gender and ICTs, there is particular attention required to the question of research methodology. How do women use ICTs, what do they need them for, what is the power dynamics around access and distribution? In this specific research project around potential use of ICTs, Catalina Alzate shows how participatory action research, design and creativity can be pulled...
