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ICTs Are Not a Magic Bullet for Women’s Empowerment

Ineke Buskens, Heloise Emdon, and Anne Webb IDRC Photo: Geneviève Lefebvre

2009-06

“ICTs are not necessarily a solution. They are fitting into an existing environment,” said Anne Webb, research coordinator of the Gender Research in Africa into ICTs for Empowerment Network (GRACE) at the book’s Ottawa launch on May 21.

African Women & ICTs: Investigating Technology, Gender and Empowerment is the result of extensive research carried out by GRACE with financial support from IDRC.

For three years, 14 research teams in 12 African countries examined how African women are using ICTs and whether these tools are bettering their lives.

Focus groups, in-depth interviews, and participant observations allowed the researchers to compose a full picture of ICT use among African women. To address the challenge of working with women not accustomed with sharing their thoughts or ideas, the research team also employed artwork and a “dream process” where participants were asked to visualize a future of equal opportunity.

“We wanted to find out how the women understand their current situations, how they imagine the world should look if they had the means to make it so, and to consider what would need to be in place for them to pursue those visions,” said Webb.

Gender inequalities remain

The research showed that women enjoy fewer benefits from ICTs than men, and that existing gender inequalities are often unaffected, or even perpetuated, by ICT use. It also found that gender-based obligations, societal biases, and even physical strength can restrict women’s ability to learn about or use new technologies.

For example:

• Responsible for running households, women are less mobile and have less free time than men, and therefore cannot easily take advantage of training and other resources; 
• Male university students discourage their female peers from accessing computers in labs by pushing them out of line; 
• Women often feel uneasy or unwelcomed when visiting Internet cafés on their own; 
• ICT use can shift family dynamics and the balance of power, causing strife in the home which can lead to arguments, violence, divorce, and even death.

Despite all this, says Ineke Buskens, GRACE’s Project Leader and Research Director, when properly managed, ICTs can make, and are making, a difference in African women’s lives.

“The power to connect, to mobilize is unique to ICTs, and that can be used for women’s empowerment.”

Examples outlined in the book include:

• Researchers in Morocco found that ICTs are helping raise awareness about domestic violence; 
• Ugandan women are earning income by running mobile payphone businesses; and 
• Senegalese fishmongers and fish processors are using mobile phones to save time, build and maintain relationships with clients, and communicate with family.

ICTs can be transformative

“The research is demonstrating that in Africa, the use of ICTs can be transformative,” said Heloise Emdon, program manager for IDRC’s Acacia program. “However, ICTs remain tools, they are not a panacea.”

Policy recommendations that could ensure that the potential of empowerment offered by ICTs is better met are outlined in the book.

“There is very clear advice for policymakers, governments, boards of universities,” said Buskens. “Our next task will be to make these policy guidelines very explicit.”

The book was first launched in Dar es Salaam on April 24, in Toronto on May 20, and finally in Ottawa on May 21.

Listen to Heloise Emdon, Anne Webb, and Ineke Buskens describe the project’s unique challenges and approach (29:00)

Listen to Heloise Emdon as she outlines a few highlights from the research (4:50)

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