A monthly series from the Web Foundation

The digital gender gap is not a women's problem.
It's everyone's problem.
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In this edition, we untangle the global digital gender divide that keeps hundreds of millions of women and girls on the sidelines of our online world and outline how governments and companies can promote inclusion.
The internet has broken down barriers for millions previously held back by their geography, wealth, race, class and gender.

But for all our progress, many of the inequalities we find offline are replicated online, limiting the internet’s egalitarian potential. Globally men are still 21% more likely to be online than women — rising to 52% in the world’s least developed countries.

And digital gender inequality is not just about access. Gaps in digital skills and quality of connectivity, and online violence that disproportionately impacts the safety and rights of women and girls leave us with a web that does not work equally well for men and women.

This is a huge threat not only to gender equality, but to all of our prosperity, opportunity and wellbeing.

If we don’t take action now to close this digital gender gap, we’re only reading half the book. We will miss out the talents, ideas and experiences of women and girls across the globe. Read our latest report to learn more about how we can make sure women and girls are able to participate fully online.

Chenai Chair
Research Manager, Gender and Digital Rights
@chenaichair

Digital gender inequality, in numbers

48% — 48% of women around the world use the internet, compared to 58% of men (ITU).

17% — In Colombia, we found a 17% gender gap in meaningful connectivity. This was driven by men having more frequent access to the internet and faster connections (Web Foundation).

1 in 5 — 1 in 5 girls (19%) have left or significantly reduced use of a social media platform after being harassed (Plan International).

48% — 48% of women in Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia and Uganda who don’t use the internet said this is because they don’t know how (Web Foundation).

13 — Women and girls are 13 times less likely than men to file for a technology patent (EQUALS Global Partnership)

Less than 35% — On average, women constitute less than 35% of ICT and related professions (EQUALS Global Partnership)

29% — In Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia and Uganda, men were 29% more likely to post about social or economic issues than women and 29% more likely to sell products and services online (Web Foundation).

“The dream is that the web is a space where everyone’s opinion counts, where everyone matters, where everyone can be their full self. Can we consider the web to be an empowering space where people can actively participate and raise their concerns if the groups who are typically silenced in the offline space are also silenced online?” 

Chenai Chair, Web Foundation Research Manager for Gender and Digital Rights

Resources to explore

🌐  Even where women are closing the gap on basic internet access, they face additional barriers to using the internet and fully participating online. Our new report provides a snapshot of digital gender inequality across four countries in three regions.


📱 Despite some progress, there remains a substantial mobile gender gap across low- and middle-income countries. GSMA found that women are less likely than men to both own a mobile phone and to access the internet on a mobile device.


🛑  The Covid-19 crisis has sparked a shadow pandemic: an escalation of gender-based violence, both offline and online. Glitch found that nearly 1 in 2 women and non binary people have experienced online abuse since the beginning of the pandemic.


🌍  Online harassment and abuse fundamentally affects how women navigate and use the internet. Pollicy examines the online lived experiences of women in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa.


❌  This abuse and harassment is driving girls across the globe off Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, according to the Plan International’s global survey on online violence.


🖥  STEM industries fall dramatically short in gender parity. The EQUALS Global Partnership examines what action is needed to make sure women and girls can become users, shapers and creators of digital technology and the role education plays in closing the digital skills gender gap.

Governments and companies must get serious about closing the digital gender gap & promoting more inclusive societies

Our 2020 Women’s Rights Online report calls for action to make sure women and girls can access the full benefits of digital technology. We’re urging governments and companies to take the following steps:
 

1️⃣  Make a public commitment that they are working towards closing the gender digital divide and protecting women’s rights online.
 

2️⃣  Collect (and then use!) data on how women use ICTs, to inform digital policymaking.
 

3️⃣  Prioritise meaningful connectivity for women — setting ambitious targets that ensure women have the devices, speeds, data and regular access they need to fully benefit from internet access.
 

4️⃣  Promote digital skills and ICT education to encourage women and girls to use the internet, create content online and navigate the online world safely.
 

5️⃣  Safeguard the online privacy of women and girls — which in turn makes the web safer for women, and for everyone. 
Read the report to learn more.

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