Women’s Rights Online

Why policymakers need to tackle the digital gender gap

January 3, 2019

This post was written by Ana Brandusescu and was originally published at OpenGlobalRights. Tackling the digital gender gap means more than improving internet access—it means empowering womenRead more

8 top moments from the 2018 #TechWomenAfrica Summit

October 18, 2018

Hundreds of Africa’s leading female voices in tech gathered in Accra last week for three days of high-level panels, lightning talks and workshops. The Africa Summit for Women and Girls inRead more

Related Research

Advancing Women’s Rights Online: Gaps and Opportunities in Research and Advocacy

August 17, 2018

We’re excited to share with you a short new report to help guide our future research and advocacy efforts around closing the digital gender divide. This short report, Advancing Women’sRead more

Artificial Intelligence: open questions about gender inclusion | W20 Argentina

July 2, 2018

Artificial intelligence is shaping gender relations across the world, including in developing countries, creating new challenges and opportunities for women. For their personal development andRead more

More About This Project

Internet access offers a powerful avenue for people around the world to assert their rights and to claim social, economic and political opportunities for empowerment. Yet, half the world’s population remains offline

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most of them women, and most in developing countries. Recent research shows that this persistent, pernicious digital gender gap is worsening — a fact that threatens to deepen existing inequalities and to undermine global development as the benefits of technological change are captured primarily by men. Our Women’s Rights Online network is working to reverse this trend by focusing its efforts on impacting the policy needed to bridge the gender gap in technology, data, and policymaking. Comprising women’s rights and digital rights groups across 17 low- and middle-income countries, the network wants to see evidence-based national ICT and gender plans established in at least seven new countries within the next five years.