{"id":233566,"date":"2023-03-22T20:33:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T15:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=233566"},"modified":"2023-03-22T20:33:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T15:03:55","slug":"the-stage-has-been-set-for-gender-equity-in-digital-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-stage-has-been-set-for-gender-equity-in-digital-india\/","title":{"rendered":"The stage has been set for gender equity in Digital India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Source<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">: The post is based on the article\u202f<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201c<\/span><\/b><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The stage has been set for gender equity in Digital India<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201d<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> published in <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Mint <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">on\u202f<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">22<\/span><\/b><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">nd<\/span><\/b><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> March 2023<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Social Justice<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Relevance: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">concerns associated with digital gender divide<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">News<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">: <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The article discusses the measures that can be adopted to reduce digital gender divide.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">What are the highlights of the data?<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">As per the <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">National Family Health Survey (2019-21),<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> only one in three women in India (33%) have ever used the internet, compared to more than half (57%) of men.\u202f<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Men compared to women (49% vs. 25%) <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">have used the internet twice which creates a stark digital disparity.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">India is home to the largest number of women anywhere in the world.<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> Therefore, problems that create a digital gender divide need to be addressed.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">What are the reasons behind the digital gender divide?<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Lack of access:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> Due to the low levels of digital infrastructure, internet coverage, and smartphone availability, women have less access to it than men do. The digital gender gap also widens because of gender inequality.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Digital illiteracy:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> The lack of digital literacy also causes gender divide. Girls with lower levels of functional literacy often cannot make optimum use of smartphones.\u202f<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">As per the National Family Health Survey (2019\u201321),<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> 66% of women in rural areas and 59% of women across urban and rural areas in India have not finished at least 10 years of schooling. This makes them incompetent to have digital access.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Cyber safety and security:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> The lack of proper digital literacy makes women vulnerable to online harassment, cyberbullying and cyberstalking. The fear of these in turn leads to a digital gender gap.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Read More: <\/span><\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/kurukshetra-december-summary-bridging-the-digital-divide\/\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Bridging the Digital Divide<\/span><\/b><\/a><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">What can be done to overcome the challenges of digital gender divide?<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Designing digital solutions to advance gender equity:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> Participation of girls and women in co-creation of digital solutions will increase digital adoption and aid in bridging the digital gender divide.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Digital literacy and capacity building:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> Women should be provided digital literacy because it could help them in getting new knowledge and skills which in turn may help them in getting better employment opportunities.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Responsible technology:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> Technology should be developed in such a way that it protects user privacy and data. It should also not lead to discrimination against women. For this, <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">the government and stakeholders need to collaborate along with educating users to act responsibly.<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> This would ensure a safe and secure digital environment for women and girls.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">What steps have been taken by the government to bridge the digital gender divide?<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The government has taken various initiatives such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/pradhan-mantri-gramin-digital-saksharta-abhiyaan-pmgdisha\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan (PMGDISHA)<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/kurukshetra-march-2023-summary-inclusive-development-in-education\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">National Digital Library for children and adolescents<\/span><\/a> <span data-contrast=\"none\">which has also been proposed in the Union Budget 2023-24 and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/union-minister-unveils-digital-innovation-alliance-for-g20\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Stay Safe Online campaign<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">What can be the course of action?<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Economic, social and digital empowerment for women is rising in India. Therefore, <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">women should be given ample opportunities to have full digital access<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> and technology so that they can grow, and the digital gender gap might be reduced.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: The post is based on the article\u202f\u201cThe stage has been set for gender equity in Digital India\u201d published in Mint on\u202f22nd March 2023.\u00a0 Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Social Justice\u00a0 Relevance: concerns associated with digital gender divide\u00a0 News: The article discusses the measures that can be adopted to reduce digital gender divide.\u00a0 What are the&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-stage-has-been-set-for-gender-equity-in-digital-india\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The stage has been set for gender equity in Digital India<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10501,11125],"class_list":["post-233566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-live-mint","tag-mint","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":13,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1698415098},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}