US Congressman: In Azerbaijan, only 14% of women have ever been online, while 70% of men have access to the net
Top US Congressman calls for international action to address the out-of-date taboo that technology is somehow inappropriate for women and girls.
Speaking at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on women’s access to technology in developing countries, Congressman Eliot Engel, the ranking member of the Committee, said that women in developing countries are 23% less likely than men to be online. In South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, the gap is nearly 35%. And in sub-Saharan Africa, it jumps to 45%. 'Those are really shocking statistics'
Engel also spoke about Azerbaijan, TURAN's correspondent reports.
'Only 14 percent of women in Azerbaijan have ever been online while 70 percent of men have access to the Internet,' he said.
In India and Egypt, one in five women reported believing that the Internet is inappropriate for them. 'Their reasons for not getting online ranged from concerns that their families would disapprove, to not knowing how the Internet could benefit their lives.'
For Congressman Engel, some of this disparity is due to structural economic inequality. The cost of technology can be prohibitive in places where women are not full participants in their economies. Some of this problem stems from other norms and ideas about women and girls that keep them as second-class citizens.
'Keeping women and girls on the sidelines of society is a major drag on growth and prosperity,' he said. 'When women become full economic and political participants, the results are huge in terms of driving economic progress, improving health and education, and raising standards of living. Getting more technology in the hands of more women is a critical way to tap that potential.' -25В-
Raufoglu. A
Politics
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