https://medium.com/mozilla-internet-citizen/lets-close-the-internet-gend...

Lets Close the Internet GenderGap

By Michaela Smiley

On International Womens Day each year, we celebrate women in our

own lives who we respect and admire, and we remember with
gratitude women of history who have championed gender equality.
Were also reminded that there is so much more work to be done.
Closing the wage gender gap will take 177 years if we dont pick up
the pace; only 14.6% of CEOs are women; womens leadership in
government is strikingly low; and education access and enrollment
continues to lag for girls around the world.
Every gender disparity demands laser focus. And, the internet is a
building block on which many solutions can be built. Therefore,
digital inclusion the idea that the Internet is accessible, welcoming
and safe for all is essential so that all people, women included, can
both contribute to and also reap the bene ts of the open Web.

The Internet gendergap

The Internet is not yet an equal playing eld. Women are still about
50% less likely to be connected to the Internet than men. We must do
better, and we can start by acknowledging the obstacles to womens
participation online.

Access. Women in the developing world (speci cally, in urban poor

communities of Africa, Latin America and Asia) are 50% less likely to
have Internet access than men. Cost is one of the signi cant factors
contributing to the lack of access for women. The cost of the internet
is a higher nancial burden for women given pay disparities around
the world.

Education. According to the World Wide Web Foundation, women are

1.6 times more likely than men to report lack of skills as a barrier to
being on the Internet. Education is a strong determinant of Web
literacy and internet use. Consider that urban poor women with at
least some secondary education are six times more likely to be online
than their peers without secondary education.

Harassment. Women in particular are targets of cyber-harassment

and violence across a range of online platforms, and this leads to
mistrust and retreat from the Web. With this in mind, its not
surprising that women are 52% less likely than men to express
controversial views online.

The great democratizer

A healthy, inclusive Internet that is accessed by more women and is
friendlier to women can help close gender gaps all over the world.
Rich with content, the Internet enables knowledge cultivation,
learning, critical thinking and skill building. Moreover, the Internet is
a catalyst for invention and innovation. It connects and empowers
people to compete and play in a global marketplace.

In essence, the Internet has the potential to serve as a great

democratizer at scale. But, if women are deprived from accessing the
Internet and expressing themselves online, we all lose. Those missing
women have the potential to take the next generation of the Web to
places we cant even imagine, re ecting a better world.

Making digital inclusion real

Liza Durn leads regular training for women in Mexico on how to use
the Internet in safe, inviting learning spaces. Passionate about helping
others discover their potential, she has also run workshops for seniors,
teaching them how to use computers for the rst time.

Across the world in South Africa, Mmaki Jantjies recruits recent

university graduates to teach women and girls how to use and
contribute to the Web. She serves as a role model for young girls,
demonstrating that a career in technology is indeed possible for
women.
Liza and Mmaki are leaders of Mozilla Clubs focused on making
digital inclusion real through Web literacy and education programs at
the local level. They draw on a comprehensive curriculum that covers
topics like Web navigation; content creation; coding; online rights,
privacy and security; and connecting to opportunities linked to
womens leadership, civic participation and economic empowerment.

As a non-pro t, Mozilla is dedicated to keeping the Internet healthy,

open and accessible to all. Through a partnership with UN Women,
Mozilla Clubs for women and girls are just one of the ways were
working to make this happen.

Mozilla creates open curricula that empowers people to create safe

spaces online, like the Teaching Kit: Combating Cyber Violence
Against Women and Girls. We also are a champion for equal rating,
building a global community to research and innovate sustainable
models to make the entire open internet accessible and a ordable to
everyone. And, we recently published the Internet Health Report,
highlighting what is helping and what is hurting the internet, so
that we can all be smarter when it comes to creating and protecting
the Web for all people regardless of gender, wealth, abilities, age,
sexual orientation, race, or national origin.

We are committed to giving all people unconditional support to

accessing the Internet and being welcomed online.

5 easy ways to help women thriveonline

We can all do our part to make the Web a more inclusive place. Below
are 5 easy ways you can personally help women thrive online.

Acknowledge and encourage womens contributions online.

Show them public thanks using # womenoftheweb.

Treat others with respect online and appreciate each others

di erences. If you witness an instance of cyber violence or
bullying, record it and report it. Moreover, talk to your kids
about cyber bullying, and encourage their teachers to do the
same.

Offer your own technical know-how to family members,

friends and neighbors. Or, start a Mozilla club like Liza and
Mmaki did,
 with a digital inclusion focus.

Donate your old computers, laptops, and phones to non-pro ts

like Reconnect, Students Recycling Used Technology, or
Interconnection, who refurbish and redistribute them to
underserved communities.

Become a more informed citizen who rises to having

conversation and debate about solutions by reading up and
getting involved with organizations that are doing good for
women. Heres a non-exhaustive list to get you started:

Digital Opportunity Trust (youth empowering others with tech)

Girls Who Code (digital skill building for girls)

Global Fund for Women (championing equality in the

developing world)

I Holla Back (ending online harassment)

ITU (the United Nations agency for information technologies)

UN Women (so that every woman can exercise her human

rights)

WorldPulse (social network connecting women and speeding up

change)

World Wide Web Foundation (advancing the Web as a public

right)

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 YWCA (eliminating racism and empowering women)

Together, we can forge a more inclusive, gender equal world and Web.