Women in Uganda use the Internet far less than men according to a new survey from the World Wide Web Foundation which found that 27 per cent of men in the country were online, compared with just 19 per cent of women.
Uganda had by far the largest gender gap in Internet access among four countries included in the survey of women’s online experiences.
In Ghana, which also featured in the study, men were just six per cent more likely to be online than women, compared with 43 per cent in Uganda.
Total Internet use in Uganda remains low at 23 per cent of the population, while Ghana has reached 30 per cent.
The exclusion of women from the digital society is a huge threat to progress on gender equality and denies women opportunities to improve their lives.
The report stated, “The Internet is one of the most empowering technologies the world has ever seen, but unless women are equally able to benefit from it, the gender divide risks driving further inequality.”
A number of barriers keep people offline in Uganda, including the cost of mobile data, the lack of a suitable device, and a lack of skills needed to use the Internet as 46 per cent of women said they did not use the Internet because they did not know how, compared with 40 per cent of men.
The report, therefore, called for governments to commit to tackling the digital gender divide and invest in policies that support women to use digital technologies.
Chenai Chair, Web Foundation Research Manager for Gender and Digital Rights, said, “The digital gender divide isn’t a women’s problem, it’s everyone’s problem. The exclusion of women online threatens all of our prosperity, opportunity and wellbeing.
“If Uganda is to build a vibrant digital economy where everyone can contribute, it should invest in making sure women can use the Internet effectively as a top priority. The good news is the communications regulator has recognised digital inequality as a problem and is engaging with civil society to tackle it.”
