Online Activism for Women's Rights

Abstract

Activists working online have recognized the potential of the Internet as a force for social change. Women are using the technology as a form of empowerment, by creating women's venues, resources, and networks for organizing. Meanwhile, policies to bring about a connected society have not used a gender-based analysis in the planning and implementation of "public" resources. The discrepancy between the growing expectation of greater democratic participation through the use of Internet resources, and the discouraging reality of the promotion of inequality through the lack of the use of a gender-based analysis, has resulted in growing tension over information/communications technology (ICT) resource allocation. Networking and strategizing among women and women's groups have led to activism, such as the Women's Internet Campaign, which addresses ICT as a women's rights issue.