gender equity

In this year-end edition we look at the state of internet and sexual rights, communication rights globally, and particularly in South Asia. The editorial by Subha Wijesiriwardena looks at the place of women within the struggle for rights around sex, sexuality and sexual expression, and particularly the movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer people (LGBTIQ) and their…

Sanitary Panels is ironic yet hard hitting, where social commentary masquerades as a web comic and makes us rethink many of our assumptions. Here the comic explores aspects of gender and technology including discrimination faced by women in STEM education and careers.

What does movement building look like in a digital age? Even as we are increasingly aware of and dependent on the internet for public engagement and mobilisation of ideas, have networked technologies significantly impacted on the characteristic and sustainability of movements?

Kenya has few protections for the people within its own country who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or queer. In this article Njeri Gateru traces their journey and that of the organisation National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in Nairobi - the difficulties they have faced and their use of online tools and spaces.

Womxn in global south are making revolutionary uses of social media, and this includes people challenging casual and everyday ableism. In her column Samukelisiwe Mabaso looks at three amazing projects from different countries that are revolutionizing how disability is talked about - how they are changing language, discourse and perceptions

A powerful discourse around ‘digitally empowered society’ and ‘knowledge economy’ have been added to the neoliberal Indian vocabulary, while access to basic quality education, teachers, schools, infrastructure and so on are still major issues faced by the underprivileged in India. Identities are being formed around new interactive practices, particularly for young Dalit women. This article…

In this article, Serene Lim takes a closer look at how questions of access to the internet relate to the struggles of indigenous people and their movement for rights. Rather than the top-down imposition of connectivity, projects for access should align with their social context and as part of their right to sustainable development and right to equal participation.

Editatonas - are Wikipedia edit-a-thons that are exclusively for women. The reason for these events is to deal with the stark difference and lack of representation for women on Wikipedia as compared to men. This is also reflected in that only 10% of Wikipedian editors are women. Carmen Alcazar explores what editatonas do to change that.

In this last column by Chenai Chair following the gender implications of the research by Research ICT Africa on access, she explores how researchers and activists can proactively explore gender dimensions. Even as ITU figures point to a progressively increasing gender digital divide, there are steps to take to understand and address this divide.