User:DanSD19/sandbox13

= Women's empowerment =

Digital skills enhance political empowerment[edit]
Main article: Gender digital divide

Digital skills can facilitate women's engagement with local government and increase their decision-making power in their communities. The Women-gov project in Brazil and India, for instance, has helped women improve their understanding of and communication with local government via ICTs. In Brazil, the project trained female community leaders to access and utilize online data on government health services to better respond to public health concerns in their communities. In India, the project worked with women's collectives to establish women-run, internet-connected community information centres to facilitate applications for government assistance (including welfare and entitlements), which in turn improved linkages between the collectives, local authorities and public institutions.

Women with digital skills are better able to make their voices heard on local issues and influence the outcome of decisions that affect themselves and their communities. Digital skills can also empower women to participate in political movements. For instance, the anonymity of ICTs may allow some women to avoid limitations on freedom of speech in repressive societies, while collective mobilization through online networks can enable women to campaign on gender-based issues. Studies show an Iraqi women's group used a multimedia campaign, including an online component, to successfully lobby the Kurdish regional government to outlaw the practice of female genital mutilation. Images taken on mobile phones and distributed via social media have called attention to domestic violence in China and influenced media treatment of court cases on forced abortion.

 According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, there are seven success factors to empowering rural women through ICTs   : 

1.    Adapt content so that it is meaningful for them.

2.    Create a safe environment for them to share and learn.

3.    Be gender-sensitive

4.    Provide them with access and tools for sharing

5.    Build partnerships

6.    Provide the right blend of technologies.

7.    Ensure sustainability

 The regulatory role of governments (at local, national, regional, and international levels) is crucial in addressing infrastructural barriers, harmonizing and making the regulatory environment inclusive and gender-responsive, and in protecting all stakeholders from fraud and crime  '''. '''