32% Of Women In India Own Mobile Phones: Gender Inequality And Digital Divide Continues

The recent report of Oxfam titled, 'India Inequality Report 2022: Digital Divide' noted that less than 32% of women in India own a mobile phone - compared to over 60% of men, it signifies the role gender inequality plays in deepening the digital divide between both genders men and women.

Oxfam pointed out that gendered social benchmarks tend to dictate what is 'appropriate' for men and women in this scenario. This has led to a relatively lower level of use and assimilation of digital services for women compared to men. What Oxfam has derived from its survey is true because women using the phone are also excessively judged. SheThePeople spoke with five women about their experience of being excessively judged for using mobile phones. 

Oxfam Survey Report On Digital Divide: Women and Mobile Phones

Ragini Daliya speaks about her work and the phone use it involves. She said, "Yes, I am often judged for being a bit too much on the phone. Earlier this month I was visiting one of my relatives, who also poked me by saying that I use my phone a lot. However, what they miss out on is being on the lookout for news. Trends are the major part of my job." Daliya is a journalist by profession.

Avishka Tandon finds her escape by being on the phone when around relatives. Tandon said, "Often at parties or gatherings, I would take a corner aside from all the gossiping relatives. I socialise with people my age and stay away from nosy relatives, and when I don't have anyone my age at an event, my phone is my saviour from indulging in family gossip. Though I might just be scrolling social media or texting my sister about how boring it gets without her, the relatives would shame me saying that I am arrogant and rude and being on the phone is misbehaving." Tandon in her 20s is a content writer.

Kiran Khandagale speaking about her struggle to get a phone, said, "I was in German class, in my 12th grade, and required a smartphone for dictionary purposes. I begged my parents but they never gave up because they had this mindset that I might to get on the 'wrong route'. A year later took a phone. I had to cry and beg for a phone which was strictly needed for educational purposes. It kept me alert that I cannot so-called misuse my phone."

For many of us in urban or rural areas, the phone is a big thing at least in a middle-class family. The phone gives access to the outside world, it broadens exposure. Many new things are unleashed. Also, a person's way of thinking can evolve. More importantly, there is this assumption that a woman might start questioning. The little question of setting standards and stereotypes doesn't go down well with society.

Kavita Pawar also says people think everything that goes wrong happens because of phones. She says, "whenever I get late, it doesn't take a second for my mother to say 'Raat bhar phone dekhri hogi', there is no second thought that might be doing office work. This sometimes irritates me." 

Many can relate to Pawar. The phone is the reason behind everything that goes wrong in life, at least elders assume, because the first thing to solve any problem is confiscating or changing the number.

Urban women have their own set of problems, these become completely different for rural regions. First, the social dilemma and the financial reasons are a few elements preventing rural girls from accessing the internet. Oxfam report also highlights that women usually have handsets that cost less and are not used by men, and usage of digital services is limited to phone calls and text messages.

For a rural woman having a phone could make them powerful. The access to information could make them control the narrative and can't be blinded by superstitions or other forms of influence. It is a cheaper medium of information for education and could also be a platform to voice their opinions when people around are not ready to listen. Only 57.29 internet subscribers per 100 people in the country, and for rural areas, internet subscribers per 100 are less than 34, and it is over 101 in urban centers.

Chaya in her 50s uses her phone to learn about organic farming on YouTube. She learned farming through NGOs and advanced technics from the internet. She said, "There was a time we villagers had no idea about using phone, it was tabooed also, using phone means 'waya geleli mulgi' (girl way forward). This narrative exists now also, but some don't care, rest lockdown took care of." Chaya hails from Hingoli and works as an organic farming activist and a farmer.

Given the report's number and the anecdotes of women, digital transformation cannot be considered a solution for structural inequalities of socioeconomic realities. Like Chaya, the internet can prove a boon for rural girls for whom physical mobility is problematic given their social fabric. For urban women, using phones comes with judgment and humiliation.

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