Impact of Technology on Women's Political Participation

What is the impact of technology on the ability of women leaders to run for the offices and win?

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Access to technology offers new avenues

Submitted by vawotwi on Mon, 2007-02-26 13:08.

Access to technology offers new avenues for women voters, candidates and leaders to participate in politics and to ensure their voices are heard on issues that directly affect their lives. Technology when properly leveraged can put more power and control in the hands of women candidates because it offers an affordable channel for women politicians to reach out directly to their constituency and to mobilize them to action.

Access to Technology Offers New Avenues

Submitted by Boitumelo on Fri, 2007-04-06 20:09.

I wish to share an experience that enabled women to appreciate technology and see its benefit. The conference sponsors went a step further, they provided laptops for each of 110 delegates.

This was at the 1999 launch of Women Waging Peace in Boston, Massachusetts, hosted by Ambassador Swanee Hunt.

For me this was a critical intervention to giving a window of opportunity and providing resources at the same time. Each morning session started with training on basics and advanced skills in internet and email usage.

I propose that all women and gender focused workshops and conference integrate on site technology training sessions especially email and internet based research.

This will fast track development of this vital tool and skill.

Whilst it might not be possible to supply computer equipment, it does inspire one to invest in it or value one in the house or office.

PS. Can websitemaster of this website add spell check on the Comment block if possible, please!

Boitumelo Mofokeng
South Africa
Founder of Keepers of Memories &
Director/Owner of Media Pack - Media & Public Relations Company

Technology remains a potential

Submitted by maawuli on Tue, 2007-02-27 08:06.

Technology certainly presents new and unprecedented opportunities for women’s active participation in politics. However, considering the fact that there is still a huge digital divide between men and women, I cannot say that technology has given women any exclusive advantages. I think it remains a huge POTENTIAL to be tapped, in ways that can positively impact and enhance the “voice” of women in political processes.
An important factor here is - ACCESS: there should be deliberate initiatives to ensure and improve women leaders’ access to technology. There are some simple and basic technologies/ skills that cam make a huge difference in terms of both creating opportunities for women to be heard as well as enhancing the effectiveness of women leaders. We at WISE and WIELD did a survey in 2003 to identify the key challenges that African women in influential political and business position face, it was shocking to learn that some of them were talking about “basic” things such as emails or their inability to do simple research on line. These are basic and practical things that organizations working on women’s leadership can focus on.

Technologie et députés non scolarisées

Submitted by diane on Tue, 2007-02-27 16:17.

Je soutiens tout à fait votre argument en ce sens que les nouvelles technologies peuvent se révéler être un réel potentiel pour les femmes en politique, cependant il faut en relativiser leurs bénéfices dans de nombreuses situations, telle que par exemple dans le cas des députés non scolarisées.
En effet, en Afrique de l’Ouest, les parlements nationaux accueillent en leur sein, suite aux élections, de nombreux députés non scolarisés. Les taux varient d’un pays à l’autre et les parlements de la sous-région ont des approches différentes face à ce problème. En effet, le fait de ne pas savoir lire, ni écrire ni s’exprimer dans la langue officielle pose de sérieux obstacles à cette catégorie de députés lorsqu’ il s’agit de participer efficacement aux travaux parlementaires et de suivre, interagir et voter durant les débats notamment. Par conséquent, les nouvelles technologies présentent de nouvelles opportunités mais il faut cependant relativiser ces bénéfices pour les femmes appartenant à la catégorie des députés non scolarisés pour lesquelles des mesures plus specifiques devraient être utilisées conjointement avec le développement des nouvelles technologies comme par exemple: formation pour remédier à leurs lacunes ; bénéficier d’un soutien institutionnel (cellule d’appui et formation par le parti et le Parlement) ; et notamment voir les procédures s’assouplir (Règlement intérieur, choix de la langue de travail) afin de s’adapter à leurs besoins.