Given the under-representation of women in ICT policy and decision-making processes generally, ICT policies and regulations are on average silent on women's needs and views.

What's gender got to do with IT
The Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) realised early on that it was necessary to have an eye on policy development around ICTs. Borne out of a need for peer-support in Internet and computer work in the early 1990's, the network noted that because the Internet was so new and its potential so immense, it was necessary to emphasise the importance of women's participation in all aspects of this emerging technology – from basic access, training and awareness to decision-making and development. APC WNSP joined other gender media activists in insisting that the 'new technologies' form part of government agreements in the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. The small achievement of Paragraph J in the Beijing Platform of Action, put ICTs on women's movements' agenda and made governments accountable, at least on paper.

However, building awareness of the importance of gender considerations in ICT policy has not been an easy task. In the past 10 years, the gender and ICT advocacy movement has grown internationally and regionally. Punctuated by a series of regional and international events, beginning with Beijing to the most recent World Summit on the Information Society in 2005, a rights-based, gender and ICT agenda has steadily gained legitimacy.  Nevertheless, gender and ICT advocacy remains on the fringes of both the women's movement and the ICT for development sector.  Given the under-representation of women in ICT policy and decision-making processes generally, ICT policies and regulations are, in average, silent on women's needs and views. Very few governments involve women in national ICT strategy processes, or consult women's groups on the potential impacts of the policies on women's lives.

Grounding ICT policy in women's realities
Even when gender is recognised as a critical dimension of ICT policies, some actions are notably missing. One example is the recent WSIS process, where the financial mechanism proposed neglected to include a gender dimension within its articulated efforts to address development issues.

In Uganda, APC WNSP member ISIS-WICCE notes that the the national ICT policy has interesting elements, such as making computer purchases tax exempt. However, the ICTs that women use such as recorders or mobile phone technology, do not apply and are not accessible. Taxes on a women's radio station surpassed the station's entire budget. Enabling access in Uganda takes on different dimensions when scrutinised from the perspective of women's needs, use and priorities.

The long-term implications of ICT policies are difficult to decipher generally, and there is still limited analysis of how women's rights are affected by ICT policy and technological concepts.    Indeed, ICTs have brought new dimensions to more 'traditional' women's rights issues such as violence against women (VAW), economic empowerment or health and reproductive choices.  For example, women's movements must now deal with issues of cyber-stalking, pornography on the Internet, digital voyuerism and SMS (Short Message Service) harassment. Although the underlying issue of unequal power in gender relations remains central to the understanding of these sophisticated permutations of VAW, the enabling role of the ICTs behind them must be made visible and challenged.

Changing the way to see ICTs
Women on the ground and their issues of concern are the centre of the APC WNSP's ICT advocacy activities, and it approaches advocacy from many different spheres.  In 2005, the APC WNSP launched its Gender and ICT Policy Monitor, GenderIT.org, to build awareness about ICT policy from the point of view of women's critical concerns as identified in the Beijing Platform for Action, encouraging visitors to examine ICTs from a different perspective. A tool for both women's rights activists and policy makers, GenderIT.org provides resources and insights from Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe. It attempts to spell out policy implications to ensure that ICT policy meets women's needs and does not infringe on their rights. Over 500 resources collected by regional editors demonstrate that key gender and ICT issues are similar everywhere, but priorities are distinct in every region. For example, a number of studies analysing gender and ICT issues are available from South Asia, but viewpoints and realities of women, living in Central Asia or Arab countries, are not documented.

Since technology is often seen as gender-neutral, there is also little content exploring gender aspects of issues perceived as more 'technical', such as security, intellectual property rights, or Internet governance. In many policy content regulations initiatives, whether they be government-legislated or self-regulated, disempower women, women and children are approached as passive victims needing state or law enforcement protection, e.g. most policy debates around pornography. Some governments use this discourse to control and restrict freedom of expression and information.  This may lead to restrictions of the activities and communications of civil society in general, and makes it difficult for VAW survivors to access secure spaces where they can network and communicate. An Iranian women's group recently reported that words related to women, gender, or sexuality are in the top of a keywords list subject to state censorship. But more often 'illegal and harmful' content filtering initiatives based on keyword databases unintentionally end up preventing access to sites which focus on sexuality and women's sexual and reproductive health.

Policy processes on all levels must be monitored as they will have important implications for women. International and regional language document plays out in national strategies that affect women's every-day realities. For this reason, GenderIT.org provided detailed coverage of WSIS Phase II, to bring the women's movements attention to financing and Internet governance, and to assess the results of the seven-year WSIS process. Interviews with key gender and ICT advocates, Jacqueline A. Morris from Trinidad and Tobago and the Brazilian feminist, Magaly Pazello, helped make connections about the relevance of WSIS in women's lives and the challenges faced by gender advocacy. GenderIT.org's Feminist Talk, an open platform for feminist discussion and on-site reflection of ICT policy processes was a hot blogspot during WSIS. It provides space for women's personal, reflective and informal accounts of the different policy events and encourages sharing of views on particular gender and ICT issues.


Credit:
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Bringing the issues home
APC WNSP developed a series of issue papers to take an in-depth look at the interconnections of women and ICTs. In 2005, the series examined the relationship between ICTs and poverty reduction; trafficking of women, and VAW to provoke discussion, deepen understanding and seek solutions. The documents provide inputs for lobbying and indeed strengthened the language of important advocacy positions such as that of the WSIS Gender Caucus on Internet Governance submitted during WSIS Prepcom 3 and the Berlin Declaration on Women Claiming the Information Society.

Tools and training
Tools like Gender Evaluation Methodology for Internet and ICTs (GEM) are provided by APC WNSP to help understand the implications of ICT initiatives in regards to  issues that concern women in their own context. Lessons from GEM applications have demonstrated that access to and use of ICTs is a symbolic and real centre of power, and have informed national policy advocacy.

APC WNSP has identified national-level policy advocacy as a priority post-WSIS. Gender advocates in Macedonia, Zambia and Uganda have asked for assistance in language or in understanding the implications of local policy proposals, and as many governments begin developing their 'e-Strategies' more requests for orientation and support are made. To respond to this growing need, the APC WNSP plans to undertake  various capacity-building activities and the development of tools and resources which can assist local advocates in articulating well-defined gender strategies and programmes.

Training for women's groups in the practical application of ICTs in support of women's networking, campaigns and solidarity efforts, as well as in safe and secure online communication, deepens APC WNSP advocacy efforts. For example, the Women's Electronic Network Training (WENT), which takes place every year in Africa, offered hands-on training in free and open source software (FOSS) in 2005. FOSS is promoted in our ICT policy advocacy, as it has the potential to change the way women relate with ICTs, allowing for more control over the tools they use.

Celebrations
In order to celebrate innovative strategies and recognise the work and achievements of gender and ICT advocates, the APC WNSP launched the Gender and ICT Awards in conjunction with the Global Knowledge Partnership in 2003. 'Pallitathya', an innovative mobile helpline programme via cell phones for underprivileged women in rural Bangladesh beat thirty other entries from all over the Asia-Pacific to win the 2005 GICT Awards focused on ICT initiatives which promote women's economic empowerment and development. The next round of the Awards will highlight the use of ICTs in redressing all forms of violence against women.

A human rights gender and ICT agenda
The APC WNSP gender and ICT advocacy work has been strengthened and informed by working jointly in networks with communications activists and other gender and ICT advocates worldwide. The WSIS process was a significant catalyst to enable greater political investment and engagement by women's rights advocates in the field of ICTs, despite limited involvement from the wider women's movement. There are still many gender dimensions to be explored, requiring a larger and diverse participation from multiple women's movements. Particularly at the national level, gender and ICT advocacy networks are still small and lack capacity.

The engagement of women in ICT policy-making, as well as the information for development community and policy makers to recognise the gendered impact of ICTs, is critical.  The examples of shackled freedom of expression and association experienced by local organisations in Tunis during WSIS Phase II demonstrates the urgent need to incorporate a human rights framework into national ICT policy, legislation and practices – the one that also takes gender justice on board.

Katerina Fialova
Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP), Czech Republic,
katerina.fialova@apcwomen.org