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Empowering Women and Communities through Digital Rights and Wikimedia's Role in Africa's Future

By Candy Tricia Khohliwe

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Introduction

    • Wikimedia contributor
    • Wikimedia Botswana Co-Founder
    • Based in Botswana
    • Email: ckhohliwe@gmail.com

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Hi! I’m Candy!

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Agenda

  • Digital Inclusion
  • Why This Matters
  • Significant Barriers to Digital Inclusion for Women in Africa
  • Gender Gaps in Wikipedia
  • Wikimedia's Crucial Role in Promoting Inclusion and Equity
  • Effective Strategies and Initiatives for Empowering Women
  • Online Harassment – stats:
  • The Impact
  • Protecting Privacy & Access for African Women Wikimedians
  • Recommendations

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Digital Inclusion

    • Digital inclusion = access + skills for full participation in digital society
    • The internet holds empowering potential, especially for African women

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Why Digital Inclusion Matters

    • Empowers women economically, socially, and politically
    • Drives national growth through women’s participation
    • Enables access to education, civic engagement
    • Exclusion limits potential for progress

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Significant Barriers to Digital Inclusion for Women in Africa

A multitude of factors contribute to the persistent digital gender gap in Africa.

    • Economic Constraints: Affordability remains a major barrier, with African women being significantly less likely to own smartphones due to financial limitations (GSMA, 2023).
    • REPORT: "GSMA (2023) highlighted that African women are significantly less likely to own smartphones due to financial limitations."
    • Digital Illiteracy: Lack of digital skills severely limits women's engagement online, particularly in rural areas (Web Foundation, 2020).
    • Sociocultural Norms: Cultural restrictions on women's mobility and societal expectations can limit their access to technology and online spaces (CIPESA, 2022).
  • Safety Issues: Fears of online harassment and gender-based violence deter women from participating online (CIPESA, 2022).

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Gender Gaps in Wikipedia

    • Platforms like Wikipedia exhibit a significant gender imbalance in content creation.
    • Despite being nearly half of Wikipedia's readers, women globally constitute only 13% of editors, and only 19% of biography articles feature women (Wikimedia Foundation, 2024).
    • This gap is even wider in Africa, with significantly lower female representation in online content (Scholar Media Africa, 2024).
    • These disparities perpetuate gender biases and limit the representation of women's contributions and perspectives online (Wikimedia Foundation, 2024).

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Effective Strategies and Initiatives for Empowering Women

Various approaches across Africa are proving successful in enhancing women's digital participation.

Skills Training and Mentorship: Digital literacy training and mentorship programs significantly boost women's confidence and competence online, enabling them to contribute to platforms like Wikipedia (Web Foundation, 2020; Wiki Loves Women, 2023).

Affordable Access Initiatives: Efforts to make internet access more affordable are crucial for bridging the economic gap (GSMA, 2023).

Safe Online Environments: Creating and advocating for safer online spaces is essential to encourage women's participation (CIPESA, 2022).

Content Creation Campaigns: Targeted campaigns encourage women to create and contribute content on digital platforms.

Policy Advocacy: Advocating for gender-responsive ICT policies at national and continental levels is vital for systemic change (ACHPR, 2022; African Union, 2020).

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Online Harassment – Stats

– 58% of young African women have experienced online harassment (Web Foundation).

– 46% of African women parliamentarians report it.

– 75.4% of Kenyan women journalists.

– 1 in 5 Kenyan women considered quitting social media due to abuse.

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The Impact

Self-censorship: Women silence themselves online.

Restricted access: Many avoid platforms or don’t post at all.

Digital dropout: Talented voices leave — for good.

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Protecting Privacy & Access for African Women Wikimedians

For individuals:

  • Use secure passwords and two-factor authentication
  • Use pseudonyms or usernames to protect identity
  • Be cautious with personal information

For platforms like Wikimedia:

  • Hide user IP addresses
  • Respond quickly to reports of abuse
  • Partner with legal support groups when needed

We also need to:

  • Provide offline access in rural areas
  • Create low-bandwidth tools for slow connections
  • Push telecom companies to offer free access to learning tools

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Recommendations

    • Legal frameworks to define & prosecute cyberharassment
    • Digital rights education for women & girls
    • Tech accountability for content moderation
    • Gender-sensitive platform design
    • Stronger community moderation everywhere

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  • Call to action for collective efforts: Mobilizing stakeholders from government, tech companies, and civil society to work hand-in-hand towards creating inclusive and safe digital environments for women.

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“WITHOUT WOMEN'S VOICES ONLINE, THE INTERNET LOSES ITS POWER TO REFLECT OUR WORLD.”

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THANK

YOU!