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Only 31% of women own mobile phones, says the Oxfam report on India’s digital divide

Less than 32 percent of women in India have used a mobile phone – compared to over 60 percent of men – Oxfam said in a report published Monday. The ‘India Inequality Report 2022: Digital Divide’ considers data until the end of 2021 to underline the role gender inequality plays in deepening the digital divide between men and women.

The report says women generally have handsets that cost less and are not as sophisticated as those used by men, and that their use of digital services is usually limited to phone calls and text messages. “Women use digital services less often and less intensively, and they access the internet less frequently, for fewer reasons,” the report stated.

Citing Observer Research Foundation data, the Oxfam report said India accounts for half the world’s gendered digital divide given that only a third of all internet users are women.

Indian women are 15 percent less likely to own a mobile phone and 33 percent less likely to use mobile internet services when compared to men, the report said.

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Oxfam said gendered social benchmarks tend to dictate what is ‘appropriate’ for men and women in this scenario, and that this has led to a relatively lower level of use and assimilation of digital services for women when compared to men.

“Owning and using a digital device is a household decision decided by the man.”

In addition, the report also highlights stark digital inequality based on region, income, caste and education, after analyzing data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) and the National Sample Survey (NSS).

According to data presented in the report, there are only 57.29 internet subscribers per 100 people in the country and that number is significantly lower in rural areas than urban.

In rural areas internet subscribers per 100 are less than 34. It is over 101 in urban centers.

“… to imagine a world truly equal, digital transformation cannot be posited as a solution for structural inequalities of socioeconomic realities. It is imperative to address structural challenges in the universal provision of education, health, and financial inclusion. Digital transformation will then follow, Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar said in the report

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