The Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) will soon release a policy research paper tentatively titled “Filipino Women’s Digital Agenda: Inclusion of Women’s Voices Towards Policy Reform.” The policy paper generally aims to shed light on the state of the digital divide in the Philippines, especially the gender digital divide. Specifically, it aims to answer the following research questions:
1.How do women use information communications technology (ICT) services in the Philippines? Are there problems/issues encountered like cybersecurity, connectivity, affordability, and others, in the use of ICT?
2. Are women aware of the ICT content and their potential to co-create content to enhance their potential in various fields like education, information, freedom from violence, ease of business, and others?
The policy paper used the REACT Policy Framework developed by the World Wide Web Foundation. The REACT framework highlights five priority areas that should be considered in all aspects of ICT policy for government and state actors to address the digital gender divide: rights, education, access, content, and targets.
The research approach employed a selection criteria to identify research participants from diverse sectors. Focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with various women’s sector representatives: youth, educators, women with disabilities, women human rights defenders, poor urban women, indigenous women, and LGBT. Key informant interviews (KIIs) provided the insights of the experts who worked with women’s networks.
This policy brief describes the findings and analysis of the policy paper and includes inputs from a consultation forum held on November 18, 2021.
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