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Smartphone Distribution Alone Will Never Close the Gender Gap
['Wayan Vota', 'Joann Canning']
ICTworks
Women remain 14% less likely than men to use mobile internet, despite eight years of well-intentioned smartphone distribution programs.
South Asia exhibits the world’s highest gender gaps in mobile technology access, with a staggering 32% mobile internet gender gap that has remained virtually unchanged since 2017.
Closing the gender gap in mobile ownership and use would deliver $230 billion in additional revenue to the mobile industry.
Please Stop Funding Device DistributionThe evidence is clear: smartphone distribution programs without comprehensive support systems achieve the same outcomes as OLPC laptop distribution.
This requires acknowledging that closing the smartphone gender gap isn’t primarily a hardware problem.