Over 60% of women in the North lack access to the Internet-Study

A recent study has shown that over 60 percent of educated women in the northern part of the country do not have access to the internet.

The study was conducted by the ‘Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) on the use of internet by women in the north.

CITAD Executive Director. Ya’u Zakari Ya’u, disclosed this over the weekend at a workshop tagged ‘Research Findings on Women and Use of Internet in the North’ held in Bauchi.‎

He said that the survey, which was conducted in Bauchi and Kano state has indicated that women who have no access to the Internet have been rendered technologically and socially disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts in the region.

According to him, the factors hindering northern women from using the Internet include: inadequate infrastructures, computer illiteracy, bad perception about the internet as well as religious and cultural factors among others.

Ya’u lamented that some clerics and husbands discourage women in the region from browsing through the Internet and social networks due to the fear that their wives may lose privacy, get exposed to sexual harassment or visit bad sites that could corrupt them.

He, however, promised that CITAD would soon embark on awareness campaigns in the area on the significance of the internet and its benefits so as to bridge the gap.

Speaking, a female member of the Bauchi state House of Assembly, Maryam Garba Bagel, asserted that it is not a taboo for housewives to use internet or social media because they could get useful information and knowledge that would add value to their lives.

Bagel, who served as chairperson of the occassion promised to present  a proposal to the state government through the ministry of women affairs to establish computer training centres in all parts of the state to teach women the basic knowledge of computer operations.

She said that Computer knowledge will enable women access the internet like their counterparts in advanced nations.

 

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/over-60-of-women-in-the-north-lack-access-to-the-internet-study/163902.html