{"id":1484,"date":"2021-11-11T14:58:34","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T09:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.itforchange.net\/namma-maathu\/?page_id=1484"},"modified":"2021-11-12T12:38:55","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T07:08:55","slug":"claiming-rights-to-the-digital","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.itforchange.net\/namma-maathu\/claiming-rights-to-the-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"Claiming Rights to the Digital"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Claiming Rights to the Digital <\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Nayana Kirasur | October 2021<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Adolescent girls watching a film made by Prakriye<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Prakriye celebrated the International Day of Girl Child, 2021 with adolescent girls across our operational villages in HD Kote, Sargur, and Hunsur blocks of Mysuru district, Karnataka.
In keeping with this year\u2019s theme \u2013 Digital Generation. Our Generation \u2013 Prakriye kickstarted its IVR (Interactive Voice Response) initiative to disseminate relevant information to adolescent girls through IVR messages. The initiative aims to encourage them to adopt technological devices to meet their knowledge and networking needs.<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>
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The continued effects of pandemic-induced school closures and lack of access to digital devices coupled with financial crisis have forced girls to drop out of schools, join the labor force to contribute to the family income, and take up domestic responsibilities. Several girls have even married off. Amid deepening gender inequalities, there is an urgent need to reiterate girls\u2019 rights to education, mobility, freedom, and equality.<\/span><\/p>

Access to the Digital: A Feminist Issue<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/div>

The patriarchal attitudes and social norms that constrain women and girls\u2019 education, occupation, mobility, marital choice, also constrain their access to the digital. Harvard Kennedy School reported that 71% of men in India own mobile phones, whereas only 38% of women do. The report identified two broad, intersecting classes of barriers to Indian women\u2019s use of mobile phones: economic and normative. Economic barriers are factors directly or indirectly related to the financial and infrastructural requirements for owning and operating mobile phones such as cost of the device, network reception, etc. Normative barriers include the socio-cultural norms, customs, and beliefs that restrict access to mobile phones. The report mentions that the gender gap in access to the digital \u201cbegins as girls enter puberty and widen[s] as they become more likely to marry\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

Naomi Fontanos, an activist, <\/span><\/span>says<\/a> that the oppression women face offline reflects online as well. The ability to participate on digital platforms is a feminist issue and \u201cwomen must reclaim not just the streets [offline spaces] but also digital spaces\u201d, she added. <\/span><\/span>Our interview with Rani*, a 19-year-old student from a village in Hunsur block, <\/span><\/span>reflected<\/span><\/span> this <\/span><\/span>reality<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>She <\/span><\/span>shared that <\/span><\/span>her brother <\/span><\/span>had instructed her <\/span><\/span>to delete her social media account<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> and not make any new <\/span><\/span>ones <\/span><\/span>because he considered them to be unsafe<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>

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On International Day of Girl Child 2021, UN Women called for working towards equal opportunities for girls to \u201csafely and meaningfully access, use, lead and design technology\u201d. To mark the occasion, Prakriye launched its IVR initiative to engage with adolescent girls across our operational areas.
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The content of the IVR messages encourages girls to expand their knowledge by introducing them to new concepts and facts covering areas such as culture, history, geography and science. The messages will also expand their vocabulary by introducing new words in English, Kannada and Hindi. The initiative aims to incorporate content that sheds light on women\u2019s political, legal, and cultural rights.
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Creating Spaces for Critical Reflection<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>

Our engagement with adolescent girls focuses on building their capacities to challenge gender norms and exercise their rights. To this end, we deploy various media strategies to initiate conversations around gender justice and bring progressive changes in the villages. To mark the International Day of Girl Child, we screened a documentary about one of our training sessions for adolescent girls. The film narrated the story of girls in one of our outreach villages who collectivized and brought facilities such as public transport and library to their village.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

This film screening was followed by an in-depth discussion where the adolescent girls critically reflected on issues in their villages. \u201cOur village also does not have a proper bus service. We have trouble making it to class on time\u201d, shared Kamala*, a 17-year-old g<\/span><\/span>irl<\/span><\/span> from a village in Hunsur block. <\/span><\/span>Colleges, especially <\/span><\/span>for <\/span><\/span>streams <\/span><\/span>like<\/span><\/span> s<\/span><\/span>cience, require students to attend extra classes. Due to improper and unsafe public transport, girls end up not choosing the subjects they desire. <\/span><\/span>Renuka*, a 16-year-old <\/span><\/span>girl <\/span><\/span>asked, <\/span><\/span>\u201cHow can we claim our right to education if we cannot travel to schools [or colleges] freely and safely?<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span> Energized after watching the film, the girls also decided to collectively demand <\/span><\/span>a <\/span><\/span>bus service from their village <\/span><\/span>p<\/span><\/i><\/span>anchayat<\/span><\/i><\/span> and the local bus depot.<\/span><\/span><\/p>