6 in 10 Women Have No Access to Internet in Pakistan

Nowadays, Pakistani women are actively participating in all segments of the economy and becoming the earning source of their family but unfortunately, many of them have no access to the internet and in this tech era, they are still carrying their routine stuff without internet.

According to a new study titled “Women Disconnected: Feminist Case Studies on the Gender Digital Divide Amidst Covid-19”, six in ten women in Pakistan are facing the restrictions from their families and they can’t access the internet.

6 in10 Women Have No Access to Internet in Pakistan

In a survey, the majority of the respondents said they are only allowed to use the Internet for attending online classes or talking to family. While more than a third of respondents said that they have no access to internet and are facing higher restrictions on the use of the Internet.

The overall study suggested that 4 in 10 of the 115 respondents, who were present in the survey, use the internet every day, while 2 in 10 respondents do not use the internet at all.

Half of the respondents came from families with over 60,000 monthly income, they were using internet on daily basis, while 7 in 10 of those who were not using the internet came from families with below 30,000 monthly income. So, that shows the affordability is also a big factor that restricts the women to access the internet facility.

Furthermore, the gender divide is also a big factor especially in some regions of Pakistan. For example 8 in 10 women belonging to the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa do not have any access to the internet facility.

Some families in Pakistan are apprehensive about women using the internet. Almost 54% of respondents in the survey said that women’s use of the internet is either bad or there are some concerns about their usage.

However, only 21 per cent respondents consider the use of internet for women as good while the remaining 25 per cent said that their families didn’t have any opinions on the subject.

Recommended Reading: Pakistan Ranks 2nd in South Asia in terms of Ease of Starting a Business: World Bank Report