ISLAMABAD: About half of the women in Pakistan don’t possess mobile phones and more of them have no access to the internet facility, showing the prevalence of a massive gender gap in the society, WealthPK reports.
According to a survey report of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), the gender gap in mobile ownership has changed very little over the years globally. However, the gender gap with regard to the use of mobile and the internet has narrowed in Kenya and Pakistan, although still substantial, but widened in India, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Guatemala.
The report says that 51% of women in Pakistan possess mobile phones while 22% of them have access to the internet. Similarly, 76% of men have their own mobiles and 36% of them have access to internet service.
It shows that there is a 33% gender gap in ownership of mobile phones in Pakistan and a 38% gender gap is recorded in access to the internet facility.
The report says that 23% of men and 19% of women, who don’t have a mobile phone, think that they cannot afford it while 35% of women don’t have mobile phones due to family disapproval.
It says that 17% of women, who use mobile phones, cite affordability as the main hurdle to using the internet and 18% of men using mobile phones also think so.
The report says that only 46% of female mobile phone owners in Pakistan acknowledge that a mobile phone provides access to useful information.
In all the countries, where the survey has been conducted, most mobile phone owners, who consider work to be relevant to their needs, feel that possessing a mobile phone has great benefits. However, in some countries, the benefits are not as tangible for women.
In Pakistan, just 49% of women mobile owners, who consider work to be relevant to their needs, say that their mobile phones help them with their work, compared to 81% of their male counterparts.
The report says that 21% of Pakistani women possessed smartphones in 2021 as compared to 18% in 2019, registering an increase of 6%, while 22% of women have basic featured phone devices. It adds that 39% of Pakistani men possessed smartphones in 2021 as compared to 36% in 2019, showing an increase of 2%, whereas 29% of them have basic featured phones.
The report says that 50% of Pakistani women mobile users pay themselves for their expenses while 93% of men purchase their mobile phones from their own resources.
It says that 51% of women choose their mobile devices on their own wish while 85 % of men select their mobile phones themselves.
The report says that 76% of Pakistani women are aware of their access to the internet whether they use it or not while 92% of men know that they have access to the facility.
It says that the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have made handsets and mobile internet even less affordable for low-income groups.
“Social norms also continue to play an important role in this regard. Across the survey countries, women are less likely than men to have chosen the model of their mobile phone even when they themselves pay for it,” says the report, available with WealthPK.
-INP
