In the era of hyperconnectivity, we tend to assume that access to the internet and technology is almost universal. However, behind this idea of digital progress lies a persistent and structural inequality: the gender digital divide. This divide is not limited to who has or does not have a connection, but rather encompasses much deeper dimensions related to use, participation, and power within the digital world.
Talking about the gender digital divide implies recognizing that women and diverse individuals do not access technology under equal conditions. In many contexts, especially in Latin America, the first barrier remains material: lesser access to devices, limited connectivity, or shared use of digital tools. But even when that access exists, inequality does not disappear. It changes form.
The problem is not only being connected, but what place one occupies once inside the digital ecosystem. Women and diverse individuals participate less in strategic areas such as programming, technological development, artificial intelligence, or decision-making within large platforms. This is not coincidental: it responds to gender stereotypes that have historically kept women out of STEM fields and are now reproduced in the digital environment.
This exclusion is compounded by an increasingly visible phenomenon: online gender-based violence. Harassment, selective censorship, bullying, and non-consensual exposure function as mechanisms of symbolic expulsion from the digital space. Many women refrain from expressing their opinions, creating content, or participating in public debates for fear of the consequences. Thus, the digital environment, which promised to be a space for the democratization of speech, ends up replicating (and even amplifying) inequalities from the offline world.
Another key aspect of the gender digital divide is the lack of representation in technology production. Algorithms are not neutral: they reflect the biases of those who design them. When development teams are homogeneous, technological decisions tend to obscure diverse experiences. This impacts everything from facial recognition systems to content moderation processes, disproportionately affecting women and non-conforming individuals.
The gender digital divide, then, is not an individual problem, but rather political and structural. It cannot be resolved solely by distributing computers or expanding connectivity. It requires public policies with a gender perspective, critical digital education, active promotion of women's participation in technology, and regulatory frameworks that protect rights in digital environments.
Reducing this divide involves asking ourselves who produces technology, for whom, and with what values. Because in an increasingly digitalized world, being left out does not just mean being disconnected, but being excluded from the spaces where power, knowledge, and future are built today.
Comments