By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
Postal & Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe Director General Dr Gift Machengete says while we advocate for the upliftment and emancipation of women and girls, let us not forget the boy child.
In his remarks at the Girls in ICT commemorations held at Regina Mundi High School in Gweru, Director General Dr Machengete said going forward there should be a balance in terms of ICT Access and Use.
“The boy child too is failing to access ICTs, the boy child too does not have the much needed ICT skills, the boy child too is a victim of online abuse.
“Let us therefore be warry of neglecting the boy child so much so that we would end up having a problem in the next few years when the boy child is so far left behind and the girl child is so far ahead.
“No gender should be left behind. The boy child should not be looked upon as an impediment to the success or development of a girl child. We need a functional man, we need a functional woman for us to have a functional society so going forward these two should balance,” he said.
This year’s Girls in ICT Day Commemorations were themed: “ACCESS AND SAFETY – Ensuring every girl has safe and meaningful access to digital technology and ICTs”.
Director General Dr Machengete said as the regulator of the ICT sector, issues of Access and Online Safety were central to their work.
“Moving on to the issue of Online Safety, research has shown that girls and young women are disproportionately exposed to online and ICT-facilitated violence and harassment, which can negatively impact their physical, mental and emotional well-being, and influence how they access and use digital tools for the rest of their lives.
“More girls than boys have been victims of online gender-based violence be it cyber bullying, revenge pornography, cyber stalking and cyber grooming among other things.
“This has resulted in mostly girls and young women committing suicide or developing mental health problems due to online emotional and sexual abuse,” he said.
“We continue to roll out a number of Consumer Education and Awareness programs around Online safety and responsible use of the Internet and we also commend efforts by other stakeholders such as the Civil Society, Government and Private Sector in this regard.”
He, however, said a lot needs to be done and called on more collaborative efforts by stakeholders around the issue of Child Online Protection.
Statistics released by UN Women, however show that women and girls use the internet 12.5 per cent less than men and boys, with some 46 per cent of boys accessing the internet on their phones, compared to 27 per cent of girls.
A study by UN Women and the ITU shows that girls access digital technology at a later age than boys, and that their use of this technology is more often curtailed by their parents and guardians.
Statistics on CIC usage provided by ZIMPOST of a weekly basis show that patronage of CICs is consistently dominated by males at an average of 70% compared to a mere 30% attendance by females.
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