Transformative digital spaces? Investigating women’s digital mobilities in Pakistan

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the intersection of work with access to and use of digital technologies and the resulting impact on women’s empowerment. Drawing on detailed in-depth interviews across Pakistan with low-literate, low-income women employed in three categories of work – domestic, factory, and home-based – we map how women’s work intersects with their access to digital technologies to affect their economic and social lives. Our paper highlights the barriers that women face and explores whether and how in a patriarchal, religious context with restricted physical mobility and limited access to the internet, women circumnavigate their constraints by leveraging digital technologies.

Cet article examine l’intersection entre le travail et l’accès aux technologies numériques et leur utilisation, et son incidence sur l’autonomisation des femmes. Nous nous basons sur les propos recueillis dans le cadre d’entretiens approfondis et détaillés menés aux quatre coins du Pakistan avec des femmes faiblement alphabétisées et de faible revenu employées dans trois catégories de travail – domestique, usine et à domicile – pour cartographier l’intersection entre le travail des femmes et leur accès aux technologies numériques, et en quoi cette intersection influe sur leur vie économique et sociale. Notre article met en relief les barrières auxquelles se heurtent les femmes et examine dans quelle mesure et comment, dans un contexte religieux patriarcal caractérisé par une mobilité physique restreinte et un accès limité à Internet, les femmes contournent les contraintes auxquelles elles sont confrontées en misant sur les technologies numériques.

Este artículo analiza la intersección de trabajos que implican el acceso y el uso de tecnologías digitales y su efecto en el empoderamiento de las mujeres. A partir de detalladas entrevistas en profundidad realizadas en todo Pakistán con mujeres analfabetas y de bajos ingresos empleadas en tres categorías de trabajo —doméstico, en fábricas y en el hogar—, buscamos identificar cómo el trabajo de las mujeres se cruza con su acceso a las tecnologías digitales afectando sus vidas económicas y sociales. Nuestro trabajo destaca las barreras que enfrentan las mujeres y examina si, y cómo, en un contexto patriarcal y religioso con movilidad física restringida y acceso limitado a Internet, las mujeres sortean sus limitaciones aprovechando las tecnologías digitales.

KEYWORDS:

• Women’s work
• low-literate
• low-income
• technology
• empowerment

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge research assistance from Wajeeha Zia Tung and Maria Nazar.

Notes

1 The informal sector refers to businesses or activities that are entirely underreported, such as otherwise lawful businesses operating through extra-legal channels. Hence, informal workers such as home-based or domestic workers could directly or indirectly work for formal firms, without having proper legal contracts and thus compensated by cash.

2 We define home-based workers as those who own their own businesses and work at home to produce goods or services and receive remuneration. Domestic workers are taken to be those employees who work inside private premises, usually in the absence of written contracts, minimum wage protections, or other employment benefits (Albin and Mantouvalou 2012).

3 Districts are the highest tier of administrative units immediately under provinces.

4 Provinces are the largest administrative units in Pakistan.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by IDRC [grant number 110323/38-02]; Oxfam; and Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Notes on contributors

Hadia Majid

Hadia Majid is Associate Professor of Economics, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. Her research is focused on the impact of monetary and public resource constraints on individual welfare. Her work includes cash transfer evaluations, public goods provisioning, and factors affecting women’s access to earned income. Postal address: Lahore University of Management Sciences, D.H.A., Lahore Cantt, Lahore 54792, Pakistan. Email: [email protected]

Maryam Mustafa

Maryam Mustafa is Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. Her research focuses on understanding and designing technologies with/for underserved populations, particularly focusing on gendered design. Her work includes exploring design for digital financial services, gendered privacy design, and women’s intimate, sexual, and maternal health. Postal address: Lahore University of Management Sciences, D.H.A., Lahore Cantt, Lahore 54792, Pakistan. Email: [email protected]