Key Takeaways
- Cultural barriers and male-dominated access points are major obstacles to women’s digital inclusion.
- Women-led community centers in South Asia are proving effective in building digital confidence.
- Female leadership and safe digital spaces are critical for meaningful participation.
Speakers at the Digital Citizen Summit 2025 highlighted that deep-rooted barriers continue to exclude women from the digital world across South Asia. Without women-led networks, digital inclusion efforts will remain uneven and exclusionary, experts warned.
Safety Concerns and Community Solutions
Gayani Perera of Foundation.lk explained how fear, surveillance and cyberbullying keep women away from online spaces. Her organization’s ‘Hitavathi’ centers in Sri Lanka provide safe environments where women can learn and work online without judgment.
“These spaces that work as help centres as well as e-learning platforms, have helped women rebuild confidence, acquire new skills and overcome long-held apprehensions about using technology,” she said.
Access Point Challenges
Hyderabad-based academic Sarbani Banerjee Belur noted that connectivity projects often fail women by overlooking who actually uses digital access points. “In many rural areas, the spaces created for ‘community access’ are quickly monopolised by men, leaving women excluded,” she explained.
Transformative Impact of Women-Led Centers
Mahima Sonal from Uttarakhand shared how DEF’s Soochnapreneur initiative has transformed women’s livelihoods through community centers. Women learn computing skills and take traditional handicraft work online, with female guidance proving crucial for engagement.
Audience members from Sri Lanka highlighted the “dual burden” of domestic responsibilities and cultural conditioning that restricts women’s technology access. Another speaker emphasized the need for platforms where women can freely discuss harassment and discrimination.
“This initiative cannot just prevent instances of suicides in Sri Lankan women but can also help improve the emotional health of women,” the speaker noted.
The summit concluded with calls to boost women in digital leadership roles and build networks prioritizing confidence and equitable participation over profit-driven models.
