Evaluating a women's digital inclusion and storytelling initiative through the lens of empowerment

Dados Bibliográficos

ID13135872
AutoresPamela Ellen Richardson (University of Sheffield, autor correspondente), Sarah L Wilson (0000-0001-8347-5156, University of Sheffield)
Ano2024
Volume7
Páginas100092-100092
Data de publicação2024-06-05
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoDigital Geography and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2666-3783 • E-ISSN: 2666-3783
EditoraElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.diggeo.2024.100092
OpenAlexW4399366842
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas46

In terms of digital inclusion, a global gender gap has been widely documented with women more likely to face digital exclusions, particularly in rural areas and especially in the Global South. Digital inclusion initiatives (DIIs) aim to address these disparities by providing hard-to-reach groups with access to digital infrastructures and/or competencies. In this paper, we heed calls for contextualised DII research that centres the oft-neglected experiences of socially and digitally marginalised women. As such, we contribute a case study from a women's project in Zimbabwe and elaborate a feminist framework of empowerment as an approach to qualitative evaluation. The study involved online Digital Storytelling workshops co-facilitated by and for women, using WhatsApp as the main communication platform. Thirteen participants were interviewed on WhatsApp following the workshop programme. Beyond supporting the development of digital competencies, we found that remote storytelling fostered relationship-building and a sense of solidarity to develop between participants. The paper shares findings around the practicalities of using WhatsApp to mediate online digital storytelling initiatives, which has transferable practical applications in other hard-to-reach contexts. Furthermore, we argue that the feminist framework and approach elaborated in the paper could be deployed more widely, as a tool for both co-designing and evaluating DIIs with communities to enhance the empowerment gains of digital inclusion projects

Digital media · Digital Storytelling · Empowerment · Inclusion (mineral · Narrative · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Solidarity · Storytelling · Child Development and Digital Technology · Gender Studies · ICT in Developing Communities · Social Media and Politics