每日听力 | A Need to Close the Digital Gender Gap

往期听力

One of the most efficient ways to promote peace and jump-start 发动 flagging economies is to empower 授权 girls and invest in their education. Today, girls’ lack of access to basic education is compounded when it comes to the use of digital technology, leaving them far behind boys. 

And because the world is ever more digital, those who lack basic internet skills will find it increasingly more difficult to participate in the formal economy, to obtain a quality education, to access health care, information and psychosocial support, to have their voices heard.

Since 2013 the global gender gap in male and female access to the Internet has actually increased from 11 to 12 percent. Worse yet, women and girls living in the poorest countries are 31 percent less likely than men and boys to have access to the Internet. 

In developing countries, some 200 million fewer women than men own a mobile phone, the most common means of Internet access there. This digital divide is increasing, and should it continue at the present pace, it is projected that over 75 percent of women and girls will lack internet access and digital skills.

There are many causes for the digital gender gap. They include girls’ exclusion from basic education writ large 显而易见的；夸大了的, from specific technology education and design, high costs of both devices and internet access, scarcity 缺乏 of content relevant for women and girls, and socio-cultural biases 偏见 and discrimination, such as barriers to women speaking freely and privately both online and offline. 

Indeed, one of the most insidious 潜在的 reasons why girls may be discouraged 气馁的 from learning how to access and use digital technology is also a groundless 无根据的 one: that girls are simply not adept 熟练的，擅长的 at using technology.

The United Nations has affirmed that human rights online are human rights offline. These stereotypes 刻板的印象 reinforce 强化 harmful norms that keep women and girls from enjoying their human rights.

the gender digital divide is a major roadblock 障碍，路障 to women’s economic empowerment and participation in the economy. 

Without a major escalation 提升 of policy effort and investment, most of the benefits of technological change will be enjoyed only by men, exacerbating 恶化，加剧 gender inequality. 

In the words of USAID Senior Gender Coordinator Michelle Bekkering, “A girl’s future should be defined not by her sex, but by her commitment to hard work and ability to access the resources she needs to succeed.”

合集收藏  

语音教学合集

歌曲合集

美文合集

觉得不错，一定点赞呢！！！