Telecentres Bridging Digital Divide of Women in Rural Areas: Case of Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

Women are still facing exclusion in the use of telecentres largely because of cultural perceptions that they are responsible for the home; and also telecentres are widely perceived appropriate for men to find employment. This paper presents an analysis of the benefits women derive from using telecentres. This study explores how telecentres empower women in the rural communities by analysing three telecentres in the rural setting of Western Cape, South Africa. A qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews was used to gather in-depth details on individual empowerment of the rural women. The results obtained show that some rural women used the telecentres to enhance economic standards which resulted in individual empowerment in social, psychological, information and economic dimensions. This study highlights the potential of telecentres in empowering women and proposes that the Government and NGOs consider the telecentre as a means of addressing gender digital divide issues.