Digital Citizen Summit: Speakers flag deep barriers keeping women out of digital world

Deep-rooted cultural barriers, male-dominated access points, and absence of safe, women-centric digital spaces were among the key concerns highlighted by speakers at the Digital Citizen Summit 2025 at T-Hub in Hyderabad on Friday. Speakers said that without women-led, community-driven networks, digital inclusion will remain uneven and exclusionary across South Asia.

Gayani Perera, project manager at Foundation.lk, a not-for-profit organisation based in Sri Lanka, spoke about how fear, surveillance and cyberbullying continue to keep women away from online spaces. Her organisation’s ‘Hitavathi’ centres, around 30 now operating across Sri Lanka, provide safe environments where women can learn, work and navigate the internet without judgement or intimidation. 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.

Hyderabad-based academic Sarbani Banerjee Belur said that connectivity projects often fail women because they overlook who actually ends up using digital access points. In many rural areas, she said, the spaces created for “community access” are quickly monopolised by young and older men, leaving women excluded, especially those who do not own mobile phones.

Mahima Sonal, working with Soochnapreneur – rural entrepreneurship-based project initiated by Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), from Utrakhand shared how community centres have transformed women’s livelihoods by helping them upskill, learn basic computing and take traditional handicraft work online. She said women engage more openly when guided by another woman, making female leadership critical for digital empowerment in rural areas.

Audience from Sri Lanka highlighted the “dual burden” that restricts women’s access to technology – domestic responsibilities combined with cultural conditioning that confines them to household roles.

Another member stressed the need for platforms where women can speak freely about issues including harassment, emotional distress 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 said.

The session closed with a call to boost women in leadership roles in digital initiatives and to build networks that prioritise confidence, connection and equitable participation beyond profit-driven platform structures.