Women in Villages Lack Internet Access, Study Says

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Financial technology company Amartha Mikro Fintek (Amartha) held a study dubbed 'The impact of financial technology on the empowerment of village women'. The study found, among others, that most of the women living in villages have zero access to the internet. 

The study, held in collaboration with Gajah Mada University's Center for Digital Society (CfDS UGM), revealed that most of the women do not have internet-enabled devices.

"According to the survey, 62.5 percent of the respondents do not own gadgets that can connect them to the internet," CfDS UGM executive secretary Dewa Ayu Diah Angendari said in Jakarta, November 6. 

Most of the women who do not own said gadgets are those aged 49 and above

"In terms of education, most of the respondents are those who never went to school or elementary graduates," she said. 

The remaining 37.5 percent, who own and use internet-ready devices, access the internet for entertainment and communication purposes only—through social networking sites like Facebook and Youtube.

"They have not used the internet for work or business," she said regrettably.

According to Diah, female internet users in villages questioned the need to use IT for work, since they spend their daily lives going to the farm, baking, or sewing.   

Diah hopes the government as well as the overall fintech industry can help close in the gap between urban dwellers and villagers when it comes to utilizing IT and digital adoption.  

GALUH PUTRI RIYANTO