the i-witnesses

Rwanda's intellectuals clash over gender and ICT

I can’t quite believe this news from Rwanda...

Apparently one participant in a research workshop about using ICT to teach science and maths said:

“Girls are biologically weak how is it going to be possible for this project if fewer girls opt for science subjects”

Honestly, I'm left totally speechless!

Moves to unionise India’s call centres

Indian call centres and so-called Business Processing Operations (BPOs) have been heralded as providing world-class working environments for their employees. But there is dark side to India’s rapidly expanding IT sector: harassment of women is on the rise.

Call centres have transformed the traditional working culture and, in particular, have encouraged women to undertake night shifts – a rare happening in modern India.

But this has inevitably resulted in personal security issues for women who are generally looked down upon, sometimes even by their own colleagues. In Bangalore, for example, a female call centre worker was raped by a group of men.

Sadly, such sexual abuse and harassment in the IT industry hides behind a façade of modernity. It has taken major efforts – most visibly by India’s communist parties – for the powers that be to wake up to the situation.

The West Bengal Information Technology Services Association (WBITSA) - the IT sector’s arm of the powerful marxist Centre for Indian Trade Union - now offers services to protect call centre and other IT sector workers. This is the first ever step in India to unionise IT sector, and one which I warmly welcome.

WBITSA’s website suggests that: "women employees working in night shifts require additional protection and security. They also require sufficient conveyance".

But Sujoy Dhar recently reported in the Indo-Asian News Service that "senior officials from over 100 IT companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, WIPRO [both are in the Global 500], Cognizant, Globsyn earlier attended a meeting to chalk out counter strategies against the formation of unions".

[image: Panos Pictures]

A (quiet) word on gender

Natasha Primo – executive director of South Africa-based WomensNet – was the only person to talk about gender issues at the plenary session this morning. She said she hoped the Internet Governance Forum would spell out plans that had a significant impact on women.

Later in the afternoon, Victoria Balleza asked panelists to share their views on the gender dimensions of internet governance. In the ensuing silence you could have heard a pin drop. The question remained unanswered and the moderator, Kenneth Cukier, didn’t seem particularly bothered about pursuing the matter…