Locating the Most Marginalised Women in Digital Space: An Intersectional Approach

The article aims to locate the most marginalised women in digital space and explore its driving factors by adopting an intersectional approach. The article deals with access, availability, usage, digital skills, benefits, challenges and experiences with regard to digital technology through a gendered lens. The other main purpose of the article is to understand why some regions lag despite being part of a developed region and why such islands/anomalies exist on a regional scale. The study undertakes both qualitative and quantitative methods to achieve the objectives of the article by analysing secondary data sources as well as by conducting a primary field survey in Nuh district of Haryana and Gopalganj district of Bihar, by conducting a total of 314 individual interviews, which constitutes details of 2,197 household members too. The findings of the study indicate that women belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes experience high levels of digital exclusion in comparison to other socio-economic categories of gender. To combat digital exclusion among women, we need to adopt an intersectional policy approach to target the most excluded women. A careful examination of social, political and cultural context is required for the formulation of an inclusive gender-sensitive information and communication technology policy.