All these issues have existed for years and women have been fighting against them for decades. However, with the new digital world that we have stepped into, what impact did that world give on women and their issues? The digital world started a new market everyone can benefit from. It created more job opportunities for women and gave them the opportunity to open their own businesses. According to studies, 55% of internet businesses are founded by women, creating an opportunity for women to be independent and to not be exposed to the employment gender bias. Furthermore, it empowers women by giving them financial control where they can earn money to secure themselves. It has also helped them seek and access more opportunities, with features like video conferencing, where they are able to work from home, and aid with childcare.
Furthermore, social platforms have given women to talk and discuss their health issues and seek health advice. There are many platforms that help women to spread sex education and validate other women’s experience regarding their sexual life. Other websites help women share stories of their experience with sexual and help them find support groups where they can be in a safe space to talk freely about their traumas. TikTok has contributed to such causes, where people formed a series of videos where they exposed rapists and predators. Furthermore, another TikTok trend that helped women were the videos made against abortion laws. They helped women express their opinions about the laws and spread awareness of the topic.
On the other hand, the digital world came with its negatives too, from cyber harassment to allegedly Metaverse sexual assaults. Women on social media get multiple negative comments on their bodies and are exposed to perverts who harass and stalk them online. It has been easier for predators to find their victims online and reach them. With the new era of the Metaverse, several women came out to share their experience of how they were subjected to sexual harassment while using virtual reality. One woman even claimed that her avatar was sexually assaulted in Horizon World. This was followed by several users who claimed they were subjects of sexual harassment in this virtual reality platform too. Currently, the virtual reality space isn’t safe for women with all those claims and reports of sexual assault. The Metaverse should apply stricter rules before launching a virtual experience that could turn out so horrendously for women.
All in all, the digital world has its pros and cons, and it’s impact on gender equality can be both negative and positive. Yet, there are so many laws and rules the world needs to work on in order to achieve this because we live in a world that is developed yet ignorant, civilized yet barbaric.
-Yara Mohamed
Links to learn more:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.618250/full
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