WOMEN’S RIGHTS ONLINE
IN THE CARIBBEAN REGIONREPORTCARD
JAMAICA AND
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
June 2022

Measuring Progress, Driving Action

The Women’s Rights Online Digital Gender Gap
Scorecard was developed to ensure that there issustained commitment and implementation of policies
for digital gender equality. The scorecard is based on
five themes which are divided into 14 indicators:
1.

Internet Access and Women’s Empowerment

2.

Affordability

3.

Digital Skills and Education

4.

Relevant Content and Services for Women

5.

Online Safety

Desktop and survey research was carried out by partners in Jamaica andTrinidad & Tobago between 2021-2022 to assess the extent to which
women and men enjoy equal ICT (Information Communication Technology)
opportunities. These opportunities involve the ability to access and use theinternet affordability and safely, learn digital skills, build new technologies, use
relevant content and services, and claim one’s rights online.
Both Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago scored relatively well in Internet Accessand Women’s Empowerment and Relevant Content and Services, but are
falling behind in ensuring Affordability and Online Safety.
A score of 54% for Jamaica and 55% for Trinidad and Tobago suggests thatthe countries have taken some basic steps to improve women’s access todigital services, but much more work is needed.

JAMAICAOVERALL SCORE:

Jamaica has experienced the fastest mobile phone adoption
rate in the Caribbean region. A 2011 study cited in the reportshows 52% of women with internet access, compared to 48%of men . Survey respondents predominantly access the internet
at home, followed by access at work and at school. Although
women use the internet slightly more than men overall, there isa predominance of unreliable internet service coverage in ruralcommunities which put these residents at a severe disadvantage(and where gender digital divides are larger). This calls for moreinnovative approaches to expand low-cost internet coverageand connectivity across the country.
Jamaica has policies in the ICT sector that seek to address
existing digital divides and promote universal access andaffordability for all Jamaicans. However, they do not explicitly
set out concrete strategies to close gender divides.

54%

While there is relative equality among women and men in termsof internet access, the high cost of the internet, the lack ofwomen in computing jobs, and the lack of emphasis on online
safety show that policymakers need to further integrate andimplement women’s rights in digital policies.

INTERNET ACCESS AND WOMEN’SEMPOWERMENTSCORE:

6Although 52% of women are connected to theinternet (compared to 48% of men), educational
institutions can still create more awareness foropportunities for women using technology andworking in technology fields. Rural areas require
ICT education and awareness for women. Moresex-aggregated ICT data is needed to inform specificgender policy goals.

AFFORDABILITYSCORE:4Jamaica’s lowest score was Affordability, at 4.0. The
high monthly cost of internet connection is a barrier
to women’s as well as lower-income individuals’
digital access and digital education and inclusion.
Zero-rated offerings and free-WiFi services andaccess points should be introduced across Jamaica
to address affordability challenges.

DIGITAL SKILLS & EDUCATIONRELEVANT CONTENT & SERVICESSCORE:SCORE:

4

At the secondary school level, the ratio of males
to females in computer studies is 1:1, however at
the tertiary level for technology students and ICT
graduates this shifts drastically to 70:30 in favour ofmales. Technology clubs, competitions, and events
could be made more available for women and girls,
as well as incentives for women in the ICT sector.
Innovative approaches are needed to provide schools
with internet access, as currently 22% of schools
are without internet access, and 63% do not haveadequate access.

8Jamaica’s best performing score was 7.5 forRelevant Content and Services for Women. Accessto information and services about women’s health isprovided by both government and non-governmentalorganizations. There is still room for wider distributionof this material. The score is not higher because
digital financial services are not as widely used asthey could be. More needs to be done to enable theincreased creation of relevant local user contentand applications.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
1 	Existing policies should be updated with gender

ONLINE SAFETYSCORE:

5

Online safety received a 5 because there is notenough awareness of online rights. It appears thatat the legislative level Jamaica has an adequate
legal framework to support online safety for women,
however there is no publicly available database ofcases prosecuted under the Cybercrimes Act for
instance of violence against women.
There is also a lack of clear information on preventing
cyber crimes against women online. There is a needfor more public education, engagement of women’s
rights advocates, the police service and the media
to create awareness among women regarding
online risks and safety measures. More in-depth
research and ongoing data collection should bedone to provide scientific evidence to inform policies,
interventions and advocacy to help improve women’s
rights online in the country.

equality targets and budget allocations tofacilitate implementation and monitoring of
sex-disaggregated data and gender-responsive
ICT policymaking.
2 	Projects and initiatives like hackathons,robotics and tech competitions are contributing
to young women’s empowerment in technology
and should be made more widespread in rural
areas and integrated in school and connectivityprograms.
3 	
Zero-rated offerings and free-WiFi services

and access points should be introduced acrossJamaica to address affordability challenges.
4 	Public education to create awareness among

women regarding online risks and safetymeasures should be informed by in-depthresearch. More data is needed to inform
policies, interventions and advocacy for
women’s rights and online safety in the country.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGOOVERALL SCORE:

While the government has committed to addressing genderinequality and discrimination in Trinidad & Tobago, more genderdata is needed in the ICT sector to inform gender-responsive
policymaking. Educational and private institutions offer ICT
women’s empowerment programs. The government has policies
to improve access and affordability of ICT tools. Plans for ICT
training for teachers exist, which may pave the way for girls
and women to be involved in technology. The highest score forthe Trinidad & Tobago Gender Digital Divide Audit Scorecard
was 9.0 in Relevant Content and Services for Women. Digital
health information is widely available for women. The information
is user-friendly, yet it could still be disseminated to a wider
audience. The lowest score was Affordability.

55%

INTERNET ACCESS AND WOMEN’SEMPOWERMENTSCORE:

5Trinidad & Tobago has a legislative and policy
architecture for the ICT sector that seeks toaddress the digital divide, universal access andaffordability, but not explicitly gender divides in ICT.
NGOs, private sector, tertiary institutions and schools
are leading multiple initiatives to support women’sempowerment in technology. However, unreliableinternet service coverage in rural communities puts
these residents at a severe disadvantage, which calls
for more innovative approaches to expand low-costinternet coverage and connectivity.

AFFORDABILITYSCORE:

3

The lowest score was a 3 for Affordability. The
high cost of a monthly internet connectivity plan
was reported by survey participants as the mostsignificant factor limiting their personal internetusage. Internet service strategies to enhanceavailability, accessibility and affordability of freeand low-cost public internet access are being rolled
out and should be intensified. For example, free WiFi
access points at community centers and libraries
exist, and should be further supported.

DIGITAL SKILLS & EDUCATIONRELEVANT CONTENT & SERVICESSCORE:SCORE:

6

There is good steady progress reported on basic
digital skills training and ICT qualifications ofteachers (at the primary and secondary level). ICT
training is provided to teachers - however, the overalllevels of ICT availability can be improved. Barriers
that persist include the need for maintenance of ICT
systems across schools.
Projects and initiatives like hackathons, robotics andtech competitions are contributing to young women’s
empowerment in technology, and could be mademore widespread in rural areas and integrated inschool programs. There needs to be more emphasis
on how to include more women in the ICT sector.

9Research shows that there is a wide availabilityof government and non-governmental agencies
that provide user-friendly information about
reproductive and sexual health rights and services
for women and girls online, but strategies are needed
to make the information more widely available.
There is limited reported usage of digital financial
services. 32% of survey respondents report neverusing their mobile phone for monetary transactions.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
1 	Existing policies should be updated with gendertargets and budget allocations to facilitate
implementation of gender-responsive ICT
policies and systematic collection of sexdisaggregated data.

ONLINE SAFETYSCORE:

4

Online safety scored low, at 3.5. The survey
indicated lack of awareness of online rights andhow to respond to cybercrimes. Only 26% of survey
respondents reported having attended training ononline safety. There is a lack of public awarenessabout online rights, and an absence of structured
citizen information programs on cybercrimes. Thereis legislation in Trinidad & Tobago with adequate
framework to support online safety for women.
Unfortunately, public databases are not available
regarding cases prosecuted under the Cybercrimes
Act (for example, regarding violence against women).

2 	Public education to create awareness amongwomen regarding online risks and safetymeasures should be informed by in-depth
research. More data (and publication of opendata) is needed to inform policies, interventions
and advocacy for women’s rights and online
safety in the country.
3 	More needs to be done to enable the increased

creation of relevant local user content andapplications.
4 	
There needs to be more sustained supportof women in technology (particularly forunemployed school leavers and graduates),
and women’s enrolment at tertiary level ICT
studies. This is needed to drive equality for
women as digital citizens, ICT professionals
and leaders in the digital economy.

PROJECT OVERVIEWThe United Nations recently
made gender-equitable access to
information and communications
technologies (ICTs) central to the
Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), which set the global
development agenda until 2030.
Why? ICTs are powerful. They can help todeliver improved healthcare, quality education
for all, financial inclusion, more accountable
government, and much more. In adopting theSDGs, all countries have pledged to prioritise
universal Internet access, and to use ICTs toempower women.
But much hard work lies ahead if we are totranslate this vision into reality. A formidable
gender gap in Internet access, digital skills
and online rights exists - our Women’s
Rights Online research shows that in many
communities, women are 50% less likely thanmen to be online and 30-50% less likely to

use the Internet for economic and politicalempowerment. Women face many barriers- including high costs, lack of know-how,
and a scarcity of relevant and empoweringcontent - as well as social and legal obstacles
to speaking freely and privately online.
The Web Foundation and partners have
prepared these gender audits to help countries
assess what they need to do to overcome
the gender digital divide. Name of Partner
has taken the lead, in consultation with othernational stakeholders, on identifying concrete
steps that government can take in the next
year to address the challenges and gaps
identified. We hope that this report card andaction plan will spark debate and galvanise
policy change.

A NOTE ON METHODOLOGY:
We based our scores on 14 simple indicators for which reliable empirical evidence exists,and grading was done in the second quarter of 2016. See the accompanying overview for a
description of the indicators and sources used. A full methodology is available on our website.

Produced with support from: