WOMEN’S RIGHTS ONLINEREPORTCARD
PHILIPPINES
Measuring Progress,
Driving Action

INTE’SENACCESS & W
ET OWERM OM
NENR MPTE

PHILIPPINESOVERALL SCORE:
SCORE:

50%

SCORE:Y

6In 2015, the Philippines committed resources toestablish free nationwide Wi-Fi in public places. A
new national broadband plan is due to be adopted
within the next year. However, the Philippines has
the second lowest Internet speed in the region at
3.2 Mb per second.

DIGITAO R DA BILIT

While in urban areas the gender gap in Internet
access is closing, our Women’s Rights Online study
showed that few women in poor areas of Manila haveused the Internet to look for important information ontheir rights (18%) or voice their opinions online (8%).

SCORE:KILLS & EDU
SCLIONATFAF

4

5The Department of Science and Technology provides
digital skills and education training at its Technology
for Education Centers. However, 79% of the country’s
public primary and secondary schools lack Internet
connectivity.

RELE
VA

ICES
RV

SCORE:

LINE S AFETYNOCONTENT & SETN

4

The government makes some information about
reproductive and sexual health rights and services
available online, but it is often not easy to locate.
Additionally, just 5% of women have access to mobile
financial services.

SCORE:

7Specific laws are in place for victims of online
violence to seek recourse. Law enforcement
officers have undergone training on investigating
cyberviolence against women, and a few cases
have resulted in arrests. A robust data privacy law
was enacted in 2012.

CLOSING THE GENDER GAP: A 5 POINT ACTION PLAN
1

INTEGRATE GENDER INTO THE PHILIPPINES’ NATIONAL ICT PLAN (2017-2022).
There is a need to incorporate women’s voices in the new National ICT Plan. Consultations between the ICT
Office of the Department of Science and Technology and women’s groups is a priority. Gender-sensitive
language and programmes should be included in the Plan, along with time-bound, measurable gender targets.

2IMPROVE INTERNET AFFORDABILITY AND SPEED. Work towards achieving a newaffordability target: 1GB of mobile data priced at 2% or less of average monthly income, as recommended
by the Alliance for Affordable Internet; with a speed target of 4 MBps.

3

IMPLEMENT INCLUSIVE DIGITAL LITERACY PROGRAMMES. Basic hands-on training
on how to use the Internet is vital for the digital inclusion of women. Training should include all age groups.

4CONDUCT GENDER AUDITS OF GOVERNMENT AGENCY WEBSITES. All government
websites should be audited to assess the relevance of their content for women, and their effectivenessin supporting women to access information. Women should be consulted on what they require fromgovernment websites.

5END ONLINE GENDER BASED VIOLENCE. Online gender based violence has increased inthe past few years and young women are the most vulnerable. Workshops and trainings should be held inpartnership with women’s groups to support women’s online safety.

PROJECT OVERVIEWThe United Nations recently
made gender-equitable access toinformation 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 weare to translate this vision into reality. Aformidable gender gap in Internet access,digital skills and online rights exists - our
Women’s Rights Online research shows that inmany communities, women are 50% less likely
than men 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 ascarcity of relevant and empowering content 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 thegender digital divide. Foundation for Media
Alternatives has taken the lead, in consultation
with other national stakeholders, on identifying
concrete steps that government can takein the next year to address the challenges
and gaps identified. We hope that this reportcard and action plan will spark debate andgalvanise 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 in collaboration with:

With support from: