Reinforcing unequal gender relations in Zambia

Mobile phones affect more than just communications. They can also reinforce society’s unequal power relations. A three-year study in Zambia looks at this, partly in terms of relationships between husbands and wives.

The study found that mobile phone accessand use has positive impacts for women. They benefit from faster, cheapercommunication and a strengthening of family, friend and business-related socialnetworks. However, mobile phones also provide a new focal point for social conflictbetween spouses and can reinforce traditional gender power differences. This happensas some husbands determine how wives use their phones, and even whether or not theyare allowed to continue owning a mobile.

Interviewees consistently reportedproblems of insecurity, insensitivity, mistrust and jealousy, which sometimesresulted in physical and verbal abuse, particularly by men towards their wives:

• Some husbandsaccuse their wives of infidelity, thinking they use their mobile phones tocommunicate with lovers. They inspect call records on the mobile phones forproof, and some order their wives to sell their phones.
• Ina widely publicised case in the Zambian media, a man reportedly beat his wife because he suspected her of having an extra-maritalaffair after she refused to let him check her calls and text messages.
• Men often demandthat their wives make and answer calls in their presence, although they refuseto do the same.
• There arepopular songs referring to the social difficulties that mobile phones have introducedbetween men and women. They are light-hearted but carry an important messageabout the way this new technology is adversely affecting gender relations.

These findings suggest that new technologies have become another aspectof oppression of women by men, and a source of inequality between them. Theseinequalities are not just social: mobile phones can also reinforce economic gender differentials. Handsetsand airtime are still expensive, and women may be less able than men to afford theiruse. However, insufficient official statistics on a range of gender concerns relatingto technology mean that these new developments are difficult to analyse.

For women, the social and economic advantagesof accessing and using a mobile phone far outweigh the disadvantages. But thosepromoting and making policies for mobile phones must understand that these newtechnologies create problems as well as solutions. These problems must berecognised if they are to be addressed. Among other things, this will requiremuch greater gender awareness in policies and projects.