Information Society Watch

October 8, 2007, Sally Shackleton, eGov monitor

This article details the successful use of ICTs for the empowerment of women in South Africa. The focus is on the Women'sNet Digital Stories Project that has made 15 short films - or digital stories - which use personal stories of individual experiences to reveal a picture of a community. The author concludes that digital storytelling can empower women to protect themselves and generally improve the quality of their lives. ICTs can be appropriated to "make women's voices heard", and hence newer technologies have enabled greater access to the means to create media. Significantly, these digital technologies have made communication and information tools much more accessible.

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