Do mobile phones empower women ? : evidence from rural Egypt

Abstract EN

Mobile phones can be seen as a tool for social and economic progress in rural and remote areas of developing countries (Labrique et al.

, 2012).

Despite this importance, little research, especially within the Egyptian context, has tried to investigate this relationship (Badran, 2016).

This paper aimed to detect the role of mobile phone on rural women empowerment (WE), with a specific focus on autonomy in decision making, and in accessing or controlling services in health, education and economic opportunities.

A cross-sectional survey method was employed to collect data from a sample of 232 women from rural Egypt.

After validating the multidimensionality of the WE measure, descriptive and Chi-Square tests confirmed that there is a high association between mobile usage and WE.

ANOVA tests confirmed differences in empowerment and usage levels, with different demographic variables as age, education, marital status, and living/job status.

The conclusion drawn from these results suggests the importance of having a wide and innovative utilization of ICT services to accelerate the development of women in rural Egypt.