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evealed that women in Cameroon have greaterknowledge of the internet than men.Concerning mobile access, the survey foundthat women with similar income, education andemployment status are as likely as men to own amobile phone. It also found that although menspend more money on mobile phones, women withrevenue spend a greater share of their monthly incomeon mobile usage.Due to a lack of mobility and access to income,rural women are more likely to be deprived of accessto ICTs than rural men.We can see from this that there exist genderinequities in access to and usage of ICTs in ruralCameroon – and even urban Cameroon to some extent.These inequities cannot be addressed throughICT policies per se. There need to be policy interventionsin areas that would allow girls and womento enjoy the benefits of ICTs equally. For example,policies and programmes can be set up to incentivisethe education of girls, and particularly theirparticipation in subjects such as mathematics,science and engineering, as more girls in secondaryschool tend to orient themselves towards artssubjects because of the stereotypical mentality thatscience is for males and the arts are for females.Many of these barriers that women face are relatedto religious and cultural norms and practices thatare difficult to legislate away.ConclusionICTs in general and the internet in particular provideindividuals and communities with opportunities.They can also present solutions to social and economicoppression. Women and girls have beendiscriminated against for too long and the violenceagainst them encompasses all things that deny awoman the right to realise her potential for developmentbecause of gender. Examples of these rightsviolations include rape, forced marriage, pregnancyin underage children, female circumcision or genitalmutilation, sexual harassment at work, forced prostitution,honour killings, and child prostitution.In Cameroon, women constitute over 52% ofthe country’s 19.5 million inhabitants, 7 the greaterpercentage of them living in rural areas where theMPCTs have provided them with basic access to theinternet.Despite the emancipating potential of the internet,the PROTEGE QV survey noted that the fewwomen who use the telecentres are teachers andstudents. In rural Cameroon, women do not use theinternet to access critical information useful to supportthose that have been discriminated against.They have also not used the internet for informationthat could help them make decisions aboutthemselves, their lives, their bodies, or to exerciseautonomy or self-determination.The survey also suggested that women and girlshave not profited from their access to the internet inways such as using it to overcome cultural limitations,discuss the difficulties encountered in theirvarious communities, exchange experiences, shareideas, or provide mutual support.ICTs are powerful tools to denounce and reportvarious women’s rights violations. Women can usetheir mobile phones or laptops to send text messagesto groups, take photographs, or to reportcases of violations. 8 However, we learned fromCameroonian rural women that this has not beentheir experience so far, and has not been amongsttheir concerns. Overall, in rural Cameroon, womenand girls have, up to now, used the internet merelyfor educational purposes and to overcome limitationsin mobility. Mobile phones have broadenedtheir livelihood options and well-being. However,they have yet to experience all the opportunitiesthey can draw from their internet access to improvetheir daily lives, their general condition, orto promote their rights.Action stepsMPCTs are likely to play a vital role in rural Cameroonwhen it comes to the promotion of women’srights. Appropriately used and designed ICTs couldhelp otherwise vulnerable groups to move out ofthe disadvantage of “information exclusion”.To serve this purpose, we suggest the followingsteps:• The local authorities and the MPCT managersshould organise campaigns to reach the mostvulnerable sectors in their respective localitiesto let them know that information and servicesare available and intended for them and theirwell-being.• Free training campaigns targeting women’sgroups for the use and mastery of ICTs shouldbe organised on a regular basis.7 According to the results of the third general population andhousing census (GPHC) in 2010, Cameroon’s overall populationis estimated at 19,406,100 inhabitants, with a rural population of9,314,928 inhabitants, 4,745,697 of whom are women.8 Women’s Rights Programme, Association for ProgressiveCommunications (2012) Going Visible: Women’s Rightson the Internet. www.apc.org/en/pubs/going-visiblewomen%E2%80%99s-rights-internet86 / Global Information Society Watch