A/HRC/35/9 domain is limited. Consequently, there is a clear need for all States to systematically collect sex- and gender-disaggregated data to expose differences in ICT access and use and to support policymakers in finding the most appropriate responses to closing the gender digital divide.15 C. Drivers of the gender digital divide 9. The gender digital divide is a multidimensional phenomenon that includes issues regarding access to equipment (hardware), solutions (software or applications), connectivity and data, as well as the digital skills, knowledge and opportunities necessary to develop, benefit from and make meaningful and strategic use of ICTs. 10. Barriers faced by women in accessing ICTs, and that may limit their participation in digital life, are exacerbated by offline inequalities. Women already discriminated against or marginalized because of their sex and gender, in addition to other factors, such as race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health, status, age, class, caste and sexual orientation and gender identity,16 are least likely to access, use and benefit from ICTs. Furthermore, they may face obstacles in accessing and using ICTs in a way that is meaningful, relevant and beneficial to them in their daily lives. 17 11. Factors influencing, preventing or inhibiting women’s access and use of ICTs may include:18 (a) Availability: for example, the status and degree of infrastructural roll-out, barriers to broadband access and limitations on women accessing public Internet places; (b) Affordability: with disproportionately affected;19 more limited financial resources, women are (c) Sociocultural barriers: for example, time, mobility and gender roles, norms and stereotypes; (d) Legislation, policies or practices: for example, regulation of the licensing of ICTs, subscription services, discriminatory policies and practices that affect women; (e) Education, capacity and skills development: for example, illiteracy and a lack of digital skills and confidence; (f) Privacy, security, trust and safety risks: for example, online harassment and violence against women; (g) Relevant content, applications and services: for example, a lack of content that speaks to women’s diverse realities or that has perceived benefit, or censorship or restriction of gender-related content;20 (h) ICT development, policy and governance: for example, the absence of women in technology-related careers, in ICT leadership positions and in key Internet governance decision-making structures.21 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 4 ITU, Measuring the Information Society, p. 203. See also Broadband Commission Working Group on the Digital Gender Divide, Recommendations for Action: Bridging the Gender Gap in Internet and Broadband Access and Use (2017), p. 18. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 28 (2010) on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the Convention, para. 18. Paul DiMaggio and others, “From unequal access to differential use: a literature review and agenda for research on digital inequality” (2001). For a fuller exploration of some of these factors, see World Wide Web Foundation, Women’s Rights Online, pp. 18-23. See, for example, Alliance for Affordable Internet, Affordability Report 2015/16, pp. 32-33. See A/HRC/17/27, paras. 29-32 and ITU, Measuring the Information Society, chap. 6. See A/HRC/32/38, para. 80. See also Avri Doria, “Internet governance and gender issues”, in Association for Progressive Communications, Critically Absent: Women’s Rights in Internet Governance (2012).