The gender gap in mobile phone use is the subject of a new report by the GSMA, an association of nearly 800 mobile operators worldwide. Its investigation found women were on average 14 percent less likely to own a phone than men in 11 low- and middle-income countries.
To put that in other terms: 200 million fewer women than men in these countries don’t own phones. And when they do, they use them less than men. [...]
Why is that a gendered issue? Quite simply, women don’t tend to have as much income or financial autonomy in these countries. Across all countries, men were more likely to pay for their phone credit themselves, and the authors point out that even when women earn an income, they may not be able to make decisions about how it is spent.