Her voice in the making: ICTs and the empowerment of migrant women in Pearl River Delta, China

Various studies have shown that the use of social media via mobile devices is ubiquitous among the new generation of migrant workers in China. However, for young female migrant workers, aged between 18 and 35 years, despite the significant increase in their access to information technology, very few web-based contents are targeted at them or address the issues they face. In terms of social media participation, it is still quite difficult for them to express their views online. While Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be largely used to overcome the gender digital divide among less privileged populations, discussion on such practices and their impact has been inconclusive so far. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork carried out in the Pearl River Delta in China, this paper reveals that government-implemented and market-driven internal migration presents a tangible opportunity to tackle longstanding challenges of the gender digital divide amongst female workers. This paper also outlines th...