Small percentage of female Internet users

Experts on Wednesday attributed the small percentage of Jordanian women using the Internet to low incomes, which makes web connectivity a luxury for many families, unlike in the Gulf. In Jordan, 30 out of 100 women are Internet users, compared to 65 in Saudi Arabia and 81 in the UAE, according to www.insightsmena.com, a site providing key trends on online behaviour recently launched by Google. “Women in Saudi Arabia and the UAE have more money to spend on the service via mobiles, laptops and all kinds of devices, but in Jordan not all women can afford to subscribe to the service at their expense,” Jawad Abbasi, founder and chairman of Arab Advisers Group, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Wednesday. “In addition, women in Saudi Arabia find using the Internet an outlet for them and they have more free time than women in Jordan,” he said. The high percentage of expatriates working in the Gulf countries is another reason why there are more women in the Gulf states using the service than in Jordan, Abed Shamlawi, CEO of the ICT Association of Jordan - int@j, said Wednesday. “Expatriates families in the Gulf either use the Internet at their workplace or have the service installed at home to communicate with their families, relatives and friends back home,” he explained. The low number of Jordanian women using the Internet is also hampered by the “modest” penetration rate in the Kingdom, Shamlawi noted. Internet penetration currently stands at 40 per cent in Jordan, where 49 per cent of the male population use the service, while it is 70 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 84 per cent in the UAE, according to www.insightsmena.com. “There are still limitations against using the service in Jordan that has mainly to do with lack of awareness,” Shamlawi said. The shortage of Arabic content is another factor that discourages more widespread use of the web, he added. “In Jordan, there are also families who do not allow their female members to surf the Internet as they consider it unacceptable or the wrong thing to do,” Shamlawi said. Hussein Khuzai, associate professor of sociology at Balqa Applied University, agreed. “In urban areas, residents regard Internet as a necessity, while in the badia and rural areas they consider it a luxury,” he said. “There are plenty of families that forbid women from using the Internet, fearing they will initiate romantic relationships, which is unacceptable in society. Usually such contact between young people on social networking sites is conducted in secret without the knowledge of their parents,” Khuzai said. “Parents are always afraid of the negative experiences their female family members might undergo while using the Internet, such as getting involved in relationships or being exposed to unethical content,” he explained. According to www.insightsmena.com, 63 per cent of Internet users in Jordan use the service at home, 23 per cent in Internet caf?s, 22 per cent in houses of relatives and friends, 16 per cent at the office and 1 per cent through mobile phones. Those who access the service at home spend around 11.16 hours per week using the Internet, while office staff use it for 12.45 hours per week.