Tools at the Service of Public Administrations to Fight Digital Gender Inequalities

Abstract

This article seeks to highlight how the emergence of the information society and, with it, the New Information and Communication Technologies, despite their benefits, have also brought with them important challenges in the fight against gender discrimination. Moreover, after their consolidation, we can speak of a new digital gender gap that has certainly been intense in rural environments, which are particularly disadvantaged in the implementation of virtual reality. For this reason, mechanisms are established to fight against this new form of discrimination, which should be articulated primarily by the Public Administrations as guarantors of equality among all citizens and the fight for the satisfaction of the general interest, which should only result in the well-being of all. Consequently, the paper begins with a brief introduction that highlights the current context and then goes on to highlight the regulatory guidelines for achieving gender equality in the field of the information society, as well as some relevant initiatives carried out by public bodies, concluding with possible measures to be adopted by the Administrations in favour of gender equality in the digital environment, in which, together with the legal provisions, several public initiatives in favour of the integration of women in the digital environment will also be taken into consideration, trying to reduce digital gender gaps, highlighting, in this respect, the IV Plan for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men 2003-2006 or, of course, the most recent and current, III Strategic Plan for the Effective Equality of Women and Men 2022-2025.