From: Electronic Witches By: Kathreen Turnipseed (Zagreb) date: January 1996 http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/zkp/womeninc.txt Women in CyberSpace - from Margin to Center The following paper was presented at the Interstanding Understanding conference in Tallinn, Estonia in november, 1995. the paper was written in response to a request to address women's access to electronic communications and to provide an overview of the Zamir Transnational Network. I. Overview I do not speak for or on behalf of women in the Yugoslav successor states. I speak as a woman, middle-class citizen of the united states. I am here to share my e-mail training experience with women throughout the Yugoslav successor states and to address the issue of women's access to information technology. I will focus on women's mobilization of information technology in the service of social change. The analysis I present can be applied to all people living at the margins of technological developments as the principle issues are inclusiveness, the sharing of power and human rights. Computer mediated communication, specifically electronic mail or e-mail, hasthe potential to function democratically, however, cyber-life is constructed and utilized by human beings who replicate real-life prejudices and inequalities. As it is currently structured and practiced computer communication fails to serve women equally as men, homosexuals the same as heterosexuals, the illiterate on par with the literate, the working class equally to intellectuals, and those living in rural areas the same as urban dwellers. That is, those in the center of society have preferential access to those on the margins. I am a biased commentator on the development of Email networks and networking in the former Yugoslavia. The focus of my work is not a celebration of the wonders of a new technology, nor am i engaged in intellectualizing the impact of technology on societies; my approach is rooted in feminist activism. I am passionate about Email because of the potential it affords women to surpass politically induced barriers to communication, to access the right information at the right time, and to build relationships. Electronic networks facilitate women's basic human right of access to information and then, fully informed, women can meaningfully participate in decision making processes. To quote Alexandra Jones a human rights activist living in southern Croatia, "e-mail is all about liberation." The analysis that I present today is biased in my belief that in facing every critical issue in the world, including stopping war, the eradication of poverty,and the protection of civil liberties, that women are capable and must exercise intelligent leadership that is decisive, strong and inclusive of others. Communications and information play a strategic role in every realm of social,political, cultural and economic life. Email can enhance the participation of women in public life as it enables the production and broad distribution of information by environmentalists, gays and lesbians, the elderly, civil and human rights activists, single mothers, people with disabilities, anti-war campaigners, and others who are on the margins of traditional power structures. E-mail can bring to light the violence that is embedded in silence. My analysis is critical and it is hopeful. I conclude this paper with with suggested actions for broadening access to Email. II. Context and the Development of the Zamir Transnational Network There are several E-mail services available in the Yugoslav successor states that provide a range of services with corresponding differences in membership fees. I focus on the Zamir Transnational Network as it is an activist-centered, non- commercial provider, that stretches across national borders with host computers in Croatia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Kosova, Serbia and Slovenia. The Zamir Network aims specifically to provide affordable and reliable communication services to people working for the prevention of warfare; the protection of human and civil rights; the achievement of social and economic justice; the promotion of sustainable and equitable development; and the advancement of participatory democracy. To appreciate the accomplishments of the Zamir Network and its critical value to anti-war and other civic initiatives in the former Yugoslavia it is necessary to appreciate the political and social context, including the communication infrastructure, in which the network developed and continues to operate. ZaMir is literally translated as For Peace and it began operation within the context of the violent breakup of Yugoslavia. During this time, many public leaders were stirring up prejudice, hate and fear between people of different ethnic backgrounds. The media were under State control or influence rendering silent the alternative voices of tolerance and cooperation. Anti-war groups formed and worked to coordinate activities in Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo. With the start of armed conflict in Croatia in 1991 normal communications between citizens in the emerging States were disrupted. Travel by train or road between Croatia and Serbia became impossible, many of the telephone connections were blocked or destroyed, and the disruption of the postal system resulted in an almost total breakdown of communication between people working on opposite sides of the fighting. International peace organizations coordinated a fax network so that anti-war and civic initiatives could continue to communicate across the communications blockade. The politics of nationalism and the creation of culture where power is allied toand defined by force is expressed in silencing alternative views, restricting individual freedom and reviving traditional norms. This has had specific gender implications in the Yugoslav successor states. Regardless of the level of military activity women's rights are under attack, women have less visibility in the public sphere and are virtually excluded from State-level decision processes including mediation to end armed conflict. Masculinity is militarized demanding a deeper machismo and a display of patriotism through military service, correspondingly femininity has been constructed into sexualized woman or that of Patriotic Mother. Several women's organizations have received the blessing of the State for their provision of a variety of social services to the survivors of war-induced trauma and relocation. This stands in contrast to the invisibility of women's calls to end domestic violence or for appointment to leadership positions. The local and international media play a critical role in the construction of culture and the interpretation of wars in the Yugoslav successor states. The international mass media have documented and brought into homes around the world many stories of the political violence in former Yugoslavia. Many people in the world know that numerous citizens in Bosnia & Hercegovina have been starved, physically beaten, forced from their homes and killed; until this summer they were less clear that this same fate has fallen upon many people in Croatia and today most people still are unaware of the oppressive conditions endured by ethnic Albanians living in Kosova. Due to widespread coverage, there is international awareness that rape is used as an instrument of militarized nationalism, yet people do not learn of the persistence of male violence in the home. Images of rural women displaced from their homes by threat or force are often featured in television reports and news articles from the region. Women do comprise a majority of the refugee and displaced population of this region but we also comprise a majority of anti-war, human rights, environmental and social reconstruction activists. With the periodic exception of groups who are working with women survivors of sexual violence much of women's work for peace is unreported in the mass media. The horrors of war are worthy of reporting yet the mass media often does not place it in proper context or include effects other than the redrawing of geographic boundaries, the uprooting of entire communities, and massive human rights violations. In the shadow of the media popularized images of war violence and ethnic divisions lie other widespread and pervasive effects of militarism; societies are running on fragile economies with many citizens on the brink of survival, there is resurgent religious influence in public life,conservative social policies, and many young people have immigrated. The narrow space for alternative views renders e-mail indispensable to activists who strive to restructure communities so that people have power over their own lives, participate fully in community, and live in dignity and freedom. E-mail enables activists in this region who must work outside traditional structures to speak for themselves, to be informed, to maintain relationships and to meaningfully participate in global social change movements. CHRONOLOGY In December 1991 peace activist Eric Bachman initiated the first phase of an Email network. Modems were given to anti-war groups in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo with connections made through Adria Net to GreenNet. Communication in this initial phase was very unreliable as local servers were not able to fulfill their role adequately. Soon after, Wam Kat, an international volunteer experienced in email, joined the Anti- War Campaign in Zagreb. Using his own laptop the Anti-War Campaign was connected to the world-wide email network by directly telephoning to the London-based GreenNet. This step provided excellent and fast communications to and from the Zagreb Anti-War Campaign but was very expensive and was of no help to other antiwar and peace groups in the region. In July 1992 the Anti-War Campaign in Zagreb and the Center for Antiwar Action in Belgrade decided to establish their own BBS network. The two new BBS's exchanged mail by way of Austria and were thereby connected with each other and the rest of the world. Activists used the connection to publish alternative interpretations of local conditions, to coordinate actions, to tap into an international network of solidarity, to maintain personal relations and to receive foreign-published information. This initial connection was not without problems - equipment was overextended or inadequate, training requirements were high, and funding was needed to cover telephone and other operational costs. In September, 1992 upgraded equipment was installed in Belgrade and an international volunteer took responsibility for keeping the system running. The computer system in Zagreb also experienced serious operating problems. The BBS still ran on a borrowed computer and a shared telephone line. The system operator was involved in other projects and was traveling for several weeks. During this time the hard disk crashed and the system went off-line for four weeks as no one knew how to get the system running again. In December 1992 funds were raised to purchase a new computer and a dedicated telephone line was found. Since then the BBS in Zagreb has operated with a high degree of reliability. In 1994, despite war conditions Eric succeeded in establishing zamir in sarajevo. In three weeks he was able to get electricity, a telephone, a computer and international connections. The system has operated with a varying degree of reliability due to the electricity cuts and shelling utilized in the siege of citizens in Sarajevo. As 1995 draws to a close it is impressive to review the growth of the ZaMir network since this patched together beginning. The network is now a memberof the Association for Progressive Communications, APC, with seven servers offering email, newsgroups, and local conferences to over 2,700 network members. In order to accommodate a maximum number of users, members are encouraged to use point programs that allow quick and automatic netcalls into the servers instead of working on-line. Facilities are also available to enable people who don't have computers to exchange messages. The establishment of the ZaMir network is a testimony to individual creativity, commitment and perseverance. This vital communication link is deeply rooted in cooperation, innovation and respect for local culture. International activists played a critical role in the initial development of the project and quickly involved local activists in the development and daily operation of the system. With the slowing demand for technical upgrades and improved reliability the staff of the Zamir system are now giving more attention to outreach, the development of an on-line community, self-financing and greater involvement of women in the policy and practices of the network. III. Electronic Witches The Electronic Witches project was initiated in spring of 1994 to broaden women's access to electronic mail. The project began within the Women's Information and Documentation Center in Zagreb and became an independent project within the feminist movement in the Yugoslav successor states with special support from the Zagreb Women's Lobby and the women's human rights group B.a.B.e. (Be active Be emancipated). This project continues to receive invaluable support and encouragement from the system operators across the ZaMir network and has received financial support from the DanishPeace Council, Oxfam and the STAR project. In sharing the history of the Zamir Network you will have noticed that there is no mention of women's involvement. Writer bell hooks, speaking of her experience as an African American woman asserts "to be in the margin is to be part of the whole but outside the main body." Women have been related to the ZaMir Network since its inception but we have not been active at the center. Vesna Terselic, as Coordinator of the Anti-War Campaign, was involved in financial decisions but was too busy for greater involvement in the development of the network. As is common throughout the world, email technology on the Zamir Network reflects the masculine culture of technology. The system was designed and developed by men and then the services were made available to women. Male dominance of this technology is not the same as active or purposeful discrimination against women and availability is not the same as access. There are three components to having access to email technology. Hardware and software must be obtained, motivation and ownership must be developed and confidence raised. While women in the former Yugoslavia work under a range of economic circumstances one could cynically argue that obtaining the technical resources is the simplest part of access; it merely requires funding whereas motivation, ownership and confidence require time, commitment and changes in attitude. Over the course of eighteen months Electronic Witches has worked with more than one hundred women from thirty organizations throughout former Yugoslavia. These women come from a wide variety of backgrounds - different ethnicity's, religion, sexual orientation, education, class and profession. Threaded through this diversity in life experience runs an overwhelming similarity in their approach and experience with information technology. Women understand the power of information, its potential to enhance their social change goals and the need to share it widely. This group, however, also share the effects of traditional gender roles in society. Generally speaking, women have not enjoyed regular availability to computing resources, training that is appropriate to their needs, nor encouragement to creatively explore the potential uses of the computer. Rather many women relate experiences of taking informatics courses that had no hands on training, working in offices where men regulate usage and maintenance of computers and who warn "be careful, you'll break the computer." Overwhelmingly the computer has been placed outside of women's familiar framework, it has been mysticized and generalized as the domain of men. Under such conditions it is obvious that once equipment is obtained gender sensitive training begins to unlock women's access to the world of computer-mediated communication. Electronic Witches approach to training includes the provision of materials that are relevant and easy to understand with a minimum of technical jargon. It also focuses beyond skills transfer to the alleviation of women's fears and low self- confidence that have been ingrained through life experience of gender- based discrimination. Women quickly feel familiar with this technology once they are free from the prejudice of traditional gender roles, receive skills training related to their needs and can practice in a supportive environment. Exercises used during our training do not exalt the technological wonders of email or the computer but are focused in daily, practical applications that are relevant in women's lives. The pattern that I have observed is that women are quick to utilize computer communications technology for the exchange of email messages with colleagues, funders, friends and family and to access a broad base ofinformation related to their work. The following four short examples illustrate the ways in which women have incorporated email communications into their lives. An activist in Yugoslavia is using e-mail in her education program with women and girls in a community where, until recently, women were sold into marriage. Until this program started, girls in the community were denied their basic right to education. Articles posted on e-mail conferences by the Women's Feature Service in New Delhi are shared with the students. These articles depict a range of women's experiences around the world and are used to educate students about their basic human rights and to bring this group of isolated, rural women into the global community of women. These stories are responded to with laughter, curiosity, recognition and surprise. E-mail's ability to reduce isolation is well-known by lesbians living in the region. Living in strongly heterosexist societies we are keenly aware of our invisibility in public life and, though we are individually accepted, within the alternative media, feminist, and anti-war communities. E-mail reduces our isolation as we can connect with each other throughout the region and mailing lists such as euro-sappho and euro- queer connect us to lesbians throughout Europe. Labrys, a lesbian human rights group in Belgrade, uses email to publish reports of human rights violation, to link with international gay & lesbian human rights advocacy groups, and to further project development begun at international conferences. The international solidarity available over e-mail is critically important to minority groups as our advocacy for human rights and inclusion places us at odds, sometimes violently at odds, with the dominant culture. On 25 May, 1995, the Day of Youth in former Yugoslavia, the center of Tuzla was shelled resulting in the deaths of sixty seven youth and injuries to one hundred and twenty eight. Citizens of Tuzla used e-mail to express their rage and grief at this deliberate killing of the next generation and ineffectiveness of the international community to prevent such violence. Women in Belgrade, Zenica, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Europe and North America used e-mail to send messages of solidarity to people in Tuzla. While the international media had moved on to the next story, the hostage-taking of UN soldiers, E-mail messages of solidarity and support continued to flow into Tuzla and countered a general sentiment of their grief having been too quickly forgotten The Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in September of thisyear provides a remarkable example of women's global electronic networking. Women in former Yugoslavia benefited and made great use of information available on conferences through the APC Women's Networking Support Program. APC ensured that prior to the conference women received timely information that enabled women to contribute in the planning of the world conference and drafting the platform for action. During the conference APC provided email services, training and published a large selection of reports that articulated the real issues that were being discussed and the proposed strategies for action. In addition to utilizing e-mail for accessing and sharing information regarding the World Conference on Women, activists in Bosnia & Hercegovina, Croatiaand Serbia used e-mail to plan a joint workshop at the conference. These examples show that women are motivated to utilize e-mail to serve their needs principally through the exchange of private messages and using information made available on electronic conferences. Women also publish information but express reluctance to put their ideas into public conferences. In 1995, the Anti-War Campaign in Zagreb increased the use of e-mail for articulating and discussing political positions. A private conference was established where women participate on equal terms with men. Recently, several men have suggested that this private conference be transformed into apublic conference and the female members have resisted this change expressing concern of having their ideas ridiculed or aggressively attacked. Last year, the Women's Information and Documentation Center opened a local conference where women can discuss issues. This conference is open to all members on the network but only women can write into it. This is an important initial step in women's movement from the margins of public e- mail discussion into the center of critical debate. Women's confidence and motivation within the public realm of Cyber Space must be considered when we speak of access to email as a tool for social change. Beyond learning the technical skills of email we must measure the accessibility of the information that is available over these global networks. When women read conference messages do we see ourselves represented? Is the language accessible? Are the communication patterns encouraging of alternative viewpoints? George Eliot commented "There is no private life which is not determined by a wider public life." Likewise, I argue that there is no CyberSpace that is not determined by real life. A quick scan of conferences available on the Zamir Network suggest that the Information Highway has replicated gender segregation and prejudices in society and in the mass media that is complicated by the predominance of English language conferences. During July of this year the UN-declared safe areas of Zepa, Srebrenica and Gorazde in Bosnia & Hercegovina were made no longer safe and in August the Croatian Government implemented a military action to reclaim the Serb- held territory of Krajina. Vital information concerning these actions was posted on e-mail in the APC Yugo Antiwar conference. The overwhelming majority ofmessages were written in English and posted by men, many of whom are not from the region. While the majority of people uprooted by these military actions are women, a search through all the messages reveals the word "women"appears in only fourteen percent of the messages and overwhelmingly in the context of rape or in "women, children and the elderly." As women are alienated by our under representation and stereotyped images in the mass media it is easy to understand that women would not take ownership or feel confident about accessing email conferences where these gender prejudices are replicated. One can argue that women with email accounts enjoy availability and can change the gender balance of email conferences. As women strive for equality in all aspects of public and private life so will we reach for equality in email, however men must also commit themselves to inclusion. Women overwhelmingly have not experienced regular and supportive access to other means of public expression and so we must take a process view toward developing women's confidence and motivation to participate in e-mail conferences. As in real-life women need places in CyberSpace where we can speak among ourselves, however we must remember that all issues are women's issues and not allow ourselves to be contained in a special interest ghetto on the email networks. As we pressure the mainstream media to more accurately represent women, we should also expect public email conferences to strive for gender balance in postings. This does not exclusively mean that women should write more messages but it also means that men who post messages must evaluate their writing from a gender perspective. I am optimistic about the future of women's access to email networking in former Yugoslavia. As with the evolution of the Zamir Network women's relationship to e-mail is now in a position to shift; a core group of users now exist and the focus can broaden to address issues of publishing information, participation in network decisions and development, and sharing information with groups that do not have e-mail access. Many resources have become available in recent months that suggest tools for this development will be available. The system operators on the Zamir Network are more focused on outreach, the Network of East West Women have included women in the region in its email networking project, APC has raised funds to support women's direct involvement in the Zamir Network, and the Women's Information and Documentation Center in Zagreb has initiated a Women's Regional Networking Project. IV. LESSONS LEARNED and FORWARD LOOKS The development of the Zamir Network and the work of Electronic Witches informs strategies for increasing women's access to the world of information technology. Women throughout the world, in every segment of society know that there can be no democracy without gender democracy. When addressing the field of communications one can easily conclude that electronic communication networks tend to replicate print and broadcast outlets imbalance in women's participation and gender sensitive representation. Due to the decentralized membership of communication networks, women's networking support programs and networks dedicated to social change I am optimistic that the movement by women into the center of electronic networks is more readily obtainable than in other mass communication outlets. There are several actions to facilitate this transformation. Women must be included in the early stages of a network's development both in decision-making and technical positions. Where networks receive external funding the funding organization shares the burden of responsibility for ensuring that the project does not perpetuate existing gender inequalities. This can be done by assessing the gender impact of the project, requiring meaningful participation of women in decision- making, periodic review of the project from a standpoint of inclusiveness, prioritizing the development of an on-line community, and the establishment of conferences in local languages. Recognizing that we each bring a diversity of experiences with technology, e- mail networking for social change must prioritize appropriate training materials and methodology, which may include computer literacy training. Remembering that e-mail is not accessible to the majority of people in our communities we need to be vigilant in our efforts to share information that is available on e-mail conferences. We must develop information sharing mechanisms and act creatively in establishing links with other media outlets. Linking to community radio, for example, opens the possibility for drawing illiterate women and those without computers into the on-line community. In countries where a majority of print and broadcast outlets are State controlled this requires the development and funding of alternative media. Media literacy programs should also be offered to women and girls to encourage their production of information. Creative strategies for broadening direct access to the World Wide Web should be considered. These may take the form of establishing not-for- profit cybercafes, or advocating for the World Wide Web to be made available in public libraries and schools. Recognizing the gap in access to information technology international networking must be prioritized. Funders should be encouraged to support projects such as Virtual Sisterhood, APC and the Network of East West Women all of which share resources across national borders. Local women's organizations should be active in partnering with these and other organizations that are strengthening and empowering women's communications. As we are all products of socialization under patriarchal structures gender sensitivity training should be required for all network support staff and conference moderators. Experience should inform policy and the netiquette policy should be evaluated annually for gender appropriateness. I would like to re-emphasize that oppressions such as sexism, racism, heterosexism and class oppression perpetuate inequality by eroding individual's sense of power, making group solidarity difficult, and pitting groups against each other. As we address the critical issues of the day and explore the utilization of information technology in the service of social justice it is obvious that without vigilant, conscious action the disparity between the information-rich and the information-poor will widen, thereby perpetuating marginalization. Women must secure our human right of access to information, take leadershipin the democratization and decentralization of computer communications, and put forth women's thinking on every issue. I will close with a quote from Duston Spear an artist and activist who recently tried to find the Web page for Three Women in Black, an anti-war group she co-founded in New York in solidarity with Women in Black in Belgrade, Serbia. Duston first typed the word Balkans and could not find it, then she realized that the group had been filed under WOMEN. Her remark after this experience is one that I hope you will all take home and share with members in your on-line communities, "Women have got to get so deep into the internet, the web, the gophers, the e-mail system - so central to it that we cannot be shoved off to the sidelines to observe the action of others." --- # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@is.in-berlin.de and "info nettime" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@is.in-berlin.de