How do they use their phones?
Women use their phones to stay connected, manage financial transactions, consume entertainment, express themselves, and access information for everyday needs. Patterns of use are shaped by relevance, familiarity, and the constraints of their social and material contexts.
Mobile Ownership (DHS-8 2024)
49%Smartphone Ownership
5%Uses Mobile for Financial Transactions
3%
Reach and Connection
Use is focused on personal communication and limited to making and receiving calls on the phone. Messaging is not operated directly, text messages are sent and read with help from others.
Entertainment and Stress Relief
Listens to the radio on the phone for entertainment and religious sermons.
Learning and Growth
May listen to health-related information and religious learning on the radio. Learning is passive, based on listening to broadcast content rather than seeking specific information.
Transactions and Financial Security
No independent use of digital financial services.
Self Promotion and Expression
Limited or no engagement in self-promotion or expression.
How do they get access to their phones?
Access to phones is often mediated through family and social networks, with devices acquired, shared, or supported through these relationships. Patterns of ownership, control, and continuity vary across geographies and reflect broader gendered and economic conditions.
Is in the Top 40% by Household Wealth Nationally
11%Partner Works in a Professional or Managerial Role
6%Has Year Long Employment or Livelihood Activity
35%
Access to Device and Consumables
Unlikely to have had early phone access. Husbands may provide basic phones after marriage to stay in touch; however, ownership may not be consistent.
May have to rely on borrowed phones from close family members and friends for basic tasks like calling.
May not require airtime to be bought.
How do they learn how to use their phones?
Women build digital capability over time through a combination of early exposure, literacy, and support from others. Facilitators, such as family members, peers, or intermediaries often play a role in shaping how skills are developed and how confidence is built.
Can Read Full Sentences
0%Cannot Read at All
68%Has Secondary and Above Education
8%
Base Capabilities
Has no prior digital exposure and very limited literacy, even in Arabic; much of the phone’s functionality is inaccessible.
Learning Style
Interested in learning, but constrained by slow shared devices and lack of privacy. Learning is largely through pattern memorisation and requires repetitive teaching.
Learning Needs
Needs to be shown how to make and receive calls. Requires ongoing support to save numbers and transfer offline content and files.
Facilitators
Children and family play a major role in ongoing support; use may stall if the facilitator is unavailable.
What are the challenges they navigate?
Women navigate interruptions in access, limitations in resources, and a range of digital risks. Their use of phones is shaped by social expectations and relationship dynamics, which influence when, how, and how freely they are able to stay connected.
Has Internalised Domestic Violence
36%Participates in Household Decision Making
25%Household has Electricity
44%
Disruptions caused by Financial Shocks, Damage, Degradation and Loss
Disruptions occur often, but there is limited impact due to minimal use; core functions can continue through borrowed devices.
Managing Recurring Costs (data, airtime etc.)
Running out of airtime further restricts already basic usage. During these periods, use is limited to functions that do not require airtime, such as radio and flashlight, resulting in narrower but continued access.
Charging Cycles
Charging is less disruptive due to limited use, allowing the battery to last longer. She still manages battery life by restricting power-intensive features such as the flashlight.
Norms, Control and Coercion
Normative scrutiny is likely to be minimal, as digital use is very limited. Older women in these groups, especially those with little early digital exposure, may not recognise its value and may internalise and reinforce restrictive gender norms. This tendency is often stronger among more vulnerable women with limited education.
Perception of Risk
May have a vague sense of digital threats, largely through what she has heard from others.
Response to Digital Risk
Restrictions are more likely to be self-imposed since use is not actively monitored. Even on shared phones, usage may not expand.