The inequalities faced by women in the real world are also prevalent online. On International Women's Day, celebrated on 8 March, the UN is raising awareness of these disparities, and putting forward a vision of fairer digital future for all.
Despite the increasing digitalization of everyone's daily lives, the digital gender gap has grown; globally around 63 per cent of women have access to the internet today, compared to 69 per cent of men.
Across all areas of digital technology, women and girls remain under-represented, from coding and creating, to accessing services, and drafting regulations and policy. This disparity comes at a considerable cost: UN Women estimates that, if women's exclusion from the digital sphere was ended, some $1 trillion could be added to the GDP of low and middle-income countries.
And women and girls are often put off by an actively hostile environment in the sector; on average, women are paid 21 per cent less than men, they face considerably lower rates of promotion, and nearly half report workplace harassment.
These statistics underline the urgent need to change the online environment, and widen access to women and girls. The UN is backing a wide range of projects supporting this aim; here are some examples.
'With little to no resources, I can make a huge difference'
When she learned that her high school in Eswatini offered classes on information and communication technologies, student Sizolwethu Maphanga was not interested: as far as she could tell, there was no connection with the real-world challenges she saw facing her community and country, something that research has shown is a key driver of many girls' career choices.
"I was fortunate enough to have enrolled," she says, "but I was never that much in love with it."
Everything changed for Sizolwethu when she attended a coding camp run by the African Girls Can Code Initiative. There, she says, her passion for tech grew as the camp "opened my eyes to the game changing innovations that can impact Africa. I learned that, with little to no resources, I can make a huge difference if passion and determination are there."
