Yemen:

Internet Use and Women at University of Aden: A Tool to raise Political Awareness? 
 

This research is concerned with the question: How can young Yemeni women (and others like them) use the internet to build political knowledge, raise political awareness and construct visions of development and change?  

The principal researcher and the research participants (ten female students from the University of Aden at the BA level) work together in collaborative action inquiry cycles. An intervention has been designed to help the participants discover their internal sources of self-development and self-empowerment, define their choices and enhance their interest in raising their political awareness. In every cycle each participant searches through the internet to collect data, build, verify, find out and extend (extra) knowledge on topics related to gender and political awareness. Afterwards, she writes reflexive notes on the process itself (what she feels, how she thinks, what she discovers about herself, describes the search journey, describes the process, her changes in ideas, self-evaluation, self-image, self-perception, etc.). Collected data and reflexive notes then are discussed in focus group discussions. 

The research aims to contribute to a change of the status quo, where women are passive participants in Yemen’s political fora, to where they are becoming active participants and leaders.

Location: Aden

Contact;

Zahra Al-Saqqaf