Section 3 | RULES OF THE GAME This low level of political representation in national legislative bodies reflects gender norms regarding women’s exercise of leadership in public spaces as well as rational choices made by women given time deficits and the relative lack of power exercised by the hluttaw in the Myanmar political economy (and particularly true of state and regional hluttaws, which, unsurprisingly, have even lower levels of female MPs—see discussion beginning on page 55 below). At the same time, however, women are excluded from rent-seeking opportunities and patronage networks that could enable them to amass other forms of power, which would in turn increase their ability to close the gender digital divide in other capacities, such as growing influence as local entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Beyond empowering women political leaders to benefit individually from negative aspects of Myanmar’s political economy, such as cronyism, more diverse governance may lead to will focus on legislative changes explicitly designed to close any digital divides, much less Dr. Nyo Nyo Thinn, a member of the Yangon Region Parliament (2012– 16), reported that sexual harassment of women on crowded buses in Yangon is an issue of considerable concern to her female constituents, and proposed the introduction of womenonly buses to the Yangon Region Parliament. Her efforts on this issue were largely met with indifference by her male colleagues. the gender divide, in the near future. This makes it imperative to embed digital access and —Asian Development Bank, 2014 positive systemic benefits such as those found elsewhere: women’s political participation often leads to more inclusive decision-making and more attention to policy concerns articulated by women, such as health care,162 as well as decreased corruption in certain conditions.163 However, early indications from female MPs elected in 2015 are not promising. In addition to the weakened role of the legislative branch under the NLD administration in general, indifference to gender issues from the highest levels has reportedly frustrated female MPs. The difficulty in passing legislation on violence against women—despite an obligation to do so under CEDAW—is a case in point (see section 2.4 above). The ability of NLD representatives to introduce interests outside the party line appears to be severely curtailed; for example, they are reportedly forbidden from direct contact with local journalists to ensure all messaging is carefully controlled from above. Unless the NLD leadership embraces digital divides as a priority—and Aung San Sui Kyi received global coverage of comments lamenting the amount of time children waste online164—it is unlikely the hluttaw skills into relevant executive branch policies, regulations, and reforms in sectors with strong support, such as education (see section 3.3 below). Even if the political will to redress the gender digital divide arises, capacity in the union hluttaw to do so is further limited by extremely low digital skills among MPs and their staff. A government report confirmed that initiatives for e-voting and digitizing parliamentary records have been accompanied by training on ICT use for hluttaw staff and estimated that the number of staff would expand from 1,180 in 2015 to 2,615 in 2016.165 CSOs have also provided ICT training for dozens of parliamentarians,166 but there is still evidence of unmet needs. For example, staff from one INGO supporting e-governance initiatives were entrusted with the majority of MPs’ email and social media passwords to facilitate frequent requests for technical support on issues ranging from basic email operations to hacked Minoletti, Gender (In)equality in the Governance of Myanmar. Justin Esarey and Gina Chirillo, “‘Fairer Sex’ or Purity Myth? Corruption, Gender and Institutional Context,” Politics & Gender 9 (2013): 361–89. 164 Tom Batchelor, “Aung San Suu Kyi Says Burmese Children Are ‘Wasting Time’ on Technology,” Independent, 2016. 165 Kyaw Soe, “The Myanmar Hluttaw and the Role of ICT in Its Development.” Interparliamentary Union, Hanoi Session, March 2015. 166 Galpaya et al., Mobile Phones, Internet, Information and Knowledge. 162 163 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 50