At the recent GSMA mWomen Working Group meeting, we heard from five BOP women – Inoka, Chandrika, Daya, Nandika and Suramya – from rural Sri Lanka, during a focus group arranged by Mobitel. These women discussed their aspirations and pain points both in life in general and relating to mobile specifically.

The education of their children was cited several times as a means to happiness; they hoped for health for themselves and their relations and aspired for their families to be free from debt. Out of those who owned phones, the phones were all second hand. Two women did not have phones because they could not afford them; however, they both wanted one, with one lady saying ‘I constantly wish for one.’ Negative perceptions of a woman owning a phone were cited to be: the perception she was having an extra marital affair; that it was not ladylike to carry it in her hand and that it enabled children to access and share unnecessary or undesirable information outside the home.

However, they agreed that their society was changing – as more women work outside the home they have to associate more with men and so it is becoming more acceptable for a woman to own and use a phone. They agreed that there are benefits for women owning mobile phones, which included: that it was easier to manage and save time; it improved job opportunities through being contactable; it reduced the need to spend money on travel when communicating with relatives and it enabled them to listen to music.