From: Electronic Witches 
<ELECTRONICWITCHES_ZG@ZAMIR-ZG.ZTN.APC.ORG> 
By: Kathreen Turnipseed (Zagreb)
date: January 1996
http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/zkp/womeninc.txt


Women in CyberSpace 
- from Margin to Center


The following paper was presented at the Interstanding 
Understanding conference in Tallinn, Estonia in november, 1995. 
the paper was written in response to a request to address 
women's access to electronic communications and to provide an 
overview of the Zamir Transnational Network.


I. Overview

I do not speak for or on behalf of women in the Yugoslav 
successor states.
 I speak as a woman, middle-class citizen of the united states. 
I am here to share my e-mail training experience with women 
throughout the Yugoslav successor states and to address the 
issue of women's access to information technology. I will focus 
on women's mobilization of information technology in the service 
of social change. The analysis I present can be applied to all 
people living at the margins of technological developments as 
the principle issues are inclusiveness, the sharing of power and 
human rights.

Computer mediated communication, specifically electronic mail or 
e-mail, hasthe potential to function democratically, however, 
cyber-life is constructed and utilized by human beings who 
replicate real-life prejudices and inequalities. As it is 
currently structured and practiced computer communication fails 
to serve women equally as men, homosexuals the same as 
heterosexuals, the illiterate on par with the literate, the 
working class equally to intellectuals, and those living in 
rural areas the same as urban dwellers. That is, those in the 
center of society have preferential access to those on the 
margins.

I am a biased commentator on the development of Email networks 
and networking in the former Yugoslavia. The focus of my work is 
not a celebration of the wonders of a new technology, nor am i 
engaged in intellectualizing the impact of technology on 
societies; my approach is rooted in feminist activism. I am 
passionate about Email because of the potential it affords women 
to surpass politically induced barriers to communication, to 
access the right information at the right time, and to build 
relationships. Electronic networks facilitate women's basic 
human right of access to information and then, fully informed, 
women can meaningfully participate in decision making processes. 
To quote Alexandra Jones a human rights activist living in 
southern Croatia, "e-mail is all about liberation."

The analysis that I present today is biased in my belief that in 
facing every critical issue in the world, including stopping 
war, the eradication of poverty,and the protection of civil 
liberties, that women are capable and must exercise intelligent 
leadership that is decisive, strong and inclusive of others. 
Communications and information play a strategic role in every 
realm of social,political, cultural and economic life. Email can 
enhance the participation of women in public life as it enables 
the production and broad distribution of information by 
environmentalists, gays and lesbians, the elderly, civil and 
human rights activists, single mothers, people with 
disabilities, anti-war campaigners, and others who are on the 
margins of traditional power structures. E-mail can bring to 
light the violence that is embedded in silence.

My analysis is critical and it is hopeful. I conclude this paper 
with with suggested actions for broadening access to Email.

II. Context and the Development of the Zamir Transnational 
Network

There are several E-mail services available in the Yugoslav 
successor states that provide a range of services with 
corresponding differences in membership fees. I focus on the 
Zamir Transnational Network as it is an activist-centered, non-
commercial provider, that stretches across national borders with 
host computers in Croatia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Kosova, Serbia 
and Slovenia. The Zamir Network aims specifically to provide 
affordable and reliable communication services to people working 
for the prevention of warfare; the protection of human and civil 
rights; the achievement of social and economic justice; the 
promotion of sustainable and equitable development; and the 
advancement of participatory democracy.
To appreciate the accomplishments of the Zamir Network and its 
critical value to anti-war and other civic initiatives in the 
former Yugoslavia it is necessary to appreciate the political 
and social context, including the communication infrastructure, 
in which the network developed and continues to operate.

ZaMir is literally translated as For Peace and it began 
operation within the context of the violent breakup of 
Yugoslavia. During this time, many public leaders were stirring 
up prejudice, hate and fear between people of different ethnic 
backgrounds. The media were under State control or influence 
rendering silent the alternative voices of tolerance and 
cooperation. Anti-war groups formed and worked to coordinate 
activities in Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo.

With the start of armed conflict in Croatia in 1991 normal 
communications between citizens in the emerging States were 
disrupted. Travel by train or road between Croatia and Serbia 
became impossible, many of the telephone connections were 
blocked or destroyed, and the disruption of the postal system 
resulted in an almost total breakdown of communication between 
people working on opposite sides of the fighting. International 
peace organizations coordinated a fax network so that anti-war 
and civic initiatives could continue to communicate across the 
communications blockade.

The politics of nationalism and the creation of culture where 
power is allied toand defined by force is expressed in silencing 
alternative views, restricting individual freedom and reviving 
traditional norms. This has had specific gender implications in 
the Yugoslav successor states.
Regardless of the level of military activity women's rights are 
under attack, women have less visibility in the public sphere 
and are virtually excluded from State-level decision processes 
including mediation to end armed conflict. Masculinity is 
militarized demanding a deeper machismo and a display of 
patriotism through military service, correspondingly femininity 
has been constructed into sexualized woman or that of Patriotic 
Mother. Several women's organizations have received the blessing 
of the State for their provision of a variety of social services 
to the survivors of war-induced trauma and relocation.  This 
stands in contrast to the invisibility of women's calls to end 
domestic violence or for appointment to leadership positions.

The local and international media play a critical role in the 
construction of culture and the interpretation of wars in the 
Yugoslav successor states. The international mass media have 
documented and brought into homes around the world many stories 
of the political violence in former Yugoslavia. Many people in 
the world know that numerous citizens in Bosnia & Hercegovina 
have been starved, physically beaten, forced from their homes 
and killed; until this summer they were less clear that this 
same fate has fallen upon many people in Croatia and today most 
people still are unaware of the oppressive conditions endured by 
ethnic Albanians living in Kosova. Due to widespread coverage, 
there is international awareness that rape is used as an 
instrument of militarized nationalism, yet people do not learn 
of the persistence of male violence in the home.
Images of rural women displaced from their homes by threat or 
force are often featured in television reports and news articles 
from the region.
Women do comprise a majority of the refugee and displaced 
population of this region but we also comprise a majority of 
anti-war, human rights, environmental and social reconstruction 
activists. With the periodic exception of groups who are working 
with women survivors of sexual violence much of women's work for 
peace is unreported in the mass media.

The horrors of war are worthy of reporting yet the mass media 
often does not place it in proper context or include effects 
other than the redrawing of geographic boundaries, the uprooting 
of entire communities, and massive human rights violations. In 
the shadow of the media popularized images of war violence and 
ethnic divisions lie other widespread and pervasive effects of 
militarism; societies are running on fragile economies with many 
citizens on the brink of survival, there is resurgent religious 
influence in public life,conservative social policies, and many 
young people have immigrated.

The narrow space for alternative views renders e-mail 
indispensable to activists who strive to restructure communities 
so that people have power over their own lives, participate 
fully in community, and live in dignity and freedom. E-mail 
enables activists in this region who must work outside 
traditional structures to speak for themselves, to be informed, 
to maintain relationships and to meaningfully participate in 
global social change movements.

CHRONOLOGY

In December 1991 peace activist Eric Bachman initiated the first 
phase of an Email network. Modems were given to anti-war groups 
in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo with connections 
made through Adria Net to GreenNet. Communication in this 
initial phase was very unreliable as local servers were not able 
to fulfill their role adequately. Soon after, Wam Kat, an 
international volunteer experienced in email, joined the Anti- 
War Campaign in Zagreb. Using his own laptop the Anti-War 
Campaign was connected to the world-wide email network by 
directly telephoning to the London-based GreenNet. This step 
provided excellent and fast communications to and from the 
Zagreb Anti-War Campaign but was very expensive and was of no 
help to other antiwar and peace groups in the region.

In July 1992 the Anti-War Campaign in Zagreb and the Center for 
Antiwar Action in Belgrade decided to establish their own BBS 
network.  The two new BBS's exchanged mail by way of Austria and 
were thereby connected with each other and the rest of the 
world. Activists used the connection to publish alternative 
interpretations of local conditions, to coordinate actions, to 
tap into an international network of solidarity, to maintain 
personal relations and to receive foreign-published information.

This initial connection was not without problems - equipment was 
overextended or inadequate, training requirements were high, and 
funding was needed to cover telephone and other operational 
costs. In September, 1992 upgraded equipment was installed in 
Belgrade and an international volunteer took responsibility for 
keeping the system running.

The computer system in Zagreb also experienced serious operating 
problems.
 The BBS still ran on a borrowed computer and a shared telephone 
line.
The system operator was involved in other projects and was 
traveling for several weeks. During this time the hard disk 
crashed and the system went off-line for four weeks as no one 
knew how to get the system running again.

In December 1992 funds were raised to purchase a new computer 
and a dedicated telephone line was found. Since then the BBS in 
Zagreb has operated with a high degree of reliability. In 1994, 
despite war conditions Eric succeeded in establishing zamir in 
sarajevo. In three weeks he was able to get electricity, a 
telephone, a computer and international connections.  The system 
has operated with a varying degree of reliability due to the 
electricity cuts and shelling utilized in the siege of citizens 
in Sarajevo.

As 1995 draws to a close it is impressive to review the growth 
of the ZaMir network since this patched together beginning. The 
network is now a memberof the Association for Progressive 
Communications, APC, with seven servers offering email, 
newsgroups, and local conferences to over 2,700 network members. 
In order to accommodate a maximum number of users, members are 
encouraged to use point programs that allow quick and automatic 
netcalls into the servers instead of working on-line.
Facilities are also available to enable people who don't have 
computers to exchange messages.

The establishment of the ZaMir network is a testimony to 
individual creativity, commitment and perseverance. This vital 
communication link is deeply rooted in cooperation, innovation 
and respect for local culture.
International activists played a critical role in the initial 
development of the project and quickly involved local activists 
in the development and daily operation of the system.

With the slowing demand for technical upgrades and improved 
reliability the staff of the Zamir system are now giving more 
attention to outreach, the development of an on-line community, 
self-financing and greater involvement of women in the policy 
and practices of the network.

III. Electronic Witches

The Electronic Witches project was initiated in spring of 1994 
to broaden women's access to electronic mail. The project began 
within the Women's Information and Documentation Center in 
Zagreb and became an independent project within the feminist 
movement in the Yugoslav successor states with special support 
from the Zagreb Women's Lobby and the women's human rights group 
B.a.B.e. (Be active Be emancipated). This project continues to 
receive invaluable support and encouragement from the system 
operators across the ZaMir network and has received financial 
support from the DanishPeace Council, Oxfam and the STAR 
project.

In sharing the history of the Zamir Network you will have 
noticed that there is no mention of women's involvement. Writer 
bell hooks, speaking of her experience as an African American 
woman asserts "to be in the margin is to be part of the whole 
but outside the main body." Women have been related to the ZaMir 
Network since its inception but we have not been active at the 
center. Vesna Terselic, as Coordinator of the Anti-War Campaign, 
was involved in financial decisions but was too busy for greater 
involvement in the development of the network.

As is common throughout the world, email technology on the Zamir 
Network reflects the masculine culture of technology. The system 
was designed and developed by men and then the services were 
made available to women. Male dominance of this technology is 
not the same as active or purposeful discrimination against 
women and availability is not the same as access.

There are three components to having access to email technology. 
Hardware and software must be obtained, motivation and ownership 
must be developed and confidence raised. While women in the 
former Yugoslavia work under a range of economic circumstances 
one could cynically argue that obtaining the technical resources 
is the simplest part of access; it merely requires funding 
whereas motivation, ownership and confidence require time, 
commitment and changes in attitude.

Over the course of eighteen months Electronic Witches has worked 
with more than one hundred women from thirty organizations 
throughout former Yugoslavia. These women come from a wide 
variety of backgrounds - different ethnicity's, religion, sexual 
orientation, education, class and profession. Threaded through 
this diversity in life experience runs an overwhelming 
similarity in their approach and experience with information 
technology. Women understand the power of information, its 
potential to enhance their social change goals and the need to 
share it widely. This group, however, also share the effects of 
traditional gender roles in society. Generally speaking, women 
have not enjoyed regular availability to computing resources, 
training that is appropriate to their needs, nor encouragement 
to creatively explore the potential uses of the computer.
Rather many women relate experiences of taking informatics 
courses that had no hands on training, working in offices where 
men regulate usage and maintenance of computers and who warn "be 
careful, you'll break the computer." Overwhelmingly the computer 
has been placed outside of women's familiar framework, it has 
been mysticized and generalized as the domain of men.

Under such conditions it is obvious that once equipment is 
obtained gender sensitive training begins to unlock women's 
access to the world of computer-mediated communication. 
Electronic Witches approach to training includes the provision 
of materials that are relevant and easy to understand with a 
minimum of technical jargon. It also focuses beyond skills 
transfer to the alleviation of women's fears and low self- 
confidence that have been ingrained through life experience of 
gender- based discrimination. Women quickly feel familiar with 
this technology once they are free from the prejudice of 
traditional gender roles, receive skills training related to 
their needs and can practice in a supportive environment. 
Exercises used during our training do not exalt the 
technological wonders of email or the computer but are focused 
in daily, practical applications that are relevant in women's 
lives.

The pattern that I have observed is that women are quick to 
utilize computer communications technology for the exchange of 
email messages with colleagues, funders, friends and family and 
to access a broad base ofinformation related to their work.

The following four short examples illustrate the ways in which 
women have incorporated email communications into their lives.

An activist in Yugoslavia is using e-mail in her education 
program with women and girls in a community where, until 
recently, women were sold into marriage. Until this program 
started, girls in the community were denied their basic right to 
education. Articles posted on e-mail conferences by the Women's 
Feature Service in New Delhi are shared with the students.
These articles depict a range of women's experiences around the 
world and are used to educate students about their basic human 
rights and to bring this group of isolated, rural women into the 
global community of women.
These stories are responded to with laughter, curiosity, 
recognition and surprise.

E-mail's ability to reduce isolation is well-known by lesbians 
living in the region. Living in strongly heterosexist societies 
we are keenly aware of our invisibility in public life and, 
though we are individually accepted, within the alternative 
media, feminist, and anti-war communities. E-mail reduces our 
isolation as we can connect with each other throughout the 
region and mailing lists such as euro-sappho and euro- queer 
connect us to lesbians throughout Europe. Labrys, a lesbian 
human rights group in Belgrade, uses email to publish reports of 
human rights violation, to link with international gay & lesbian 
human rights advocacy groups, and to further project development 
begun at international conferences. The international solidarity 
available over e-mail is critically important to minority groups 
as our advocacy for human rights and inclusion places us at 
odds, sometimes violently at odds, with the dominant culture.

On 25 May, 1995, the Day of Youth in former Yugoslavia, the 
center of Tuzla was shelled resulting in the deaths of sixty 
seven youth and injuries to one hundred and twenty eight.  
Citizens of Tuzla used e-mail to express their rage and grief at 
this deliberate killing of the next generation and 
ineffectiveness of the international community to prevent such 
violence. Women in Belgrade, Zenica, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Europe 
and North America used e-mail to send messages of solidarity to 
people in Tuzla.  While the international media had moved on to 
the next story, the hostage-taking of UN soldiers, E-mail 
messages of solidarity and support continued to flow into Tuzla 
and countered a general sentiment of their grief having been too 
quickly forgotten

The Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 
September of thisyear provides a remarkable example of women's 
global electronic networking. Women in former Yugoslavia 
benefited and made great use of information available on 
conferences through the APC Women's Networking Support Program. 
APC ensured that prior to the conference women received timely 
information that enabled women to contribute in the planning of 
the world conference and drafting the platform for action. 
During the conference APC provided email services, training and 
published a large selection of reports that articulated the real 
issues that were being discussed and the proposed strategies for 
action.

In addition to utilizing e-mail for accessing and sharing 
information regarding the World Conference on Women, activists 
in Bosnia & Hercegovina, Croatiaand Serbia used e-mail to plan a 
joint workshop at the conference.

These examples show that women are motivated to utilize e-mail 
to serve their needs principally through the exchange of private 
messages and using information made available on electronic 
conferences.  Women also publish information but express 
reluctance to put their ideas into public conferences. In 1995, 
the Anti-War Campaign in Zagreb increased the use of e-mail for 
articulating and discussing political positions. A private 
conference was established where women participate on equal 
terms with men. Recently, several men have suggested that this 
private conference be transformed into apublic conference and 
the female members have resisted this change expressing concern 
of having their ideas ridiculed or aggressively attacked.

Last year, the Women's Information and Documentation Center 
opened a local conference where women can discuss issues. This 
conference is open to all members on the network but only women 
can write into it. This is an important initial step in women's 
movement from the margins of public e- mail discussion into the 
center of critical debate.

Women's confidence and motivation within the public realm of 
Cyber Space must be considered when we speak of access to email 
as a tool for social change. Beyond learning the technical 
skills of email we must measure the accessibility of the 
information that is available over these global networks. When 
women read conference messages do we see ourselves represented? 
Is the language accessible? Are the communication patterns 
encouraging of alternative viewpoints?

George Eliot commented "There is no private life which is not 
determined by a wider public life." Likewise, I argue that there 
is no CyberSpace that is not determined by real life. A quick 
scan of conferences available on the Zamir Network suggest that 
the Information Highway has replicated gender segregation and 
prejudices in society and in the mass media that is complicated 
by the predominance of English language conferences.

During July of this year the UN-declared safe areas of Zepa, 
Srebrenica and Gorazde in Bosnia & Hercegovina were made no 
longer safe and in August the Croatian Government implemented a 
military action to reclaim the Serb- held territory of Krajina. 
Vital information concerning these actions was posted on e-mail 
in the APC Yugo Antiwar conference. The overwhelming majority 
ofmessages were written in English and posted by men, many of 
whom are not from the region. While the majority of people 
uprooted by these military actions are women, a search through 
all the messages reveals the word "women"appears in only 
fourteen percent of the messages and overwhelmingly in the 
context of rape or in "women, children and the elderly." As 
women are alienated by our under representation and stereotyped 
images in the mass media it is easy to understand that women 
would not take ownership or feel confident about accessing email 
conferences where these gender prejudices are replicated.

One can argue that women with email accounts enjoy availability 
and can change the gender balance of email conferences. As women 
strive for equality in all aspects of public and private life so 
will we reach for equality in email, however men must also 
commit themselves to inclusion.  
Women overwhelmingly have not experienced regular and supportive 
access to other means of public expression and so we must take a 
process view toward developing women's confidence and motivation 
to participate in e-mail conferences.

As in real-life women need places in CyberSpace where we can 
speak among ourselves, however we must remember that all issues 
are women's issues and not allow ourselves to be contained in a 
special interest ghetto on the email networks. As we pressure 
the mainstream media to more accurately represent women, we 
should also expect public email conferences to strive for gender 
balance in postings. This does not exclusively mean that women 
should write more messages but it also means that men who post 
messages must evaluate their writing from a gender perspective.

I am optimistic about the future of women's access to email 
networking in former Yugoslavia. As with the evolution of the 
Zamir Network women's relationship to e-mail is now in a 
position to shift; a core group of users now exist and the focus 
can broaden to address issues of publishing information, 
participation in network decisions and development, and sharing 
information with groups that do not have e-mail access. Many 
resources have become available in recent months that suggest 
tools for this development will be available. The system 
operators on the Zamir Network are more focused on outreach, the 
Network of East West Women have included women in the region in 
its email networking project, APC has raised funds to support 
women's direct involvement in the Zamir Network, and the Women's 
Information and Documentation Center in Zagreb has initiated a 
Women's Regional Networking Project.

IV. LESSONS LEARNED and FORWARD LOOKS

The development of the Zamir Network and the work of Electronic 
Witches informs strategies for increasing women's access to the 
world of information technology.

Women throughout the world, in every segment of society know 
that there can be no democracy without gender democracy. When 
addressing the field of communications one can easily conclude 
that electronic communication networks tend to replicate print 
and broadcast outlets imbalance in women's participation and 
gender sensitive representation. Due to the decentralized 
membership of communication networks, women's networking support 
programs and networks dedicated to social change I am optimistic 
that the movement by women into the center of electronic 
networks is more readily obtainable than in other mass 
communication outlets. There are several actions to facilitate 
this transformation.

Women must be included in the early stages of a network's 
development both in decision-making and technical positions. 
Where networks receive external funding the funding organization 
shares the burden of responsibility for ensuring that the 
project does not perpetuate existing gender inequalities. This 
can be done by assessing the gender impact of the project, 
requiring meaningful participation of women in decision- making, 
periodic review of the project from a standpoint of 
inclusiveness, prioritizing the development of an on-line 
community, and the establishment of conferences in local 
languages.

Recognizing that we each bring a diversity of experiences with 
technology, e- mail networking for social change must prioritize 
appropriate training materials and methodology, which may 
include computer literacy training.

Remembering that e-mail is not accessible to the majority of 
people in our communities we need to be vigilant in our efforts 
to share information that is available on e-mail conferences.  
We must develop information sharing mechanisms and act 
creatively in establishing links with other media outlets. 
Linking to community radio, for example, opens the possibility 
for drawing illiterate women and those without computers into 
the on-line community. In countries where a majority of print 
and broadcast outlets are State controlled this requires the 
development and funding of alternative media. Media literacy 
programs should also be offered to women and girls to encourage 
their production of information.

Creative strategies for broadening direct access to the World 
Wide Web should be considered. These may take the form of 
establishing not-for- profit cybercafes, or advocating for the 
World Wide Web to be made available in public libraries and 
schools.

Recognizing the gap in access to information technology 
international networking must be prioritized. Funders should be 
encouraged to support projects such as Virtual Sisterhood, APC 
and the Network of East West Women all of which share resources 
across national borders. Local women's organizations should be 
active in partnering with these and other organizations that are 
strengthening and empowering women's communications.

As we are all products of socialization under patriarchal 
structures gender sensitivity training should be required for 
all network support staff and conference moderators. Experience 
should inform policy and the netiquette policy should be 
evaluated annually for gender appropriateness.

I would like to re-emphasize that oppressions such as sexism, 
racism, heterosexism and class oppression perpetuate inequality 
by eroding individual's sense of power, making group solidarity 
difficult, and pitting groups against each other. As we address 
the critical issues of the day and explore the utilization of 
information technology in the service of social justice it is 
obvious that without vigilant, conscious action the disparity 
between the information-rich and the information-poor will 
widen, thereby perpetuating marginalization. Women must secure 
our human right of access to information, take leadershipin the 
democratization and decentralization of computer communications, 
and put forth women's thinking on every issue.

I will close with a quote from Duston Spear an artist and 
activist who recently tried to find the Web page for Three Women 
in Black, an anti-war group she co-founded in New York in 
solidarity with Women in Black in Belgrade, Serbia. Duston first 
typed the word Balkans and could not find it, then she realized 
that the group had been filed under WOMEN. Her remark after this 
experience is one that I hope you will all take home and share 
with members in your on-line communities, "Women have got to get 
so deep into the internet, the web, the gophers, the e-mail 
system - so central to it that we cannot be shoved off to the 
sidelines to observe the action of others."


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