Submissions/The gender gap in Wikipedia: What are we doing in Mexico?

This is an accepted submission for Wikimania 2015.

Submission no.: 1015

Title of the submission: The Gender Gap in Wikipedia: What are we doing in Mexico?

Type of submission (discussion, hot seat, panel, presentation, tutorial, workshop): Presentation

Author of the submission: Paulina Sanchez

E-mail address: psanchez820@gmail.com

Username: psanchez820

Country of origin: Mexico

Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.): Wikimedia Mexico

Personal homepage or blog

Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal)

Wikimedia, like many other social and technological projects around the world, presents an unacceptable gender gap in terms of female collaborators. Out of 10 Wikipedia editors, only one is female.

One of the consequences of poor female participation in Wikimedia has to do with the type of content that is created, there is a lack of diverse articles about women, of themes related to women’s issues, and there are even articles that reinforce sexist gender stereotypes.

Sadly, we don’t have the precise data of Mexican participants but we know that of the five most active Wikipedia editors of 2014, none of them are women.

In Wikimedia Mexico we have tried to increase women’s participation in public events, such as talks, workshops, editathons, and photograph tours. In some cases it has been achieved equal participation of women and men, but this has not been enough.

At the beginning of the year, we have allied with other organizations that promote gender equality in different areas and we have tried to push forward a project for gender equality in Wikipedia. This project consists of an awareness campaign and a series of Editatonas for the creation of content with a variety of themes: relevant woman (national and international), feminisms, and Mexican feminicides.

Track

Wikimedia Projects in the Spanish speaking countries

Length of session (if other than 30 minutes, specify how long): 30 minutes

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: Yes

Slides or further information (optional)

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