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Welcome to the
BC
Rural Women's Network.....
.....working
to bring forward rural women's voices from around British Columbia to
influence
change with government and industry policy on issues relating to
low-income
and communication services.
The BC Rural Women's
Network (BCRWN) has both a website and communication network
to
share information with rural women about ongoing advocacy for change
based
on rural women's recommendations for change.
The website and
newsletter also aim to facilitate women sharing resources and
information with one another, as well as continuing to create
opportunities for women to bring forward their experiences and
suggestions for improvements to public policy.
Current
Activities
[external
links will open
in a
new window]
Over
the last year members and supporters of the BCRWN have
contributed to a project addressing Online Safety for Women.
An
Online Safety Survey was distributed in the fall of 2005 to learn about
women's positive and negative experiences when going online - we
received 83 completed surveys. If you would like to know more about the
survey results contact the Coordinator of the BC Rural Women's Network
by phone or email.
The
comments, questions, and examples shared by the Survey respondents (75
female; 8 male) led to the creation of an Online
Safety Toolkit. The
toolkit aims to increase critical use of the Internet and
e-communications by providing information and tips on:
- basic online safety
- website privacy and
browser setting instructions
- email privacy and
communications
- chat safety
To
read more, see our media release about Online
Safety Toolkit
and the Web Effect
Other information
that you may find helpful:
The Coordinator of the BCRWN would like to thank Netowkr
members and supporters of the Online Safety for Women Project for their
participation and support. In particular, the partnership
provided by the Pacific
Community
Networks Association
and Womenspace,
and support from
the Women
and Community Safety project, helped bring attention to the
vulnerability and risks facing less experienced adult users, especially
marginalized rural women.
The Online Safety for
Women Project 12-month project is funded by Status of
Women Canada and the National Crime Prevention Strategy, to address
women’s safety when using the Internet and email communications.
Social
Infrastructure Discussion Paper
(September 2005-March 2006)
As part of the BC
Rural Team's 2005-2006 Planning Session, members expressed interest in
the concept of social infrastructure and the welfare of women in rural
communities.
To help build a common understanding of what 'social infrastructure'
means and how it is relevant to rural communities, it was proposed that
a discussion paper be written to:
- provide a
consistent definition
- apply this
definition to themes from rural dialogues and women-centered rural
projects
- identify possible
gaps in rural services and possible actions to improve rural women's
welfare
This discussion
paper describes the idea of social infrastructure - a system of social
services and policies - and looks at how this idea is important for the
changes currently facing rural settings and women in rural communities.
To read the paper click below
Social
Infrastructure: Concepts and Practices (HTML)
Social
Infrastructure: Concepts and Practices (PDF)
If you have any comments or questions about this discussion paper,
contact the BC Rural Women's Network
by phone or email.
April 2005
To
improve women's access to and use of public Internet access sites, the
following documents were created. Members
of the BC Rural Women's Network helped develop the documents by
responding to a survey sent out via mail and email in the summer of
2004.
Click below on the
document name you want to view. You will be linked to the BC Rural
Women's Network document page where you can download and view the
documents. [will open into a new window]
Best
Practices Guide
The Guide is being
distributed to rural public Internet sites (e.g.
libraries and Community Access Programs) to help
staff better
understand women's experiences of trying to use public Internet access
sites.
Internet
User Guide
A basic
introduction to the Internet and electronic communication. The resource
can be a useful guide to remind non-frequent users of computers and
public Internet sites about some of the basics to Internet use.
Bookmark
A small and handy
(and discrete) tool, to help rural women
have useful
information at their fingertips. It will be sent out to rural public
Internet sites
and to members of the BC Rural Women's Network.
To
request copies of any of the above, or to provide input for revisions,
please contact the BC Rural Women's Network:
P.O. Box 1242
Vernon, BC V1T 6N6
email: contact@bcruralwomen.ca
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