This paper by Carol Upadhya, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore was presented at a seminar entitled, "Gender Perspectives on the Information Society: South Asia Pre-WSIS Seminar 2005" on 18-19 April 2005. The seminar was supported by APDIP and UNIFEM, and organised by IT for Change and partners. Visit the seminar homepage at http://itforchange.net/WSIS/gis/schedule.php