Differential impacts of trade policy for men and women

Trade and trade liberalisation have very different impacts on women and men – which can result in fundamental shifts in gender roles, relationships and inequalities. Moreover increasing claims that countries should be enabled to “trade their way out of poverty“ means that there is an urgent need to address how trade can promote gender equality and development. This Development Gateway highlight with its related links aims to support trade specialists in bringing a gender perspective into their work, and to help gender specialists to understand the broad implications of trade policy and practice. Women all over the world are increasingly joining the bottom rungs of the global supply chain. It can be argued that increased opportunities to join the cash economy are a positive development for women, whose additional income has the potential to increase both their status and the well-being of the family. But what are the costs of new trade regimes, and do they outweigh the benefits? How can development practitioners promote gender equality and better support women’s access to the benefits of trade? What policies are likely to have an effect on gender equality and how can such policies be influenced? http://topics.developmentgateway.org/trade/highlights/viewHighlight.do~activeHighlightId=111772?intcmp=925