ENGENDERING INTERNATIONAL TRADE
GENDER EQUALITY IN A GLOBAL WORLD

Sonia Ruiz
European Women’s Lobby on the gender aspects of international trade ans globalization in general

1. Introduction

Trade is undoubtedly one of the driving forces of global economic
development and trade liberalisation as a process is therefore affecting
every country in the world. However economic and trade policies effect women
and men differently depending on their access to political power, economic
resources and personal autonomy. The impact of trade liberalisation policies
on women depends therefore on her position within her local, regional and
national economy as well as her role as a mother and as a carer in her
family and her community.

 A gender analysis of trade liberalisation must therefore include an
understanding of the social and cultural construction of the roles and
relationships between women and men, which continue to lead to gender
inequality. As a result of these different roles, women’s experience of the
process’s of globalisation generally and of trade liberalisation in
particular are significantly different from those of her male fellow
citizens.

Trade expansion has the potential to be a powerful contributor to gender
equality and human development goals, as a creator of new income and new
earning opportunities for women. One of our challenges is therefore to
identify and promote the conditions and the model of trade most beneficial
to women and to identify the preconditions for women to benefit from trade
expansion and liberalisation.

Available evidence indicates that the ongoing process of trade
liberalisation combined with the overall impact of the processes of
globalisation are increasing economic inequalities between countries as well
as between different economic groups within countries, between women and men
and among women as they form part of the differently privileged economic
groups.
At the same time there is evidence of positive gains being made by women as
a group in terms of developing relative economic independence in some
countries and in some sectors of the economy.

2.      The positive aspects of global trade on women

The gender dimension of trade liberalisation shows both positive and
negative effects, therefore analysis requires a detailed breakdown that
examines different trends and takes into account the complexity of issues
and factors involved.

These include:
Women’s access to economic and technical resources,
Female labour force participation
Rates and patterns of labour market discrimination and segregation,
Access to education and women’s education levels
Access to health care and socio-cultural resources.

Women are sometimes deemed to be the winners of global trade because more
and more women are able to obtain employment. It is a fact that trade
liberalisation has opened up new opportunities especially for educated and
younger women with professional skills in developed countries and has led to
access to new, better paying employment and opportunities previously
unavailable to women.

In some parts of the developing world the expansion of trade has been
associated with the “feminisation of the labour force”, at least in its
initial stages. The expansion of trade has facilitated and accelerated the
absorption of women into the modern industrial economy. This has strongly
positive gender equity effects: even when conditions of work are less
favorable than for men in similar occupations women have access to a salary
with the positive implications for their autonomy that a stable income
provides.

The impact of trade expansion on women’s economic activity has wider human
and developmental benefits. It gives women greater control of income,
although not always absolute individual control. Women’s tend to have more
family oriented expenditures patterns than men, so that an improvement in
women’s income-earning capability has lead to greater investment in the
human capital of children, in their education possibilities and their
livelihoods.

3.      All that glitters is not gold

The processes of structural change to the global economy also carry with
them new risks. Women’s diversity and the very different political,
economic, social and family contexts in which they find themselves create
great challenges for both assessing and promoting the progress of women. The
following points highlight the need for a gender monitoring of globalisation
and the relevance of analysing the new economic tendencies from a gender
perspective.

3.1     Women and Poverty
One of the main factors that threaten the progress of women is poverty. A
prominent characteristic of women in poverty is social and economic
inequality leading to greater vulnerability to the risk of being
marginalised and further impoverished in times of economic upheaval.
The Beijing Platform for action refers to the phenomenon of “feminisation of
poverty” declaring that:
- women’s income-poverty is more severe than men’s income poverty;
- over time, the incidence of income poverty among women is increasing
compared to that among men.

The international community has already agreed that poverty is a problem in
both North and South and that its eradication requires democratic
participation and changes in economic structures in order to ensure more
equitable distribution of wealth. In addition women often to not have the
same access as men to education, training, credit, technology and
information, which are necessary to take advantage of new economic
opportunities arising from trade liberalisation.

In order to favor women’s full integration in the global economy the EWL
recommends:
·       Indicators of income-poverty incidence and severity to be presented in a
gender-sensitive way.
·       To promote legislative and administrative reforms to give women equal
rights with men to economic resources, including access to ownership control
over land, other forms of ownership, access to the information and
communications technologies, access to savings and credit mechanisms and
institutions.
·       To adopt and maintain macro-economic policies and development strategies
that address the needs of women in poverty.

3.2.1   Women in the new labour market
Women’s employment remains key to economic independence and has a profound
impact on the position of women in society as a whole. Women are
particularly affected by unemployment and under employment together with
many forms of discriminations in the labour market.

Labour segregation:
Trade might increase women’s access to labour market, but women in most
developing countries are staying locked in at relatively low levels of pay
and skills, becoming increasingly discriminated against. Women are pioneers
in the new models of labour, as temps and part - time employees or as home -
based workers. Women are over-represented in the work places where
conditions are poor and wages are low and under represented in managing and
decision - making positions.

The pay gap:
Studies show that although the labour force participation rates are likely
to increase with globalisation for both women and men, the wage gap between
them remains strong. Companies in a globalised economy want to diminish
costs in order to be competitive. In those countries where it is allowed
companies are limiting expenses and are paying lower salaries to women than
to men for doing the same work. Again women will be the first to suffer from
budget cuts and restrictions as they are in the majority of those working in
less- qualified jobs

Other forms of discriminations:
For other women liberalised trade can mean loss of labour rights: such as
social benefits and the right to organise; given that women tend to be
concentrated in low-wage industries their relative power also tends to be
low. For women it is difficult to separate their rights as workers from
their rights as equal citizens. Very little will be achieved by ending
discrimination at work if women are denied the right to education; or by
bringing about equal pay if women do not have the right to control their
earnings.

Therefore the European Women’s Lobby recommends:

·       The EU’s mandate is to mainstream gender equality in employment policies
however, this requires effective tools to implement this principle, such as
the use of specific indicators, increased use of benchmarking and improved
gender disaggregated statistics. Social development must also be a crucial
cornerstone of trade policy. Consequently it is important that gender impact
analysis and gender perspective are integrated into the design,
implementation and review of trade policies and programmes as well as in
social protection systems.

·       The EU, the international organisations and the governments to act to
eliminate pay discriminations, and reinforce legislation on this field.
Furthermore, in order to close the gender pay gap, a re-evaluation of wages
in sectors dominated by women is also needed.

·       Governments to allow for positive actions measures so that structural
barriers to full equality between women and men in the labour market can
only be overcome.

3.2.2 Core Labour Standards
Increased mobility of capital and the freedom of investment almost anywhere
in the world puts the protection of workers and workers rights under
pressure and can lead to social dumping -a process by which countries and
companies make use of unacceptable and often unsafe labour practices in
order to lower their costs of production.

Social clauses are of particular relevance to the disproportionately large
numbers of women found in the lower position of production, nevertheless the
social clause debate has, to a large extent, ignored the gender issues of
significance to female workers interests. The social clause is only related
to paid work and it is unlikely that international standards would also
apply to the informal and hidden work. Nevertheless, international
regulation could be of more value to women than men: it is women workers who
tend to suffer the worst conditions and whose needs are systematically
ignored. Social clauses could provide an opportunity for women to organize
and demand more attention to be paid to their working conditions.

Moreover social clauses only sanction countries and do not target companies.
As long as trade sanctions are imposed “country by country basis” companies
will be able to avoid improving standards by moving production sites.

Therefore the EWL proposes a social clause that covers the following core
points:

·       Right to freedom of association;
·       Prevention of forced labor;
·       Establishment of a minimum wage;
·       Prohibition of any form of discrimination, including gender disparities
and barriers.
·       Recognition of the paid right to maternity leave.
·       Is built upon a wide consultation process to include organizations
representing women’s workers.

3.3     Trafficking in women and the sex industry
The liberalisation of certain services has had negative effects on women.
The promotion and opening of the tourism sector in many countries - notably
in the south - has led to an increase in prostitution and new “slave trade”
involving women and children. The UN report State of the population 2000
states that two million girls between 5 and 15 years are introduced in the
sex trade every year. As an economic activity, prostitution
institutionalises the buying and selling of women. Because the sex industry
is integrated into the economic, social and political life of many countries
this does not mean institutions should passively accept this state normal
system. Sex tourism and sex industry segregates women and perpetuates sexual
servitude and gender inequality. In countries where prostitution has been
recognized as work and as an economic sector the illegal traffic of women
for prostitution has increased.

Therefore the EWL believes that:

·       Rather than accept the unexamined premise that some women earn more in
prostitution than anyplace else, institutions should question why this is
the only place where most women can turn when all else fails.
·       We ask for the commitment of European tourist agencies not to offer
information on sex trips both inside the EU and in developing countries.

·       The Convention on Transnational Organised Crime concluded in October 2000
refers to the trafficking in people and in particular women and children.
We encourage the EU and the international institutions and organizations to
take the International Conventions on Human Rights into consideration. Trade
cannot be an excuse to violate Human Rights. Trade agreements need to
compliment international Human Rights agreements and instruments.

3.4     Migration
For an increasing number of women, globalisation has meant international
migration. Although men still outnumber women in the total number of adults
who have migrated to another country, from 1985 to 1990, the number of women
increased at a faster rate than the number of men. More and more women are
migrating on their own, or as the primary earners in their household, but
often as temporary workers in low-paid jobs.

In contrast to the dismantling of barriers to the international mobility of
capital, barriers to the mobility of the workforce have remained strong,
except for professional people with skills that are relevant to high-tech
industries. But globalisation cannot be understood without the movement of
persons and the exclusion of workers who are not employed by a
trans-national companies or who are not professionals with recognised
qualifications.

Women are over-represented in the work places where conditions are poor and
wages are low and under-represented in managing and decision making
positions. This is one of the most important reasons for women to be the
last to profit from the advantages of liberalised trade: As the movement of
persons only favours those in top professional positions, women are
discriminated against as these posts are male dominated.

Therefore the EWL recommends:
·       The movement of labour associated to some specific commitments should be
extended. Labour force is a basic factor of production and economic growth
and women represent half of this potential. The argument that the movement
of labour is related to immigration cannot be used to give less favourable
treatment to labour. The movement of persons has to begin to favour
different types of work so that women can benefit from the positive effects
of globalisation.

3.5     Women’s family life
More and more women want to participate in the labour market and profit from
the benefits of global trade, but are at the same time expected to carry the
main responsibility for care work. Due to women’s greater responsibility in
the unpaid work of maintaining the family and providing social care, women
remain trapped in a cycle of poverty far longer than men. Women’s
reproductive and domestic responsibilities are generally perceived to be
their primary function. These functions are largely unrecognized and
unremunerated. This perception reinforces structural barriers to women’s
full participation in social, political, economic and cultural life.

Women’s autonomy is inevitably linked to issues of care, including
childcare, elderly care, and care for other dependent persons. It is
therefore of fundamental importance for greater gender equality that care
for dependant persons is taken onboard as an issue for the society as a
whole.
Globalisation demands women’s time in the non-domestic sectors of the
economy but society needs an equal sharing of responsibilities and rights
between women and men in all different spheres. The opportunity for women to
engage both in paid work and to have children and a family life  must be
supported by adequate legislation.

Therefore the EWL recommends:

·       To reinforce the human dimension to the trade and employment debate by
discussing solutions to the negative effects of trade liberalisation,
including compensatory measures and long-term measures. Compensatory
measures may include job retraining and help in finding new sources of
employment for workers displaced by the new trade policies. Long-term
measures include reassessing domestic and industrial policies from a gender
perspective and promoting more equitable and non-discriminatory employment,
health and social conditions for women workers.

·       Governments to address the fundamental need for childcare and other care
services to be established. Women have to be able to be integrated on the
same footing as men in the labour market in order to benefit from the
advantages of a global economy and to compete for jobs on an equal basis as
men.

·       That according to the Beijing Platform for Action and the Vienna
declaration adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights women’s
reproductive rights have to rest on their freedom to decide. We call for
uniform access to sexual and reproductive health education and information
starting at an early age.

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November 2000
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