Gender and Trade Overview Report

The general assumption is that trade liberalisation (the removal of barriers to cross-border trade) has equal impacts on men and women. However women and men are affected differently by trade due to their different roles in production and reproduction and to imbalances over control of land, power and resources. Since its inception in 1995, the agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the accompanying policies at the national level have failed to acknowledge this gendered perspective. This report looks at the impacts of trade on gender relations before going on to examine current approaches to gender and trade. It then evaluates work done to date on advocacy, impact assessment and trade-related issues such as labour standards and market access. Recommendations include ensuring that existing mechanisms used to monitor trade are gender sensitive; linking gender advocacy with other initiatives around fair trade; and promoting market access programmes which take into account women's gender roles including unpaid work.