Case for Gender Sensitization of Trade Policy from an ardent supporter

Re post.

Yup for me. I am undertaking to write this post again , as it got lost when the net connection failed.

I am back from a three day conference on "Moving Towards Gender Sensitization of Trade Policy " organized by UNCTAD India at Delhi. My work for an NGO focusing on Women Entrepreneurship got me the ticket for this event.The unanimous decision that trade policies need to be gender sensitive is a true case of gender sensitization or the long hours at the session.

Unlike most posts where I have tried best to bring forth different sides of the argument, I miserably fail to do so for this post. The reason is simple. One is either gender sensitive or not . There is no flimsy middle ground one can take in this case. And yes I am gender sensitive.

A different issue is whether there is anything as a gender neutral stance ,if one is aware of one's true self and teh fact that one is a man or woman.We'll leave that for perhaps another post.

It was a good step to bring policy makers- Union Cabinet Minister , Secretaries and Joint Secretaries ,academicians , UNCTAD Secretary General and women entrepreneurs' associations together on the same platform.

Conspicuous by their presence were the number of academicians who were present at the gathering.

Now I hope we all agree that women (overall ;on an average ) are exploited and have been used like doormats for promotion of patriarchal relationships where men benefit from the exploitation of women. The conference was a run up to The 12th United Nations Conference at Akra in Ghana . It collated the research which has been done in the field.Very few studies have put numbers to this obvious aspect . Apart from the numerous statistics presented at the conference which highlight the fact that women continue to be marginalized ,typically in East & South East Asia and Africa, a particular study conducted by UNCTAD , India ,UNDP and NPC was quantitative in nature. It showed that there is a strong and significant correlation between exports ( trade openess as defined by Exports /GDP) and gender development index( as measured by UNDP and NPC) in several countries including India.

Did you know that increased exports were associated with increased female employment in countries such as Mauritius , Tunisia, Sri Lanka , Bangladesh and Malaysia. And that industrialization in the newly industrialized economies of Taiwan, Hong Kong,South Korea, China and Singapore is as much women -led as export-led.

Conversely , in countries with low levels of trade integration and a dominance of commodity - production the impact of trade on women is less positive.Openess of trade and status of women is a two way relation. Good trade ,Good status of women and vice versa .( citation can be provided)

But my take is why do we need research on the issue which is so existant you can see it all around you????

Anyway some numbers to put things in perspective.
Women form 48% of the world's population ( which is another cause of concern) do 66% of the world's labour ,earn 10% of the world's income and only 1% of the world's property. There is a wage disparity across sectors and women earn 30% less than men. A girl or woman is raped every 3 minutes . 75% of girls lose interest in math after grade 6.

It is a fact that women take part in prodcutive as well as reproductive- nurturing and raising kids is considered the primary responsibility of women- processes and reproductive processes influence women's participation in paid employment to a great degree. Women are primarily involved in back breaking agriculutural work. Thye score poorly than men on the education and health front. Gender stereotyping is deeply ingrained in the fabric of families,parties,nations and also the world.

What am I driving at?

Given the background it is essential that trade move from its current gender blind stance to a pro women stand.

Lost you now ? Yup ,this part is the most difficult to accept.

I advocate gender sensitization even in the cut and dry world of business. Not just tokenisms like raising the taxable limit for women so taht they save 500 rs a month. But some concrete measures in the trade policy and national budget bill. For instance , as a positive step ,collateral free loan limit has been raised to Rs 50 Lakh for Women Entrepreneurs in the recent trade policy.

And yes I don't ask for chivalry ( that's dead nowadays ) but bringing out gender equality given the fact that women have long been surpressed and also an attitude makeover to shun stereotypes. Positive discrimanation is what I ask for.

If you are reading this and are still not convinced , write to me at "jiveandlive@gmail.com" for further debate or if you care some concrete literature. You can be assured that I will reply.

Disclaimer: I am emancipated. I dont need policies ( though wudn't mind them either). I only advocate policy for those women who are most disadvantaged and exploited and also an acceptance of the fact that on the whole women are yet to receive their share of fair treatment.