EXAMINING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND ITS IMPACT ON TRADE
EXAMINING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND ITS IMPACT ON TRADE Reporting from the first World Trade Congress on Gender. I was pleased to participate in the recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) Conference on gender and trade in Geneva. The policy area on which I spoke – gender-based violence and trade – is not often discussed, and certainly not in the hallowed halls of the WTO. Yet the discussion was informed, passionate and highlighted the links between violence towards women and girls, and trade policy. We explored two themes: first how women contribute to global trade, and second, how trade contributes to the status, wealth and independence of women. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) points out that women’s contribution to trade is significant but often hidden. Women's roles are often within small and medium enterprises (SMEs), supplying goods and services which are one step removed from the global trade data points, and are therefore missed from headline figures. The official methods of gathering data are outdated and constructed around a male-dominated model. Women’s contributions, directly or indirectly, are missed. It is a fair bet that far more women are engaged in global trade than official figures suggest. My first suggestion for a shift in global policy would be an agreement on how data is collected, and how it reflects the true picture of women’s role in trade. As an advocate of ‘evidencebased policy making’ I would argue that without accurate and timely evidence, comparing like with like, we will never achieve a policy framework which reflects the realities. We need a much more granular approach to data collection. International trade has enhanced the status of women overall by increasing opportunities and raising wages. This in turn has led to more economic independence for women as they break out from traditional notions of being subservient to fathers and husbands. Few can deny that women have advanced in recent decades in many countries in terms of rights, political and economic participation, and democratic representation. These are positive factors in women’s progress and prosperity. The OECD shows that 27% of women’s jobs are directly or indirectly dependent on exports. According to the World Bank report
on women and trade, exporters employ more women. In developing countries, women make up 33% of the workforce of exporting firms compared with just 24% of non-exporting firms. International trade creates better jobs for women. When women are employed in sectors with high levels of exports, they are more likely to be formally employed in a job with better benefits, training and security. Trade increases women’s wages and increases economic equality. Developing countries that double their manufacturing exports - a typical increase for developing countries that open themselves to trade - would see women increase their share of total manufacturing wages from 24% to 30% through a combination of increased employment and higher salaries. Rapid globalisation and digitisation have created winners and losers. Jobs are lost as well as created, communities threatened as well as built. For example, in countries like Bangladesh, there is an ongoing struggle for labour rights, safe workplaces, decent wages and freedom from exploitation. This struggle is replicated in developing countries across the globe. The garment industry, in particular, has made strides to improve conditions, but the voracious appetite for ‘fast fashion’ in western markets creates huge demands to cut costs and speed up production. With such profits to be made, and ever-growing consumer demand, it is often women who pay the price. That price is paid in terms of women’s exploitation, long hours, poor wages and unsafe conditions. This is replicated in other sectors of the economy. The price is also paid in terms of gender-based violence. The World Bank reports that violence against women and girls is a global pandemic. One in three women are affected by violence at some point in their lives. Around 35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual violence by their partner or another male. Seven per cent have been sexually assaulted by a non-partner. Thirty-eight per cent of murders of women are committed by their partner. Furthermore, 200 million women worldwide have experienced female genital mutilation. Violence towards women is indeed at pandemic levels.
Hon. Rushanara Ali, MP is the Member of the UK Parliament for the constituency
of Bethnal Green and Bow in east London. She was first elected in 2010 and has been re-elected three times. In the UK Parliament, she is a member of the Treasury Select Committee and was previously the Shadow Minister for Education and the Shadow Minister for International Development. She is the Chair or Vice-Chair of a number of All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) including Action on Conflict and Global Britain, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, Philanthropy and Social Investment, Rohingya and War Crimes. She is also the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Bangladesh.
144 | The Parliamentarian | 2023: Issue Two | 100 years of publishing