• Gender impacts

Gender impacts of trade liberalisation

The Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) imply improved job security, livelihoods, well-being and human rights, but for whom? The author contends that gender impacts of liberalisation of EPAs are seldom considered. This review examines the cost of liberalisation on women in terms of physical resources, human resources, social capital and skills. It outlines several aspects of EPAs that advance the marginalisation of women.

Three case studies demonstrating the unfavourable gender consequences of EPAs are presented:

• in South Africa the rapid liberalisation of the footwear and leather sectors has resulted in an expansion of the informal sector - where women are over represented and thus most vulnerable to external shocks
• reduced food tariffs in Senegal undercut the competitiveness of small tomato farmers and undermined the ability of women to pay back their microfinance loans
• the Asian crisis of the late 1990s drove families to dispatch women and girls into the informal sector to augment household incomes

The author calls for a re-evaluation of the liberalisation programme of EPAs in a gendered context that considers the non-neutrality of the market economy.

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