No Such Thing as Gender-Neutral Trade Policy

Trade policy is not gender neutral. As a matter of fact, it cannot be. To counter the inherent disadvantages of social, institutional, and structural constructs, as well as access and capacity constraints specific to women, policy, including trade policy, needs to actively and continuously neutralize these disadvantages, and create an ecosystem where men and women are on the same playing field in economic activity, and therefore, in trade. It needs to be gender-balancing, at the very least. It needs to effectively address the inherent gender-specific limitations to access and capacity that women face in participating in trade. This requires better representation from women, effective stakeholder engagement, and continuous collaboration between the public and private sectors, and must leverage the strength, reach, and scale offered by digital technologies and platforms.