Economic globalization equals violence against women

Cf. WCC Press Feature, Feat-04-03, of 21 January 2004

Cf. WCC Press Update, Up-04-04, of 21 January 2004

WSF seminar asks for just, sustainable and caring trade

Women's roles in a globalized world, the subject of a seminar at the Mumbai World Social Forum, drew a sizeable crowd, mainly women. The 20 January seminar was organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) with the World Young Women's Christian Association and Church World Service. Coming down heavily on uncaring treatment of women, the speakers also suggested ways to improve their plight.

Women panelists from India, Pakistan, Thailand and Uganda discussed the impact in their countries of trade liberalization on women.

Whether it is a garments industry worker in a sweatshop in India, a migrant woman working in a shrimp processing factory in Pakistan, a sex worker in Thailand or a cotton picker in Uganda, the experience of poor women with trade liberalization has been similar everywhere in the South.

As a result of trade liberalization, women's underpaid and unpaid - caring or domestic - labour is exploited, and their access to basic needs like food, shelter, education and health is eroded. Moreover, the panelists emphasized, economic globalization - as manifested in trade liberalization - cannot be considered separately from patriarchy.

According to Vibhuti Patel, a reader at Bombay University, there are no short-term solutions. "Survival has become the issue, and women have to do a round-the-clock job to sustain themselves and their families," she said.

Discussing the relationship between the formal and the informal economy, Patel explained that in India, 96% of urban and rural poor women work in the informal sector, which has a high degree of labour redundancy and obsolescence. These women have little control over their work, which is temporary, routine and monotonous, and no chance for upward mobility.

Azra Sayeed from Roots for Equity at the University of Karachi, Pakistan, described the plight of Bangladeshi migrant women in Pakistan, who are harassed physically, economically and mentally. "I tell you that in any rural area in Pakistan, a simple task like washing clothes becomes an enormous effort," she said.

For Sayeed, "Economic globalization is nothing but capitalism," to which Pakistan has fallen prey. "We have dropped a food economy and, instead, adopted a cash crop economy," she reported. Further, "The violence that women face every day makes the September 11 attack pale in comparison. We have failed to adequately address this violence, and that is the reason it is still prevalent," she said.

Vibhuti Patel pointed out that in India, scarcity of fuel, water and food grains as a result of commercialization has taken a heavy toll on women's health. Urban poor women have to take two or three jobs to supplement their income to meet their families' basic survival needs. The burgeoning sex trade has made two million sex workers potential carriers of HIV, STDs, and AIDS.

WCC consultant on women and economy Athena Peralta from the Philippines, who coordinated the panel, said that under the weight of poverty and material needs, women's rights are being totally neglected. "Because of economic globalization, women all across the globe are being deprived of food, shelter, education, health and dignified employment. If globalization has affected a 'sector', then it is women," Peralta said.

Lapapan Supamanta from the Thailand-based International Network of Engaged Buddhists pointed out that Buddhism forbids five trades: weapons, slaughterhouses, trading humans, alcohol and poison. "But all five are profit-making, and globalization has put an end to this Buddhist philosophy," she reported.

And noting that "In Africa, all the agricultural work is done by women," Uganda-based Elizabeth Eilor put the onus for the worsening conditions of Africa's women on trade. "They produce for the markets of Europe and the US. But their wages bear no relation to the prices at which their produce is sold on those markets," she said.

Moving beyond analysis of the current situation, the panelists brought proposals for a wide range of strategies and interventions at different levels, including organic farming, promotion and implementation of labour standards, disengagement from the World Trade Organization, and strengthening of social movements at local, national and global levels.

Women have resisted and challenged corporate forces that threaten their land, livelihood and communities. "We aim to work for transformation by building networks of women," Peralta said.

The importance of spirituality, of ethics, of values - whatever the faith - was also emphasized. These, the panelists said, should be the driving force for much-needed changes in the global trading system.

Information and photos on the activities of the World Council of Churches at the WSF in are available on our website: