Foreign Trade Policy: Gender Aspect

Abstract

Foreign trade liberalisation, taking place in the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) affects the welfare of men much more favourably than that of women and thus negatively influences gender equality. Due to historically developed ideology of gender relations, men and women take different social-economic positions all over the world and their abilities to act in the trade sphere and use the advantages given to them by liberalisation works towards the discrimination of women. Taking into account that international trade is an important object of economic development, comprising such fields of strategic development as agriculture, services, investment, it is necessary to integrate gender in the formation of the foreign trade policy both at the national and international levels. This could help to avoid the discrimination of women and provide the appropriate conditions to use the suppressed women’s potential, which could significantly contribute to the development of foreign trade as well as the global economy.