After nearly four decades of neoliberal globalisation, it has been increasingly acknowledged that austerity, privatisation, deregulation of finance, markets and corporations, and trade and investment liberalisation have had a devastating and discriminatory impact on women. This is not just because women are disproportionately vulnerable to the human rights impacts of food insecurity, and degradation of land and natural resources. It is because the prevailing economic model perpetuates, and often relies on, the systematic discrimination and disadvantage experienced by women in order to generate economic ‘growth’. Central to the current neoliberal development models are the trade and investments rules and regimes which impact every aspect of people’s lives while simultaneously empowering corporations at the expense of the people’s human rights and the environment.
The Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) believes that ‘development’ is supposed to benefit poor, marginalised women of the global south. They are best able to identify both the problems and solutions.
This regional report record the solidarity journey of APWLD and four (4) grassroots organisations for strengthening feminist movements for trade & economic justice. The Women Interrogating Trade and Corporate Hegemony Feminist Participatory Action Research (WITCH FPAR) was designed to build and strengthen the organising power of grassroots women that generates positive changes and challenges the systems that oppress and take advantage of women and their communities.
This FPAR journey has been implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic together with multiple crises which unravel the failures of neoliberalism. In this report, we highlight not only women’s oppression but the struggles and initiatives of women in various sectors across the WITCH FPAR partners’ countries. We hope that this report will inspire peoples, especially grassroots women who are struggling in their daily life to continue our fight for a just and equitable future for women.
The peoples united, we never be defeated.
Read the full regional report here.
