The Pink Trojan Horse: Inserting Gender Issues into Free Trade Agreements

Abstract

In 2019 three transformative free trade agreements (FTAs) between Chile-Canada, Chile-Argentina and Canada-Israel were updated, including with them for the first time, individual chapters exclusively dedicated to gender. Due to the fact that these gender chapters are at most two years old, there has been little to no academic literature on their effectiveness and impact on gender equality. This paper aims to highlight possible successes and failures of the gender chapters through a review of human rights and labor chapters as examples of best practices that would demonstrate elements necessary to establish an effective gender chapter that would successfully tilt the scales towards gender equality. The research conducted highlighted potential areas of weakness in the gender chapters in terms of lack of specific indicators, lack of specific country analyses of the respective gender equality conditions and industries predominantly employing women in each country, and lack of effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanisms and subsequent dispute resolution mechanisms. Overall, if policy makers and trade negotiators wish to create effective gender chapters in future agreements, or in subsequent amendments to the 2019 gender chapters, there must be specific attention to the gender sensitivity of trade and the identified areas of weakness.