A caucus of women’s groups has plans to lobby the World Trade Organization on how sexual inequality affects women’s ability to participate fully in the global economy at a WTO gathering in Seattle next week.
Maria Riley of the Washington-based Center of Concern’s global women’s project explained, “We want the World Trade Organization to recognize these realities (gender discrimination in the public and private spheres) and to ensure that women do not continue to carry the disproportionate burden of poverty and exclusion in a world that’s becoming more economically interconnected.”
Riley, who is organizing the day-long lobbying effort slated for Dec. 1, said she expects “thousands” of women to be in attendance.
