The report – Pathway to A Feminist International Corporate Accountability Framework – published by ActionAid, ACCA, ACT Alliance, AWID, FIDA Uganda, Plataforma Internacional contra la Impunidad, Protection International, ISHR, IWRAW Asia Pacific, and ZELA aims to inspire further action and sets out next steps achieve such a feminist framework.
Women around the world continue to experience business-related human rights abuses and violations differently and disproportionately: from significant barriers to access justice and discrimination in the labour market, to gender-based violence, uneven domestic workloads and unpaid care duties. Systemic gender impacts connected to corporate activities are particularly felt by women in the Global South.
Based on four case studies from Uganda, Zimbabwe, Guatemala and Kenya, the report offers specific examples of women’s lived experiences in relation to large-scale agribusiness and mining activities in the Global South. Women from groups in various contexts experience corporate activity related abuses in different ways and therefore need a feminist response.
For example, in Uganda, following evictions in the context of large-scale agriculture, women experienced violence, loss of livelihoods and restricted access to water and firewood. And in Zimbabwe, women face an increase in gender-based violence in relation to the male-dominated granite mining sector.
A Feminist UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights is urgent. We call upon states to engage constructively in the treaty process and build upon progress made so far. States should:
• Ensure women are at the heart of this conversation
• Prevent harm to people and the planet related to business activities
• Make things rights when harms occur
Read the full report here.
Find the link to the individual case studies here:
Black granite mining in Zimbabwe
