Gender Series No.1

Globalization and its impacts on indigenous women: The Philippine experience

by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Year Published: 2001
No. of pages: 44
ISBN: 983-9747-63-0
Price: US$8.00 (price is inclusive of postage cost by air mail)

TWN Gender Series:

The TWN gender series is a series of papers published by TWN on gender and development issues from aThird World perspective. It highlights the obstacles that hinder women from enjoying secure and sustainable livelihoods, such as those posed by the process of globalization. It provides proposals aimed at gender jsutice and equality, and the empowerment and progress of women.

About the author:

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is the Director of Tebtebba Foundation - an indigenous peoples' international NGO based in Baguio City in the Phillipines which undertakes research on the impact of globalization on indigenous peoples. Victoria is an indigenous woman, a Kankana-ey Igorot from the Philippines. She has written many articles on indigenous women and on globalization as well as on the environment and development issues of indigenous peoples. She is the convenor of the Asian Indigenous Women's Network. She is the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations.

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. The Gap between rhetoric and reality
The Philippine example
Mexican situation
Colombia

3. The face of globalization in the Philippines

4. Feminization and flexibilization of labour in industry and services

5. The liberalization of agriculture

6. Impacts on indigenous women
i. inability to compete with imported crops
ii. The erosion of control over genetic resources and indigenous knowledge
iii. Undermining of the rights of indigenous women to their ancestral lands and to self-determination in agricultural programs
iv. Threatened food security
v. Increasing health hazards for indigenous women and the further degradation of the environment
vi. Destruction of indigenous economies and increased outmigration
vii. Increasing economic security among indigenous women
viii. Erosion of small-scale home-based handicraft industries run by indigenous women
ix. Worsening poverty
x. Increasing incidents of sexual abuse and violence against women
xi. Heavier unpaid women's reproductive work
xii. Increasing social problems and family problems

7. Dilemmas in handling the globalization agenda

Endnotes