Austerity hits women harder

Date Posted: Thursday 6th December 2018

A recording of our event with the Independent Expert on foreign debt & human rights

AusterityGender BudgetingHuman RightsPoverty

“A clear and strong message from this work and from my report is: Austerity hits women harder. I would go further and say that austerity is the result of a ‘macho’ economic culture.”

On 4 December we hosted a meeting with the UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, to discuss the findings and recommendations of his report looking at the links and impact of economic reforms and austerity measures specifically on women’s human rights. Juan was joined by a panel of experts who provided a picture of the impact austerity has had on women from their own contexts; England, Asia-Pacific and Scotland, respectively. A video recording of the panel can be viewed below.

Following the panel discussion, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky has now published his Guiding Principles on Human Rights Impact Assessment of Economic Reforms

Copies of the panellists remarks can also be viewed by clicking on their names (we will upload these as and when we have them):

Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights

Professor Diane Elson, UK Women’s Budget Group

Dr Angela O’Hagan, Chair, Equality Budget Advisory Group for Scottish Government

Misun Woo, Regional Coordinator, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)