International Economic Law, Gender Equality, and Paternity Leave: Can the WTO Be Utilized to Balance the Division of Care Labor Worldwide?

Authors

Taylor Stoneman

Abstract

Women and men have never been treated equally when it comes to the division of care labor worldwide, and international law replicates this inequality. While women are more empowered now than ever before, women still bear the primary responsibility for caring for children and performing housework. In order to combat global gender inequality, international law must embrace more gender-neutral standards. One way to do so is to link labor to trade through the World Trade Organization, incorporating gender-neutral labor standards in a way that imposes substantive obligations on Member States. As a result, the imposition of paid paternity leave at the international level could help overcome traditional social attitudes toward care labor that would foster gender equality both in the home and in the workplace.

Recommended Citation

Taylor Stoneman, International Economic Law, Gender Equality, and Paternity Leave: Can the WTO Be Utilized to Balance the Division of Care Labor Worldwide?, 32 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 51 (2017).
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/eilr/vol32/iss1/2