No Gender Justice without Tax Justice

This activity aimed at supporting PSI’s Global Tax Justice Campaign, providing tools to affiliate members to influence both national and global tax issues. It has contributed to stronger coalition-building with NGO allies and partners, integration of trade union issues and consolidation of joint campaigning opportunities. In addition, the activity is a building stone for more in-depth gender mainstreaming within PSI.

The workshop focused on:

• Strengthening the international debate about tax and gender and sharing progressive multidisciplinary approaches and alternatives;
• Removing the technical barriers to political activity on tax;
• Training and building a group of men and women who can advocate for gender perspectives in the tax debate;
• Training a group of PSI´s women as leaders in the global movement for tax justice;
• Building an international coalition on tax and gender.

Participants noted and committed to the following:

• There is a real need for more training and promotion of the tools and content of this workshop, at regional and national level;
• PSI will engage the members of PSI’s World Women’s Committee to develop a global campaign on tax and gender, that will offer tools to identify the tax gender bias at the national level and make the link with PSI’s global tax justice campaign;
• PSI will continue to build stronger networks with civil society allies, also supporting PSI affiliates and regional initiatives;
• PSI affiliates will contribute to CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women) reporting, with a special focus on countries that operate as tax havens;
• PSI and affiliate members will work towards stronger gender mainstreaming in the tax debate and continue to ensure women’s equal participation in tax justice campaign activities.

The group addressed the gender tax bias in their own country. Some participants had been faced with gender tax bias themselves – whereas others had already been engaged in campaigns. A strong link was made between how trade unions integrate gender policies beyond “traditional women’s issues” and that more efforts need to be made to implement gender mainstreaming across the board, as well as make unions more aware of the tax debate in general.

Participants were provided with methodological tools, analytical skills and a wealth of background information, while the link with their trade union work and issues was very much underlined and present throughout the process.

Presentations and resources for download:

• PSI Concept note "No Gender Justice without Tax Justice"
• ActionAid Tax Power Campaign (training handouts)
• An Introduction to ICRICT
• GATJ: Tax & Gender
• Tax Justice Network: Gender & Tax - Basics of tax policy issues
• ActionAid/ChristianAid: Women's Rights & Tax
• APWLD: Tax Justice and Feminist Movements in Asia Pacific
• ActionAid: Tax Power Campaign - Reflection-Action toolkit
• PSI-FES: Report and Conclusions