March 10 – 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET (Washington)
Co-hosted by the FACT Coalition, GATJ, and the Nawi Collective
Moderator: Ian Gary, FACT Coalition
Speakers:
- Âurea Mouzinho, Global Alliance for Tax Justice
- Crystal Simeoni, Nawi-Afrifem Macroeconomics Collective
- Amy Matsui, National Women’s Law Center
Advancing women’s rights and gender justice requires multiple policy responses and cultural shifts. Often overlooked, though, are the macroeconomic structures and fiscal policies which discriminate against women in myriad ways. As part of the Global Days of Action on Tax Justice for Women’s Rights, and in celebration of International Women’s Day, the FACT Coalition, in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Tax Justice and the Nawi Collective, hosted a panel discussion and learning exchange. This event presented analysis of how and why the global tax system – as well as national-level tax and macroeconomic structures – discriminate against women in both Africa and the U.S.
As of 2020, 252 men held as much wealth as 1 billion women and girls in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. While debt payments and fiscal “reforms” push governments to collect more regressive taxes from the poorest and most marginalized, the ultra-wealthy and multinational corporations find ways to dodge paying their fair share. Global political elites, their cronies, and criminals use illicit financial routes – many enabled by the U.S. – to drain developing countries of needed revenue to address critical needs for women.
This hybrid event highlighted growing efforts in Africa to analyze and tackle macroeconomic systems which discriminate against women, as well as reform campaigns designed to support the realization of women’s rights and promote gender equality. The panel also discussed the ways in which U.S. policies can support or undermine these efforts and the steps that can be taken to advance women’s rights and tax justice in the U.S.
A full recording of the event can be found above.
Read more about the panel in Don Griswold’s March 16 column for Bloomberg Tax here.