Fair for women? A gender analysis of benefit sharing

Abstract

If benefit sharing is about justice, then it needs to be fair for both sexes. This chapter provides a gender analysis of benefit sharing. Five cases are presented, from Kenya (Nairobi sex workers), Nigeria (NIPRISAN), southern Africa (San/Hoodia), India (Kani people), and Iceland (deCODE biobank), to show the ways in which women are politically marginalized, and the implications of this for genuine fairness in benefit sharing. In the light of international commitments to women's rights, international guidelines on benefit sharing are examined for the extent to which they protect such rights. Seeing how gender-based power imbalances on the ground can work against the implementation of guidelines and policies demonstrates the importance of strategies, processes and mechanisms that are sensitive to power dynamics in local contexts. The chapter concludes that all guidelines and policies for benefit sharing should explicitly require women's meaningful participation in all phases of decision-making, and should include examples of the kinds of mechanisms that will enable women to have an effective voice.