JOINT STATEMENT on the presentation of the report of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights

The statement advocates for a legally binding treaty to regulate transnational corporations, emphasizing that current frameworks like the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are "gender-blind". It highlights how women disproportionately suffer from environmental degradation, extractive industry impacts, and gender-based violence linked to corporate security forces. The authors propose three requirements for the treaty: mandatory gendered impact assessments, gender-sensitive remedy mechanisms, and protection for women human rights defenders.

• Corporate human rights abuses disproportionately affect women, who face specific harms including sexual and gender-based violence in the workplace, precarious working conditions, low wages, and the impacts of environmental degradation and community displacements.
• Extractive industries are specifically linked to gender-based violence and the loss of land and livelihoods for women and girls, while women human rights defenders face misogynist smear campaigns and threats of sexual violence from public and private security forces.
• The authors contend that existing frameworks, specifically the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, are "gender-blind" and fail to account for women's experiences.
• To effectively regulate corporate power and end impunity, the proposed legally binding instrument should include obligations for gendered impact assessments of business operations, gender-sensitive justice and remedy mechanisms, and the protection of women human rights defenders.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2018). JOINT STATEMENT on the presentation of the report of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Final-statement-WILPF-HRC37-Item-3-General-Debate-.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. JOINT STATEMENT on the presentation of the report of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights. 2018. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Final-statement-WILPF-HRC37-Item-3-General-Debate-.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=JOINT STATEMENT on the presentation of the report of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights |date=9 March 2018 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Final-statement-WILPF-HRC37-Item-3-General-Debate-.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2018joint, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{JOINT STATEMENT on the presentation of the report of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2018}, month = mar, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Final-statement-WILPF-HRC37-Item-3-General-Debate-.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }