A/HRC/11/6 page 10 1. Key elements of a political economy approach to violence against women 27. In contrast to conventional economics, a political economy approach makes explicit the interconnections between the economic, social and political realms, demonstrating that power operates not only through coercion but also through the structured relations of production and reproduction that govern the distribution and use of resources, benefits, privileges and authority within the home and society at large. Political economy interacts with, alters and reconfigures the institutional and ideological formations of society where gender identities and statuses are shaped and the boundaries of rights and freedoms demarcated. 28. There are three key structural elements highlighted by the political economy approach that affect the likelihood and prevalence of VAW. 29. First is the sexual-division of labour within the public and private spheres, supported by gender ideologies that hold women primarily responsible for unremunerated, and often invisible unpaid work in the household, thus creating inequalities in bargaining power in the household between men and women. Caring professions in the public sphere and labour market akin to the unpaid care work women traditionally do in the home are also devalued. The internationalization of reproductive work has extended this division of labour to the transnational realm as women from developing countries migrate to provide care services for families in wealthier countries.11 The strict division of roles in the domestic sphere constrains women’s public participation and their access to economic opportunities in the market, thus creating hierarchical structures that entrap many women into potentially violent environments. 30. The second element highlighted in the political economy analysis of women’s rights is the contemporary global, macroeconomic environment. Capitalist competition has fuelled the quest for cheap sources of labour and for investment conditions that maximize profits locally and transnationally. In this context, the relocation of industries to the periphery has disrupted local economies and dramatically changed labour markets, increasing a poorly regulated economy of low pay and insecure jobs, and attracting women from developing societies into wage employment on a scale unseen before. 31. While the neoliberal policy environment has led to the expansion of women’s employment, it has also led to the intensification of their workload in the market and at home, and to the feminization of poverty especially among unskilled and marginalized poor women, who lack access to productive resources and basic capabilities. Such poverty, marginalization and lack of protective mechanisms, make women easy targets for abuse and undermines the prospects for the progressive realization of their rights.12 11 See Parrenas, Rhacel Salazar, Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration, and Domestic Work, California: Stanford University Press, 2001. 12 Elson, Diane, “Gender justice, human rights, and neo-liberal economic policies”, in M. Molyneux and S. Razavi (eds.). Gender, Justice, Development and Rights, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 78-114.