Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
attention is being paid to such concerns. For example, the
World Development
Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development
identifies four priority areas for
policy going forward, one of which is 'shrinking gender differences in voice and
agency within society' (World Bank
2011
: xiii). The report recommends policies to
address the combined influence of social norms and beliefs, women's access to eco-
nomic opportunities, the legal framework, and women's education and skills, and to
increase women's voice in society. We would like to add our voices to these calls.
Chapter 6
examined several cases and showed that women did not participate
fully in any of the benefit-sharing arrangements there.
Guidelines and policies for
benefit sharing should explicitly require women's meaningful participation in
all phases of decision-making
, from the formulation of the research design (as far
as possible) to the allocation of benefits, with minimum, appropriate and measur-
able indicators. The definition of 'meaningful participation' should be contextual-
ized in, but not bound by, cultural, social, political and economic practices and
relationships. This is because these practices and relationships could be the very
sources of inequality and women's exclusion.
The guidelines and policies should include examples of the kinds of mechanisms
that enable women to participate fully and have an effective voice. The full set of prin-
ciples we would propose is available in
Chap. 6
, but we reiterate the main ones here:
• Aim for women to have equal membership of bodies that negotiate or make
decisions (taking into account that 30%, though recognized as the 'critical mass'
at which women's presence begins to have an effect, may, in a smaller group,
mean only one or two persons).
• Hold consultations separately for women, and feed the outcome back to the
negotiating or decision-making body, in order to ensure that women's views
become part of the agenda and of the basis on which decisions are made.
Ultimately, of course, international guidelines and policies can only change
reality on the ground if governments and other local stakeholders take them seri-
ously and consistently create the necessary mechanisms through practical, imple-
mentable, local processes. International, national and local bodies, as well as
researchers and funders, should be accountable for the exclusion and discrimi-
natory treatment of women in benefit sharing, as in other areas of their work.
Research ethics committees should look for appropriate provisions in study proto-
cols, and in progress and final reports from researchers.
10.8 Conclusion
This topic has traced the story of beneit sharing as it developed in the context of non-
human biological resources, now extended into international research ethics arenas.
What is the way forward for benefit sharing? An important task for academics,
practitioners and policy-makers who believe in benefit sharing as a means to pro-
tect human research participants (clinical trial participants and donors of human
