Trade facilitation measures improve the trading environment by reducing transaction costs and thereby increasing the gains from trade.

Scrutiny and control of women's sexuality and women's reproductive role by the state are well recognized in the history of societies [Sarkar 1993]. Tribal wars over possession of women were rooted in the struggle for survival of the tribe itself.

WOMEN's status, it has often been argued, is an indicator of the level of development of particular societies. Women's workforce participation rates, on the other hand, are also related to women's status.