Ivanka Trump lobbies for women in India, draws heat back home

John Bacon | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Ivanka Trump pushes ‘women first’ message in India She spoke at the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

Ivanka Trump lobbied for women's rights and economic empowerment at an entrepreneurial summit in India on Tuesday while drawing criticism from human rights advocates back home for the treatment of global workers who produce her brand-name products.

Trump spoke at the opening of the three-day Global Entrepreneurship Summit in the southern city of Hyderabad. The summit's theme is "Women First, Prosperity for All," and Trump said the growth of women-led businesses is good for society and the global economy.

Trump, a businesswoman and adviser to her father the president, said one study estimates that closing the gender entrepreneurship gap worldwide could grow the global GDP by 2%.

"Only when women are empowered to thrive will our families, our economies and our societies reach their fullest potential," she said.

Some advocacy groups back home, however, were dismissive of Trump's pitch. Li Qiang, executive director of New York-based China Labor Watch, said women workers in China who manufactured products for the Ivanka Trump brand have not received legal wages.

"Ivanka has the responsibility to find these workers and ensure they are paid in full," he said. "Ivanka's profits include the wages of these workers."

Robert Weissman, president of Washington, D.C.-based Public Citizen, tweeted that Trump "has failed to address the brutal reality (that) clothes and shoes produced by her brand’s suppliers, which outsource all their production overseas, are often manufactured under abusive conditions."

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Trump was given the royal treatment in India, and Hyderabad prepped for her by cleaning up its streets, banning begging and shuffling thousands of street people into shelters or rehab.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the importance of women in Indian economics and culture and noted that the Indian Constitution guarantees one-third representation to women in local government.

Trump commended Modi for lifting 130 million people from poverty under his leadership. But she said that in developing countries, 70% of women-owned small and mid-sized businesses have no access to capital. In many countries, women are not allowed to own property, travel freely or work without the consent of their husbands, Trump said.

"We must ensure women entrepreneurs have access to capital, access to networks and mentors, and access to equitable laws," she said.

She praised her father's administration, saying it promotes greater opportunity for women around the world through "domestic reforms and our international initiatives." The U.S. Small Business Administration, for example, increased lending to women by over $500 million in 2017, she said.

Ivanka Trump, however, is at odds with her father on many issues ranging from climate change to support for LGBTQ Americans. The president has voiced support of Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore amid claims — which he denies — that he preyed on underage girls. Ivanka's comment on Moore: "There is a special place in hell for people who prey on children."

But she was a good soldier in India.

"Our administration is committed to empowering women entrepreneurs through domestic reforms," she said. "In the past 11 months, we have expanded apprenticeship programs and prioritized STEM education to ensure that women — and men — have more opportunities to master the skills that drive progress in the 21st century."