This paper looks at the gendered effects of trade expansion in developing countries. The paper starts with a presentation of the main findings of work done on gender and trade in developing countries, the majority of which is concentrated on the impacts of trade in terms of employment, income and welfare effects. The second part of the paper introduces two new propositions, which have never been discussed in relation to gender. The first proposition is to analyze the ‘unequalizing growth’ theory from a gender perspective. The second proposition seeks to look at the structural limitations caused by demand-based market forces in low-income countries, in other words look at the ‘immiserizing growth’ theory from a gender perspective. The article concludes with a set of recommendations for UNCTAD to follow in order to achieve gender-aware trade policies.