EMERGING TRENDS IN WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS IN INDIA WORD SHOP PAPER AND WOMEN DEVELOPMENT
Item
- Title
- EMERGING TRENDS IN WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS IN INDIA WORD SHOP PAPER AND WOMEN DEVELOPMENT
- extracted text
-
VJH 1^1
FORUM
AGAINST
OPPRESSION
OF
WOMEN
(BOMBAY)
An initial letter was sent to you in June '85 to inform you
about and solicit your views on the proposed national conference
entitled 'Perspectives for the Autonomous Women's Movement in
India1 to be held in December 23rd to 26th at the Seth Issardas
Vardmal Dharamshala, Khar Road Station, West, Bombay-52.
We
received a very good response from women in different parts of
the country who are keen to attend the conference.
A preparatory
meeting was held in Hyderabad on the 14th and 15th Sepp, by the
Stree Shakti Sanghatana.
We were able to discuss at length and
arrive at the following conclusions regarding the contents and
planning.
On the basis of our experiences we arrived at the following
subjects for discussions during the conference.
Monday _ 2 3rd_ Decejrtoer :
Workshop_No_._ 1_, Titlej-.Participationjof J?omenj s.. pr.gani.saizions^ ~in
mass an_d_ other organisations.
Some of the questions which could be discussed - what are the
relationships of women's organisations and mass organisations such
as trade unions, democratic rights groups, theatre groups, etc.
How do we see the leadership of women in mass organisations?
Can we draw lessons from historical experiences like Telangana,
the nationalist struggle, etc.
political participation?
How do we understand women's
What is our strategy' for expansion,
increasing our own strength, multiplying in numbers setting up
more small groups, or forming mass organisations, and related to
this, the question of numbers versus consciousness.
Workshop No. 2, Title: Relationship between consciousness...r_ai_s_i_ng
and support to individual-women.
No matter what the objective of the group, women's groups get
involved in supporting individual women who appeal for help.
Most groups are continuously faced with the tussle between case
work and consciousness raising.
Frustrations build up because
we feel we are loosing sight of our original intentions of general
consciousness raising and doing what can become just ‘social work'.
At the same time,, it is impossible for us to avoid supporting
individual women in the course of our work?
strike a balance between the two?
How can we then
Reformism and feminism?
2
nrrt anwny Whfr yy3snnit
ygn3
ggt ^T3<T4 if 3TTWT ¥35
Itf 353- -.PT-J 2JT ton 3TJTW
HT/T
3i i’q'i cn$) Tynr" Ywt qy gt-rai cf yry^tn tqgRt my y arm am tnnry yarn? i
u? ntm tmkrm t 3^ w
gwyra cnyyw ofnw, my ntg ttYn [qtwn
yoo 043 y gtw I r gir gu qy ggn stw zqfn<n Twr i tmrwY
WiyYt rcP?
I 611 q. 35 w WhfcT fFT^HTH ?« ait? ?4 twttr W Wf^W
amiYuH TWT qr f cHt W%
YmytciYan iMu YcW nt I
mYmy wf t Twa ; =
-wq i,! 33 ‘feray t yw warm :
gfhfe : arryrnioyty yrtY trnnt nr Ygmrr nrtt mien arry arrwicH nt ®Y
mngmlWr^t gw rninn3 Trent q gmT??^ try wt Tram g ? arryminTi't tiW
a^ttY amang YcbciMY g ? wr gy tti tt any mg -tine arrdwp Vitfgrr'w
3Rwf t n? ttn w g ? artygr
yrmciStii ug??Fi 35 yp-y wy w ^yry g ?
gyrVY wft py am fteor ygr^t ? w gy wk? unKfczjT gt yrtgy
<jt "jyfr urnjcfY aft ypfr yrfgy ?
crwrq- :- 3 : sfhfe : ynjtn ypy
yfgyraihiy tfgny
yt cytyyt 35 ...
wi.
W^icH yry'Y yqgy 3ttt ^y.ayyr 35H sfr Wny a#yr gt3 wp cfr anwfr
yWraY (w erra-ygryr ^cr
1 wyy
gtry tw ^rr gg g - w gy
>
w w yrq 3yuT yrfY gtfiTw' qyy 1 w gy wi wwW yy yif g yr
ggy y£ i ?yrgWryt wf any ytty wfr cirtf y gyyyW gy
wrt ?
ynciq r ,3y Ygfray .’ y^yrly - ?
yhfe : mi® ?nv wh trT
frafr ygr^ wWf w g am fcryryr
qyy g ymr 1 gyy tnv gy MW yTpyrrciy gwrrci aayy g u&
^yy.yre?
n'Ycf gwry^T gyqrn yRWWi
rfWt qg^tryy
fcP? yry any g { yr nt nryT
VJ
o
yiunt n
ww yyyyyt lrt <it nt am ww-ti yrn nyt g^f t yht
yg tcyrr g r yfat 35 qrnt any ymW ntrt ng tyrr g 1 that
3
qrat any yntr
w g ? ^yr33nyWgtr ^5 cfty^i ygg ^Y 3jy wt ygr g i gt gy 3vr
w gy uiHcift^ nt?t3nra Yyyy, wr
y35%ty :- «
?
<w : ^nttnynr nY Tntfant.
anny 2r wq tg ,
?
cy?WY gttrnnt gyrar tY tnwa garr g 1 gy
|v
...■••
3
Tuesday~24th December;
Workshop No. 3, Title:
Communication Work.
One of the main tasks of women's groups have been to communicate
their views and work through the use of different forms of media
like the press, skits, and songs.
They have either created their
own alternative channels of communication or made use of main
stream media by building contacts with sympathetic persons.
What are the pros and cons of using both types of channels?
Secondly, the communication between women's groups is sparse and
infrequent.
working?
Can an internal newsletter facilitate better net
How can it be set up in a democratic and collective
manner?
Workshop No. 4, Title: Politics of personal qrcwth.
Through participation in groups we have grown as persons, become
conscious, got strength, confidence and the courage to act.
While
we are aware of this process, we usually discuss it personally
and have an exchange of support and rapport at an individual-level.
There is much that we can learn and draw out from this process of
pereonal/political growth if it is made visible and articulated.
Can we pool our experiences and link our private and public
struggles?
Wednesday 25thDecember:
Workshop No. 5, Title: Structure, methods and intra group dynamics
of women's groups.
Women's groups are attempting to work in different ways, using
nonhierarchial and collective methods.
Group structure and
methods of functioning are often linked with composition and
beliefs. These alternative forms have at times created problems
between members of groups, disillusionment, and splits.
With
out personalising such conflicts, can we understand how to deal
with them?
How can we take into account efficiency, responsibility
hierarchy and collective functioning?
Workshop No. 6, Title: Relationship with the State.
It becomes necessary to interact with the police, courts and
government.
Often we are in conflict wide them and sometimes we
also take their help and/or try to influence them.
E.g. the
4
g-Rft rRr of I, go arrWfWRf or g, fipfa wd 30 eft gF-nrT TgT^jcr
W#
Reft g F gifTR Th# 3TTV TRIO# tWRR 3H## 3fr t|trf g# gif ¥35
OB #0 cRci t F W gq g-BR 3H#f W 3FI4HJKN 3R. gR# <cT# 3FT? OR#
g ?
tW# #g
wr,t
#cbr : g#tr - 4
thfe : tt# ^et 35 crtctrf etxr,^rjq^TtT anR aWfro trati-^ragR
TRt #TcH 3RR cTR cR#5
tlT^ 35T-F Tu g F JT-T# I W 3FTR 3R 35
for otr th th m^brio)’ 3ig I j.wt #r g i gtf 03 rh hrt#
trt 35 Tdeii 41
#¥ 'i</l tttjtv jMT
g [ 'fBrrW ci) so) g rtr- 3Rt o yuo) sos-Ho) uiw ci
Rgt ? gg TW CRT# 3O$fO/fa#Wt 3# TcflVcT RTOT 3TR tiTqtgg qTtfoth#
?T3kt
Jr
?
I
: ttr# Tytcft.
crwhr- q
WYvPifr-no)
tr tr
##### sttr crtr)t ;urq qqr q-ggr g f
gq I R RFO IWTR fF^ 3fr gfcR g cF^ q53fr gif JHcf 30 ?Hc|3rft| I Heft' OrMl
wr g r J3'F gRicid i - ?rw
owwoTrf uWrn?
3RT Rf'lVTT g ? gif tcW iJWtl ciTRR'Y Tf'FW Wt
Wft^RRTlRf-
rjrtq b-ort
gr
R^WR H 3TR?^ titgtf,
gY?cf/#ggT gHcJfl 3fR RRtN^FT 3R ^3cF g F
fRoR
BT^tFIWhpT 3ft^f if cfJ^T cTTT R% cTT gif B4RT RFcRF artRTcg 3&
3w;
?
'kw? : TcFWq tgEijT >R gwhr : tMT mf^,ggvRft,TJiWi,
OTOftwl MI q jCRi? RHFnR gc3T?g RR gR$f
4
traTgt O O TTRflR |ilwT
g?RO 3RJWF cR ffwf g ?
W : RRVciw^RFg T® Rtg Rs cuTrt# cjih^era fgv dfgRg Trgd,)Wf or
gW wtr W gjcti
JRrMt gnif Rf rA gt^F l tfgcfr [TRnfT] croXTir
TRt 3FRTRR W)W '0,01^ R^UTR RR 4 W lyffRi fPTcRT W^TR RR y,
Rirt^ [w<] rWtt w 3, tonrrT sr-rtrfr]
w
? o qKff wr
F gif cRfr RR'Wsot r)r?T cIRR RRRT 3)0^1 qcF g F urt rRRf”- OW35T
T?RT'' tFTBcf g cf TrRR,? cTO g>
&5F
rMY
)foi g 3TR 3Brf ?HRl
?oo
3TTT 3fcA UT?J 3RTT 3oo OWt TgcFW tcf¥ pF cR 3TTR F
uhfRR :- cfteH gif RRt tftcH gif RWt tFRT?go Tuf^gltt
I RtffgV gzORFg if
ff $TcHq5 Tgv ■?• 500 )f ?n’ two ^RT R1RT J?W
f RR'T 3FCUTRR
WMt
tqrfvt WT 3FMt cW gff cRgO TgV R- ^00/-
OcF g F
35R gTel g F gif 30^ TOTcfT
,.
. ..
5
the government has proposed a series of welfare measures; what is
our response to them?
How do .we, if at all, intend to influence
government policy regarding job reservations, population, hostels
and shelters?
Secondly, how real is the danger of co-optation
and how can we deal with it.
Thursday 26th December:
Workshop on 'specific issues like personal law, health and environ
ment, communalism, work, and any other suggested by the partici
pants.
Can we plan national campaigns around some issues?
Papers:
Women’s groups and not individuals should prepare notes which will
pose problems and raise questions i.e. act as catalysts for discu
ssion within the workshops.
Some of the topics were picked up by
the groups at Hyderabad like Saheli chose no.2, FOAW no. 5, Stree
Shakti Sanghatana no. 4, Women’s Centre no. 3, and Chingari no. 1.
All groups are invited to prepare such notes.
in advance your prefered topic.
Please let us know
The group which decides to work
on ’posing the problem1 notes should send in their work by
December 1st.
They should also bring 300 copies for distribution..
Funds:
As part of the collective responsibility for organising the
conference, the groups present in Hyderabad have pledged money
from Rs. 300 to 500. The Forum has already raised, through dona
tions ard
loans
some Rs. 2500 which has been utilised so far
for reserving the hall, postage, cyclostvling etc.
'We suggest
that each group raise at least Rs. 100 which they must forward
to us by mid November.
Invitations:
It was decided to limit ourselves to inviting groups with a
primary commitment to activism.
Only women are to participate.
Please let us know how many members of your group can come.
registration fee is Rs. 10/- per member.
travel or food expenses.
The
We are unable to provide
Looking forward to.hearing from you soon.
With regards
FAOW
6
t^p? iRTO
3TOT Wf W TO ?0o/- [TOT] gtT
3TO I
anro^r : f^rfro toM toftoto totohT <E bt ?u fttotototo Eprrror ftot
wi qtgmro Tgw
cf wfr g r ®w gir totftoE f® aiwb toitoto Wr ?toto tot
TOTOTO7 3fT^i I WHTOT TOfTO^T qfr g
eMyiTei i
< tot tototo
jttwrt to% toito tf
HTOt Y TF^[
[g] ?o/- [^T] gij- <J|W
iTOTb?7 ^tottotf fttof ThcIcTt t1
JTOJTOTOTOE SnFTTF,
arMTcHi (TTU,
totoY
3TOtftoto YrorrJY
glTOT TO
(%?,
5 013 - £ffw TOTTO-TO,
totto w,mwcrr,
kfnTT^I
yoo oTO.
^cttof w ;
0^ ‘‘fW TOT | I
? ] f£lTOFY~TOlcI <TTO TO TOTO
3 ] fTFT Sf'lcFM fiTTFT (TFTT -ycHT TO I
5 ] 3FTWTO 3TTO g? TT^hr, gt^oT Bh^ra T?MT< fcTTO 3iTTO^
crr^Wl ‘fWEr arrwr
y]
4
unrofr I
<r# gWt r
] 3TTW a UfY ufc^ JITOT T
oe qT TO cFTfTWT BTcI TF ?6 fWcF
I TO
TOg
3TT 3TTWt TR^ TO UT TT‘?TOF^ TTOT eTETT i
$ ] wfE ^5 W[¥ whft OTOfl+t gr£r cfr g I MtTH gT^I I
u] 3®(h:'iei ,ti i TeTOcfj ?gv ca pti twi I
T^tW :?TOg : ?0
\3
crN b\ : to
?3 WT^TO
?
g g^WTO
5
vf 5-30 TOF Tt S^Y
uihcp)
3 •?o
.
4T
oo (jMr,
WT : B TOO Y TOTO TOmtcTO wf^TO.
§w : TbtoT toto ai^uftro totoi
toE
TU^'TOiTOt TOtrorerot vg^fT i toto ;Ti ^tototoE
fuATqnroY cfrl TO'/TOcfl vrofE i anro wrwft ?tw arotwETro gfto toY totot ‘^’ttot
TOTTO^TcTO TOTfjro : ^^^-TOfgJ^TCcij,^,^ gTOT?q Of¥ BTOTOT I ijfE 3TITO -
TOTO fnTO^fcTO QTOfcTOY tdV TZfr
I
.
= 7 =
Schedule of the day:
Workshops
Morning
: 10.00 to 12.00
Afternoon
: 12.00 to
1.00 to
1.00
3.00
Lunch
Workshops (continuation)
3.00 to
3.30 to
3.30
5.30
Tea
Plenary session
5.30 to
onwards
Cultural items
Evening
PS:
:
(i) Each participant will be able to'attend only one workshop
a day. Do decide in advance.
(±1) Translations from and to Hindi and English will be
arranged. Participants will have to make arrangements
for other languages.
Administrative details:
1.
Accomodation will be provided at the site of the conference.
2.
Please bring your own beddings.
3.
A map shewing locations of different restaurants will be
distributed.
4.
Return tickets should, be booked by the participants themselves.
5.
For those who might want to come early on the 22nd of December/
a room is booked for their accomodation at the same place.
Those who want to stay behind can shift to the Women's Centre.
6.
There is a seperate room for children.
7.
Tables will be provided for distribution of literature etc.
Cult.ural Items :
All groups are welcome to bring their posters, audio visuals,
skits, and songs for the evening cultural session.
Guide, to_the. cpnference ha 1 Ij
From Bombay Central Station: Catch a local train (slow) going
towards Andheri or Borivli and disembark at Khar Road Station. Ask
for the West side of the station and the Seth Issardas Hall.
From Bombay V.T. Station: Catch a local Harbour Line train for
Andheri, get off at Khar Road Station. Ask for the West side and
the Seth Issardas Hall. If your incoming train halts at Borivli
or Dadar you can get off there too, and follow the above instructions.
If in trouble call the Hall after 22nd Dec., 8.00 a.m. Phone:531087
or
Arati
:
Nandita:
4225067,
356213,
Nirmala
Jessica
:
:
Address:
Forum Against Oppression of Women,
C/o. Women's Centre,
Yasmeen Apartments, Yeshwant Hagar,
Vakola, Santa Cruz, (East,
BOMBAY - 400 055.
213431,
6422924.
= a «=
ntrart fra ra arrW J-Tpfcm
: sib# cjt ntftnnt ufi nareft’ rat rftft rari3c5 [fhra] fn rasra
nrat
arratn sn? nrat r qtrwft arra "nn <w^ra fra" 3rr<rr f r
X
---------------------cfWt t :
nra rait i
Entra] rat^Vt# ark nrnt frar nnra tfiratn
arrrat tn fhfl nnt; ai^R-f ut rara_
fefrads’ ar? frafr 11 ffftwt sitt trnra
arrwr
?Bcft f r uf wr
tfhft rat wtw
eRt fhft i affcrfY t airrat q'r’TW jt erak errant ^hit-rat, rarity $3
[fira?] s3 eWt gW 1
*
c® TfSsrs ei eft fra ra f'-r rafra ftfjp? f qrar - 4 3 ? 0 <r o jtt nt
raft arrawY WW nv t cratW^t tra ftrnv 1
arrant : a ra 4 0 ? u
raf nr : ra
n a
iMnr - n a « ? ?
trWr ra y ra u y
ECUMENICAL CHRISTIAN CENTRE, WHITEFIELD, BINGALORE
*
*
*
,
Emerging
Trends in women's Movements in India
November 27 - 30, 1985
1.
C Hi Lakshmi
C/o gamithi Office
Tarlupadu p ,0 .
prate, sam Di st
A. P .
2.
Rita Roy & J. Jaya
gtree Jagruti Samithi
103 , 1st Floor
3.
Usha Kiran
25, Hiudin Road
Ulsoor
Bangalore - 560 Oh 2
h.
Sr. Augustina
Ebly Cross Institute
Hajari bag
Bihar
5.
MJi. Flower Mary
S.M.K' S Bhavan
puthukkadai p .0 .
K.K. Dist, Tamil Nadu
6.
Hr era Nawaz
39, Ulsoor Road
Bangalore - 560 Oh-2
7.
Tara M.S. & Nit ya
National Institute & public
Co-operation and child
development
293, 39th Cross VIII Block
Jayanagar
Bangalore
8.
Annie lose ph
W N D (Woman for national
Dev.)
1 6, Bodford Lane
Calcutta - 700 01 6
9.
Dr. prabha Mahale
Reader
Anthropology Dcp?.rtment
Karnataka University
Dharwad - 580 003
10.
Sa kun tala Narasimhan
810, Bhaskara , T.I.F.R.
Colony
Homi Bhabha Road
Bombay - h-00 005
11.
shakuntala R. Thomas
12.
BUILd
11, sujata Co-opiatiye society
1st Floor, S.V. Road
Bandra, Bombay - h-00 050
13.
N.s. Krishnakumari
Research Co-ordinator
No. 17, Miller's Road
Jaint women's programme
Bangalore - 560 Oh 6
ih.
Saraswathi
Joint women's programme
17, Miller's Road
Bangalore - - 560 Oh-6
15.
Madhu Bhushan
Vimochana
1
P .0 . Box h6o5
Bangalore -560 Oh-6
16.
Mrs. N .G, Bhuvane swari
Advocate
No. $ 8, Venkier street
Kondithope
Madras - 600 079
17.
Colette R.G.s.
(Women's Voice)
Good Shepherd Convent
Mu seem Road
Bangalore -560 025
18.
G.Jfma Rani
No. 25, Ben son'A 'Cross
Bensom Town
Bangalore -560 Oh-6
Ammu Ba la chand ran
Advocate
17, Dr. Muniappa Road
Kilpauk
Madras - 600 010
2
Voice)
19 • T he Im Jfa. ra yan
326, 5 th Main
Koramangala 1 st Block
Bangalore -560 034
20.
Maya M.K . (Women's
193, Up stairs
3rd Main Road
Chamrajpet
Bangalore - 560 018
21 . Bharati Dubey
97/' 1A, Hazra Road
Calcutta - 700 026
22.
23. Thomas Kocherry
19/1005 A,
S J) -P .Y. Road
palluruthy
Cochin - 682 006
Kerala
24.
Mrs. Gopa Riman
J. W . P .
17th Mille r 1 s Road
Bangalore - 560 046
Sr. patricia Kuruvinakunnel
Medical Mission Sisters
Mampally
Anjengo p .0 •
Trivandrum - 695 309
Kerala’’
26.
25. Manini
A Forum for progressive Women
No. 15, IV N. Block
Rajajinn gar
Bangalore - 560 010
phone No. -358127
28.
27. Israth
Post Box No 32
Hassan
29 • Leticia pires
Supc r int n ie n t
State Homo
Dept, of social Welfare
Behind C.nce-r Hospital
Hosur Road
FANG*. LORE 560 028
30,.
Madhu Kishwar
C/o Manushi
C /202 Lajpat Nagar I,
New Delhi - 110 024
B. Padmvathi Rao
president Karnataka
Women's Teachers Assn.
Karnataka Federation of
Teachers As soc s.
29, Benson Ro d
Bangalore 560 0 4 6
flB
Off: 70247 Res;573^9O
H. Gn-nampal
C D.P.0 ? (eentral)
39, I'lnd Floor Corporation
Shopping Complex
J .C . Road
Bang lore 560 002 ••
31 . Banu Mustag
4348 Vallabhai Road
Hassan
33. Sot. M. Vijaya
Information & publicity
0 ffice
3rd Floor
Multistoried Building
BANGALORE 560 001
Corin Kumar
Vimochana
P.O. Box 46o5
Bangalore - 560 046
34.
K. Nirmala
D/o Kasivreddy
I irlupadu
p.arakaram 523 332
A. P.
35. A Rexceline Rani
Jeyakumari & -Lid-win Mary .
C/o Bumad Fatima
Society for Rural Education
&■Development
Kallaru, perumuchi p .0 .
Arkkon .ra 63? 001
36.
Anjali Son
Deputy programme Co-ordinator
Luthern World Service (i)
84. suresh Sarker Ro d
Enrally
Calcutta 14
37. Dr. Sorojini p. Chawalar
prof, of Kannada
SIMVS Arts & ftomm. College
for Women
Jayachniaraj Hagar
Hubli 580 020
38.
pro mi la Dan Java te
K1 Sharadashram
Bhavani Shankar Road
Bombay 28. Tel: 4225^6
Ecumenical Christian ( Marjorie David
Centre
( Ranjit gathyrraj
’Aiitcfield, Bang-lore ( G.S. Yalsangi
E .C £ . Staff
Rev. Dr. K .C. Abr-.-.ham
Mrs. Dr . A . Abraham
Susy Nellithanam
EMERGING TRENDS IM WIEN'S MOVEMENTS IN INDIA
WOMEN
AND
RELIGION
or
CAN THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT BECOME AN ANTI-COMMUNALIST FORCE?
1.
(j<,
Intro duction
During the International Women's Decade, the question of women and reli
gion did not come to the fore front much.
The main emphasis was on
women's deteriorating economic situation, declining work opportunities,
victimisation due to technological modernisation, self-help through self
employment schemes and on sexual and other violence against women, like
rape, wife beating, dowry deaths and the like.
Attention was also paid
to women's health situation, family planning schemes, the effects of
certain contraceptives like IUD's, depo-pravera and NET-EN etc.
This does not come as a surprise since patriarchy in the feminist debate
has been understood as exploitation of a woma's labour, sexuality and
fertility.
It is therefore only logical that primary attention should go
to the economic aspects and to the actual physical subjugation of women.
The only aspect where religion has come into the picture is the demand
for a secular family code which has been raised on and off and short of
this battles are today fought for Muslim women's rights to maintenance,
for the right of Christian women to get a divorce, against extremes of
discrimination in inheritance rights like eg. the Travancore Christian
Succession Act.
The demand for a secular Civil Code extending to matters of marriage and
succession is in no way new.
Baba Sahib Ambedkar had made this point
strongly and it has been argued that diversity in family laws violates,
the principle of Fundamental Rights that there should be no discrimination
between citizens.
The Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in
India which was published in 1975 by the Central Goverrment takes a very
clear stand on this matter:
’’The absence of a uniform Civil Code in the last quarter of the 20th cen
tury, 27 years after independence, is an incongruity that cannot be justi
fied with all the emphasis that is placed on secularism, science and
modernisation.
The continuance of various personal laws which accept dis
crimination between men and women violate the fundamental rights, and the
Preamble to the Constitution which promises to secure
to all citizens
’equality of status’, and is against the spirit of national integration
and secularism.
Our recommendations regarding amendments of existing laws are only ;
;
indicators of the direction in which uniformity has to be achieved.
Wo,
therefore recommend expeditious implementation of..-this-constitutional
directive by the ado_piiQ_n of a Uniform Civil Code." 1
2
However, even ten years after this recommendation, we are no inch nearer to
its implementation and only very recently, the Prime Minister made a cate
gorical statement that a secular personal law is not on any immediate
, 2
agenda.
The reason for this is not far to see;
Over the last decade, communalism
has been on the increase and despite the carnage against Sikhs in Delhi,
Kanpur and many other cities, after Indira Gandhi's assassination, none of
the opposition parties found it opportune to raise the issue of communalism
during the election campaign.
It is therefore significant that one of the
most courageous voices to speak out against communalism after the anti-Sikh
3
riots was the feminist magazine Manushi. ‘ Special investigations were also
held by various women's groups into the situation of women during the anti
reservation agitation in Ahmedabad and into the way women were affected by
4
communal clashes in Bhiwandi.
These kind of inquiries are in themselves
very important but they finally do not really raise the question of religion
because they work on the assumption that religion is not really at the root
of communal conflict.
This assumption is correct, as deeper studies of communalism have borne out.
Bipan Chandra has drawn attention to the fact that communalist forces arc
usually not led by people who are in any way deeply religious and that on
the other hand people with a dimension of religious reform of any depth
would normally be anti-communalist.5
Looking back at the history of the
freedom struggle Chandra observes that "religion was neither the cause .-.or
g
the end of communalism - it was only its vehicle."
At the same time he
gives many examples how communalists opposed religious social reformers ana
vice versa.
It is therefore important to raise the question;
What is the relationship
of the women's movement to genuine religious reform?
I do believe that
this is a crucial question which has been ignored for far too long.
I
would like to define genuine religious reform as such a reform which
enables individuals and groups to participate in secular political
processes struggling for equality of all citizens and against economic,
political and cultural exploitation, without being forced to abandon the
faith dimension of their religious identity.
Besides, genuine religious
reform chrystalizos the humanist content in a religion in such a way, that
non-believers or people of other faiths can relate to this humanist content
in their own right .
This latter dimension is an indispensable part of
creating a rich secular culture.
This is a question which has not been raised in depth by the women’s move
ment, probably for three reasons;
First, the question of genuine religious
reform is normally left out of the general debate on secularism.
Religion
. . 3
3
is normally 'simply declared to be an obscurantist hang-over which needs to be
discarded.
This year's Independence Day Issue of the government sponsored
journal To j ana under the title "Why live with Nonsense?" is a striking
7
example of this tendency.
Secondly, women as primary victims of orthodox religion have good reasons
to be resentful of religion in general.
It is therefore not surprising that
in the wake of the Delhi riots the Sahel! newsletter presented a very
simplified reductionist view on Religion and Women which ends with the
appeal:
"It is we who have to stop believing in gods and start believing
in ourselves, our inalienable rights to a decent life on this earth.
Our
rituals have to be taken over by actions which lead to this.
Our God has
„8
to be replaced by our love for humanity and our hatred for injustices.
A demonstration in Delhi on March 8 (International Wbrking Women's Day)
sponsored by different women's organisations expressed their views on
religion in a similar vein and was only questioned by a thoughtful article
9
by Ruth Vanita in Manushi.
Thirdly, since women due to their position in society have rarely been in
the fore front of ideological production and especially not of religious
ideological production.
Women have rarely been theologians.
been famous mystics or poetesses.
A few have
It is therefore not surprising if the
domain of religious reform has normally remained controlled by enlightened
male intellectuals who at times could have been creative enough to rethink
women's position in their respective religions.
The question is to which
extent women actively need to interfere with religious ideological pro lucti
2.,
Women and Religious Reform in the Freedom Struggle
It is difficult to comment on the question of women and religious reform in
the freedom struggle at any depth, largely because of the fact that most
writings which deal with the Hindu renascence are in no way interested in
the women's question.
Women's studies on this period are on the way, but
most of them have not yet been published.
What I am saying here is there
fore extremely tentative and very-much derived from secondary sources.
Following Bipan Chandra's analysis it can be said that communalism developed
under conditions of "economic backwardness, interests of the semi-feudal,
jagirdari classes and strata, the precarious economic condition of the middle
classes, social cleavages within Indian society, its heterogeneous and multi
faceted cultural character and the ideological-political weaknesses of the
nationalist forces."10 These conditions were aggravated by the colonial
economy and polity and by the desperate struggle for jobs among the middle
classes.
The latter factor helped communalism to acquire a real mass base.
The communalist ferment was ideologically asserting religious orthodoxy and
thus glossing over class differences, caste discrimination and oppression
of women.
. . 4
4
On the other hand, there was a certain ferment of religious reform, expressed
eg. in the Ar ya Samaj, which was prepared to incorporate a certain amount of
social justice and women's concerns but would go back on it's stand when
getting involved in communal politics.
As far as social reform on problems
of caste or women was concerned, the communalist ferment again and again took
to "iolently reactionary options.
This is true for Hindu and Muslim-commu-
nalism alike.
The same is true of the nitremist part of the freedom movement which in
contrast to communalism proper was clearly anti-colonial but on the base
of a religious revivalism which, developing a mythical concept of the
motherland, was prepared to defend caste, joint family and communal village
society as precious expressions of ancient Indian heritage based on love
11
and collectivity as opposed to Western individualism and competition.
Apart from their obscurantist image of the "Mothe l: which was based on
Durga or Kali and implied an idea of motherhood vhich would not have any
openings towards-alternative women's roles, in social reality, their in
clination towards violent struggle would also n-i facilitate women's
participation.
On the other hand, the reformism of the moderates which implied a stand
against "social evils'- like caste, chile marriage and sati and would advocate
education for women, did not achieve much mass appeal.
It was Gandhi's
specific brand of religious revivalism combined with social reforms and a
concrete method of action which captured the imagination of the masses and
provided a base for broad women's m bilisation and participation in the
political struggle.
Tn a recent article "Gandhi on Women" Madhu Kishwar has analysed Gandhi's
12
views on women in great detailThough she does not raise the question
of religious reform, anti-communalism and a feminist perspective in a direct
way, it becomes abundantly clear from her analysis that this connection
exists. Gandhi's view on tradition was: "It is good to swim in the waters
13
of tradition, but to sink in them is suicide.1'’
Though Gandhi originally
believed in a fairly conventional sexual division of labour, ascribing women
sovereignty in the house and leaving the domain of political struggle to
men, the actual need to involve women in mass satyagraha and the bold parti
cipation of women in large numbers forced him to change his views on women
1a
and housework or women as property holders " and his appeal to personal
courage and sense of suffering set free an enormous potential.
The in
teresting aspect is that Gandhi appealed to women as independent individuals.
Due to his belief in brahmacharya he ascribed to women the right to say no
to sexual controls even of their husbands.
Though he saw
women primarily
as wives and mothers he inculcated in women the right to resist.
Madhu
Kishwar emphasises Gandhi's main contribution to the cause of women as "his
absolute and unequivocal insistence on their personal dignity and autonomy
5
in the family and society.While he used the traditional symbols of Sita
and Draupadi for women to emulate he gave these symbols a vigorous new life,
a world apart from the commonly accepted lifeless stereotypes of sub-servience.
He constantly deviated from religious stereotypes in a very significant way.
While his emphasis on brahmacharya and his appeal not to make women sex
objects did facilitate women's freedom of movement he did not fall into the
trap of picturing women in the traditional Hindu way as seductresses luring
the tapasvi away from his sacred pursuits.
His exhortations went chiefly
against men's aggressive attitude towards women.
I agree with the way how
Madhu Kishwar differentiates Gandhi's contribution from the 19th century
reformers;
"The most crucial difference is that he does not see women as
objects of reform, as helpless creatures deserving charitable concern.
Instead, he sees them as active, self-conscious agents of social change.
His concern is not limited to bringing about change in selected areas of
social life, such as education and marriage as a way of regenerating Indian
society, as was that of most 19th century social reformers.
He is primarily
concerned with bringing about radical social reconstruction.
While Gandhi's appeal to religious sentiment is often seen as somewhat obscu
rantist if not bordering on communalism, it is important to recognise the
vast difference between his use of religious idiom and that of the conmunalists and of the extremists in the national movement.
His objective was
not religious self-assertion but social reform integrated with the political
goal of swaraj.
Traditionally it is religion which mediates the link between personal life and
wider political concern.
world view.
-Religions spells out a way of life as well as a
In the communalist approach, the religious affiliation distorts
economic and political issues.
reactionary.
The result is socially and politically
In the enlightened approach of the moderates or in the secu
larism inspired by more westernised leaders like Nehru, there was a nationa
list appeal to overcome caste, communalism and oppression of women.
But this
appeal, since it was devoid of religious reform, could not have the same
effect in terms of transformation of personal life and social relations in
the freedom movement.
Even in the communist movement, which achieved a con
siderable mobilisation of working women, it was difficult to raise specific
17
women's issues like eg. violence against women.
Short of an autonomous
women's movement, the Gandhians approach led a long way to a real transfor
mation of women's lives and the mediation between the personal and the poli
tical by religious idiom.
While appreciating this Gandhian contribution to women's mobilisation and
actual transformation of women's lives, one has to face the difficulty that
women finally did remain in a domesticated role within the movement.
Mladhu Kishwar puts it, most women ended up as devotees.
As
This has largely
. . 6
6
to do with a profoundly moralistic approach to power which conceived of power
in any physical sense as evil.
Superior power had to be soul-power as opposed
to body power and women the exemplary sufferers, were seen as the supreme
18
vessels of soul force.
Gandhi lacked a thorough analysis of power structures
not only in terms of class but also in terms of patriarchy.
He did rot en
courage any organised constituency of women within the Congress and as a result
even high profile women leaders remained marginal to important decision making
processes.
While Gandhi was forced to adjust his ideas about women as property holders,
the importance of household labour in a woman's life and on women's political
potential over the years under the pressure of actual women's mobilisation,
he was not forced'by any organisational initiative to rethink on the question
of power nor was he forced to develop his religious imagery to go beyond indi
vidual appeals to courage and sense of suffering.
While the Gandhian movement united aspects of religious reform and women's
mobilisation in a forceful way, thus undermining the social rigidity of
communalism and rivalism, another important impulse working in a similar way
had been present in the national movement since the end of the 19th century
19
in the form of the Dalit movement.
While Gandhi’s religious imagery had
remained high caste, the Dalit movement consciously mobilised an imagery
from below.
Jyotirao Phule (1827-1890) belonged to the first generation of Indian refor
mers ruthlessly critical of the errors of the old society.
While the next
generation was more concerned with emphasising the "Hindu tradition", Phule
in his radical reform movement ruthlessly attacked Brahmin domination, un
touchability and oppression of women.
While the orthodox like Tilak opposed
women's education because it would lead to women running away from home and
refusing to marry, the liberals thou^it of "modernising" Indian society by
offering women education.
Phule went much further by establishing the link
between women's oppression, untouchability and caste.
He founded the Satya-
shodak Samaj to give the cultural transformation an organisational base.
While his movement stood for radically equalitarian values, rationalism
and truth seeking, it also had a component of religious reform.
points out:
Gail Qnvedt
"In dismissing totally the dominant religious tradition of
India, Phulo accepted the assumption that something had to be put in place:
20
even a revolutionary culture required a moral-religious centre".
Ho
formed the concept of Sarvajanik Satya Dharma (Public Religion of Truth) and
saw the world as good and holy as opposed to the Vedantic concept of seeing
it as an illusion.
God was seen as loving parent (ma-bap) and all hunans
are valued equally as God's children.
Phule laid great stress on an ecu-l,i-
tarian man-woman relationship and on an inclusive language, eg. stating
7 s
:
that ’’each and every woman and man are equal1' instead of stating that "all
21
Phulc also reinterpreted sacred religious literature, eg.
men are equal1’.
reading the nine avatars of Vishnu as stages of the Aryan conquest and using
king Bali as a counter symbol to the elite’s use of Rem, Ganapati or Kali.
While Phule's emphasis was very different from that of Gandhi because of his
strong anti-Brahmin conviction, their method of mobilisation has similarities
since it relates an emphasis of social transformation with religious and
cultural reform.
The anti-Brahmin movement in Tamil Nadu had a somewhat different approach
since it left out Dalits and based itself on middle class and middle caste
values.
While Periyar wrote a iot on the situation of women, large scale
women’s mobilisation could not be achieved and the values of "Tamil womanhood"
projected by the movement remain highly ambiguous.
The movement also lacked
a deeper aspect of religious reform since it remained exclusively rationalistic
in its original approach but later compromised with religion without trans 22
forming it.
Trying to summarise we can say that during the freedom struggle a consider
able amount of social transformation was mediated by religious reform and
that women's mobilisation benefited from this religious reform.
However,
since women were not involved in the ideological production of these reform
movements but only participated at the level of mass mobilisation, they
most of the time remained objects of patriarchal benevolence and could n/t
evolve an imagery which would have helped them to express their full aspira
tions towards transformation of patriarchal institutions.
3.
Rethinking VIbmen's Position in Religions - A Methodological Reflection
While the mainstream of the women's movement avoids to enter into the
subject beyond a general critique of religion as an oppressive force, there
is also a fringe of the movement which uses religious symbols like eg. the
women's publishing house Kali for Wbmen.
While I have not heard of similar
efforts among Muslim women, I have met individual Muslim women in the women's
movement who wish to remain believers and who try to reconcile their faith
with their religious commitment.
Among Christians, attempts to develop a
feminist theology are on the way.
The problem which arises is twofold.
On the one hand, one has to grapple
with the problem of use and reinterpretation of religious symbols in general.
On the other hand, one has to deal with the problem of the use of scriptural
sources in a way wh ich takes socio-economic historical conditions into
account.
Since use of scriptures is the most obvious and widespread method,
I would like to deal with it first.
. . 8
8
The question of use of scriptures naturally arises more in the explicitly
scriptural religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam which have been
called “religions of the book".
In Hinduism, the vast heritage of Sruti
and Smrti makes religious traditions much more complicated.
Yet, certain
scriptural sources like the Vedas, Upanishads, the Bhagavatgita or ManuSmrti are frequently referred to and also the greet epics like Mahabharata
and Ramayana are often looked at as being rather authoritative.
There is a certain tendency of religious apologetics which tries to maintain
that “originally" all religions were rather favourable for women and only
“implementation" is lagging behind.
We are reassured by quotations of Manus
“VJhere women are honoured, the gods rejoice" or the prophet Mohamed;
In such quotations, the praise for
“Paradise is at the feet of mothers".
women remains entirely abstract and the patriarchal family- relations which
from the prison of the home in which the woman is made the queen, remain
entirely unanalysed and untouched.
I would like to give a few examples from an All-India Colloquium on Ethical
and Spiritual values as the Basis of National Integration held from
22
Even though these materials are nearly
Jecember 30, 1966 -January 2, 1967.
nineteen years old, I think they are still quite valid today because our .
so-called spiritual values usually undergo very slow changes, especially if
they remain unchallenged from the side of the women's movement.
conference, women were dealt with in Section X:
home.
In the
Women, marriage and the
This is no coincidence since all our religions are sufficiently
patriarchal to see woman's place primarily in marriage and in the home.
This
aspect needs to be analysed in greater depth.
It must be said that the Hindu tradition is slightly more broad based in
this respect than Islam and upto a point Christianity, since it takes
education and women’s role in public into account.
Thus^.one may arrive
at sunmaries as the following:
“In the Vedic Age women enjoyed full freedom for learning and
even for choosing their own companions in marriage.
with the onset
of Brahminism.
A change came
The position of women gradually
declined with the rigidity of the.cas.te system and lowering of the
age of marriage.
Buddhism and Jainism also affected women adversely.
During the Golden Age of Hindu civilisation in the early fifth and
sixth centuries A.D. women enjoyed equal rights and were even allowed
to exercise public rights.
However, further seclusion of the Indian
women started with the unsettled conditions inside and invasions from
outside in the eigth century A.D.
The decline in the status of women
24
became complete with the Moghul era, as purdah came to stay." etc.
. i 9
9
The view here is clearly an idealising one because in the Vedic Age and in the
golden age of Hindu civilisation all is supposed to have been well.
Other
authors, like eg. A.S. Altekar in his book The Position of Women in Hindu
25
Civilisation
take a more unilinear view descending from the age of the
Rigveda (from 2500 to 1500 B.0.) via the age of the later Samhitas, Brahmanas
and Upanishads (1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. the age of the Sutras, Epics and early
Smritis (500 B.C. to 500 A. D^ to the age of late Smrtis, Commentators and
Digest writers (500 A. D. to 1800 A. D. ).
Here we see women's history evolving
from a virtually golden age to the present kali jrug.
Altekar's vie,.’ at least has the advantage to link the deterioration of women's
position to their situation in a specific mode of production, their role in
the production process and in the overall cultural system like caste and
religious laws.
He clearly points out that where.women have an important
role in the production process and access to education and public life, their
position is immeasurably better than in a society where women remain secluded,
confined to housework, deprived of education and restricted by rules of
purity and pollution.
Such a comparatively clear view becomes entirely obliterated by a romantic
conservatism which combines an idealised picture of religion with an entirely
bio logistic view of a woman's role.
Eg. in the above mentioned colloquiem we
find views like the following:
"The woman is the seed bed of the nation; the home is the nursery
and the country gathers the harvest.
That the hand that rocks the
cradle rules the world is not a mere truism, it is a proverb of
pregnant significance.
The child imbibes its tendencies and atti
tudes from the mother and inherits her ideals
Our ancients gave an honoured place to the woman in the domestic
set-up.
Her welfare was the concern of the father, the husband and
the son.
She was never abandoned without care and support . . .
She
enjoyed a partnership of equality with her husband; she was the saha
dharmacharee.
No religious rite would be performed without her
participating in it.
It is obvious that women enjoyed a complementary
equality with men subject to reservations arising from their natural
26
physical limitations."
It is interesting to note that this kind of conservative romanticign, con
tinued with a biologistic view of women's roles, claiming an ancient legi
timacy for women's high status is not confined to an explicitly religious
position, it can be found in secular cultural revivalism as well.
One of the
most baffling examples of this kind is C. Balasubramaniam's book; The
27
Status of Wbmen in Tamil Nadu during the Sangam Age
in which he manages to
produce a bold combination between the Golden Age theory in which women
enjoyed education and freedom of movement and the “queen of the house"
10
syndrome in which a woman is eulogised for her chastity (karpu), patience and
submissiveness.
scholars
He reproduces a large number of quotations from various
which all maintain that women were ‘'equal11 and
had an extremely
high status in the Sangam age but he never unravels the contradiction in
these quotations.
Eg;
the wife of Bhudappandiyan is praised as an erudite
scholar but she is also mentioned as the one who prefers suttee to widow
hood.
Some authors do admit that women were kept in an inferior position
but that their moral strength lay in not minding about that and in cheer
fully performing their indispensable household duties.
worshipped for their acceptance of the status quo.
Wbmcn are virtually
Balasubramaniam, commen
ting on the infrequency of suttee in Tamil Nadu takes recourse to a quote
from Manimokalai 42-47
where it is said that top class chastity would
consist of dropping dead from grief at a husbands death while,second rank
goes to women committing suttee and third rank to those widows who lead a
life of suffering.
While of course Manimekalai is a rather late source of
Buddhist inspiration, the striking fact is, that all this patriarchal and
oppressive eulogisation of women appears in a book which claims to establish
the equality of women during sangam age.
Similar tendencies can be observed in other religions as well.
Eg. it is
often stated that women have a very hi^i position in the Koran.
However,
if one looks into the matter, the presupposition on which such a statement
is made is clearly the existence and strong affirmation of the patriarchal
30
Compared to the much more violently patriarchal environnent of
family.
Arabian nomads, the reforms of the Prophet were very protective of women and
tried to give her security in the house as well as the right to remarry
after widowhood and divorce.
It is also true that due to the present day
violently patriarchal culture in many. Muslim countries, women may gain from
quoting the Koran since it is more progressive than many of the customary
laws which are actually imposed by the religious hierarchy.
However, in
Islam much more than in Hinduism, the confinement of woman to the house and
to her so-called "biological'' role as wife and mother is a constraint
which it is difficult to break through.
In Christianity, a similar conflict can be observed.
Actual preaching,
social ethics and pastoral theology have entirely focussed on the role of
woman as housewife and mother.
Quotes from St. Paul and pastoral letters
are in abundant use, pronouncing man as the head of woman, exhorting woman
to be chaste, obedient, inconspicious and silent in public.
The tendency
here is again to keep woman stuck in her role as housewife, to eulogise her
for her compliant submission, to honour her as a child bearer and child
rearer.
However, feminist theology has discovered that this is rot the whole story
at all.
While there is a trend among some feminist theologians to dump the
Old Testament or biblical theology as a whole, because of their “phallocratic"
Bk . ii
11
character - most clearly eg. in the writings of Mary Daly there is also ano
ther tendency to recapture women's history not only as a history of suffering
but as a history which has become obliterated by the fact that it is usually
the victors who
write the records.
Recapturing our forgotten contribute■ns
and interim victories is part of recording the history of our sufferings.
One of the strongest contribution in this direction is eg. the book of
31
InMemory of Her
in which the author
Elizabeth Schuessler Fiorenza:
establishes the leading role of women in the Jesus community and analyses the
systematic role back against the emerging organised forces of women.
She
shows how the patriarchal stron^iold of a male dominated hierarchy comes
into being.
Far from projecting a golden age, Schuesslor Fiorenza attempts
a materialist rewriting of early church history, documenting how the women
who had come to the fore front were slowly driven back by the culture of
patriarchy of the judaic and greek environment.
While it is not possible to go into the contents of liberation theology in
this paper, I would like to derive a few methodological principles from ray
own experiences of working in this field which may help to unclog our minds
on the question of how to deal with religious traditionj
1.
It is necessary to analyse religious sources as far as possible with
methods of materialist history writing, i.e. connecting any statement on
women with their actual position within the mode of production of the
time in which the statement is made.
It has also to be taken into
account that most religious sources and most history books have been
written by men and that this has its ideological implications of its own.
2.
Research on the position of women in religions’ cannot focus primarily on
religious laws and ethical norms which ascribe women a certain fixed
position.
Religious laws and ethical statements of this kind tend to
focus on marriage and family and the whole aspect of women’s education,
public life, contribution to economic and cultural production and of
women as a self-reliant human being tends to be narrowed down to her
contribution as wife and mother.
On the other hand, most religious
sources also know of women who have lived lives in their own rights, be
they unmarried, married or widowed and our attention has to focus on
such women's roles which allow us to develop a wider perspective.
Often
it is also necessary to draw on broader anthropological statements which
are of general humanitarian value and to wei^i them against oppressive
role ascriptions.
Eg. the biblical statement that all human beings,
women and men, arc created, in the image of God overrides other state32
ments of subordination.
3.
It is also important to understand the distortions and blatant contradic
tions in most conservative writings.
On toe one hand a golden age of free
dom and equality is projected while on the other hand women are pinned town
to a sub-ordinated life as housewives and mothers.
For putting up with the
12
contradiction, women are put on a pedestal.
Elis kind of distortion comes
indeed out of a material contradiction which manifests itself differently
in different modes of production.
The need for production of life (i. e.
child bearing and child rearing and maintenance work) vh ich is seen as
women's task in the family is in tension with the need to use woman's labour
for the production of use and exchange values which requires women's work
outside the house.
The underlying problem here is one of sexual division of
labour on the one hand and maintenance of patriarchy (control of a woman's
labour, sexuality and fertility) on the other.
Religion has been one of
the strongest forces to uphold the institution of the patriarchal family.
Religious family laws mainly serve this supreme purpose.
Likewise, patri
archal family has strengthened institutionalised religion.
To break through
this alliance is a major task which the women's movement has not even tried
to tackle.
These three guidelines which I have tried to evolve here, are up to a point
also applicable to the use of religious symbols.
It may rot always be possi
ble to fully trace the historic origins of a religious symbol but certainly
it can be analysed how a religious symbol functions in a particular social
environment or how it is appropriated by different classes.
Eg. Sita who
was the symbol of the self-sacrificing wife in the eyes cf orthodoxy, acquired
the qualities of a self-willed courageous woman in the Ge.ndhian interpreta
tion and may be used as an outright symbol of protest if seen through feminist
eyes.
Eina Agarwal, in a recent Sunday Edition cf Indian Express wrote a
very moving poem under the title "Sita speak", in which Sita is encouraged
33
to tell her side of the story.
As it is important to'go into religious texts about women which go beyond
the sanctified institution of marriage and family life, it is also important
to go into the mythological heritage of religions in order to, trace certain
cultural assumptions about women which may be quite widespread in the public
mind.
Eg. there is a widespread as sunpt ion in Tamil Culture that women are
in fact bearers of supreme power and that this power needs tp.be controlled
because it will turn destructive without control.
Thus, the power of women
is supposed to be vested in their karpu (chastity) in order to ensure male
control over women.If one takes the trouble to go throu^o the temple
myths of Tamil Nadu, one discovers an ancient layer of goddess religion in
which the goddess is a virgin or a powerful independent entity in her own
35
rights.
The stala puranas contain many versions which record the process
of subjugation of thegoddess which usually ends up in sacred marriage.
This process happens not only to the goddess but also to semi-historical figu
res like the Amasouz queen Alli.
Research into such historical backgrounds c.-.u
unearth a protest potential as yet untapped.
. . 13
13
i
Invariably, freeing women from the shackles of subordination involves making
choices.
In the same- way as we constantly hove to make choices between differ
ent roles offered in the family and in society at- large, we also have to make
choices between traditions and symbols offered:
To combine an ideal of freed? .
and equality with women's exclusive destination to be ideal wives and mothers
is possible only in a hypocritical mind which tries to bomboozle us by means
of cultural chauvinism.
Real life and liveable values involve a more painful.
process of acceptance and rejection of contents which have to be tested in
their potential to free or to oppress women.
4.
The ^uest for Secularism and Cultural Identity
While I am writing all this, I am painfully aware that the idea to delve
deeply into religious texts, myths and symbols must sound rather exotic to
most women in the women's movement.
Certainly, there are countless much more
pressing issues to be taken care of.
However, there is no doubt that the
struggle for a secular Personal Law which has priority for the women's move
ment is part of the wider struggle for a secular stete and national culture.
36
This connection has been forcefully drawn by some of the feminist writers,
however, without going into a full analysis of what goes into the building
of a secular culture.
The whole argument tends to focus on the legal aspect
only by promoting the- demand for a secular ciyil code and publicising it
widely.
However worthy of support this demand certainly is, its implementation gets
stuck precisely because of the subtle or not so subtle pressure of majority
communalisra which went into a cataclysm during the Sikh riots of November
1984 and which then found expression in the advertisement campaign of the
ruling party during the electioneering which systematically conjured up
violence and gragmontation of the nation.
Madhu Kishwar and Ruth Vanita made
a very perceptive analysis of this election campaign from tile angle of what
women have to expect from the ruling party and though they did not go into
the issue of .communalism in a very direct way, it became very clear in this
article to which extent the communalist tendency is linked up with the
37
patriarchal family syndrome and with the phenomenon of dynastic rule.
This is the kind of climate in which a secular family code cannot be
implemented because the communalist vibrations created in order to catch
the ’’Hindu vote” precisely make it necessary to assure the "minorities"
that their "rights” will not be touched.
In reality of course this means
assuring Muslim and Christian males that their superiority in the family
will not be touched.
Taking the issue up from a legal angle is good and necessary to the extent
that women's rights arc being claimed.
demand.
However, this remains a sectoral
To go into the wider question of religious reform as one of the
. . 14
14
means to build a secular national culture means taking up a general ques
tion (i. e. of secularism and a national culture) from a feminist perspective
and thus going beyond a sectoral approach.
a very dialectical way.
However, this has to bo done in
The strong attack on religion by rationalists and
by parts of the women’s movement is quite misleading since it pictures reli38
thus creating a bo gey which can be
gion as an arch-enemy of humankind,
beaten easily while the dimensions of class patriarchy and political self
interest remain entirely invisible.
This is a self-defeating strategy.
Huth Vanita rightly pointed out that the victims of the anti-Sikh riots
did not experience themselves as victims of religious fanaticism but were
39
She also cautioned
aware of a concerted campaign by politicians and police.
against imposing a Hindu majority kind of version of secularism “which is
what the government is doing anyway."
Madhu Kishwar has made a very moving contribution to the building of a
secular national culture recently by publishing her visit in Longowal vill-•
and an interview with Sant Longowal in which the spiritual quality of the
man and the place come across together with a very clear humanist content,
It
becomes clear in her writing that it was irreligious communal forces which
were fanning fanaticism and murder while the hunanist essence of Sikhism was
made accessible to the nation in the religious reform which the Sant stood
for.
It also becomes clear that this enlightened religious tolerance is
much less male-chauvinistic than the saber-rattling militance of the communalist fanatics.
I would like to quote this as an example of making access
ible the humanist content in a religion to non-believers and people of other
faiths.
It is important to acknowledge that in communalism, in religious reform and
in the women's movement a common question is raised but provided with diff
erent answers:
the question of cultural identity.
Communalism tackles the
question by creating a false consciousness with the suggestion that people
of the same religion automatically have the same socio-economic interest,
irrespective of class or patriarchy and that the way to implement this in
terest is to politically organise on the ground of religion.
Defence of a
religious personal law is crucial to this approach.
The women's movement tends to build on the assumption that there is a
certain commodity of interest between all women and that the barriers of
class, caste and community have to be overcome.
While overcoming class barr
iers entails clear political choices in favour of poor and exploited women ,
overcoming of caste and communal barriers is often attempted in a somewhat
voluntaristic way by simply declaring that they are artificial and thus
somehow unreal.
. . 15
:
15
Genuine religious reform deals with the matter in a more dialectical way by
acknowledging the social reality of caste and communal cleavages and identi
fying and contesting their religious sanctions.
An active effort is made to
A le- dor
overcome the meaning system which gives legitimacy to such cleavages.
like Dr. M.M. Thomas declares wherever he goes that Christians cannot be
communalists because they have to stand up for the new humanity in Christ and
arc thus responsible for safeguarding the humaneness of every human being.
He enables Christians to participate in secular political processes without
abandoning their faith dimension and he also makes the humanist essence of
his faith accessible to non-believers and people of other faiths and thus con40
tributes to a richer secular national culture.
His contention is that
rationalism and religious faith in certain ways need each other in order to
correct their mutual self-righteousness.
Since M.M. Thomas makes radical statements in religious language, he often
suffers the fate of not being heeded by religious congregations (because of
his political convictions) and by the secular political movement (because of
his faith dimension).
However, one docs need to ponder the point that ration
alism cannot always take its own rationality for granted (eg. the statement
that religion is the greatest divider of mankind is not a rational statement)
while a humanist faith can be quite rational within the parameters of the
aim to build a huaan society.
An approach similar to that of MM. Thomas is followed by Swamy Agnivesh who
was on the road in saffron robes instantly in protest against the Sikh riots.
He, like M.M. Thomas, openly theologises on his option for the poor and on his
political choices.
At the same time he makes it clear that political pro
cesses have to be free from the control of religious institutions.
His
saffron attire and religious language may alienate some people who are strict
rationalists or those who feel that Vedantha can only be seen as reactionary.
3n the other hand he reaches people with an emotional attachment to this par
ticular religious tradition and offers
them an identification with the poor,
with human rights issues and anti-communalist religious tolerance which would
otherwise remain beyond their horison.
Among Muslim Asgkar Ali Engineer has been untirngly recapturing the humanist
41
traditions within Islam.
He has paid a heavy price for his efforts even
physically, being exposed to the violence of the reactionary forces in a very
direct way.
His rc-intorpretation of jihad for liberation as opposed to
jihad for aggression opens up a social justice dimension suppressed by the
conservatives.
Faith to him means upholding the perspective of hope.
God’s
sovereignty is not seen in competition to human initiative but on the contrary,
as a source of setting it free.
While this kind of religious humanism is rare
and comes under pressure from institutionalised religion, it is ncvcrthlcss
an important ferment of cultural transformation.
Since such enlightened indi
viduals are open to the women's question, they may occasionally incorporate i
. . 16
16
M.M. Thomas in fact has develojosd a growing awareness of it over the years.
However, a feminist dimension of liberation theology has not yet evolved to
a substantial extent.
There is an additional reason why the women’s movement needs to go into the
cultural question more deeply:
The effort to give women a new sense of
identity beyond family, caste and religion needs to grapple with the pro
blem of cultural identity and continuity.
It is comparatively easy to
point out what has been oppressive and destructive of women in our cultural
heritage.- But the question what are the protest values and the humanist
values of our cultural traditions also needs to be answered if shallowness
is to be avoided.
To work out the materialist and rationalist heritage is
only one approach to this question which leaves the reservoir of humanism
within religion entirely untouched.
The need to touch upon this reservoir
also arises while facing the task to bring up children in a meaningful way.
Most activists confront the problem of having to relate to much more cons<r-|
vative and even very religious families in a constructive way.
Their chil
dren have to bridge the gap between a non-descript culture in their own
and something very different in the houses of their friends and relatives.
What docs one finally believe in?
Often women in the movement are frightened to touch upon religion because
they are frightened of communalist reactions and cleavages.
real problem*.
This is a very
However, making each others religious synbols accessible in
a secular spirit is a different matter which can become quite constructive.
Alliance of Anti-Communalist Forces
Since Secularism is rot a sectoral demand, the women's movement cannot fight
this struggle alone.
It has to ally with other forces which arc fighting
for the same objective.
4
However, the forces trying to build secularism in
the present situation are by no means homogenous.
In Kerala, the CPI-M has been able to champion the cause of a secular civil
code to a certain extent.
state
The fact that the party has a broad base in this
and that people's science movement has worked to build a scientific
consciousness, accounts for a more favourable situation as compared to mary
othcr states.
However, often enou^i electoral considerations &> weaken the
left parties in taking a clear anti-communalist stand as was obvious during
the national election campaign of 1964.
Englightcned intellectuals in different religious communities also play an
important role in creating an anti-communalist climate.
It is important
that the rationalist forces and the forces of religious reform which try to
creatively work out a progressive faith dimension, do rot become mutually
antagonistic.
17
17
Dalit and tribal moverrents which drastically attack caste and contest the domi
nation of the mainstream Hindu culture have an important contribution to make
towards a pluralistic secular culture.
At the same time they may not always
find it easy to come to terms with existing forces of religious reform -of main
stream Hinduism.
Eg. the reinterpretation of the terms arya and dasyu which
42
may not be acceptable to a Dalit perspective,
Swamy Agnivesh has to.offer
while his involvement with bonded labourers or his participation in Ekta-
morchas after the anti-Sikh riots are very important contributions towards the
building of a secular honanist culture.
The women’s movement may face its own difficulties to relate to all thesefores because it may disagree with the party analysis of class and patriarchy,
it may find the enlightened intellectuals to be paternalistic in dealing with
women, it may find the champions of tribal and dalit culture to be romantics
about women in palaeolithic times but not always helpful in day to day inter
action.
Finally, as women in the women's movement, we may realise that we
find it difficult to agree on issues of culture and religion.
There arc no
easy answers but indications arc.that the perspectives on secularism, reli
gious reform and a pluralistic humanist'culture are deepening within the
women's movement.
If the challenge ..is taken, women will be able to make the
most crucial contribution towards .building a truly humanist secular state.
NOTES
1.
Towards Equality: Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in ■
India (CSWl) (19 75, 4.236 7, p. 142).
2.
Eg. Indian Express, Madurai Edition, Nov. 17, p. 11. The Prime Minister
assured the Muslim community that their personal law will not be
touched.
3.
See Manushi No.25, 1984 and No.26, 1985.
4.
Vibhuti Patel, Sujata Gothaskar: "The Story of the Bombay Riots; In
the words of Muslim Women1' Manushi No. 29, July/August 1985, p.41-43.
Ammu Joseph, Jyoti Punwari, Charu Shahare, Kalpana Sharma; "Impact of
Ahmedabad Disturbances on Women" in; E.P.W., Oct. 12, 1985, Vol. XX
No. 41.
5.
Bipan Chandra; Communalism in Modern India (Vani Educational Books,
Vikas Publishing House 1984) pp. 86f. p. 131. Bipan Chandra insists on
Gandhi being a clearly anti-communalist religious reformer despite
his use'of Hindu imagery, eg. p. 156. See also p.167 "It has often
been noted that the purely religious or theological content of oommunalism has tended to be rather meagre. The communalist seldom relied on
Theology and, in fact, actively avoided theological issues",
op. cit. 167.
6.
Ibid. p. 160
7.
Yojana Vol.29, No.14 & 15 August 15, Special (Govt, of India Press,
New Delhi 1985)
8.
Saheli Newsletter Vol. 2, No.l, March 1985 p. 6ff.
. . 18
18
9.
Manushi No.27, March/April, 1985, p. 20.
10.
Bipan Chandra op. cit. 292.
11.
See eg. Sankar Gose; Political Ideas and Movements in India (Allied
Publishers 1975) Chapter II Extremism and Militant Nationalism,
especially his characterisation of Aurotindo‘s social outlook during
his period of religious nationalism p.52.
12.
E.P.W. Vol.XX No.40 Oct. 5, 1985 pp. 1691-1702 and Vol. XX no. 71,
October 12, 1985, 1753-1758.
13.
Quoted op. cit. p. 1691 (from Navajivan June 28, 1925).
14.
See detailed examples in my own article : “Personal is Political:
Women and political process in India" in; Teaching politics Vol.X Annual
No. 1985 pp. 45-70.
15.
E.E.W. Vol. XX No. 40, p. 1692.
16.
E.P.W. Vol.XX No.41 p. 1757
17.
On this aspect see my article mentioned in note 13.
18.
For a comprehensive critique of the body-soul dichotomy in Gandhi and
its political implication see M.M. Thomas: Towards a redefinition of
Gandhism (1953) in: Ideological 4uest within Christian Commitment
1939 - 1954 (CLS, Madras 1983) pp. 236-252.
19.
For the following see Gail Omvedt: Cultural Revolt in a Colonial
Society. The non-Brahman Movement in Western India. 1873 to 1930
(Scientific Socialist Education Trust 1976), especially chapter 6.
20.
Ibid. p. 108
21.
Ibid. p. Ill
22.
On women’s position in the Dravidian Movement see my article mentioned
above (note 13).
23.
The Record of proceedings was published July 1967 by Bharatia Vidya
Bhavan. The Committee of the Colloquiun comprised the President of
India, Dr. Sarvepally Radhakrishnana, the Vice-President Dr. Zakir
Hussain and many leading lights of Indian political and cultural life.
24.
Joachim Alva op. cit. p. 419.
25.
Motilal Banasidass 1st Edition 1938, reprinted 1962 and 1973.
26.
Ananynous Author, Colloquium report (note 22) p. 421 f.
27.
University of Madras 1976
28.
Ibid. p. 23f.
29.
Ibid. p. 19
30.
See eg. Malik Ram Baveja: Woman in Islam The Institute of Indo
Middle East Cultural Studies Agapura, Hyderabad, ho jear.
31.
In memory of Her. A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian
Origins (SON Press 1983)
'
. . 19
19
32.
On this question of having to make choices between contradictory state
ments according to the criteria of broader humanitarian values see my
paper “Perspectives of a Feminist Theology: Towards a Full Hunanhood
of Women and Men1' in; Woman's Image Making and Shaping ed. by Peter
Fernando & Frances Yasas (Ishvani Kendra, Pune 1985, pp. 123 - 148)
33.
Nov. 17, 1985 Express Magazine p. 5
34.
See eg. the anthropological study of Susan S« Madley (ed.) The Power of
Tamil Women (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Syracuse U
University 1980). This study remains very much at the surface of present
day cultural expressions and takes many statements at face value in a
naive way. See. C. S. Lakshmi's Critique "Up the Drumstic Tree" in EPl?
Vol.XVII No.45, Nov. 6, 1982.
35.
A rich resource of temple myths has been assembled by David Dean
Shulman; Tamil Temple Myths. Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the
South Indian Saiva Tradition (Princeton University Press 1980).
36.
Sec Vimal Balasubramanians "Women, Personal Laws and the Struggle for
Secularism'1 in: EH1 Vol. XX No. 30, July 27, 1985 pp. 1260-61.
37.
"The 1984 Elections: United We Fall - Into the Trap of Manipulators",
Manushi No.26, (Vol.5, No.2) January/February 1985 pp. 2-9.
38.
Eg. P.M. Bhargava in Yojana Vol. 29, Nos. 14 & 15 “Religion is the
greatest divider of men“.
39.
See her article mentioned above (note 8)
40.
See eg. his recent booklet:
1985).
•11.
See eg. his article "Some aspects of Liberation Theology in Islam" in:
Negations (Trivandrum) Nos. 6-8, April 1983 to Octtober/December, 1983.
42.
He gives a working class connotation to Aryans and translates dasyn as
“robbers".
Church and Human Community (ISPCK, Delhi,
VJOMEN
AND
THE MEDIA
There are two aspects to this discussion of women and media — one referring
to the study, analysis and monitoring of images of women that the different
media project, report on and perpetuate, and the other dealing with the
role that women could play in harnessing the media in furthering the cause of
equality and justice for women.
A number of studies are available on the portrayal of women in literature,
advertisements, television and films, newspapers and periodicals.
In general
the images are sexist, either emphasising images of women as 'objects', or
underplaying women's contributions, their problems and views.
Sophistication
of communication hardware has ese.alated - but what is communicated espically
concerning women, has scarcely
changed since kings and queens kept foot
messengers in tieir employ. ...
Wbmen arc most newsworthy when doing
something "unlady Dike “ ... . Sisterhood of Man by Kathleen New land.
Examples of both kinds are available in plenty — for instance, advertisements
using copy and visuals based on scantily clad or provocative female pictures
even for items like hardware and typewriters or grooming aids for men, cars,
men's shirts etc.
Advertisements like the one inserted by a bank, urging par
ents to "Save for a son!s education and daughter 's marriage" reinforce the
sexist conditioning that runs counter to the constitutional guarantees forbidd
ing discrimination on the basis of sex.
Hoardings for films accentuate the
erotic to the point of vulgarity, and television commercials project a
'superwoman 1 image (always pretty, always smiling, never a hair out of place
even in the middle of chores, glamorously clad even in the kitchen, a beauty
queen coping with an infant without getting a fold of her sari crumpled)
that is far removed from reality, and from the archetypal everyday woman.
A recent report on the content analysis of textbooks prescribed for over
13 lakh students in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, U. P. and Delhi observed
that "men ventured out to seek fame and fortune, women stayed home to
wash dishes and clothes... as against 47 biographies of men, there were
only 7 of women; and of 465 occupations held by the characters in the books,
women were excluded from 344 . . . . " "Sexism in textbooks ", Sunday
observer, November 10, 1985.
Stories for children never depict father-child relationships, and illustration
likewise reinforce the stereotype.
9
______:
Although a few films have sought to project woman's search for selfhood,
saleability and 'success' are firmly anchored to female characters cast
in the mould of victims or vamps.
And whatever the theme, the camerawork
will invariably highlight the erotic possibilities (even a slum woman will be
shown in a bathing scene, for instance, in the name of 'realism').
Mews reportage on women is likewise often restricted to its titillation aspect
and editors of magazines have been known to prefer1 candid comments from an
actress about her relationships with men' rather than an assessment of her
abilities as an actress —"because that is what sells".
Even though 60% of rural women are involved in agriculture, radio programmes
for farmers depict only males and are beamed at the male; to men's programmes
almost never discuss new technology, banking facilities, new laws, advances
in medicine, politics etc.
When the infamous 'Women's progra mme' on televisi
featured an agony column ("I love him very much - should I marry him?1') and
a model exhorting women to do their aerobic exercises for the day, female
viewers slogging through a Sunday morning routine of cooking and other
chores understandably protested vociferously and put paid to the programme.
Newspaper coverage of the recent Nairobi conference where 10,000 women from
all over the world congregated to assess a decade's progress typifies the
marginalisation of women's issues that is found in all the media. "Where
a socially conservative bent iscompatible with the interests of those wlio
- control the media, the media treatment of women is narrow1’ - Kathleen Newland,
in "Sisterhood of Man".
I
In general in
stereotypes have been :
fat women, scatterbrained women,
spendthrifts
,forever.late,talkative
etc.
There have been some
changes, to be sure — television serials, for instance, portray a variety
of women characters — but in general, it is the men who are in charge
of
communication media and therefore decide how much and what kind of coverage
Mien's issues and activities get.
controlled by men.
The press and publishing houses are
And increased participation by women in the media is one
of the main ways to combat sexism and to ensure that women's roles cb not
stop with being peripheral, both in reality and in reportage or representation
in the media.
,
What does this increased participation mean, and call for?
.. 3
i
3
s
What can we do?
1.
For one thing, those of us with access t o the media must maximise its
use to translate constitutional and legal provisions into everyday
realities.
2.
Wbmen in parliament and in the assemblies must become more active, more
3.
vocal"
use
Wbmen writers and journalists must/their skills to probe womenls issues,
priorities and perspectives.
4.
Like the new venture, Kali for women, there must be more publishing
outlets for women's expression and articulation.
5.
Those of us who are copywriters can mould and change stereotypes and
build up fresh portraits that put women on a foot ing of equality
and treat them as persons rather than the female sex.
6.
As audiences we could use our reactions to offensive images to influence
public reception - to plays, films, stories etc.
At the moment most of
us do not bother to voice our reactions and through default let stereotypes
perpetuate themselves.
7.
Those of us who are professionally qualified r as lawyers, doctors
and so on - can make our expertise available to popularise new developments
by communicating information in a way that lay women can understand.
To give just one example, the pros cons of different kinds of contraceptives
the latest findings about controversial drugs like Depo Provera etc. are
not highlighted by the media even though they should be of great relevance
to a large section of the population.
Those of us who have access to
information should come forward to communicate it to others, using whatever
media available
- either thro ugh writing or through talks for women's
groups, for hraodcasts, and on TV.
When we talk of communication media, we often restrict ourselves to print
and visuals, whereas the oral tradition — communication through word
of mouth — ib still a very potent median in our ethos,
The more we move
away from the traditional extended family norms and towards a nuclear
family lifestyle, the more it becomes important to explore or keep alive
various communication lines, particularly for the women.
And in a society where
literacy rates for females are only 25$ against the national average of
over 40$, communications through media other than prints become important.
Wbmen's groups, whether in the villages or in the urban set-up, can play
a role as alternative media for communication.
.. 4
4
8.
i
Often 'wmen's groups' are read as'anti-man1 - which is not the right
interpretation.
Although men become the antagonists when they are the
perpetrators of unfair treatment (harassment for dowry, for instance),
the quest for selfhood for wjnen is not necessarily at the cost of the male.
What we demand is the right to fulfilment alongside men as partners in
a common endeavour, without being treated as subordinate; if this aspect
is highlighted more , it might attract more sympathy for the womefr's
cause and draw more women into the movement.
At present even among women there is a misconception that feminism means
promoting wjnen at the expense of nan.
The media can be used to dispel
this misconception an’d thereby to build ideals of a just partnership
between the sexes.
9.
There are three areas in which wmen can harness the media towards /goals of
equality — these are boycott, protest and feedback.
Boycott can be a
very effective weapon in discouraging humiliating stereotypes — we
can boycott products that are promoted with sexist sales campaigns, boycott
films that portray womenin a damaging light, and boycott shops or
institutions whose policies have sexist undertones.
Such denigrating
portrayals as well as the movement for boycott can both he publicised
through the media - print, visual as well as oral.
Boycott as a consumer issue campaign has been known to have been used
very effectively by Japanese housewives (for instance, in their fight with
television manufacturers).
It can likewise be used to fight sexist images
too in the meida.
Even when we are conscious
of media distortions of women's images, most of
us do not register our protest, cither because of inertia, or because
we are too busy and don't have the time to pen a letter to the manufacturer
or the ad agency or the newspaper, or often because we feel that
it would make no differnce. ^t makes no difference precisely because
not enough among us take the trouble to lend the weight of numbers
to a protest.
If only more women took the trouble to make their views:
known r through the letters columns in papers, or through participation
in discussions, or through .letters commenting on prograranes on radio
or television - we could use the media to reshape the images of vo^men
that will project them in a different light.
Collective protests can
.. 5
5
be very patent but perhaps because of the image of women's groups as anti-male
militants, not enough mass-level momentum is being mustered by women's groupsThis vicious cricle needs to be broken.
Women in general do not make the
effort to register feedback also, for the same reasons.
heads to express opinion about items
Writing to media.
carried, either as articles or plays,
discussion, entertainment etc, could have an impact on the continuation
of those images that are appreciated and elimination of those that cause
offence.
Wfe must make more of an effort to register support for media
images that are positive and condemn those that are derogatory.
In this way
we would be using the media to change the images that the media carry
and perpetuate, of women.
10.
The stress on 'Good motherhood1 is universal and pervasive.
Good fatherhood ,
on the other hand, finds no mention , in fiction, mythology, social comment,
advertisements, or whatever.
Why do women not insist on adequate emphasis
being placed on the role of the father too, and the need for good fatherhood
models in media portraits?
This has particular relevance in the society in flux that we are now in,
where women have come out to participate in domains hitherto tackled only
by men, but at the same time continue to be held responsible
that were traditionally female.
for the duties
This double burden degrades women just as
much as lack of opportunities, but this is lost sight of in
the heady success
of having won access to a wider world of activities.
Wfamen have, in effect,
become the losers in one sense, in this development.
It is time that we gave
thought to media projections of the obligations of fatherhood too, and those
of men alongside women in the changed milieu of today.
11.
The media can be used to restore a measure of balance to the ethic of self-
denial that has been traditionally advocated - only fi>r the female.
By protesting against portrayals that glorify self-negation and by
using the media to popularise images that weigh self respect against
abnegation, we could change some of the stereotypes.
i
On the one hand, the media reflect reality - in women’s lives, as in other
areas.
And on the another, reality can also be shaped by the ideals that
the media hold up as prototypes.
In this sense, women's efforts to
react and register approval or condemnation of media images can have a
snow-hailing effect in helping us strive towards goals of equality.
.. 6
6
Each country and community has its own search for answers to problems o"
gender inequality, but understanding the universal experience of women
is an important part of this process of evolving specific strategies.
The
media must be used to publicise and describe the diverse experiences of
women in different regions and at different times of history, whether it is
through fiction ( the black American women writers, for instance) or
historical, accounts or survey reports and research projects.
Apart from harnessing the existing media, we should be thinking in terms
of alternative communication media to overcome
of nuclear lifestyles.
the isolation that is typical
The pressures on the time and resources of a
working woman deplete her in terms of interpersonal interactions.
is now only for newsmakers,
not for the average women.
The media
We must therefore
make ourselves more visible and more audible so that we can move towards
a society in vhich women, who form half the population, couldcontribute their
share in building a better life — for both men and women.
Third world, second sex, compiled by Miranda Davies , Zed books.
In search of answers,ed. Madhu Kishwar and Ruth Vanitha , Zed.
Tyranny of the household, ed. Dcvaki '
Jain, Nirmala Benerjee, Shakti books.
Woman's image making and shaping, Peter Fernando, Frances Yasas, Ishvani
Kendra , Pune.
Women and work in India, Joyce Lebra, Joy Paulson, Jana Everett, Prailla
publishers, Delhi.
/
'■biiicn and media, Isis internatl, ed. Kamala Bhasin and Bina Agarwal.
Sisterhood of Man ;
Kathleen Newland .
Sakuntala Narasimhan
wvi
PROBLEMS
OF
WOMEN
PRESENTED
in
slums
by
"W OMEN SV QIC El!
A T
THE SEMINAR ORGANIZED BY E.C.C. CN
“TH EMERGING TRENDS
IN WOMENS MOVEMENTS?
A brief background about the Slum situation.
Bangalore, considered to be the 5th largest city in India, is
fast developing into a burgeoning metropolis.
An inevitable re
sult of such urbanization processes are the proliferation of
squatter settlements which dot the city's skyline living in these
settlements, under absolutely dehumanizing conditons are lakhs of
slum dwellers who are forced to migrate to cities because of the
exploitative and subjugating socio-economic and political forces
that operate in our rural
. The polarization of wealth,
and ownership of land in the hands of few drive these people to
seek their livelihood in the unprotected informal sectors where
they find jobs as domestic workers, construction workers, vege
table vendors etc.
Their meagre earnings push them out of a com
petitive urban market and they can barely afford to have a shabby
hut with tattered roofs as their dwelling places.-
Left with no
option they begin to make their home wherever possible - often,
the places they occupy are unwanted lands, marshy wastelands,
vacant areas next to railway tracks etc, all places that might
have remained vacant had they not boon made livable by those poor
people.
Many slum areas
face the double burden of neither having
any basic amenities essential for a livable existence, northe
security of being identified and recognized by the concerned ahtho
rities, and therefore they get categorized as illegal occupants
having to face the threat of evictions and demolitions at the whims
and fancies of the ruling government. Therefore, in a country
suffocated by discrepancies and class distinctions, and where less
than 20% of the total population own more than 75% of the land,
45% own 2% of the land and the rest are landless, it is enevitablc
that millions of people live in the darkness of hunger, squalour,
dreaded disease, malnourishment, illiteracy, and injustice.
And
while the proverbial iceberg of urban poverty looms largo in our
cities, the women living in slums, are doubly crushed and oppressed
by a society that pushes them to the base of that iceberg.
. .2.
-2Hcnce in the
case of the slum women of Bang-lore there was a
strongly felt need to organize themselves against the injustice
shown to them, and this culminated in a movement "Women's Voice
is a movement of women belonging to the poorer sections and the
unorganised sector of labour, based in Bangalore.
It came into
being with a understanding that the real development and power
of women meant, amongs other things, the right to determine ones
own choices in life and thereby wield an influence on the social
processes that affect their lives.
Women, have, in India as a whole: been brought up in an inferior
way. The family would through a feast at the birth of a son-,- and
go into mourning at the birth of a girl, and from them on she would
be looked upon as a burden - also a domesticated animal to carry the
work loand.
She has no freedom to enjoy her childhood, a school
life and companionship, for a girl of 10 years has to sweep, wash,
cook, fetch water, mother her younger brothers and sisters, and
marry her off when she comes of age.
She has learned to subdue her
self to the male members of the family.
In India, as in other countries of the world there is a great
discrepancy between the real life situation in which women find
themselves, and the idealized concept of women and their rights.
All over the world, women are denied equal access with men to
opportunities for personal growth, and social development in edu
cation, employment, marriage etc.
Thus they arc burdened with
inequalities which in turn are responsible for their low status.
In
the Indian context the suffering of the women is more extensive becau
se of the traditional value system, the segregated character of
society, and the intensive nature of poverty.
But, it is not
poverty alone that is responsible for their lack of interest in
the struggles for justice and rights, but the lack of attitudes
and values that are required to motivate them to assert their rights
-rights such as an adequate means of livelihood for men and women
equally, equal pay for equal work for men and women, protection
of health and strength, just and human conditions of work etc.,
which the constitution assures all women in its directive principles
So India has a body of social legislation that are aimed at
safeguarding the rights of women.
Her(Constitutional statements
concerning sexual equality and social justice, makes India's system
. .3.
-3of civil ind political rights sound as modern and/just as any
democratic country, but as wo all know, these Te a series of
'paper-laws’ with too -little or too late attempts at implementation.
The law
-f a nation is mennt to give pr tection to individuals
nd safeguard their rights, but today, in the context of changing
life patterns and.situations a new understanding of the law and the
rights it ensures to all women, -and a m voment capable of providing
this necessary understanding was deeply felt by the slum women, and
"Women's Voice" was envisaged as such a movement.
The problem of slum women are manifold - ther. are th se that
are related to her r-le and status as perceived by her community, and
there are others which arise because of the Government policies re
lated to slums which nt -the implement ition stage are abs /lutcly
anti-poor policies.
To illustrate, if we take into consideration the policy/approach
of the government in evicting dlum dwellers, we could say that it
has an adverse of ect on women, in that, first of all, it disrupts
the entire- functioning of the family and calls in far a lot of
coping capacity to deal with the situation.
Very’ often it is f und
that demolitions take place during the day time when only women are
present- at home, with the expectation on the part of a ’thorities
that there will be comparatively lesser resistance offered.
As a
result, women are forced to directly boar the attack by the a ..thoritics who allow them no time to salvage their belongings.
Eviction also affects women who are self-employed or arc employed
ar und their place of stay.
In case of being shifted, they’ are
forced to give up their work which further aggravates the already
deprived conditions of the family where, often the women equally
share the economic burden.
Loss of job in itself creates tension
and anxiety in women who have to start from scratch again.
Vc-ry
often it happens that to shift to a new pl-ace or to resettlement
colonics do not provide enough opportunities for employment in that
area.
The choice that they have before them is to eith :r Idok out
for a job further away from their place of stay, or remain with ut
a job.
Obviously, any job further away from the area results in
extra physical str-.in in addition to the demands made by the job
itself and increased travel expenses, and in case they decide not
t:> take up any job, -they are forced to manage within the meagre salar
ies earned by their husbands.
..4.
-4—
Eviction as such creates an additional economic burden, as huts
have to be re-built.
This ]purden is equally shared by women.
For
this purpose money is either borrowed or vessels arc pawned, thus
further aggravating the poverty condition in which they live.
Another illustration of the problems created due to a lack of
civic amenities, is that it causes additional strain on the - art
of women. As per the analysis given earlier, quite a significant
proportion of the population in slums have no civic amenities. Due
to this situation, women are pressurised to obtain water from near
by buildings, where they bear the humiliation of rejection from the
people staying in buildings. By repeated requests or pica, they are
able to fetch very little water, just sufficient for cooking and
"
cleaning vessels.
In certain cases they are left with no choice
but to pay money f-,>r water which again limits the quantity o?< water
available for use which in turn affects the health and hygiene ;f
the family.
Along with water, many slum areas are also devoid of
latrines and electricity, which ere ite other problems, particularly
for women.
•Hence, the impact of lack of civic amenities are much worse in
that it increases the work load of the women at the same time im
posing too many limitations on her due to the drain of economic
resources which ultimately has implications in relations to the eco
nomic condition of the family.
Therefore, the women in slums are
forced to deal with their stresses and strain in addition to the
one that already exist due to the poverty situation.
Problems related to the role and status of women as perceived
by the community.
In this area, we will be mainly looking at the way the
looks at women in slums, what is the role expected out of her and
what is the impact of this role expectation on the status offered
to women in slums-
Firstly, the role expected of women in slums is not only that
of running the household, but also contributing to the income of the
family. The economic condition of a large number of families compel
women to take up work and supplement the family income which demands
an- additional strength and time on thepart of women. rience the day
of a working woman starts a round 4 or 5 A.M. in the morning when
she finishes her household duties of cooking, filling water and
..5.
-5cleaning and then leaves for work.
The type of work that they take u
up involves the use of physical energy, in occupations like soiling
fruits or vegetables, washing clothes or cleaning gutters or any
such Job, which does not demand any specific skill or education.
^ence, when they reach home in the evening, they are absolutely
drained of any energy whatsover. "^ack at home, mechanically they
get back to their household duties and in the night collapse out of
exhaustion.
The role that she plays is more like a human machine
which operates smidst all tension and frustration in trying to keep
the family going.
This pattern of life obviously limits her participation in the
growth and development of her children or oth«_r family members.
Being able to contribute to the growth of children demands a certain
amount of time which she has no reserves left. As a result, she
neither finds the time, nor sees need to find out how her children
arc performing at school, what are their problems or do they at all
regularly go to school. Very often she is unable to cater to the
emotional needs of her children in terms of showing her warmth, or
affection or recognition, either because she is not knowledgeable
about its importance or because she herself has been so deprived and
is thus conditioned not to sec the need for it.
On the contrary
the situation we often find is that of a natural displacement of
anger
and frustration of the environment on the children, which
affects the already inadequate relationship.
The atmosphere in the
family is not facilitative in case where she has to deal with
the drinking or gambling habits of her husband.
Her reaction of
feelings t -wards the problem is that of justified anger when on the
one hand she desperately tries to patch up the family&s economic
need and on the other hand, the little that is thro is being sip
honed off to such habits.
This situation further leads to contin-
yous fights in the family, and offers no appropriate growth model
for the children.
As regards her role as far as decision-making is concerned,
she, in majority of the cases, is not allowed to take part in any
major decisions. Culturally, she is viewed, as a person who is to
obey the orders of the male members, or she is considered to be the
implementing arm of her husband's decisions.
This is found not
only in the cases where only the husband is the bread winner, but
in cases where she is the sole bread winner in the family.
..6.
-6Thus, the role of the woman is expected more at the level
of managing the mechanical functioning of the house and supple
menting the income if needed, rather than at the level of partici
pation in the overall growth of her family.
Furthermore, due to the natur
of the responsibility she has,
she is unable to find any time for pa rticipating in community
activities.
This becomes absolutely impossible for working woemn
but as for other women who is not working, shey may find some time
during the day to g^t involved in community activities.
In cases
where whe is not working and is interested in community activities,
she has to obtain sanction from her husbands and in quite a number
of the cases this is denied to her due to three reasons; either
(i)
because the husband finds that by getting involved in community
activities, she is getting involved in the political dynamics pre
vailing in the area which he objects to; (ii) he feels that it is
moreso the responsibility of the leaders than the residents to take
up community issues; or (iii) because he does not se_ the importance
of her role or the contribution that she can make in solving communi.
ty problems. 1 e does not see that besides being responsible at
the home front, she can also participate in community affairs, and
that she has the capacity to do so. This attitude primarily has
its origin in the cultural practice and the n^rms laid down, that
limit the woman to her family and not beyond that. There is no
scope for the development of the potentialities in adopting a
very mature approach to problemssolving, in organising the community
and taking effective action on the problems by virtue of being the
most hurt by these problems, developing greater understanding about ,
the various socio-economic and political structures which operate
in the society and their implications on the problems she faces.
As regards the minority group, of women who participate in
community activities, it is found that very often they are not
offered equal status or r sponsibility in the various committees
that exists.
Their participation is seen at the secondary level
in the entire process.
Thus, it is seen that the family and the
community offers her a secondary status as compa red to men, but
expects her to equally share the economic burden in the family
as well as solely bear the brunt of the household responsibilities.
This curbs her growth, and she remains a silent observer in the
entire process of exploitation and injustice that operates around
her.-
. ..7
-7
In the sphere of health/ these women live in an entironrnent
where their duelling places are cesspools of rampant dreaded
disease, chornic illnessess, ill health, high rate of malnourish—
ment among children and women, and infant mortality especially in
children below 5 years remain rampant.
et the medicare available
to them in Government hospitals must stand condemned*
Pregnant
women arc often treated worse than cattle in maternity hospitals
Government servants (several of them) at the delivery points of
health are so corrupt and demoralised that can to the poor is not
provided until and unless they give bribe.
Improper use of various
Family Planning methods have proven to be distrous and there is no
proper follow; up designed at the implementation level.
And now they
are being used as guinea pigs by the administration which wants to
introduce injoctible contraceptives, which have already been banned
incbvelopped countries.
One of the greatest sufferings of our women, is the health
problem in our country.
According to the F.A..O. 3 out of 10 women
never have enough to oat. Her constant concern is finding enough
food for the family, and when food is available, its preparation
has to be done with primitive tools. She is unable to daore and
preserve food which then gets wasted. Her decisions strongly in
fluence the diet, but she docs not have access to information on
nutrition and food
values.
Without adequate training seh sets the
standards of sanitation and hygiene and she is burdened by lack cf
access to adequate water, fuel, and the rise in prices. All these
conditions bring about illness and disease.
When the family is
illt it is left to the woman to cure them.
If she goesto a doctor
ho prescribes drugs that she cannot afford with the coin in the
cover of the sari. There are 35000 branded drugs on sale in India
but a Government Committee behaves that health needs could bo mot
by only 116 drugs.
In India 60 firms with foreign shares accounted
for 70% of the' country’s totql drug sales in 1 year* The remaining
116 large and 2,500 small companies shared.
The drugs that would
help the poor are not produced because they bring no profit, while
the country continues to be flooded by costly and wasteful, drugs
meant for the minor illness of the rich and they are costly because
of the elegant packing and cosmetic establishment. The drugs that
arc banned by foreign countries are given to our poor people. It is
only the urban rich who can reach the hbppital, doctor, ward and
medicine regr’-’.—Tijnnso affects men and women, yet it is the
-8woman who has to take care of the husband, and children and for
get herself.
What a frustration when she cannot buy the medicine
prescribed, give nourishing food, be illtreated in hospitals, un
able to give bribes, miss daily work and wages, and finally in
desperation she the child of her woumb die, and girls die more
frequently than boys.
So health is a problem of poverty and a
burden on the woman.
Iliteracy is wide spread am ngst the slum communities, and once
again, the women are the bottom rung of the ladder of education.
So many tears would be less if there was more education.
It
is said that the father spends money to educate the sons, and saves
money for the daughter's marriage.
If women are to be developed and
make a contribution to the society, education is. a must, other
wise they continue to be marginalised.
1971, census shows that
whilst 39.5% men are educated ohly 18.7% women are educated.
Out
of 50 million urban women only 42% are educated and of 214 million
rural women only 13% are educated.
If a girl is sent to school
she is withdrawn after 2 or 3 years to look after the cow, the home,
and young ones.
At the early time she is married.
She has had no
scope to develop her potentials and this suits a male dominated
world.,-for if she were educated she woul not have to be dependent
on husband and in-laws.
So as it stands she has not the time
or
energy to reflect on her condition. The reason for her status or
any consciousness of the girls in society around, yet she is blamed
for not being able to think, speak and act.
^t is the very in-
lisation that are at the root for causing supperssion of her
greatness and ability. Slum women, who given the opportunity are
bold, courageous and artfciculate.
Women's Voice gave them such an opportunity.
It provided a
platform from which women of the poorer sections could unite and
fight., for their rights.
As many of them wore employed in the un
organized sector of labour such as domestic work, construction work
etc., they began to question the exploitative wage structures. They
flet that the cause for many of their problems is the unequal
distribution of land, ownership 'of land and the unavailability of
affordable housing.
.9.
-9-
After a series of meetings and group discussions pertaining
to their problems, the slum women organised vari us morchas, dharnas
and other forms of struggles to pressurise the Government to give
them the right to ownership of land and provide affordable housing
facilities, provide basic amenities to all slums, cut down price
rise and ensur
a fair ration distribution system, to properly im
plement legislations and programmes pertaining to health, education,
pensions, social welfare programmes cctc.
They fought for the
enactment of a seperate welfare bill for the un. rg-anised sector of
labour and to extend maternity benefits, creche facilities, E.S.I.
benefits etc. to women in this sector of labour.
They also fought
for the better treatment of women, with dignity and respect at
police stations. They demanded that legal aid facilities be ex
tended to them. And in order to ensure that policy makers and the
Government treat slum women as ‘subjects* determining ^heir
own
history and not mere objects to be manipulated as puppets, they
demanded that they be taken as representatives on all boards and
committees pertaining to the welfare of women f rom weaker sections.
’Women's Voice' also took up cases of. dowry i.e. Anathalakshmi's
case from Tumkur where the girl was given support by the organisation
in helping her register a case with the police,. follow it up, and
help her fight the case in the High Court.
In the sphere ofifighting for their housing rights the women in
one particular slum area called the Lakshmipuro slum, successfully
came together, called for a gencraly body meeting and for the first
time in the slum's history, they vociferously resisted and decrid
the exploitative leadership of the localmen, local goondaism, in
terference from political g^ngs etc., that had become the lifestyle
of the community.
Instead, the participated in designing their
own houses as per their families requirements, putting up a viable
proposal to the corporation authorities having it sanctioned and are
now on the threshold of implementing a re-nousing programme of the
entire community. They are now fighting and demanding that pattn be
given in the name of the women, and not the men. This is. an example
of how women in a community, by understanding their problems and
status, were able- to play a concrete role to tear apart the shackles
that tied them to their hearth, and instead, alter the face of the
communities housing needs.
. .10-
-10-
In yet another situation, in Sampangramnag-ar slum, Manichamma, a local hindu woman was being harrassed by certain
muslim men in the area who are demanding that she shift her house
from next to the mosque.
The muslim women in the area, forgetting
all religious barriers, fought
the local men and succeeded in.
settling the issue amicably.
In the case of Someshwara slum, women in the entire community
were being harassed because of the location of an arrack shop in
the szicinity of the slum.
They got together, made representations
through the local municipal commissioner, and ultimately, ghrough
theiar struggles had the shop removed.
Other examples and case studies that I would like to refer to
which would highlight the struggles taken up by 'Women's Voice’
are the cases of ;-
Eg. Shamala - suicide case - Sampangir>mnagar.
Eg.. Padma at Mysore Read - her son's death - fighting local goondas
and seeking justice.
Eg. In the sphere of health -(procession to Gosha Hospital.) Forced
Sterilization incident at Milers Tank.
Eg. CSI - Compound - land issue and eviction - getting of a High
Court stay order.
Eg. Free education for girls, and distribution of free text books and
uniforms was one of the demands of 'Women's Voice' which the
present government has now implemented in part.
Some -roblems arc-
solved, some partly, some completely and yet others remain un
resolved - The struggles continue unabated, the women hold their
heads up high and fight for what is rightly due to tjem for justice.
So, from all that we have seen, the development of women is an
integral process, Her low status and suffering is duo to the socio
economic, religious and political systems in our society.
While both
women and men in the poorer sections of society have to fight to
gether for justice, woman has to liberate herself, and she can do
so if she is able to reveal' her power and force, if she is given
the freedom to articulate herself, and if she is respected by man
for what she is as an equal partnnr, united with the strength of
other women too, she can bring about a change in her life.
11.
■ -11I would like to encl quoting a poem I once read-
Mothcr, woman
walk and raise your fist
Affirm your decision to bo free.
You are salt; you are sap;
You ar. strength; you are work
Thus, you are life.
In the fields,
In the factories,
In the home.
You have the truth of your strength
From your life - giving bosom.
Don't walk three yards behind
your comrade.
And the revolution,
walk in front of them.
It's your place by right
Mother, woman
The revolution is you.
STRATEGIES
FOR
yiCWI'S
STRUGGLES
by Nirmala
Women's Centre
Bombay
We are living in the -world of democracy. It gems slogans
of 'Equality and Justice'. But the reality te .s us a
different story. That is the story of 'Discri lination' . wo
can see and experience inequality every where
There is
inequality amongst capitalist and working cla s - which is
known as 'capitalism' - also land owners and .andless labou
rers, upper caste and lower caste - known as 'casteism',
white and black which is'Race!sm'and between sexes - man and
woman - which we call' sexism'. This unequal status gives
rise to various movements - working class m-.-vements, dalit
movements Black
movements and women's r. jvements. To
understand and develop any movement we hav to consider two
important aspects of the movement. One is the theory and the
other is the practice . Theory is a scierit ,flc analysis of a
particular mode of inequality and oppress )n and defines the
ultimate aim of the movement. It helps 3 guiding our prac
tical strategies, practice is active mar festation of the
theory and activity towards the ultimate lira of it. It helps
further modifications and development of the theory of the
movement.
Eere we are concerned about women's movements. Movements
which are broadly guided by the ideology of fighting the
sexual division of labour and 'Patriarchy' and which acts
against specific issues of women's oppression, in an uncompro
mising fashion. Movements which move in the direction of
liberation can be called 'Women's movements' or 'Women's
Liberation Movement' .
All of us know whit is sexual division of labour'. VP experi
ence it every moment of our lives. It is the division of
labour according to your sex. Man is supposed to do certain
kind of work and woman has to do'a certain kind of work. This
division of labour has no scientific basis or explanation.
On the other hand scientific research had proved that there is
no difference between man and woman either in intellegence or
in working capacities. Only a biological difference does not
make women subordinate to men. But it is the social value
system which is responsible for sexual division of labour.
We found this division at personal as well as social levels.
In the family, women are to bear and rear children, to cook,
to nurse etc', and wan is the bread winner of the family. He
is supposed to work outside the house and remain the head of
the family. In society this reflects the male superiority ovtr
the female. All social institutions, political, religious
institutions are male dominated. First of all, woman is not
£0 earn and run the house. But in a new capitalist society,
it is a requirement of the family that woman should go and
work for money, whatprofession can the woman follow? The san
work she did at home, teaching, nursing, etc. women's move
ments have to fight this at both levels.
2
The term patriarchy refers to the system of male domination
in the society. It means the power of male head of the family
and refers to the power of the man both over women and child
ren and all other dependents in tho family. It links the
power of men in the society as a whole .
Patriarchy is a system and sexual division of labour is its
expression. It gives subordinate role to women in society.
It makes woman an instrument to produce children and mainly
□ale children. Because of male dominance, it tends towards
female infanticide, i.e. to kill female children. 'Dhutpiti'
tradition shows it in earlier times, and amniocentesis in
modern technical age.
Patriarchy changes its expression according to economic struc
ture of the society. In the feudal system it was different it was expressed in very brutal form - as 1 Siti' traditionno value to a woman after her husband's death. It'was tho
tradition of upper class people . It becomes a culture and
woman from all classes were made to accept the role of satisavithri. Hu sb -nd becomes the God and so on. Here, it is
not the subject of our discussion.
This exploitatioh and oppression is faced by all women,
inspite of their class, caste and race. That is the- special
feature of sexist operation, working class women, dalit
woman, black women arc facing double and ttiple oppression.
To get equal status as human beings, women have to fight
class, caste, race and patriarchial oppression.
Now we have to see how we are going to fight all this. When
we look at the women's movements, we divide them into the
following categorics>
(i)
There are some movements which were for women but not ini
tiated by women. Reformist movements like abolition of 'Sati'
though it had never challenged patriarchy as such had helped to
stop very cruel exploitation. This movement merely attacked
the brutal manner in which women were recognised to mere
appendages of man. It gave rise to tho movement of anti
child marriage, widow remarriage and women's education. The
movements aim was' just the emancipation of women's status in
the society and not to change the patriarchial structure as
such, of course all these movements enable women to come up
and tdi have a look at the world .
(ii) participation of women-in general struggles.
Women have participated in all types of movements. From
National movements to working class movement, dalit movement,
landless labourers movement etc.
During the natijnal movement Mahatma Gandhi had given the call
to all women to participate in 'national movement for freedom'.
We can see that thousands of women came out of the house and
very bravely and militantly did their jobs.
3
But here the role of a woman was not seen as a co-fighter,
but a very subordinate one to man. Th? whole Gcindhian philo
sophy talks aboht the purity of women, motherhood, chastity,
sacrifice and inner strength is glorified.
she does not
seem to recognise her patriarchial oppression, but was pushed
under the carpet.
Most of the time in general struggles of women have been used
as a reserve force. They are just there to back their men in
the struggle, we can see this picture in various movements
like, anti-repression, anti-caste , in communal riots, trade
union struggles, landless labourers struggles, pavement
dwellers and so on.
Women are called out to show the strength in number or because
they are very militant but in decision making process they
are excluded. When women do participate they are very mili
tant and arc in the forefront of the struggle. Eg. Yebbaga,
Yelangan?. Chip to movement etc. whenever they are participa
ting in the movement they very much belong to that oppressive
group. But the tradition of looking at these general struggle s
is that they are struggles of men - of a particular class,
caste or race. As if woman from that sore class, caste, race
are not existing individually but do exist as the shadow of
their menfolk. This general struggle must be recognised as
struggles of both men and women.
We aim to ch..nge the status of women, we mus?/to change their
role in these movements. Women must participate at each and
every level - consciously with the power to make decisions
and even to change the nature and form of those struggles.
VA must try to organise women, make them conscious about the
struggles in which they are participating as their own
struggle because of their class, caste and race, At the same
time we must make conscious efforts to point out patriarchial
oppression in society aw well as in their own family. Actually
their subordinate role in the struggle is also an expression
of the patriarchial system. For this type of real and .qual
participation of women in any struggle we have to form women's
groups within that particular organisation.
For example shramita stree Mukti Sanghatna is a women's group
within shramita Sangh ,t..na - a mass organisation of landless
labourers and Adhivasis in Dhilia District. The group had
played a great role in raising the consciousness of women as
well as men about the po.triarchial oppression.
To incre?.se women's participation in common struggles, the
burden of house work has to be reduced. It will be possible
only if the men are made conscious about /their responsibility
in sharing the house work. For that, the" mass organisation
women's groups should work as pressure groups. And women have
to give conscious, continuous fight with their own mon, very
collectively.
It is important for us to realise and to make others realise
that these struggles are common to men and women. Women are
co-fightcrs and not. just followers.
(iii) Movements of women on General issues.
In some of the movements on general issues, women my be the
only participants eg. movement against'price rise, anti war,
for water, for slum improvement etc. women as consumers and
care takers of the home experience price rise more directly
and can be mobilised against it without ever challenging the
male dominated family or social structure. It may confirm
the gender division of labour - men fighting for wage rise and
women for anti price rise.
No doubt that thasc movements often play a progressive role.
Women taking part in them experience their own collective
strength and it can bring towards their own ways of organi
sing for eg. anti-price rise movement in 1973/75 was a major
factor preceding the rise of new women's movement of 1975.
Similarly, the women's peace movement is not only a movement
of mothers of warriors but it s methods and impact arc
feminist moves. ■
Participating and generating this type of movements will
definitely help women's movement towards the aim of acheiving
equal status as human beings in many w.-.ys.
a.
b.
c.
d.
(iv)
women will come out of the four walls
They experience collective strength
with proper scientific analysis of the situation, it
will help to raise the consciousness about male
domination in the family structure and in social life.
It gives women self confidence to go further to fight
their own oppression as women.
Feminist or women's liberation movement.
We have seen so far how women have taken part in all sorts of
movements, from every rightist to the leftist movements. In
We stern countries at tho tim- of the World Wars, women came
out of the house to support their nations. But afterwards,
men tried to put them back to their position in the house.
Here in India we women have played a gre..t role in freedom
movements in India and we got equality on papdr.
Even progressive and left organisations arc male dominated.
They were fighting against class hierachy but not sex heirachy.
Ideologically they may agree to women's liberation but in
practice it is not important to thorn. They were having womens
front which are dominated by respective parties. Over and
above, immediate .economic problems, other specific problems
of women like dowry, wife beating, rape, sexual discrimination
at work were not taken up by them.
5
The women who were part of the leftist and socialist movements
found it v^ry disgusting. They realised that whatever you
fight, be militant, make sacrifices, everything is fruitless
for your own liberation. As a result of the reformist move
ment, the brutal expression of patric.rchy was ended. Women •
got educated because of the need of the modern ago to start
working. Education has opened up a vast horizon for them.
They learned science, technology etc. but patriarchy holds
them tight on their subordinate and secondary position in the
society, go there was no other way than to fight for their
special oppression - that is against patriarchy. Now they
do not want to ramain in the struggles just as mothers, sisters
or wives of the activists, but they themselves are activists,
fighting against all sorts of heirachy -.nd oppression.
Around 197? in the yeare of Women, declared by the UNO, we
see the emergence of the feminist movement in India. This
woman's movement mainly concerns the women's oppression in
sex biased, male dominated society. It deals with it on two
levels - one is giving individual support to the woman in distore ss and secondly on the social level - to raise the social
conscience of men through marches, campaigns, public meetings,
public protests and through media, about women's issues.
This movement is taking QI types of women's oppressions
eg. Rape, wife beating, health , family planning, science and
women, women's image and role in media, .law .nd women, struggles
of working women etc. from individual to collective struggles
What are the strategics of the ■movement?
If we examine the stands taken by the movements we can under
stand the strategies of it.
(i) Rape • Anit rape movement in 1980 was wide spread in
and around India. Rape was the issue that was not to be spoken
of. Gang rapes by Gundas, police, in Communal riots, .nd
during the wars was not new at all, but they were seen in a
different light.
a.
b.
Bad people drunkards, psychic'people arc rapists.
Women are the cause. Fashions, modernity etc. gives rise
to the situations in which men rape women and many other
reasons are given.
But all those were myths of r pe and the movement had token a
different stand on it. Rape is a ciaicl expression of male
dominance over women . During the wars and riots one community
used to rape the women of another community, women of both
communities became victims of mile enimity against each other.
They arc treated as valuable belongings of the other party
which can be destroyed by raping them.
6
Rape.is the outcome of male chauvinism - that he has power
over women - and women are mere objects to satisfy men's
needs. Men can get them, by owning them, buying them or by
force. And at the same time rape me ..ns the end of a woman's
dignity.
Even. the rape laws were not very much in favour of women. So
the movement has taken up this issue, asked for changes in
the law and has started helping individuals who were the
victims.
(ii)
wife Beating; It is a world wide phenomenon. Husbands
beat their wives, because they got the power over her through
the patriarchial system, wife beating was treated as a perso
nal issue . But the movement has given s. new dimention to it.
It is not just a personal problem, but a political one. Men
are beating women because of the power relationship between
them, so many organisations have started Centres which are
giving help to women who are beaten up or maltreated or
harrassed.
The outlook towards this problem is also .very different from
traditional one. Traditionally, it was seen that the women
have to adjust more, wife beating is not a good thing but
that big issue and after nil, family interest is greater than
her. But feminists look at it differently. When a husband
beats his wofc , the wrong doer is h.. He has no right to beat
his wife and she should not stand for it. They give, her full
moral support as well as material support. They help women
to become independent and to be confident and self respecting.
There are many difficulties in getting economic independence.
For that, movements demand reservation in jobs for women in
distress, shelter homes for women, more hostels for women
(working and single) as well as for women with children. The
family in which the woman has no respect, she should not
stick to it, it is better even if it breaks-. Women are not
the cause of family breaking up but they are victims of it.
With this new strategy, some new centres are working Women's Centre in Bombay, Sakbi Kendra in Kanpur, Scheli in
Delhi and so many in different places.
(iii) Health; Women's health is always a neglected facet.
Women are many times over worked, malnutritionsd and neglected.
poverty is no doubt a reason for bad health problems, but even
the men are.more.important than women. Image of womeb as
delicate looking also tends tow..rds neglecting good food
habits -and good health. Even during pregnancy she is neglec
ted. Movements are bringing out health issues as very impor
tant issues concerning women. And women have a right to good
health as a human being and member of society.
7
(Iv) Family Planning; Rimily planning methods are developing
in a way that one may feel that it is the problem of women only.
Controlling fertility means controlling women's fertility only.
It suits the old philosophy of Big kshetra.
Women, especially women from third worth! countries are used
as guinea pigs. No body is concerned about the side effects
of the experiments. They were forced to go through with it.
No question even arises whether a woman wants to control her
fertility or not. If the state wants a woman to be more
fertile, there will be a ban on family planning and .
vice versa.
Women's movements protest against this, As women we want to
have cohtrol to have control over our own bodies. So movements
think about health, sex education of women and always alert
them about new family planning methods. They are making public
interest cases on the use of hazardous f.mily planning methods.
(v)
New Science and technology.
Women's movement is never and will never be anti-science or
technology but it is defd.nd.tly against the mis use of it.
It has been used against women. A recent example of it is
amniocentesis - or sex determination test-which make a female
child enable to born. After birth we are feeling lots of problems
but dening our right to birth is cruelity. It is the expresion
of Fatriarechy through new tecniques. Women's movement will
fight against with its all power a.nd strength.
(vi) women's movements deals with the cultural image of women
All medias give an image of either sati savithri devi or do
slave woman, and on the other level a mere sex object. Both
of this arc anti women. Wo want to fight out and create an
image of a woman as a human being - female human being of
Manushi.
It is import nt for women's liberation movement to find out
the subtle and’crude forms of pattiarchial oppression. To
start a movement to reduce and end it. To abolish all ■
hiorachial relations from society the movement has to co
ordinate and work with all other organis -tions who are fighting
against any particular oppression. But this support to the
movement will not be a subordinate one, and not one way also.
Yet women's liberation movement is in its early stages. They
have to develop their theories, collect the strength and fight
out with the oppressive situations. But whatever difficulties
are coming in the way, the movements are going on increasing.
8
k ganuine women's movement puts the welfare of women first and
then connects this with overall social goals rather than see
ing women's issues as subordinate to other goals. It moves
in directions of giving equal status within the movement
itself as well as in the broader society.
REPORT
The meeting was inaugurated by Mrs. Margaret Alva, Minister for Youth Sports
She emphasised the need to achieve full hunan participation
and vomen welfare .
of vo men in all walks of like.
One of the ways to achieve this is to change
from women’s welfareto development of women in their full hunan potential .
The Presentations were started
experiences of FAflWZ.
from Bombay
by Nirmala,/reviewing the history of
The for in originally' started as an anti rape movement
by educated women with a somewhat radical , political background.
need for autonomy was emphasised in order to avoid wasting
to constantly
prove that women ara1 equal .
The
enless energy
The forum decided to work
mainly as an educational movement trying to influence public opinions.
The organisational structure was discussed which was as democratic as
possible but still creates certain inequalities due to differences in
experience, skills and persistence.
Forum remains a middle class
organisation not attempting to build mass organisations but getting at
times massive support on issues like keeping ladies compartments of
local trains free f»om men.
very important.
Formation of cultural groups also became
Work is now going on to get single women, and women
with children hostel accommodation.
carried out by the Forum,
While, the propaganda work is
concrete follow up is done by the Moments
Centre.
Discussions were focussed on the question of autonomy which was defined
as non-political party formations.
It was emphasized that women's
organisations with such affiliations are in no way less important.
Autonomy would simply mean self guidance, but co-operation with other
organisations on broader issues remains Important.
It was also pointed
out that over exposune of certain cases can create problems for the
persons involved.
Criteria should be to strengthen the victimized woman
and avoid sensationalism.
Rural women's organisations were presented by Jaya Kumari of SERD
Arkonam.
She narrated the history of rape cases and explained how
their movement works, on the one hand through a voluntary organisation^^..
with self employment schemes, health and educational progranmes while/Sent
Women Sangams are formed in villages and co-operation is also attempted
with the local landless labourers union.
Aims of the movement are
to break male authority over women, overcome capitalism and create an
egalitarian society.
Cultural work in songs and skitts are also very
important.
Madhu Kishwar of Manushi presented the situation of tribal women in
Singhbhum District of Bihar where 80 to 90% of the work in the village
is done by women and all the same, women can have no property rights dn
land.
Unmarried women and widows have the ri^it of maintenance by the
:
2
use of land but are harrassed even for that.
is held by prohibiting women to plough.
Control of men
over land
Supreme Court case for acquiring
land rights for women is pending since several years.
Madhu emphasized the
importance of ownership to land rights to all women and the need to address
ourselves as women to the problem of land reform.
Discussions focussed on
the question of how property rights relate to other problems of social
control over women like physical violence, psychological and social aspects.
On the second day, morning sessions focussed on women in the media and
Shakuntala Narasimhan , a journalist from Bombay went into
religion.
sexist images in the media and tried to encourage women to make maximum
use of existing media and creating alternative outlets for information as
well.
Details on laws, contraceptives and any othc-r issues concerning
women needs wider publicity in a popular and accessible form.
She also
pointed out that despite growth in technological hardware there is great
need to create new channels of informal oral communication which is
breaking down due to modern life styles.
She also attacked existing stereo types and focussed the need to counter
act this selfe&cing image of women and to create new identifications for
Fur instance, there is a need to work out images
women and men as well.
of good father hood which do not as yet exist.
She identified protest,
b<yicott and feed back as important forms to inter act with media.
She
also suggested to form cells of women, monitoring womenls image in the
media.
adult
GabrielgDietrich, womenfs activist and/educationist from Madurai trans
formed the question of women in religion into the question whether the
women.’a movement can become an anti-communalist force.
sides to the problem.
T^gye are various
On tne one hand, a secular personal/would have to
be worked out, containing elements of all existing personal laws.
Can the
women's movement contribute to such a proposal which would become a law
which people can opt fort
On the other hand, the question of cultural
renewal, and genuine religious reform arises.
Wbmen have to interfere
with ideological production in religion and re-interpret traditional
images.
As a movement, women have to
ally with other forces working for
secularism like dalits, left parties, religious reformers, enlightened
intellectuals and in the struggle for secularism make
of the women’s question.
such forces aware
Discussions focussed on how support for women
who are victimised by personal laws can be kept free of comraunalist
overtones.
In the afternoon, Women’s Voice Bangalore and a number of other organisa
tions li.Se BUILD Bombay presented the problems of Slum women.
3
Hie evolvcment of Slum women was brought out in its history.
Insecurity
of Pattah, lack of basic amenities and double oppression of women as
working women and sustainers of families were analysed.
Wbmen also are
guinea pigs to the medical system and suffer forced family planning.
Mass organisation evolved on ownership of land, basic amenities, rations,
and enactment of welfare laws for the unorganised sector.
Dignified
treatment in police stations and representation of 'women on social welfare
boards,
The difficulties to organise slum women on a permanent base were
identified.
Struggles on children's rights to schooling and food also
became important.
Anjali Sen from Calcutta gave examples of confronting,
constructive and creative movements.
The most crucial issue in the slums
at present is struggle for permanent settlement and Pattah, basic amenities
and against eviction.
In the face of the Supreme Court Judgement on
evictions, wide spread battles are in the offing in all major cities.
Premila Dandavate who works with tie Janatha Partyis with Independent
Women’s organisations dealt with Women's Movement and Ideologies.
She
narrated the history of her own involvement with Wbmen’s Struggles since
the emergency and evolvement of Mahila Dakshita Samithi .
^hc characteri
sed different types of organisations like, a) Won-party but political,
b)
a-political welfare organisations, c) front organisations of party,
d) self employment oriented social re-construction like SEW*A and
e) trade- unions and rural women’s organisation (eg. among fisherWomen
and agricultural coolies).
She emphasized the nedd to co-operate on the
issue base and/overcotne the mistrust between 'political1 and 'non
political' women.
She also emphasized the nedd to give women a human
position in society and to co-operate with political forces in order to
create a political will to implement laws and social reform.
She also
deqltTl.on rural literacy and the need to associate with men at certain
levels.
The discussions tried to come closer to the question of a specific ideology
of the women's movement but did not evolve^ beyond general statements of
equality without being able to point out equality with h whom since ’men’
as a generalised category seems to be generally vague. It was felt by some
that time is not mature for conceptualisations while on thcother hand axisting conceptualisations on analysis of the women's question while- some groups
work with, somehow did not surface.
t
4
t
In the first session of the third day Janakidevi a de lit -women
organiser from Bihar she. red her experiences and revolutionary songs
The organisation Lok ^.mithi had emerged from jp movement and works
at block level. Training .
in agriculture and tailoring is
given , land struggles are raised and adult education takes
place. Another wom^n, Rampyari from the same area jointed in
and shared an example of a woman who had got married to two
husbands in order to break through the traditional patterns.
The paper which both had brought along was particularly critical
of women being gambled away and a negative image of women in
religion. It demanded land rights for women as well as job
reservations and a ge»eially egalitarian society .
Madhu Kiswar shared her perspectives on women issues. She first
of all addressed herself to the question why her pie occupation
was with women finding ak/ay of really walking together and not
with 'How do we relat to men", she pointed out that women
ofton ’ roact^more hostile way - 1q this approach than men.
The
point is to stick to the insic^that change only occurs when
cm
the oppresed group collectively resists . Appeal to men for
support is a very secondary matter, women have to first of all
live down the internalised male view of their own problems . The prob
is that women usually intaract/^^^en and have to learn to
relate to each other not mediated through men. Also, women have
to
learn to be self reliant and develop their own skills.
Secondly the movement has to over come the "Ladies compartment "
approach to. women's issues. AH issues are women issues and n£e<X
to be approach^rom a women's prespectives . This was examplifh,
with drought and water problem which affect8women more than nun
and also in very specific ways since it is women who fetch the
water,cook, look after the sick etc. The question is not to
got a women's compartment in any train but to ask where is -thetrain going, is the destination worth the effort and would we
perhaps need a woman as an engine driver.
Thirdly ^here is need for more information, especially about the
lives of ordinary wmon which are normally no news. The differen
ces of class, caste, region, community , uneven development etc
need to bo sharply perceived in their complexity.
Fourthly the question how women's struggles li-nk with other
struggles is ’ often a question of ideologies which do not
5
necessarly help to pereive reality . Attaching the lab«l|sof isms Ito"? persons often amounts to giving^c ferae tor certifier, to s.
The test needs to be -what docs one stand for and what is on* actually doing?.
over'
Fifthlt-y the question of equality has to be raised in an/riding \ja_y.
j
./omen demand equality, the question is with whpm. ? sinc^
the majority of .
-women are poor rural women, our primary
has to be with them. This raises the over all question of oqu .1'. .
in society and of inequality amoag women themselves .
Sixthly^ what is our perspective on social change ?
Is it
prima^jj^y matter of raising consciousness or is it a natter of
creating alternativet^fenze to analyse the compulsions of
a situation and create, different conditionsin order to keep
alternative options open.
The discussion focussed again on the question how women’s organisati.
tions can be formed within broader mass organisations and on the
question how women handle power when they get organise^ people<s
participation, internal democracy) .
Nirmala from Bombay presented her paper on strategics of women’s
struggles.
£iie argued along, very similar lines like Madhu,
emphasising that women are present in anti-class anti-race
anti-cast and anti-communa.il sm struggles.__ If women want to
relate to each other , the divisionsin society which deiide
women as well, have to go . All the other movement have challenge^
i 7>‘
patriarchy only in a superficial.. ifat all. W’omenwerc mainly
support eifin the freedom struggle , through their1 (participation
was very important. It is not a matter of linkage with wider
struggles but of thinking of t.-ese struggles as our own.
C\ Q, i-x. TA-
-
Ganrral movements like anti-price rise movement have, been
instrumental in bringing women out. Only since about 1975
Women’s issues llttk^rapc and violence against women could bo
tackled.
Ono major strategy is to attack the concept of women as
property of man or of th., family and to provide alternative
life options. Thi& included the demand for shelters for
women with children, since hostels so far refuse to put up
children.
7
Arnau, and Bhubnneshwtiri, lawyers from Madras gave information
on free leg-1 aid and property rights in joint families
according to the Hindu succession Act.
Banu Mustak, journ-list from Hass-m shared her involvements wi-b
^number of ripe cases and other woman's issues without being
able to form a. woman's core group^Hcing forced to de .1 with
these issues single handedly.
The meeting broke up into discussions on ideologies, strategies,
re interpretation's of religion and health issues.
6
It is also important to provide training in alternative employ
ments like plumbing, painting etc., to ac helve economic inde
pendence . Health issues including birth control faced to be
taken up from ?. women's angle, ttut is safe guarding a woman's
control over hc-r wn body. While making use of existing govern^
ment programmes it is essential to do this on our own terms
and not to lose sight of the patriarchial and class character of
the state.
Science and technology have to be examined in how they affect
women. The work on laws concerning women has to include thoverall perspective of how laws in this country are nude nd
implemented •
In the discussion it was also pointed out that the ministry for
soci 1 welfare should form cells for women in distress and that
representatives from Women's organisations should be related
to this cell, such cells already exist in Delhi, Bomb.y and
Karna t aka.
Flower from Vigil India added to Nirmala's paper by sh-.ring
her own experiences in org .nising women of all religious commu
nities against child marriage, wife beating :mi communalism.
In the discuss! oh, the Question was raised whether we only talk
of participation of women in existing pardj.gms of development
ow whothorwomen have to think of new paradigms eg. in science
and technology. Also, the implications of various technologies
hz^c to be thought through eg. the option for nuclear energy
implies the option for the bomb, whit is our st nd on that?
Wo -Iso should address ourselves to problems of the increasing
militarisation internally ?.nd externally. If wo talk of link
ages docs it me m linkages with establishment (right or left)
or with new movements. How do we develop the vision of the
kind of society we wish to have?
Patricia from Triv ndrum then shared on the problems of women
in the fishing community who despite their relative economic
strength suffer most from the family burden and who despite
their great militancy and sup wrt to the struggle hase not yet
be
found ways to be fully represented in the Union and to/involved
in the decision makein processes.
Conference No. 295
Conference
on
EMERGING TRENDS IN WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS^IN INDIA
Wednesday 2?th - Saturday 30th November 1985
Ecumenical Christian centre
Whitefield, Bangalore - $60 066
2
DETAILED
DAILY
PROGRAMME
Wednesday 2?th November
8.00 -
8 .30 a.m.
• ,
Breakfast
9.30 - 10.00 a.m.
•
Tea
10.00 - 11.30 a.m.
:
Inaugural address
gmt. Margaret Alva
Union Minister of state for Youth
Affairs, Sports and women’s welfare
1 .00 p.m.
;
Introduction
11.30 -
&
orientation
Women ' s Movements- Dalits
A Case study
1 .00 -
1 .30 p .m.
:
lunch
3.00 -
h-,30 p .m.
;
Women' s Movements— Rural
A. Case, study
U.30 -
5.00 p,m.
:
Tea
5.00 -
6.30 p ,m.
•
women's Movements— Tribal
A Ca se study
7.30 -
8.00 p.m.
:
Dinner
8.15 -
9.15 p .m.
:
Discussion
8.30 a,m.
:
Breakfast
8.30 - 10.00 a.m.
:
women's Movements — Urban
A Case study
10.00 - 10.30 a.m.
:
Tea
10.30 - 12.00 noon
•
women ' s Movements.;— Slum
A Case study
12.00 -
1 .00 p .m.
:
women in Media
1 .00 -
1 .30 p ,m.
;
Lunch
Thursday 28th November
8.00 -
. • 3
A \A/riman’Q Rnnk Plarp
A New Time Beginning:
h'or too long we have been people
without a face; without a voice, without
a history.' We women are-now slowly
breaking the .centuries of silence to tell
our-Own'stories; .stories about our lives,
our experiences, as also.of our
discernrrrenubf the social reality of
development -models used, of
technological choices made, of ?
niilitarisni^ of the nuclear option_ ...We
are speakitig and..writing not only of our
sorrow,.our.tears, but, also of our strug- ’
gles, our triumphs; our visions.
,
y
'■ . '
of women s literature, almost
[t is these invisible feminist
>urn ;s that Streelekha hopes to
e visible, by developing a
>r the women’s world of words,
ew spaces, new rhythms.
Jangalore, we look towards
tenini our links with other
wom< ■s groups id social movements in
and to developing our contacts
4ne socialist
couife’the.wesUndntore especially
rd world.
’■
'■ - t'-'- i ~
• •
' It is this’ ‘feminist sensibility ’ which has .
found expression in poetry, oral history,
fiction,’ theoretical research: a-sensibility
that :has been both a reflection of the
changing perceptions’of women about
; ojjr reality .and an attempt to search.for,
and to create, alternatives.
Let me cleave words
sharp little words
like the firewood
that I split with my axe '
The need for new spaces, new
rhythms:
However, though women’s writings have
increased, it is not as yet, easily
accessible or widely known. There is an ’
urgent need to develop an alternative to
the established system which has made
Leki
[■bird
1 essential part as
le daily lives of
Id, yet,the dearth
contributed to
owerlessness.
;s exist, much of
rket place.
Streelekha hopes to bring you more
writings of women and the women’s
movements in India and in the third
world.
There will be a particular emphasis on
research studies and investigative reports
Spf bur regional languages, while we will
also try to provide:you with the other
creative forms of feminist self-expression
- slides, posters, films and other material
which do not find distributive outlets
within the commercial mainstream.
Streelekha will also find a place for non
sexist children’s literature which will
be relevant to our children in’ India and
in other countries in the third world.
Streelekha - A Woman’s
Place:
As the women’s movements in the third
world are not isolated from the other ;
social movements for change, Streelekha
whose primary focus will be on. feminist,
works, will also include publications on
peace, development, ecology, and on
movements of workers,, daliths,
peasants... Streelekha especially invites
these movements in India to place for
display and sale, their studies and
publications in the bookshop.
Streelekha, is above all, a meeting place
for women: it hopes to provide the space
for sharing our experiences, for
generating discussions, for creating the
energy needed to envision new
possibilities for change.
It could become one face of the women’s
movement- in. India; one more of the
many voices of women that refuses that
we become ‘pilgrims of the darkness’, for
‘it is now time to turn our faces to the
sun’.
With you
all
we must be more
®s
$?$$$*
SHBCKLES
£r
VOMEH
Vol. II No. 1 Jan. Feb. 85
: IMUNITY HEALTH CELL
S, V Main, I Block
Uo.amangala
.Bangalore-500034 India
‘A Voice Of The Vanquished’
__________ z tne sar___________
Bi- Monthly Journal
Sponsered by :Shackles & Women Associates
INSIDE VIEW
Annual Contribution :-Rs. 20/Single copy:- Rs. 3/CONTACT ADDRESS :-
Editorial,
:
Dr. Jiwan Jot
CORONATION OF PRIME MINISTER
®New Harindra Nagar,
Faridkot (Pb.) 151203
(Corrospondance At Contact
Address Only)
SAW. ASSOCIATES :-
:
An Article,
FAMILY RELATIONSHIP 9 I
.
'
A Report,
FOR AND ON BEHALF OF DELHI VICTIMS
:
.
Reader’s Converse.
1. Navsharan,
C. R. R. I. D. 11-A, Sec. 19
Madhya Marg Chandigarh
2, Trishna,
.
State Bank of Hydrabad, .
Shalimar Bagh Branch,
Delhi.
3. Dr, Pritam Pal,
128 Indra Colony,
Bani Park, Jaipur. (Raj)
Break The Chains,
“HALF OF US”-A POSTER EXHIBITION
A Report,
CHIMENY OF FATAL FUMES-BHOPAL
CORONATION OF PRIME MINISTER.
Eighth Lok Sabha Election secured 75% seats to Congress (I) by gathering 30%
of total votes; Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was crowned as Prime Minsiter. Political Scenario of India is
mostly decided by one or the other wave, but strangely enough we discern an election wave only
after it has passed us by. It happened in 1973, in 1977, in 19S0. In 1984 the situation was no
different. This time electorate was badly screwed in thought process of insecurity, set in
by forced circumstances. The two strong sentiments encashed during these elections were, a
strong reaffirmation of security together with stability, hope of change and sense of release
and renewal. In addition Congress (I) also made psychological purchases through new culture
of political advertisement media. When the opium of Garibi Hatao. ceased to dumb the
Indian electorate then ‘Give unity a hand’ was acknowledged as worthy successor of ‘Garibi
Hatao’ by, “The Government that [does not] work”. Accordingly the- Congress ( I ) high
command set itself to prepare the political field, to harvest the calculated yield In the
voting season. At that time political and economic crisis of Green Revolution were cropin? in Punjab.
The Government smelled in these crisis the potential of people-struggles and thereby saw a fertile
ground in punjab for political experimentation. Therefore, for effecting a sloganeering ‘change-over’
and at the same time to nip those impending people-struggles, in the bud, the political climate of the
country specifically of Punjab was conditioned with astute craftsmanship. Atmosphere was charged
to aggravate the feelings of disintegration, insecurity, terror & communal divisiveness. This mental
coercion of the Indian electorate was brought by, i ot solving outstanding political issues in Punjab
by permitting Sikh Extremism and Hindu Communalism to feed on each other, leading to the army
raid Blue Star in the Golden Temple, antagonizing thereby large sections of the sikh community
the ruling party at the centre, had sown the seeds of communal division between Hindus and Sikhs.
It was clear, situation delibrately developed with a well laid out political designs and purposes.
Similarly threats to the secular formation of our nation was engineered as the result of Mrs.
Gandhi’s cynical disregard for the rights & sensibilities of the minorities in general and particularly
those of sikhs.
Reliable sources inform that in the process of this transition the ruling
government planned to carry out a mass homicide in order to flare up the communal flames, It was a
a lethal plan which was to be carried out in Delhi & other parts of Country. Inorder to evoke Hindu
chauvnism against Sikhs and thereby the ruling party planned to align with the Hindu majority. This
was to be carried out under the secret code captioned as MOON SHINE OPERATION. One does
not have to strain one’s nerves to believe that the ruling party can go to extent of founding their
empires on the dead bodies of their own country men. With these henious plans Mrs. Gandhi mou
nted the tiger of devastation but unfortunately Mrs. Gandhi was devoured by this tiger before
reaching her destination. The home bred foe of communal vandalism boomranged. Mrs. Gandhi was
assassinated. Then the massacre of the millions drenched Delhi and other cities with blood, burnt
bodies & damaged properties. Although Mrs’Gandhi had to resign her breath without witnessing this
climax but the planned operation was carried out by her successors under the guise of constructive
revenge.Evidently the recent riots which took a great deal of life& property werenot result of popular
grief as alleged but it was nameless Moon Shine Operation now carried out discriminately on sikhs.
When practically whole 'capital was burning, the rulers, politicians, most of the Police and Army
were busy in catching role in the massive public relation drive, around the bodj' of the deceased
Indira Gandhi at the total neglect of thousands that were being killed and maimed robbed and
raped. There is considerable evidence that the negalect was planned. The facts are all out in their
stark and horrifying details. The culprits and their catalysts, have been identified, only there is no
indication of any action to punish the guilty.
We should not be mistaken that it was not the assiassination of Indira Gandhi but
counter product of mysterious Moon Shine which greatly aggravated the problem and fancied the
fire of suspicion and hatred and finally prepared the political harvest perfectly conducive to yield
the harvest. The body of Indira Gandhi was unusually kept for three days to exploit the sentiments
but naming it Darshan for the public. Having all set, the elections were announced when the public
was still under emotional frenzy. The Congress (I) gathered three-fourth majority with Rajiv Gandhi
as its head. Congress (I) received 30% votes only of the total Indian Electorate, What a massive
mandate ?
Rajiv Gandhi was coronated as Prime Minister. This crown is a booty of a politician,
legacy from a mother and a death wish of the poor public. Thus Eighth Lok Sabha Elections have
been single handedly won by a dead woman.
editor
Published by:- Ganpat Rai Advocate on behalf of SAW Associates
Printed by:- Jai Deep Printers, Dussehra Ground, Moga.
3
In first issue we described in general how women oppression is closely
knit in the network of present society and how various social moral and legal institutions
oppress woman. In second issue we elucidated the role played by the Religion as Oppre:
ssor of woman. Then in fourth issue we explained as how the biological differences are
mischieviously high lighted to prove woman a weaker sex. Now through the issue in hand
Let us have a look on the family-relationship as they are and ought to be especially
focusing on the role and place of women in the fabric of a family.
(Editor).
FAMILY RELATIONSHIP
“4th June, 1973,
and now I fell in to state of
neglect, which I cannot look back upon without compassion. I fell at once
into a solitary condition-apart from all friendly notice-apart from the
society, of all other boys of my own age,-apart from all companionship
but my own spiritless thoughts, which seems to cast its gloom upon this
paper as I write
”
(A page from the diary of a working class youth apparently surrounded by a crowd of
relations and blood relations in his family. And who with a mixed feeling of surprise &
agony was witnessing the attempt of the reactionary forces to murder in him a rebellion
against the status-quo shadowing the generations. He was sacked out of his job )
This is a secret agony which may or may not find expression in the diaries
of all of us but is an unwritten fact, true about most of us. In such in-ordinary and trying
circumstances one stands bisected in his personality and pursuit. In a bid to voice against
the settled notions, endeavouring to swim against the stream, one has to fight at two
fronts. One against the exponents ofthe status quo another with his own people
pulling legs due to clash of changing values. Today every face with vacant looks and
strained nurves is graphic of such grief. Each one of us is dying for affection. But how
to go about getting it? Where is the wrong? what islacking? When and how this immortal
quest for affection and love will end ?
What should be done ?
i
YES! Love is the elixir of family life for its creativity, happiness and peace
WRONG-is with the system and surroundings in which we live.
LACKING- is the ideal conception of ‘family-relationship’.
4
Therefore diagnosis and prognosis of the present -family relationship
which is logical consequences of the present set-up vis-a-vis ideal concept of family
ralationship and corresponding social set-up is the task which needs to be done. In this
pursuit of diagnosis we cannot advance without first understanding the concept of
‘Family’, its historical development, present marriage institution and its basis, thereby
crystalizing the ideal concept of family relationship.
WHAT IS
(A) FAMILY ? A nucleous of society based on marriage and consanguinity i e. relations
between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers & sisters etc. Life of family is
characterised both by the material and spiritual processes. Former includes biological and
economic consumer relations and later includes legal moral and psychological relations.
(B) RELATIONSHIP? Denotes that there should be sound understanding of Sentiments,
Faith, Sincerity, Mutual Respect, Affection and Love.
(C) MARRIAGE ? Marriage which in the present time, is not more than a union of two
individuals of opposite sexes directed towards material and sexual conveniences and
meant for perpetuating the posterity.
PRESENT MARRIAGE INSTITUTION
Marriage according tothe bourgeois conception is contract, a legaltransaction & most
important one of all because it disposes of two human beings’ body and mind for life.
Formally it is true that the contract at that time was entered into voluntarily without
the assent of the persons concerned nothing could be done - But everyone knew
only too well how this assent was obtained and who were the real contracting parties
in the marriage.
ARRANGED MARRIAGES
Then Arranged marriages in our country is not a thing of the past but
still remains the highest in currency. Marriage bureaus devoted to such matters still
flourish, matrimonial notices occupy much space in news papers. There is a whole
bourgeoisis class of solid substance which is keeping the arranged-marriages alive. The
meeting of boy and girl is arranged on some other’s marriage ceremony or in a relative’s
house (known to both the sides) or even on the tea-table of girl’s own house. The fate of
the ‘marriage-to-be’ is almost pre-decided onHie measures offamily's social and economic
status, their caste, religion, punctuated, by the professional-achievment of the marrying
partners. Then formal consent of the marrying persons is awaited, which cannot be
contrary as the Bargain is already struck. After this dramatic aspect of Exhibitionism,
the Boy nods yes-virtually to the ‘contours’ of the ‘aspirant’-And Lo 1 casting vote
is made in favour of this ‘eternal’ Union. Blessed be these ‘faithfuls’ Let their best sense
prevail upon them in their nupital-journey.
COMMUNITY HEALTH CELL
5
S26, V Main, I Block
Koramangala
Bangalore-560034 ' '
Indio
In patriarchies regime of today in most cases even this drama is not done.
Man and Woman before their wedding are hardly consulted but informed about the
matter of their own marriage. And they are offered to the possible ‘Suitors’ sleeted in
advance. In such circumstances the girl remains absolutely passive.
There could be no question of founding a life long enterprise (Marriage)
viewed in its social aspect on sentimental or erotic fancy. In this discrete arrangement the
nupital appitites are not usually so wanton,they are viewed more soberly & bluntly.That is
in these type of marriages objetive ‘Connections’and ‘Substances’ count much more than
subjective‘Charms and Beauty’. So to say men do not marry for the nselves whatever
they may say; they marry more for their posterity, their family. Regarding the fate
of man and woman in such marriages their personal desires and gratifications are
subordinated to the interest of the society.
A TRADITIONAL DESTINY 1
Marriage has always been a very different thing for man and woman.
The two sexes are necessary to each other, but this necessity has never brought about a
condition of reciprocity between them. In other words there is no [symmetary in the
situation of the two sexes. As for males, they look to marriage for an enlargment, con
firmation of their existance. It is change they assure voluntarily for them. It is one
mode of living not a pre-ordained lot. They have a perfect right to prefer ‘Celebate’.
‘Solitude’ marry late or not at all; but the girl’s freedom of choice has always been much
restricted, Celebacy apart from rare cases in which it bears a sacred character reduces
her to rank of a parasite and pariah. For girls marriage is the only means of integration
in the community and if they remain unmarried they are socially viewed ‘So Much
Wastage’. Marriage is her only means of support and sole justification of her existance
It is enjoined upon her in order to provide society with children and secondly to satisfy
male’s sexual needs and to take care of his household ‘is also women’s function. This is
why mothers have always eagerly sought to arrange marriages for their daughters. So
we can see, Girl is married i. e. ‘Given in Marriage’ by her parents. Boys get married
i.
e. ‘They Take Wife’. PARENTS ON TAEIR PART CAN BE SAID LESS TO GIVE
THEIR DAUGHTER IN MARRIAGE RATHER THAN TO GET RID OF HER.
Marriage is the destiny traditionally offered to the woman by the Society.
(B) ACID TEST OF FREEDOM. I
Albeit exceptionally,apprently choice of girl is asked; parents keep at her
Vyou have already cost us enough in meetine different ones. None suits you. Make up
jfour mind. The next time it will be your sister’s turn.’’The unhappy candidate knows that
tier chances become less and less as she approaches nearer and nearer to being an Old
maid; claimaint to her hand are few. She has scarcey more freedom of choice than the
6
girls of slave society given in exchange for a flock of sheep. Similarly in some higher
circles, girls with some more latitude engaged in occupation or studies has no different
basis for marriage and statistical studies show money plays decisive role in little less
than cent per cent marriages.
So from above it is evident that girl’s choice is usually quite limited in
arranged marriages and IT COULD NOT BE REALLY FREE UNLESS SHE FELT
FREEALSO-NOT TO MARRY.lt should be followed as acid test to determine the
freedom of choice for the girls. Her decision is ordinarily marked by calculations,
disgust, resignation rather than by enthusiasm. If a man is reasonably eligible in the
matters such as health and position, she accepts him - love or no love,
PERSONAL HAPPINESS NO CONSIDERATION
SERVE MUST THE SOCIETY ?
Marriagesthen are not generally founded upon love. As Freud put it,
,,the husband is so to speak never more than a ‘substitute’ for the beloved man-not
that man himself.” And this dissociation is no way accidental. It is implied in the very
nature of marriage-institution, the aim of which is to make economic and sexual union
of man woman, serve the interests of the present society, not assure their personal
happiness.
MODERN MA <RIAGE-AV ERRATIC BARGAIN ‘)Despite its modernization present marriages are no better than the
marriagesin the past. In modern marriage woman get some share in the world as her
own in exchange of her ‘duties’. But the man being the economic head of the ‘joint
enterprise’ (marriage) represents it in the view of the society. And the woman takes ‘his
name’, she belongs to ‘his religion’, ‘his circle’ she joines ‘his family’, She is relegated to
‘his half,’ She breaks more or less decisively with her past, becoming attached to her
husbands’s universe; she gives him ‘her person’ ‘virginity’ and rigorous fidelity being
required of her.
LACK OF INDIVIDUALITY LEADS TO LACK OF LOVE
Marriage intends to deny the woman a humane-liberity and thus creating
a void of serious concern. Without liberity there can exist neither love nor-Individuality
Therefore Individualism is allien to the woman-in marriage. She must renounce loving
a specifisindividual in order to assure herself the life-long protection of some man. We
hear some pious mothers inform their daughters that love is a coarse-sentiment reserved
for men and unknown to women of propriety. In naive (simple) form this is the doctrine
enunciated by ‘Hegal’ when he maintains that women’s relation as mother and wife are
7
basically ‘General’ and not Tndividal’. For her, it is not a question of‘this husband’ but
of ‘a husband’ in general, ‘of children’ in general. Her relations are not based on her
individual feeling but on universal feeling i. e. woman is not concerned to establish indi
vidual relations with a chosen mate but to carry on the faminine functions in their
genrality. She is to have sex pleasure only in a specified form and not individualized.
Sasthi Brata in his memoirs seems to smoulder under the same anguish when he
writes : “But dreams are delicate things, they need to be handled withcare. I had roared
high in my flights of fancy leaving you behind on solid earth. You were carrying a child
within you and 1 was the father of tha,t child. No more, You needed me only for your
infant, not for yourself. It was not you, who had changed but I, who thought you had.
your seuse of duty was like the earth’s passive, yielding imlersonal. A different husband.
some other mother-in-law and you would have fault the same, done the same Your lack
of need, the specific demanding need of one human-being for another, infuriated me.
I soon come to see that I was redundant in your life. You had to have ‘a man’not
necessarily me. The functions of a wife and husdand wete strictly defined. You fulfilled
yours and couldn’t understand why I asked for more?”
HOLLOWNESS OF PRESENT MARRIAGE INSTITUTION
TO CATCH A HUSBAND IS AN ART-TO HOLD HIM IS A JOB
s- )
Tale of such family begins with dreams. Which are soon frustrated in the face
of cruds realities. There is hardly any male who in the depths of his heart does not
harbour dreams of having some Fairy Queen by his side on the nupital throne. And a
u.an with a beautiful wife is fills himself within air of exuberance that he is the sole
proprietor of that wealth of beauty which is centre of attraction for all. Wife the otherhalf is also affected with her own whims and fancies She tries to make herself seductive
in the hope that her sensual ordour will feather her husband & endear her to him. But
it is not very late when the wife discovers that her erotic attraction is the weakest of her
weapons, it disappears with familiarity and alas there are other desirable woman all
about. Wife then is caught in the struggle of ‘Managing’ her husband especially his
meeting with the young woman who may not tear her from the husband. Wife glance all
activities of her J husband wtth eyes wide ones and keeps vigils lest another mistress
getting enough power over him or to make him divorce her or at least to take first place
in his life. And it is a universal malformation of the marriage institution effecting men
& women equally. Although this manifestation in itself can’t be termed as a disease
yet it must be diagnosed as symptomatic of some under-lying pathology. Also it cannot
be rejected as merely a fear psychosis. The awareness of men and women that their
marriage has no real base, is understandable basis or their anxiety. ON THE VERY
8
THRESHOLD OF MARRIED LIFE THE WIFE IS SHOCKED TO REALIZE THAT
‘TO’CATCH A HUSBAND IS AN ART BUT TO HOLD HIM IS A JOB-AND ONE
WHICH RECUIRES GREAT COMPETENCE.
HUSBANDRY-CONTRADICTIONS 1
When the distemper of sexual passion gets eroded what remains is 'primer’
only, in shape of family feuds. With each passing day these feuds swell into open hurling
of abuses, blaming each other for their misfortune. Even moral decency is no limit to
them. Actually it is the contradiction of their married life which besets them.
CONTRADICTION LIES IN THE DUPLICITY OF HUSBAND THAT
DOOMS WIFE TO MISFORTUNE OF WHICH HE COMPLAINS LATER THAT HE
IS HIMSELF VICTIM.JUST ASHE WANTS HER TO BEAT ONCE WARM AND
COOL IN BED, HE REQUIRES HER TO BE WHOLLY HIS AND YET NO BURDON.
HE WISHES HER TO ESTABLISH HER IN FIXED PLACE ON EARTH AND TO
LEAVE HIM FREE,TO ASSUME THE MONOTONOUS DAILY ROUTIEN AND NOT
TO BORE HIM, TO BE ALWAYS AT HAND AND NEVER IMPORTUNATE, HE
WANTS TO HAVE HER ALL TO HIMSELF AND NOT TO BELONG TO HER. TO
LIVE AS ONE OF COUPLE AND TO REMAIN ALONE.
Thus are human beings forced together, the one becomes the slave of
the other and is forced in the fulfilment of matrimonial duty, to submit to the most
‘intimate’ embraces and caresses of the other which torment possibly more than blows
and abuses. This puts the wife more or less same as prostitute with little difference that
former receives her wages in kind and later in cash. SO MARRIFGE INSTITUTION
CAN BE SAFELY LABELED AS PROSTITUTION LEGALIZED WHERETWO PRO
STITUTES (HUSBAND AND WIFE) UNITE TO FORM ONE VIRTUE, (the present
marriage)
PUBLIC AND FAMILY LIFE-DILECTICAL NEXUS ?
And other factor which creates a yawning gap in the ‘sacred’ bond of
marriage is the participation of man in public life. People are beginning to understand
that the prosperity and adversity of persons and families depend far more upon the
condition of pubiic and general organization than upon the personal qualities and actions
of the individual, in as much as the utmost exertions of the individual, are absolutely
powerless to overcome evils which are caused by circumstances, and by which his own
position is determined, on the other hand the struggle for existance demands far greater
efforts than formerly, and if a man is to fulfil, all the claims made upon him by public
and private life, he must perforce encroach upon the time devoted to his wife. But the
public pursuits of the husband are criticized by the rustic wife as only designed to avoid
*
9
home and to remain in the company of friends. Due to her deficient education the wife
always scolds and nags her husbands as spending money ruining health, unnecessarily
inviting trouble for himself and also saddlin’her with their consequences. And if the
husband has to associate with other women in his public undertakings then his
agonies know no bound, the home becomes the centre of the hell. The husband is net
unfrequently placed before the alternative of giving up his public activity and accomm
odating himself to his wife, which does not increase his happiness. He has to sacrifice
his matrimonial peace and domestic comfort. If he decide in favour of the public duties
which as he knows, are so closely connected with the welfare of himself and his family.
A man is generally of the opinion that his wife cannot comprehend his
affairs, and need not concern herself with them. He gives himself no trouble to enlighten
her. “You can’t understand that” is the stereotyped reply when the wife complains, and
wonders that he, as she imagines, should neglect her so unaccountably. And should
the wife discover that her busband has only made use of subterfuges in order to get away
from her, fresh fuel is added to the family disputes. This want of comprehension on the
part of women is only aggravated by the folly of most men. If he is able to bring home to
his wife about the indihiensibility of his public activities for their individual development
and family welfare, then he has crossed a dangerous rock safely-but this rarely occurs.
WO MAN’S APATHY TO POLITICAL AND SOCIAL EDUCATION 1
Wife’s social and political education lacks badly first because of difference!
of education between males and females in younger years and consequently education of
female in lines to fit in futute family life. Second her role and place after marriage
limited to four walls and home drugery. All this shut her off from the outer world and
this great vaccum caused by lack of education did not even let her feel about this snort
coming or to see relationship between these two. And then men trying to educate her
socially and politically without changing the conditions of her home drugsey are making
their cry in wilderness. They do not understand that without the direct participation in
public life her political and social education is impossible. They fail to recognise THAT
THE POLITICAL EDUCATIO N CANNOT BE PROVIDED BY SHUTTING OU1 THE
MASSES FROM THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS BUT ONLY BY ADMITTING THEM IO
THE EXERCISE OF PUBLIC RIGHTS.
AN ARTIFICIAL STAKE ?
These differences of education and opinion, which are easily overlooked
the beginning of marriage, while passion still holds its sway, becomes accentuated in
maturer years, and make themselves all the more painfully feh, at a period in which
sexal feeling has cooled down, then it must necessarily be replaced by mental conformilty.
10
Both husband and wife feel lonely in each other company. A vaccum is thus created A
breach is marked on their family life. Both of them feel suffocating in disguising antici
pating darkness of future. Presence of one is acidic to other partner. Quarrels and
disputes know no end. We see the ruin of the marriage befor us. Then each partner keen
to solder the drifting ends, long for a child in order to discover a media to nourish their
married life to act as a adhesive to join husband and wife. It is in the invironment of
quarrals disputes and indifference that the child opens his eyes and it is under these
circumstances the parents feel compelled to ‘pro-create children.
CARVING PATH FOR THE CHILDREN OR THF CHILDREN FO R
THE PATH 1
Even when the child seems a treasure amiddst a happy life, (Child) cannot
represern the limits of his parents Horizon. But when the parents thay a false and wnong
stake on the future of child the parents while looking at their child enter into fantasies
and in their imagination see the helpless infant lying in the craddle, a potential I. A. S.
Officer, or aneminent Surgeon, or a high official in uniform, and like wise according to
their unfulfilled dreams. On the part of the parents it is a vain attempt, of tresspassing
into the future by proxy only. And this tendency of the parents-is doomed to end in
their dependency on the child. Net only their child’s in-gratitute, but also his failure
believe their hopes. The frustrated couple unable to necognise the fundamental cause of
their eroding family life, seek their self realization tyrannically throuah their offspring.
Thus THE PARENTS IN-ADVERTENTLY ENTER. INTO THE FALLACY OF PRE
PARING THE PATH FOR THEIR CHILDREN INSTEAD OFPREPARINC THEM
FOR THE PATH. Then slowly and slowly the couple realize that their ‘discovery’ had
failed, both of them were still apart one eighty degrees, with a child standing in between
them witnessing a wave of indiference breathing in an atmosphere devoid of love and
affection. Such children strained from very childhood with family fueds also get the
shadow of economic hardships and corresponding realities.
A ND WELIVE IN THE BEST OF WROLD'S ?
In a workers family both hushand and wife go to work. The children
are left alone or in the care of elder children, who need looking after and education
themselves. In hot haste the parents swallow the meals, suppasing they have time to
come home. Tired and exhausted they return home at night. In stead of a pleasant and
camfortable house they find a small unhealthy dwelling without light or air, and eften
without the most necessary arrangements for cleanliness. The wife must set to work at
once, in the utmost haste, to get things into something-likeorders. The noisy and crying
childreuare putto bedas soon as possible, the mother sits sewing & mending till late inthe
11
night. The necessary mental recreation and refreshment are all together wanting The
man is ignorant, the woman still more so. They soon come to the end of the little which
they have to say to each other, the man goes to the public house in search of the entertai
nment which his home cannot provide. He drinks, and however little he may spend it is
too much for his means. Some times he falls a prey to the vice of gaming, which claims so
many victims among the upper classes; and looses three and ten times as much by cards
as by drink. Meanwhile the wife remains at home in dudgueon; she must work like beast
of burden there is no rest or recreation for her; the man makes use of the freedom which
the chance of birth has given him. The discordis complete. If wife also happens to possess
consciousness as that of her husband, if she too seeks a well earned recreation when she
comes at home weary at night, the neglected household doubles her wretchedness.
Truely we live in the best of worlds ?
All tnese things tend more and more to destroy the married life of the
proletarian. Even good times have a 'destructive influence, for tuey force him to work
over hours on Sundays and holidays, and thus rob him of the time which he might devote
to his family. In thousands of cases he has at least an hour’s walk to his work; it is
frequently a simple [impossibility for him to come home during the dinner hour, he starts
early in the morning, while the children are still asleep, and returns late at night, after
they have been put to bed- Many workmen, especially masons in large towns, remain
away the whole week, on account of the distance, only coming home on Sunday; and
family life is supposed to flourish under circumstances such as these. Moreover the
employment of women and children is continually on the increase, especially in the
textile industries, whose thousand steam-looms and spindle frams are worked by the
cheapest hands in the market. The innocent childhood which is to grow in a care free
atmosphere is put within the walls of factories or other working place. These chileren
flourish not in the cradles but before the scortching furnance speedy wheels and chilling
eold. They are doomed to aoult responsibility at tender age These children of 8-10 years
go to earn and to aid bit by bit to the strained economy of the family. Devoid of tend
ered care from very childhood all highly spoken words like Love, Tenderness, Affection
Creativity, Understanding, Equality are snubbed under the stress of economic compu
lsions, child not ai ding to the earning is not as dear to the parents. Tender child
hood is compelled to drudgery of becoming hotel boys, cleanars, factory workers manu
facturing match boxes, packing biries, crackers, cleaning floors, washing utensils with
sleepy eyes. Girls are not exception who are often at work in household and factories.
Such children attain maturity to restore new family as their parents, the cycle goes on.
Truely we live in the best of worlds. ?
WHO IS THE GUILTY 1
System is sleeping - least concerned with their care education as they only
12
need to be nourished to enable them replace old workers to generate the surplus labour
for the Bourgeoisie. Such families comprise sixty percent of today’s India. To talk of
“ideals” is an exercise in futility in such families till they are enabled to emerge from
these sub-human conditions to which they are doomed.Under these conditions they are
even unable to understand that their drudgery lies in the system. Their hardships coupled
v.ith their frustrated aspiration for better life add to their family feuds and every member
thinks that he is suffering for famiiy otherwise ™
Actually they donot know what
otherwise wculd have been.Perhaps nothing. Because change of place or relinquishing
family will not solve the problem which is ingrained in this ystem. Conditions everywhere
are same, under the sky.
ALARMING MISFITS 1
In well to do families children get their economic and educational needs
fulfilled as a matter of right. Creative young brains dohot find expression at home and
as they grow more and more, gets alienated from the family which is unable to feed
their intellectual hunger. The parents for whom life has not been so graceful to meet
their aspirations forces the attention'to see realization of thier unfulfilled aspirations
through children, who have got their -own aspirations and this contradicticn of feelings
proves disasterous for the young. A creative young boy, highest scorer in scietific studies
is doomed to be a shopkeeper only due to the reason that his father needs a man with
him in the shop. A scientific genious is turned a shopkeeper. A tender soul having
inclination towards music or art is snubbed because his father does not see a lucrative
carrier as a musician or as an artist and his father wants him to be a Doctor or an
Engineer. A career is thrusted upon the boy against his wishes only because Engineer,
Doctor or a Civil Officer is estimated to have better Market Value. So in all cases with
neglegible exceptions parents force their unfulfilled desires on their children to be ful
filled by them. This unfulfillment becomes the Legacy for these young children. Net
result is the alarming misfits of the young generation which fails to fit itself in the
desired place due to the antagonistic inclinations, further giving rise to psychological
complications.
WOMAN IS NEVERBORN-SHE IS MADE TOBE SO ?
With all this cruel calamity posed by the society en the children if the
child happens to be girl then she is victim of double oppression. One in general alongwith
all the children, as mentioned above and secondly the oppression arising out of her own
section (Feminine) in a manner which proves beyond doubt that the women is never
born but she is made to be so. As the girl matures, her mother’s authority weighs more
heavily upon her. The mother, as we shall see, is secretly hostile to her daughter’s
liberation. The boy’s efforts to become a man is respected. He is granted much liberty.
»
ft
13
The girl required to stay at home her coming and going are watched, she
is not encouraged to take charge of her own ammusenients and pleasures. She is t.obe
escorted by any one, may be child much younger than her, while mjving in and out of
the home. Custom makes the independence difficult for woman. If they roam the streets
they are stared at devilishly and accosted with filthy remarks. To be feminine is taken
to appear weak futile and docile. The young girl is supposed riot only to deck her
self out to make herself ready for conjugal life and to repress her spontaneity and replace
it with studed grace and charm taught by her elders. Any self assertion will diminish
her feminity and attractiveness.
MANUFACTURING A BRIDE-TO - BE I
A good deal of house work is within the capability of very young
child. Where the boy is commonly excused his sister is allowed rather asked to sweep
dust, peal potatoes, wash the baby keep an eye on the cooking. In particular the
eldest sister is often concerned in this way with motherly task whether for convenience '
or out of necessity for manufacturing a Bride-to-be. Mother thus rids her self of many
of her functions; the girl is in this manner made to fit precociously (early maturity)
into the universe of serious affairs. Her sense of importance will help her in assuming
her feminity. But she is deprived of happy freedom, the carefree aspect of childhood.
Having become precociously (early maturity) a woman she learns all too soon the
limitations this state imposes upon a human being. She reaches adolescence as an adult
which gives her history, a special character. A child over burdened with work may well
become permanently a slave, doomed to a joyless existence. Cheerful and lustering face
turns to listless and with meditative expression on it. Thus Jan old head emerges on the
young tender shoulders.
ABJECT STATE OF NEGLECT ?
Children in such climate feel that the parents dislike him/her and that
they have sullenly, sternly, steadily over looked him. MOST CHILDREN ARE NOT
ACTIVELY ILL-USED, THEY ARE NOT BEATEN OR STARVED BUT THE WRONG
THAT IS DONE TO TH 1M HAD NO INTERVALS OF RELENTING AND IS DONE
IN SYSTEMATIC PASSIONLESS MANNER. DaY AFTER DAY, WEEK AFTER
WEEK. MONTH AFTER MONTH, THEY ARE COLDLY NEGLECTED. THEY ARE
SLIGHTED TAUGHT NOTHING AND FORCED TO A WORK NOT FIT FIR THEM.
No words can express the secret agony of these tiny souls whose growing hopes
were crushed in their bossm. And there should be no surprise if our Page-Boy (whose
diary has been quoted at the on set is the product of such circumstances.
14
STOP MARIAGES AS A CAREER 1
So it is for the welfare of both the sexes that the situation must be
altered by prohibiting marriage as career for woman. Woman dependency is interiorized
she is a slave even when she behaves with apparent freedom, while man is essentially
independent and his bonds come from without. If he seems to be the victim it is because
his burdens are most evident Women is supported by him like a parasite - but a
parasite is not a conquering-master.
PECULIARITY OF PROBLEM ?
Peculiarity of this problem is that as biologically males and females
are never victims of one another but both victims of social set-up. So man and
woman together undergo the oppression of the Institution-they did not creat.
It is alleged that indeed men are victim, these are women who have
bonded men. But infact to men wnose bonds come from without, women dependency
is interiorized. Feminine mentality is so enslaved that she behaves as a slave even when
she is left independent and dependent woman is supported by man like parasites - an
unwelcome ligature, a person -non - grata. If it is asserted that men oppress women the
husband (man) is indignant, he feels that it is masculine code, it is the society developed
by the males, and in their interest, that has established woman’s plight in a form that
is at present a source of torment for both sexes, tnen what a man can do ? Similarly
disillusioned by circumstances are women trying to achieve individual salvation by
by solitary efforts. They are attempting to justify their existence in the midst of their
immanence that is to realize transcendence (superiority) in immanence (inferiority) it is
this ultimate effort often pathetic, soemtime ridiculous, of imprisoned women- a vain
attempt to transform her prison inio heaven of glory, her servitude into sovereign liberty.
Thus libration must be collective of men and women. Who accept the
above reality, hate their plight, for them at least-where is the wisdom to continue flowing
inthe same social stream ? Not at all. It is for the common welfar • of both sexes to come
forward for this cause for changing this wlole rotten social se'up responsible for
making Hell of our lives.
AND FOR THIS First of all economic evolution of women in production
process inorder to provide conducive conditions for developing her independent per
sonalities is the first step. Then to stop merriages as a career. Men should come forward
to support cause of women liberation and all those women in-surgents involved in the
battle of struggle and supporting all those who are yerning for libration, This can be
achieved being part and parcel of struggle of victims of this social set-up which are not
only women but other down trodden classes also; So that the humanity at large may
liberal & a personheod for women maybe restored. (Tojbe Concluded in llvol No.3-85)
FOR FURTHER READING
1.
2.
‘SECOND SEX’ By SIMON DE BEAVOIRE
‘WOMEN IN PAST PRESEN f AND FUTURE’ By AUGUST BABEL
15
READER’S CONVERSE.
NISCHINT K. NAGI Biology department
C. N. U. Amritsar,
“Not only we but any sensible pers~n
who has feeling for problems of women, can be
impressed by Shackles and women. It makes us
conversant of the problems, not only this, it
also makes us aware of the solutions to solve
the problems because each women is part of it
directly or indirectly.
By being continuous reader of this it will
help us in future life. More over current prob
lems create much impact on minds of readers
and leaves the impression for much longer time.
I think if we allwill spread this message to others
then and only then true service for progress and
upliftment of this ‘Weaker’ section of society
(as it is consideied) can be done.”
Ild. Your letter is a complement to our
task,‘shackles and women.’ The warmth of your
approbrations makes us to feel that we are not
a meager, ‘team’ but a huge carvan A great
impetus- indeed! But still greater a complement
at the altar of this cause will be contribution of
your thoughts and actions. Your practical end
eavours towards forming sub-units of shackles
and women in the places where ever you are. To
grapple effectively with the problems of women
section, to provide the women around you, a
forum to seize and solve their problems substant
ively.
Only a living touch with current prob ems
and questions around us can make us conver
sant with the politics. Politics, which is propogatedasadirty game to be played by few rotten hands but effects whole of public. So evety
conscious citizen need to know and participate
in people’s politics and thus pave a way for
change of this rotten set-up.
2. HARCHARBN V. P. O. Bhuchho, Bhatinda,
(English version of the letter in Punjabi): “Out
of the books which you suggested, I have read,
Bhartiya Jailon Mai Panch Saal’ (Hindi) by
Mary Taylor, Origin of Family, Private Prop
erty And State’ by Fredrick Engles. But I have
not been able to get “Indian Women in BritainFinding A voice by Amrita Wilson ”
Ed Study of Books of widest possible range is
an indispensable effort. This is the sine-quo-non
for intellectual development, not only of
women but for every mind going to be illuminateo and for their ultimate amelioration. We
hope our every reader would do well in following
the suit.
i. NAVSHARAN 11-A Sector 19 Madhya
Matg Chandigarh,
“I am sending you M.O. of Rs.50/-. Kindly
note the change in my address.”
Ed. We will say, it is a complement well timed
and admirable, providing thrust for {shackles
and women to roll further and further. But it is
still not the best compliment which you are in a
capacity to provide. Waiting for your Best
Compliments.
NEW YEAR GIFT.
To choose one’s way in life quite freely,
To live just as one’s soul demands.
Indeed, this is a noble feeling.
But one with little dividends.
And if you love.
Then with abandon.
16
FOR AND ON BEHALF OF
DELHI—VICTIMS
A fact finding team jointly organized by
the People’s union for Democratic Rights
(PUDR) and People Union for Civil Liberties
(PUCL)in the course of investigations from Nov.
1 to Nov. 10 has come to the conclusion that
the attack on members of the Sikh Community
in Delhi and its suburbs during the period far
from being a spontaneous expression of madness
and of popular “grief-and-anger” at Mrs Gan
dhi’s assassination as made out to be by the
authorities were the out come of a well-orsanized plan marked by acts of both delibrate comm
issions and ommissions by important politicians
of the Congress (I) at the top and by auth rities
in the administration.Although there was indeed
popular shock grief and anger the violence that
followed was the handiwork of a determined
group which was inspired by d fferent sentiments
altogether.
EXTRACTS OF THE HISTORICAL
WRIT FILED IN THE SUPREME COURT
We are reproducing some extracts of a
writ filed in Supreme Court by Madhu Kishwar,
Lecturer Delhi University Ruth Veenita
Editor ‘Manushi’ and Rakesh Bhardwaz.
1. This writ has been filed under the provisions
of the constitution of India enabling any
citizen to start proceedings in the court aga
inst any infraction of the Constitution
happening around him irrespective of the fact
weather such person is or is not a directly
aggrieved one.
2. The quit has been filed against the following
parties as Respondents :
1. Union of India.
2. Home Minister and Home Secretary who are
responsible for the protection of life & Property
of every Citizen of India.
The above respondent may also be deemed to
include the followlng:1. Leiutinant Governor of Delhi who is the Ad
ministrating head.
2. Commissioner Delhi Police under whose sup
ervision the Delhi Police has demonstrated an
utter dereliction in performance of his duties.
3 The President and Secretaries of Congress
Party whose party deprived the other residents
from their right to live peaceably & honourably.
4. The office bearers of D ’Ihi State Congress
Parties. Who themselves participated and also
abetted others to commit the cri > es.
5. The Congress members Parliament elected
from Delhi State, Congress Metropolitan me
mbers who propogated hatredness against the
other citizens of India and abetted others under
their influence to commit the crime.
The details of offences alleged to have been
committed by the parties has been annexed
seperately with the writ.
They caused greivous injuries, committed
murders en-mass of those citizens of India who
belonged to Sikh religion, raped the women and
prohibited them to travel freely in their own city
and even their own localities. They committed
arson and looting on their houses, destroyed
their shops from which they earned their live
lihood, destroyed their taxies & other machines
with the help of which they fed their ^children.
Burnt their religious places and thus prohibited
them from carrying out their religious affairs
(B) The following articles have been contravened
i. Article 21- relating to Fundamental Rights
according to which the protection of life and
property of every citizen of India in the responsibilitv of the state. And that no person can be
(A)
17
v. Regular pension be granted to the heirs of
deprived of his life except according to the
deceased persons. And these heirs should
procedure established by the law.
not be treated as the victims of natural
ii. Article 19 (1) which provides to every citizen
calamity receiving financial assistance.lt was
a right
[a] To move freely through the territory of India
not a natural calamity but a culpable failure
[b] To reside and settle in any part of the Terr
of the state and the other parties. Therefore
itory of India and make his private property.
the agrieved persons are entitled for full
[c] To practice any profession or to carry on any
compensation.
occupation trade or business for his living.
vi. The whole losses may be recovered from the
[iii] Article 14-which imposes an obligation on
accused persons and institutions in the shape
the state that its hall not deny to an1 person
of fine.
equality before the law and the equal prote
vii. Accused should be awarded exemplary puni
ction of the laws within the tertitory of
shments which should act as deterant for
India
the people in future.
[iv] Article 15 [1] which fixes the responsiblity (E) We appeal to the Supreme Court to dis
of the state to prevant discrimination against
charge its obligation as the highest court of
any citizen on the grounds only of religion,
Judicature of the land and punish the
race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of
accused in a way to create a precedent for
all the citizens of India which would rate
them.
commission of such offences at a price"
[v] Article 25 [1] which provides to every citi
costlier than life.
zen freedom of conscience and free profess
ion, practice and propagation of religion
(C) The parties mentioned by us or alleged to
be guilty of cotravening these five Articles
FOR THE YOUNG
of the Constitution. The detail report of all
egations incriminating the parties Specifica
Wherever possible, therefore young people
lly, is annexed along with the details of the
who find themselves out of harmony with their
crimes committed by them.
surroundings, should endeavour in the choice of
(D) We demand :
a profession select some carrier which will give
i. That a thorough and impartial enquiry be
them a chance of congenial companionship even
made in to these crimes
if t, is should entail a considerable loss of
ii. Immediate suspension of all the office
income
bearers
When the environment is stupid or preju
iii. To impose all the legal prohibitations on
diced or cruel. It is a sign of merit to be out of
these accused as provided under the law for
harmonv with it. And to some degree these
other accused under trial.
cha'acteritics exist in almost every environment.
iv. The properties of the alleged institutiens be
Young people are ill advised if they yield to
declared as confiscated till the decision by
the pleasures of the old in any vital matter.
the court.
18
Break The Chains
'HALF-OF- US'-A POSTER. EXHIBITION
ON WOMEN'S PROBLEMS.
To focus the attention of the Public on
half of population- A poster exhibition on
women’s problems was arranged by Forum For
Women’s Progress at Nellore. The slogan for
occasion was ‘PEOPLE ARE NOT FREE AS
LONG AS WOMEN ARE NOT FREE.’
Pamphlets Said- “Oh women ! Your body is not
yours- It is for us to decide.
In the name of marriage we probe the curves
and anatomy of it.
Burn it off if the dowry you bring, is not ample.
Impose family planning if we feel that two chil
dren are all which you must have.
Sell it off to satify the lust of man.
Expose it half naked on the cinema screen
. Rape it to teach a lesson to your man.
Utilize it in advertisement to sell our goods,
'Exploit it for cheep labour.
Allot to it unskilled work ... — ............. — —”
Some questions were also posed as to
what is reason of their slavery ? Pamphlets
asked women to demand their rights. Organisa
tion is concerned to make - women realize their
inferior status and fight for their rightful place
to involve them in protarcted struggle against
male-chauvnism, exnloitation and oppression.
Sixty poster were put to depict various
problems, on discrimination with female child,
female infanticide, dowry, prostitution, cond
ition of Dev-Dasi’s, selling of girls to rich Arab
sheikhs, rapes in police stations (alongwith list
of rape victims), women torn by dual role at
office and home, comparison table of slaves and
women etc.
Another section traced historical back
ground & evolution in matriarchal, Patriarchal,
feudal and capitalistic societies and origin of
sexual division of labour. Then a section on
militant women who participated in strugglesSammakka and Saralamma against King in 13th
century, reformation movement, revolutionary
women in Telangana peasant uprising (1946-51)
Tebhage movement in Bengal, Grigan move
ment for land ih Srikakulum and Naxalbari,
Chipko-Andolan against deforestation by con
tractors, struggle of Manipuri women, Dhulla
movement against liquor etc
They also gave relevant economic, social
and politicai reasons to counter the opinion that
women are worst enemiesof wo-uen. Quotations
from religious scriptures were quoted and many
people reacted badly and refused to belive that
these were written in their scriptures.
This is very healthy and worth appreci
ating attempt to focus women problem so beau
tifully creatively as well as in correct perspective
As we know any women-cause howsoever well
high lighted, if it is not on the correct lines i. e.
linking this problem with social set-up form
which emerge male chauvinism, oppression and
expliotation. women liberation cannot be mat
erialized These women movements must form
part of broader struggles of working and opp
ressed people. Awareness on these lines is first
necessary step to break chains.
We call our readers to work on above
lines & harness their skill in what ever creative
way they can be preparing paintings, posters.
banners, slogans badges, Insignas etc in English
Punjabi, or Hindi,so that we can also high light
the problem, on 8th March, 1985 -International
working women’s day. For details and consul
tation if needed correspondence is welcomed.
(Hoping a rich response. Ed.)
19
CHIMNEY OF FATAL FU VIES BHOPAL
On 22nd Dec; 84 sleeping population of
Bhopal was served with death warrants by Union
Carbide, an American Multinational Pesticide
firm,raised in colloboration with Indian partner
Kesho Mohendra manufacturing SAVIN insec
ticide from poisnous gas methyl isocynate.
Incidence is posed as on accident due to leakage
of Gas by ‘Increased Pressure’ in tanks. Few
questions hammer every sensitive mind. What
jjpcurity measures were granted by company ?
Was the mishappening for the first time? Should
such lethal chemicals be allowed amidst thi.k
population. What was the role of Labour depar
tment and Government Officials. Does the
parent company Union Carbide Corporation of
America is any the less guilty ? Which under a
pact entered in 1973 was to provide machinery
& Technical know how. at the cost of 20 Crores.
HO IV SECURE THE SECU RITE
MEASURES ?
In November 24, 1978 there was a mojor
blaze in the factory when the Nepthal Unit cau
ght fire. A small quantity of Phosgene leaked on
December 26, 1981 killing a plant Operator
•Mohamad Asharaf. A fortnight later the leakage
*reoccured and affected twenty four people who
battled for their lives for months to-gather.
On October 5,1982 an explosion in the pipe
was caused, the Methyl e oozing out. The gas
reached the surrounding areas enveloping the
residents. Then the nature helped the mankind,
the wind due to its opposite direction blew the
gas away from Bhopal. Still in this wake many
persons had to be hospitalized. But an employes
Arun Mathur never returned from the hospital
Govt, though hot unaware !of these accidents
fell >n a predicament. In 1975 the then muni
cipal administrator M.N. Buch issued notice
to the company to shift outside the municipal
limits of Bhopal. But M.N. Buch was trans
ferred while Carbide stayed. The General Man
ager of the company C. S. Ram then donated
Rs. 25000/-to the Bhopal Municipal Corporation
for constructing a park and the Municipal notice
was forgotten then. And Mr. J. Mukind works
Manger of Union Carbide before his arrest cla
imed, “Our safety meas ires are best in the
country”,
GOVERNMENTAL CONNIVANCE.
On December 21, 1982 B, J. P. legislators
asked the then labour Minister Tara Singh
Viyogi in the State assembly about the accidents
in the factory and steps taken by the State
Governments. Excerpts of Viyogi reply:“Safety arrangments have been made in the
factory. The company has been asked under the
Factories. Act to take necessary steps. No
compensation has been paid to the person who
fractured his handin an accident in the factory...
Under the factory Act, our deputy inspector
has to visit the plant and inspect the safety
messures. Checks are carried out from time to
time and suggestion given This factory was
established in 1969 and it is not a small stone
that I can lift and shift it to some other place.
The whole of India depends on the factory.
There is no great danger to Bhopal from the
plant. There is no question of shifting it.
“There are big showers in the plant to cool
the tank. There are glass panels which can be
broken by any bdoy in case a leakage occurs.
If any of the glasses break the showers will start
functioning. Qualified doctors and nurses are
also available in t.he factory. Scientists have in
vestigated the effects of the gas which emanate
from the factory and there i's no health hazard
due to it. I have myself visited the place thrice.
20
FLASH LIGHTS
“Out of the total population of 8 Lacs in
Bhopal 2 Lacs were allegedly have been effectedand more than twenty five hundered have
died. Effected were writhing in pain and exhau
stion on the roads. Few doctors were seen at
the hospital early in the morning. Even those
present were at their wits end. Medical aid was
out of question. Only those who had body
resistance survived ”
“There was about thirty tons of M. I. C.
gas (Methylisocynate Gas) in liquid fojpijJ.nJhe
tank when the accident occured AJxraU'tt^^q
fifteen tons leaked in an hour. If juei'whole-.of(is.
had leaked out it, would have wiped out every
body within a 25 Kilometre radius.”
“The plant at Bhopal manufactured a vari
ety of Pesticids. one of them based on phosgene,
is used in horticulture and is exclusively for
expert.”
“Phosgene is a poisoaous gas,used by Hitler
in second world war and was banned in 1925
under Geneva Treaty.” “Scientists are of the
view that the gas leaked is phosgene and not
MJ.C.as corroborated by scientific facts. M.LC.
eveporates at thirty-eight degree-centigrade.
And the temprature ofBhopal on that night wasl4centigrade & also the effect of phosgene leakage
is writ, large on the vegetation turned pale
around the Carbide Complex. A criminal case
against eight top official of Union Carbide has
been registered under section 120(B), 278, 284,
•04(A), 426, 429, 1. P. C. Arrested persons were
lodged at Rest House Shyamla Hills.”
“When enquired about liability of Union
Carbide Corporation of America, Government
replied, “it is doubtful, they are simply techni
cal men,do not have criminal liability.”
i
“The teams of doctors, Medical Students
and Nurses went on strike when some Congress
(j) responsible members interfered in their work
& gave false claims for relief. But these striking
workers, realizing suffering of people resumed
relief work again but demanded an apology for
Wrong interference.”
“When deputation of Hundred women went
to complaint Arjan Singh Chief Minister
about Bureaucratic efficiency and lack of
rescue measure, Chife Minsiter was out to.receive
Mr Rajiv Gandhi at Air Port.
’
“Has Pakistan Bombed the city with the
chemical war fare, every body asked. There are
instances of men deserting their whole family in
their attempt to save their life.”
“The Supreme Court had laid down the law
that the state cannot escape its responsibility for
any damage to its citizens arising from the neg
ligence of its instrumentations and had to fully
compensate the victims.” Can there be worst
industrial disaster,? Why the Union of India has
avoided the confession about its liability to
the citizen. ?
A CHOICE:
Themistocles, being asked weather he
would rather marry his daughter to an
indigent man of merit or to a worthless
man of estate, replied that he wotdd
prefer a man without an estate than to an
estate without a man.
BiMonthly Journal
Sphered by ;
Sickles & Women Associates
Aityal Contribution : Rs. 20/Siijle copy ; Rs. 4/-
INSIDE VIEW
4 COjTACT ADDRESS :
DiJiwan Jot
Ne Harindra Nagar,
Fatikot (Pb.)-1512O3
C^ospondence At Contact
Adrcsfi Only)
SAl/ ASSOCIATES :
1 • Novsharan,
C.l.R.I.D. I l-A, Sec. 19
Mt)hya Marg, Chandigarh
ZJrishna,
Sttfe Bank of Hydrabad,
Shajmai Bagh Branch,
Deii.
3.'Dr. Pritam Pal,
•-(, Indra Colony,
Bajj Park, Jaipur. (Raj)
Editorial :
WHERE SINGING IS A CRIME
A Seminar :
INDIAN WOMEN-IN CHANGING SOCIO-ECONOMIC
STRUCTURE
A Poem
THE INVINCIBLE
Legal View :
FIASCO OF FAMILY COURTS.
A Report
ORGANISED GANG OF CRIMINALS—INDIAN
POLICE.
Break the Chains.
END WITH DIVDA.SI-I.SM
COMMUNITY HE-M7H CELL
326, V Main, I Slock
Koramangala
Bangalore-560034
Where Singing fis^A Crime
In last months at Punjab SCENERIO
Dhadhi Jatha (Singing Group) popularily
known as Jatha of ‘Nabhe Walian Bibian’
(Women of Nabha) is singing “Vars,
(Militant Songs) on present situation of
Punjab for which Jatha has been arrested
many times.
To sing religious and militant songs in
group alongwith one person playing on
Dhudh Sarangi (instrument like sitar played
with stick) is old tradition of sikh religion.
Such songs narrate the opperession, wars
fought and tales of bravery of the fighters.
In olden age these songs were sung to up the
spirit of the fighters, After that to role was
mainly depicting militant events of history
how sikh fighter faced bravely resistance of
oppressors and state.
Now inchangcd
situation when once again sikh minority is
fighting for its rights against state, ‘Vars’
are becoming popular.
Most popular Jatha (Group of Nabhewalian Bibian) comprises a middle aged Bibi
Surjit Kaur and Young woman Bibi Jawahar
Kaur who sung, alongwith Sardar Balwant
Singh Premi who plays instrument. They are
singing ‘Vars’ related to History as well as
the present situation, how Govt, is doing
injustice and resistance given by the sikhs.
Their malodious voice, fearless expression and
vigour attracts the people in large numbers.
Cassettes of the programme are being
recorded. Jatha has covered vast areas under
their programmes.
Govt, alarmed of this exposure and
popularity of Jatha, put the Jatha behind
bars but had to leave them as they could not
prove anything. The arrest has not demorlized
them but strengthened their will. Jatha Said
that it is their duty to keep morale of ‘Sikh
community up in turbulent times for which
they will not fear even jail.This raises the issue
that when the Govt, declares that all our
black laws arc only for extremists and
antisocial elements and we do not hinder
SAW
3
political movement and peaccfull propaganda
then due to what have they rounded up this
Jatha ? Now in amended law they have
included in one clause that it is crime to
sing song, recite jokes, to keep cassettes in
custody of such material labeled as inflamatory propaganda. Term is very vague. Tales
of state repression arousing angler in sikhs
are also inflamatory for Govt.
Sikh history if not distorted gives no
basis for communalisin in stead a major
part of the history depicts fighting against
oppression and exploitation. ‘It was war
against state and operessors’ interms of
Guru Gobind Singh ‘between Zalim and
Mazloom (exploiter and exploited)’. So
singing such Vars may rise fighting spirit
against opression of state but not against
©pressed people of other communities.
Alongwith many other conditions this
tradition has also played role due to which
inspite of Govt, efforts in punjab there has
been no communal riots. In ‘Vars’ related to
present situation, though present mood of
War, which is mainly antistate, is depicted
but still some communal elements like ‘sikhs
are nation’ and few other arc there.
We appreciate, courage shown by these
women not yeildingto state. This also shows
women who become conscious for some
cause have so much fury that Jails, threats
connot obstruct their way. But wc will like
to suggest to our warrior women with
fighting spirit that to win such battles only
courage is not sufficient, courage associated
with correct demarcation of enemies friends
and allies is of utmost importance. So all
such tendencies which isolate sikh minority
in their struggle, narrow their circle of
friends and allies need to be combated. Not
sparing the main enemy to the least, they
should take support of various allies to turn
this battle into broad battle between Zalim
and Mazloom.
Editor
Baidian WometHn Changing Socio
Economic Structure
A SEMINAR REPORT
Decade. At that time the issue of women s
status was viewed essentially a social and
cultural issue unconnected with the inter
national development strategy or problem.
It was at the Mexico conference that the
concern was shown over ’adverse impact of
development’ particularly on third world
women. This new consciousness demanded
for a ‘New International Economic order’
and ending of International imbalance in
economic power relation. The Declaration
of Mexico identified women as “natural
allies in the struggle against any form of
oppression and exploitation such as
practised under colonialism and new colonia
lism thereby constituting an enormous
revolutionary potential for Economic and
Social change in the world to day”.
In this conference the Delegates from
the Developing Countries viewed this
problem as a part of the system of exploi
tation in every country as well as within the
International Economic and Political Order
while delegates of Developed Countries did
not see it much more than a charactersitic
feature of male dominated society.
The view of the developing countries
was upheld in the Mid-Decade Review
Conference of the U. N. at Copenhagen in
1980 as such. The strategies and measures
needed to promote the status of women
were accepted as the indispensable compo
nents of the struggle for the establishment
of a New International Economic Order. It
was realised that, women’s problems have
always been ignored while adopting strategies
for development. In developing countries
the developmental
programmes
have
produced rather negative results?
D. A. V. College for Women Amritsar
made a pioneer attempt in holding first
regional seminar on Indian Women in
changing Socio-Economic structure which was
sponsored by Regional Centre Indian Council
of Social Sciences and Research Chandigarh.
Various Social and Research organisation
and other individuals endevouring towards
uplifting of women were invited. Total
nine papers were presented, we will take
one Iby one.
Women Are Natural Allies In Struggle
Cagainst Any Form Of Opcression And
Exploitation—An Intorductory note.
In her introductory note Dr. Anand
Gauba stated the object of the seminar to
make all out efforts to search for the reasons
of the declined status of women in the third
world in general and in India in particular.
Informing about the previous efforts Dr.
Gauba told that this effort was first made
during the later half of the 19th century by
the feminists and Social Reform movements
geared up in 1920 ’s by the chiefs of the
struggle for freedom in India. According to
Dr. Gauba, right direction to this cause was
provided by the Govt, of India in 1971 when
a Committee was formed to report on the
status of women. Dr. Vina Mazumdar was
one of its pioneer members. This committee
submitted the report in 1975 before U. N.
took up the cause of women. But despite
all efforts made over the cuntury the women
’s status has declined. On the issue of
inequility towards women, United Nations
Organisation sponsored world conference
and declared 1975 as the Intcrnatinal women
’s Year and period from 1975 to 1985 was
declared as the Interdational Women
SAW
4
A
The Committee on status of women in
India felt the absence of desired datas and
that the datas what so ever available are
unreliable because the computation of such
datas ignored the vast majority of rural
women. In the absence of which, those datas
become superfluous and misleading. There
fore it is high time that we should review
the problem in the light of rationaly
representating datas and sort out ways and
means to raise the status of women. It is a
matter of great concern that the living
standard of women is declining.
In the end Dr. Gauba gave a call to
pledge that no stone would be left unturned
to define and work fora society in which
women participation is recognised in full
sense in economic, social and political life
and to devise strategies whereby such society
could develop." In view of Dr. Gauba this
alone will fulfil the ideal of New Inter
national Economic order. No economic order
is complete without the participation of
women in fuller sense and on the terms of
equility.
Wage Discrimination Between Man and
Women.
Dr. Raj Mohini through her paper
presented statistical data highlighting the
wage discrimination between men and
women. From these datas another fact came
to lime light that apart from the existing
disparities in wages of men and women, the
rates of wages are much below the minimum
wages as enacted by the Govt. Although
usually it is presumed that Labour in the
Punjab state is highly paid. But their so
called ‘high wages’ are meant for certain
specific jobs and for specific occasions e. g.
for sowing of paddy harvesting of wheat
etc. The women are generally engaged in the
job of cotton picking which fetches a meagre
wages. But the paper is silent about the fact
SAW
5
that for how many days in a year the women
has to remain without job. According to Dr.
Raj Mohini the availability of surplus male
labour and secondly the physical strength of
the men are two factors which can be
mainly attributed to the wage disprity
between men and women.
Inching Towords Equality
Ms Pushpinder Chandla read a paper
•Inching Towards Equality' narrating the
discrimination in law relating to women. She
began with quoting some disparaging quips
about women written by Manti and Shakes
pear and said that they (Manti and Shakes
pear) themselves did not knew how much
harm they have done to the women-hood.
Ms. Chandla said that God never wanted
inequility when he created the world, but it
is the ‘Man’ who used it for his own ends.
Then she described the era of constitutional
rights while referring the women movements
in France and Britain. Ms. Chandla also
pointed out the Articles in the Constitution
of India which are soarly discriminatory to
the Woman. But Ms. Chandla tried to
defend this infirmity of the constitution
saying that this discrimination manifests due
to its misinterpretation or in not carrying
out the spirit of the constitution. According
to her there is gap between theory and
practice. She said In fact the women is far
from Equility. Despite various laws, there
are social values which are responsible for
denying quility to th? women in comparison
with the men. In the end Ms. Chandla
concluded that the main responsiblility for
such inequility lies on the shoulders of Man.
Ms. Chandla in her analysis did not
probe the conditions of woman in social and
historical context. And to its utter fallacy
Ms. Chandla had held the Man solely
responsible for this disparity. Social set up
containing both Men and women has not
even slightly been mentioned to have some
thing to do with such discrimination.
In fact question is not merely of gap
between theory and practice but there is
basis for discrimination in theory i. e. in
very fundamentals of constitution which she
has failed to analyse. Nothing has been said
about the absence of right to work as being
fundamental, the improper distribution of
means of production which is presently under
control of a micro minority, and law defends
such discrimination as fundamental right to
private property. And it is this wrong
aspectof the constitution which preserve the
essence of discrimination in the well
decorated golden letters of Equality. Thus
Law is the product of this set up based on
class-society. And this Equality clause of
the constitution plays prime role in defend
ing this system with its all evils and this
various rights looses their importance.
Un till and unless one is not gauranteed the
basic necessities the democracy cannot
develop. Because the right to work is not
fundamental therefore the Government can
not be compelled to provide work. And
majority of women are dumbed itself in the
unproductive task of home drudgery which
is checking their development.
Attributing creation of present world to
the God. And then considering the God
just and virtuous the whole responsipility
has been placed on the Man. This is
unscientific and metaphysical approach to a
highly material question like the one in hand
where as the God is only a whimsical and
developed due to lack of understanding and
out of fear of the natural in force early days
Later on when the society was divided into
classes then God was formulated as a full
fledged institution which guided the forma
tion of social laws and the society according
to the development at that time.
With the development of society when
SAW
(
the thought of classless society and
universal fraternity are occuping the human
mind at this stage use of God is highly
orthodox and unscientific and such thinking
serves the interest of the exploiting class.
The theory of Karma and ideology of
subordination are the products of Religion
which through its teaching instill more and
more subordination and inferiority in the
women and the 'exploited classes! and
provide basis for a tendency of compromise.
Sphere of law is also not intact from the
vicious effect of the institution of Religion.
Law of the land takes its direction from the
perverse religious principles. This is the
reason that the elements of discrimination
arc festering in the present law. Muslim
women despite being the citizens of‘Free’
(not to Presume even) India are debarred
from the right of equality in so many ways
and under Muslim law a Man is allowed
to keep four wives. Such laws also effect the
Hindu Counterparts. A Hindu wife is
helpless when shrewed husband marries
second time by converting his religion to be
Muslim. It is high time that a universal
civil code should replace all codes based on
the various religions.
So not only reforms in law or question
of implementation of law should be under
question but also the discriminatory basis
on which law is based.
Indian Women in Changing Socio Economic
Status-In Context to Middle Class Women
Lakshmi Kant Chawla presented her
views on the topic Indian Women-incontext
of changing socioeconomical conditions. To
her distinction she was the sole participant
who expressed herself in Hindi. Also Ms.
Chawla articulately put his viewpoint that
the problems of the women differs according
to their strata of the society. And therefore
while dealing the topic in hand Ms. Chawla
o.
add ressed herself particularly to the Middle
class section of Indian women. She was
cautious in vain lest the problems of middle
class women are taken as the problems of
Indian women in general as usual. Ms.
Chawla with her eloquent expression gave
the graphic description of various existing
social problems such as sex discrimination,
dowry, treating the women more as an sex
object or misutilizing her as an object for
commercial advertizement or for catching
customers also the problems being faced by
the women in their employment. But such
lengthy narration of widely known and daily
securring problems was at the best an
amusement for the gatherad elite rather than
an endeavour to wrestle with all aspects of
serious topic in order to reach some conslusion. unfortunately the overemphasis of Ms.
Chawla on the dramatic description of
problems led her astray. In her conclu
ding portion where some concrete and
detailed solution was anticipated. Ms.
Chawla suggested that is it only the womenwho would solve these problems. But sign of
interrogation remained as such about the
way to solve these problems.
Role Conflict in Indian Women
Vidhu Mohan and Bharti Kapur both
from Punjab University Chandigarh depart
ment of Psychology Presented their seminar
paper captioned as Role conflict in. Indian
working women. Their seminar paper
consisting of fourteen pages was devided
under ten headings. Half the paper was
devoted in tracing the status of women in
from Ancient Indian Culture upto present
20th century. According to them in ancient
period the status of the women was very
much sacrosanet they have derived this
historical conclusion from the facts that
certain rivers were ascribed female nomen
clature and that the great saint. Swami
Paramhansa Ram Krishan worshipped Ma
SAW
Sharda. They further quoted Arthshastra
that wife is the other half of the man, the
best of his friends, the root of three aims of
life and all that will help him (man) to the
other world”. They quoted Hindu Shastras
telling that a woman should be lovingly
cherished, well fed and cared for and provi
ded with jewellery and luxries to the limit of
husband’s means she would never be
upgraded too seriously for the gods will not
accept the sacrifice of the man who beats
his wife. The factors relied upon by Vidhu
and Bharti are wholly unreliable to warrant
such conclusions. The basis of their such
conclusion leads one to doubt about their
concept of good status of man or woman.
To infere the better status of women because
one swami Ram Krishan Param",Hans revered
her Ma Sharda is a poor it not naive premise
Such conclusion when based by them on
some verse from Hindu Shastra adoring
women can be easily contraverted by quoting
many more from Hindu Shastras which
Irelittee women and reduce her to the status
of a chaish ..... Even the quotes given by
the authors does not go in lavour of there
conclusions.
For defining role and status authors
have quoted Ralflinton (1966) as :—
“status as distinct from the indivdual
who may occupy it is a collection of rights
and duties, role represent the dynamic
aspect of a status. The individual is socially
assigned to a status and occupies it with
relation to other statuses. When he puts
rights and duties which constitute the status
into effect he is performing a role”.
Authors analyzed that in changing
Indian Society daughters are given education
and encouraged for job but from her as
daughter-in-law expectations are same. If
she gives more time at office, or home is
neglected or succeeds more than husband,
conflict starts leaving two alternatives with
her; either to leave the job to cater husband's
ego or to leave married life. This gives rise
to role conflict in family due to her changed
role are bringing upheaval in society and
demand readjustment of roles of husband
and wife in family. New conception of
relationship is not clear to modern husband
and wife but they do not know exactly how
authority between them should be carried
out.
Women also wants to be successful at.
both fronts i. e. good profession and caring
wife and good mother. Authors pointed out
that at work place working women is sexu
ally exploited but its relation with role
conflict has not been explained.
Authors have ascribed major part of
paper in preparing plot. Not that space
given to analysing role conflict was too little
but is touched the problem only at surface
and authors have failed to bring out any
analysis. Being Psychologists they have not
done justification with the so good topic
related to a burning problem creating majo
rity psychological problems in society today.
Status and role as put by authors
present no comprehensive, definition and are
inarticulate. To us :
“status is person’s legal, social or
professional position in relation to others”
And
“Role is person’s task or duty in an
undertaking” As status is in relation to otherdsoone Individual in different relation to
have different status, accordingly ‘person’s
role in different undertaking will bedifferent.
When there is conflict betweon person ’s
status and role it gives rise to role conflict.
It manifests;
(a) In ideas of person concerned.
(b) In ideas of person related to/him/her in
famliy
(c) In ideas of persons around in society.
SAW
8
taking example of an Indian women to
explain:(a) In her own mind she is still not able to
free herself from Ideological fector of male
dominated Ideology. She has assumed new
role in society but still believes that home
tasks are to be performed by her and does
not struggle for corresponding change at
home, such wife will not allow her husband
dusting, sweeping, cleaning utensils etc beca
use she feels herself degraded in in presence
of others If her husband does his work. She
is not able to reconcile that if home work
does not lower her dignity how it can lower
dignity of her husband, (here we arc leaving
for timebeing the problem that husband are
not assuming this role), This is her conflict at
home.
Second at office she very much feels the
bad remarks and sexy looks of male fellow
beings and condemns attitude of males for
taking female as sex objects but she herself
goes office in fashionable low cut dressses
and other upto date fashions even though
some of her dresses may hinder her activity
or is uncomfortable in crowded bus or train
She has not reconciped that in office her role
, is different and demands her thinking to be
moulded on new lines i. e. diverting her time
from useless fashioning and to development
of her intellectual capacity.
one more example she feels need of only
■ one children but if her first child ought to be
female one goes for second to have male child.
Family pressure also counts but in her own
psyche this difference still exit and she is
, unable to see changed role of her daughter in
life of parents.
(b) At Family Level
This is manifested
that they want her to fulfil needs of ache fa
mily members and yet to go to service and
devote time for her studies. They do not
realise that individual has limitation of time
and energy and with her changed role others
<Tl
also need to change theie role at home taking
Factors Influencing Changing Position of
responsibilities at home equally. This is due
Women.
to old values in which male do not see it
Ms. Satiiam Kaur D.A.V. College for
(home work) as part of their duty but if little
Women Amritsar studied the factors influeis done, It is done as obligation to wife. Due
cing the changing position of women in the
to fettering of husband by old values, he
20th Century especially the movement of
desist himself from sharing all type of work
women out of home into remunerative work.
taking plea that society does not like it, but
She correctly emphasized that women al
actually this is deeprooted part of his think
ways had a role in the economic productivity
ing and also an excuse to escape. After all the
of the nation. Before coming of the machines
hectic activity at office by both of them he
they worked in their homes to produce food
and clothing, but mass production maden it
wishes to be served by hot tea in evening, of
easier to purchase the family needs then to
friend accompany him which should entrtain
rely on home production. Today for the
them and that wife should keep house hold
first
time in history work for most women
upto mark and their role conflict at family
means
something done outside the family
level manifests in all its nakedness Problems
separatad from the home.
arises due to resaon that her identity as per
son is not recognised and her needs arc
She attributed educacion of women and
subordinated to needs of family assuming her
industdrial revolution asfactors that provided
primarily as wife and mother. This gives rise
the impetus to women as piration for equality
to role conflict.
of opportunity. The changes in society like
change from rural culture to an urban soci
At Socity Level : In old culture and ideo
ety, small scale produption to Mechanisa
logy women role was seen only as mother or
tion, home dependent economy to economy
as sexual object. Now when she goes out for
which is not fully dependent on home and
different tasks her image of being sexual
also the number of increase years for activ
object fixed in mind of males due to old
ity due to increase in physical health and longvalues, conflicts with her new role and result
ivty of women has affected her participa
is her sexual harrasment. Even educated
tion. She also mentioned that with the
persons like Doctors, Professors, Scientists
mechanisation and automation the uses to
are not free from this type of thinking patt
which women labour could be pat is almost
ern e. g. in Ph. D courses head of Deptt.
the same as that of men and physical strenusing his authority will select most beauti
ght is no longer a serious consideration. In
ful girl to guide for thesis even though he has
her conclusion she over assessed that in
to go out of way in doing so and then will
India women are held in high esteem as
do his level best to exploit her. Similarly
evident from rapidly opening doors of higher
boss will select her personal Steno on basis
of Physical beauty. Due to space problem
educatiou for her, but data speak against it.
After 38 years of independence 80% women
we are unable to deal the problem of role
are illiterate out of remaining 20% who get
conflict in its entirety.
opportunity for going to school only seven
It would have been much better if the
percent reach above Matric and only 1.2%
authors would have given multi dimentional
are able to obtain higher education.
picture of problem with concrete examples,
Similarly she has also concluded that
its root cause and how they see its solution
with her participation in job outside home
in context to new social SQt up.
SAW
9
there is revolution In position of women.
Accrdlng to her it is becoming quite natural
for them (husbands) to share household
tasks. Women are definitely seeking equility in marriages. The average working wo
men in India is coming closure to men in
the social status, economic opportunities
open to her, and the intellectual freedom
enjoyed by her today then at any time in
history. She takes a slight note of the double
standard but again stresses that now its
existance is neither taken for granted nor
powerfully asserted by men.
It is a stonishing to believe this conclu
sion. It seems as if Satnam Kaur is living in
some other society but facts and hard real
ities of the life are on the contrary. At every
step women is faced with the double burden
of home and outside work, mental and
psychological burden of double standards
and limited opportunity of for her developement. She has to pass through great
mental conflict in order to keep her iden
tity in tact amongst the double standard
of old values and formal acceptance of her
new role but in the transition period it
cannot be otherwise and she has to face this
challenge to make the wheel of the history
to move in forward direction.
WOMEN’S WORK-AN EONOMIC
REVIEW
Ms. S. Nanda in her paper, women’s
work- An economic review, pointed out that
most women are relegated to unpaid labour,
category of home work which is essential for
subsistance of family. More poor family,
more is burden on women. She has to go for
adding earning of family too. The old divi
sion of labour has shifted. She notes that the
developing process we find women taking over
men’s work in addition to their own but men
rarely taking over women’s work. Men mai
ntain a rigid refusal to. Women’s health and
SAW
future generation too are eflfacted as 40%
of babies born to over worked and under
nourished mothers die within four years of
birth. At end she concluded that changing
socio economic status of developing India is
advcrsly affecting women’s capacity to work
and more crucial their survival rate.
The news put with in paper are at
best a case study but much less an analysis.
she has touched only tip of ice berg of such
a vital problem. This dual burden is destiny
of women passing through transition. Corr
ect it is burdening women but better than
four walls of home in which she was put in
feudal age. The question to grapple is why
system is not bothering to give her candition
in confirmity with her changing role ? What
are causes at its basis and what type of value
and social structure is needed which will pro
vide condition for her changed role ?
INDIAN MOTHERS—CHANGES AND
RESPONTIBILITIES
Mr. Somesh Chadda in hir paper Indian
mothers challenges and responsibilities, tried
to analyse that Indian Youth has less risk
bearing capacity as compared to developed
countries and to develop this aspect mothers
can play role. He also noted that as mothers
arc also affected by same ideology of not
taking risk so are unable to transmit new
ideas to women and thus [a vicious circle.
We failed to understand what relevance
this paper had with present discussion. It
would have been more relevant in some
other seminar related to youth but has
hardly to do any thing with topic under
discussion.
Dr. Ms Anand Gauba in her paper
remunerating work participation of women
in Amritsar gave case study from 1901 to
1981. She has not mentioned how this can
study relate to previocus raised in her
introductory note.
*
ough this Act, any radical change has been
provided by the Govt, which the matrimo
nial law was not previously blessed with.
The concept of concilliation is not entirely
new to the country. The code of Civel Pro
cedure (Amendment) Act 1976, contains
special provisions on eigoining a duty upon
the court to make efforts to assist the parties
to the suit in arriving at a seetlement in cer
tain categories of suits or proceedings such
as litigation relating to matters concerning
the family, gaurdianship and custody ado
ption of children maintenanace and succession
etc. Tnese amendments were made vide
order 32-A Civil Procedure (Amendment)
Act. 1976.
That the provisions of Family Courts
Act 1985 are in existance since 1976 under
the title C.P.C. (Amendment) Act 1976.
Similar provisions are also found in
section23 subsection (2) and (3)of the Hindu
marriage Act 1955.
S23 Decree in proceedings.
(1)..............................................................
(2)
Before proceeding to grant any
relief this Act, it shall be the duty of the
court in the first instance, in every case
where it is possible so to do consistently
with the nature and circumstances of the
case to make every endeavour to bring about
a reconcilliation between the parties.
“Obviously there is left no shred of
doubt that except establishing a separate
court to be termed as Family Court there
is on thing in this act which was previously
not present.’
Again these concilliation part which the
Family courts Act has emnhasized unduly is
irrational arbitrary and is made dependent
upon the fabric af the judge acting ar Family
Court. Where as the previous provision pro
viding for rsconcilliation as we have seen
above were time-bound beyond which even
the court could not drag the proceedings to
the harrassment of the parties. But the pre
sent Act has given unfettered powers to the
judge for effecting reconcilliation. Refer
Family Courts Act.
See 1:—“In every suit or procedure endeav
our shall be made by the family court
in the first instance where it is possi
ble to do so consistent with the
nature and circumstances of the case
to assist and persuade the partiees in
arriving at a settlement in respet of
the subject of matter of the suit or
proceeeding and for this purpose i. e.
may, subject to any rules made by
the High Court, fellow such proced
ure it may deem fit.”
This section of the family courts is substan
tially the repilca of S-23 Hindu Marriage
(3)
For the purpose of aiding the court Act with the time limit of Fifteen days del
eted. Therefore the family courts upon
in bringing about such reconcilliation the
coming into operation will debar the parties
court may if the parties so desire or if the
from this safeguards of time limit against
eourt thinks it just and proper so to do,
unduly prolonging and stressing the reconci
adjourn the proceedings for a reasonable
lliation.
period not exceeding fifteen days and refer
JUDGE IS LAW AND NOT LAW THE
the matter to any nominated by the court
JUDGE
if the parties fail to name any person with
directions to report to the court as to whather
A Curosity look into the Act reflects
reconcilliation can be and has been effected and that most ef the provision are vague in the
the court shall in disposing of the proceeding
sense that much has been left the discretion
have due regerd to the report.
of the judge. Discretion is very dangerous in
ASW
15
instrument of injuitsce if it is in the wrong
hands or when handled not with care. When
we say ‘wrong hands’ it means the judges not
sensitized with social justice, with a machin
ist and walled in conciousness. It is to be
remembered that most judges if we go by the
judgements in matrimonial cases hold highly
conservative views on the concept of Family
Marriage or Equality of the sex. Even after
thirty six years of independence the funda
mental rights of equality before law, prohi
bition of discrimination on the grounds of
sex, equality of opportunities in matters of
public employment freedom of speech and
expression etc. to all the citizens of India
does not seem to include the Woman. Re
cent judgement of Delhi High Courts comprells the conclusion that the concept of
Equality may be a fiat of the constitution
but not the vision of the judge.
“Introduction of constitution law in
the home is most in appropriate. It is like
introducting a bull in a China shop. It will
prove to be a rutheless destroyer of the ma
rriage institution and all that it stands for.
In the privacy of the home and the married
life neither Article 21 (right to personal lib
erty) nor Art. 14 (equality before lawjhave
any place. In a sensitive sphere which is at
once most intimate and delecate, the intro
duction of sole principles of constitutional
law will have the effect of weakening the
marriage bond. The introduction of consti
tutional- law into the ordinary domestic
relationship of husband and wife will strike
at the very root if that relatlonaship and
will be a fruitful source of dissertion and
quarreling (Harvinder Kaur Vs. Harmannder
Chaudhry) AIR 1984 Delhi-66.
Unequal justice even if the highest cou
rt holds otherwise (what to say of Delhi
High court) will fail in the face of the Social
Justiee because now the people are aware the
masses are awakening. No judicial pronouceinent can about it, and no pseudo reform
politics can defeat it. Still the guided anissiles of discretion in some misguide hands
would be disastrous.
It is true that in most of the provisions
of the Act pervades the element of concilliation and settlement of the parties by the
court. This inclination of the Act will entail
the stepping down of the judge from the
pedestal and may lead the judges to develop
some personal bias. Where the Law is consi
dered to be blind, there the judge will be
baring its blindfold aspect of the law and
will learn more about the case before him
earliert than they did in post and then
the
judge may work
beyond
the
public view, off the record with no obligat
ion to provide written reasoned opinions.
Thus the Family Courts will simply be
reduced to conciliation office with a mana
gerial judge. The law surrenders itself to the
Family Court (which is other name of the
presiding Judge) in the form i. e. The Family
Court shall...... ,’ 'The Family Court may....
...’/Family Court is entitled....... ’ etc. Add
the Law Oriented Judge is transformed into
Judge Oriented Law.
A SOP TO THE WOMAN
Section 4 of the Act relating to the ap
pointment of judges to Family Courts at the
end say that'’Preference is to be given to wo
men. If a woman who believed that a woman’s
place is with her husband under the conditi
ons, because the institution of marriage
must be “protected and preserved”, is app
ointed as a judge, how will her bloiogical
gender help the interests of women except
insofar as it may befool them into thinking
that she may be more sympathetic to
them ?
Also, the next section immediately after
this one says: “No person shall be appointed
as...... a judge of family court after. He has
attained the age of 62 years.” The gender of
the pronoun in this sentence suggests how
seriously we need to take the so called pre
ference to be given to women.
ions, can also be fded. Unfortunately, this
section doet not go for cnough.lt would have
better if the section clarified the rights of
women to the property of the husband acqu
ired duriug the marriage. One of the most
important drawbacks of family legislation.
IMPROVIDED PROVISIONS CT THE
ACT.
as it exists today, is that it does not confer
upon the wife, the right or a share in the
Section 5 provides for the Association
property of the husband. A very valuable
of Institution and Organisations of persons
opportunity of conferring such a right has
engaged in social welfare with the function
been lost. The only advantage cf this new
ing of the Family Courtssection is, that will not be necessary for a
The Institution, organisation or person
is required to be recognised by State Gover
wife to file a separate suit other than a suit
for matrimonial relief to claim proprietory
nment in Consultation with the High Court
right either of her own or to the propety
but it is not known what is rhe criteria for
of her husband. Such claims can be made in
recognition. Since the Rules have not yet
the suit for divorce, judicial seperation or
been framed under the Act, one has to wait
restitution of cunjugal rights itself. The
and see what criteria for recognition will be
section will enable judges hearing family
laid down in the rules. Different Institution
matters to make an appropriate order safe
and Organisations engaged in social welfare
guarding the property of .the women. An
have diversed social values and this can lead
other important change that could have been
to some amount of confusion.
made was to confer the power on the
Section 7 is the most important section
Courts, to enforce payment of lumpsum ali
of the Act. It provides that all suit and pro:
mony and the power to transfer assets to the
ceedings between the parties to marriage for
a decree of nulity, restitution of conjugal
wife at the time of passing a decree of
rights, judicial separation or divorce, suit or
divorce in lieu of periodic payments of ali
proceedings between parties with respect of
mony. It is a matter of common experience
the property of the parties or either of them
that orders of maintenance whether interim
suit or proceedings for an order and injunc
or final, arc difficult to enforce. For a
tion in circumstances arising out of the
husband to avoid payment of alimony is the
marriage relationship, suit for guardianship,
easiest thing in the world. The Act would
custody or access will be decided by Family
have empowered the Court, to attach the
Courts.
property or salary of the husband before
This section confers certain important
judgement and to direct that maintenance
should be deducted directly from the salary
powers on the court. It has the merit of
of the husband and paid over to the wife.
combining in one Court the power of resolv
Payment of maintenance or alimony could
ing disputes between parties to marriage
be made a charge on the assets af the husb
relating to any of the matters mentioned
and. Any alienation of the assets of the
above. One of the most important matters
husband after the petition for maintenance
on which the Court can now adjudicate are
of alimony is filed by the wife, should not
disputes relating to property or parties and
be permitted, except with the leave of the
or either of them. Suits for injunctions in
Court and any such alienation made without
circumstances arising out of marital relat
17
SAW
before a family Court shall be entitled as of
right to be represented by legal practitioner
permission should be declared void. In such
suits, alongwith the Written Statements,
the husband must disclose his income and
such disclosure must be supported by tax
returns or employer’s certificate stating his
salary or net income. Jurisdiction to enter
tain suits must be conferred on courts
where at the time of filing of the petition
resides. This is necessary because often the
husbands turns the women out of the house
and she has to come back and reside in her
village or city. If such city happens to be
different from the place where the marriage
was performed or where the parties last
resided together, she cannot be expected to
the later place simply to file the suits. The
power to grant injunctions is very welcome
and we hope that it will be utilized fully by
the courts and that injunctions restraining
husband from indulging in domestic violence
wiil be liberally granted. The power to grant
injunctions must also be used for prevnting
the hnsband from entering the place of
residence in case of domestic violence, pre
venting the disposal of property by the
husband to defeat the claims of wife.
If the lawyers are only technicality
mongers and multipliers of litigations then
why not such a specie of predatots as Advo
cates shoulj be fought to its extinction.
Then why not experiment in Civil and Cri
minal fields ? What is viable in family Court
Act is viable else where also ? What a diagonosis and progonosism ? This is a sadistic
remedy. It is link saying that because incre
asing litigation is hindering the speed of the
courts so stop the litigation forgetting why
courts exist. It is unscruplous precaution, we
have historical experience of Industrial
Disputes Act 1948 which in its section 36
contain the like provision. Still Lawyers
are frequently representing both the sides
under what ever cover they are. And this
provisions in I. D. Act has proliferated an
other culture of political parties who with
meagre knowledge of Readig and writing
under-take the serious cases of poor and
ignorant workers and play not only with
their serious claim but also exploit this force
for wretched political ends.
There is no gain saying that there in an
escalating avalaunche of all types of litigat
ion traditional and non-traditional and a
phenomenal crisis of delayed justice attaining
disastrous dimensions. Committees, commi
ssions conferences and circulars have all
made marginal difference from their reco
mmendations, The most bruited court issue
confront the nation relate to the fright-ful
back log of cases Civil Criminal and other
at every level. But the goal is not to burke
or banish the litigarion, but improving the
delivery system of social justice is the end
and not closing the door to the court.
The making of law is a complex special
ized job which calls for a sense of objectives
■ and drafting skill. But the law making func-
The Mainteuance pendent lite (providing
for expenses to the wife by the husband
during the course of the litigation) such pro
visions which are very helpful to the wife
with the magre resources are totally missing
in the Act.
ADVOCATES THE SPEED BREAKERS
On the road to the justice the Advocates
are the speed breakers which only obstruct
the flow of justice from the court to the
communty. That, but for the presence of the
Abvocates, the Courts are running on the
ball-bearings. Such must have been the sense
prevailing on the legistlators when they
enacted S-I3 which says:
“S-13 Notwithstanding any thing. Containid
in this law no party to a suit or proceeding
SAW
18
tion belongs to Parliament Currently the M.
P. ’s are not obliged to possess academic
qualificatian.
After all in the moderen vvcrld no job is
done by the unskilled and legislation need
not be an exception. A country weded to
rule of law works its way to progress thro
ugh radical legislation. When courts give
jolts by their judgements
often times
the fault lies in the imperfect legislatiyn.
The present family court Act is one instance
legislative illiteracy and imperfection.
which debous the participation of Advocats.
Where as the family courts have been
i nvested witn the powers to decide the most
vital issue relating to properties of the party
and whereas the most complex civil pro
cedure code is made applicable to the func
tioning of the family courts, at the same
time the Act debars the parties to have the
assistance of a lawyer in the court. What a
travesty of justice. It is disarming both the
parties of any outside help to replenish their
inherent weakness and hope for an equal fight
Women in the present case due to its social
status in the male dominated society will bs
more vulnerable to injustice. In our society
most men are more exposed to and therefore
more practised in dealing with the male
dominated world of public: affairs than arc
women. Men are also more used to speaking
and arguing in public. Therefore being dep
rived of a lawyer is likely to prove more
harmful for women than for men.
On one hand the Highcourt of land is
widening the horizon of Public, Interest
litigation culture by its valued judgements.
Such imperfect legislations work as the anti
dotes to these judicial efforts. After all even
progressive minds throwing away their judi
cial robes can only say “Give us the tools
and we will finish the job.“But the legal
tools have to be made in the legislatures.
But the state of affairs is not so helpless as
the legislature has viewed. Legal luminary
like justice Krishana Iyer was not merely
idealistic when he said “I regard the lawyer
in his professional consciousness and opera
tion as an arlist of justice amidst an environ
ment of in justice as an engineer of law
in a lawless milieu of power.”
President Carter was not paradoxical
when he told to the Bar at Los Angels.
“Lawyers of great influence and prestige led
the fight against civil rights and economic
justice...... They have fought innovations
even in their own profession.”
WANTED A JUDGE WITH
CONSERVATIVE VIEWS
Thus speaks section 4 of the Act when
it states that ”In selecting the person to be
appointed as a Judge the Govt, is required
to be ensure that the person is COMMITT
ED TO THE NEED TO PROTECT AND
PRESERVE THE INSTITUTION OF
MARRIAGE”......
It seems that the legislatures looks at
the present Marriage and Family Institution
with sanclimonious reverence and deem it to
be too sacred to be touched. It seem to asc
ribe there institutions as the product of the
wisdom of the ages and supposed it beyond
changes and interference. Hence the law to
preserve them. Law and institutions must
go hand in hand with new concepts and
changing values. With change of circumst
ances these institutions also must advance
and keep pace with the times. Each gener
ation has right to choose for itself the forms
of Institutions Massiage and Family etc, it
believes the most proinotivc of its happi
ness.
Let us have a glance into the Family
marriage institutions to which a judge would
be committed to preserve.
In almost everj' society the women face
a special kind of oppression because of the
structure of patriarchy, (Father dominated)
which have resulted in the separation of life
into Public and Private sphers. The former
SAW
19
before a family Court shall be entitled as of
light to be represented by legal practitioner
permission should be declared void. In such
suits, alongwith the Written Statements,
the husband must disclose his income and
such disclosure must be supported by tax
returns or employer’s certificate stating his
salary or net income. Jurisdiction to enter
tain suits must be conferred on courts
where at the time of filing of the petition
resides. This is necessary because often the
husbands turns the women out of the house
and she has to come back and reside in her
village or city. If such city happens to be
different from the place where the marriage
was performed or where the parties last
resided together, she cannot be expected to
the later place simply to file the suits. The
power to grant injunctions is very welcome
and we hope that it will be utilized fully by
the courts and that injunctions restraining
husband from indulging in domestic violence
wiil be liberally granted. The power to grant
injunctions must also be used for prevnting
the hnsband from entering the place of
residence in case of domestic violence, pre
venting the disposal of property by the
husband to defeat the claims of wife.
If the lawyers are only technicality
mongers and multiplriers of litigations then
why not such a specie of predatots as Advo
cates shoul.i be fought to its extinction.
Then why not experiment in Civil and Cri
minal fields ? What is viable in family Court
Act is viable else where also ? What a diagonosis and progonosism ? This is a sadistic
remedy. It is link saying that because incre
asing litigation is hindering the speed of the
courts so stop the litigation forgetting why
courts exist. It is unscruplous precaution, we
have historical experience of Industrial
Disputes Act 1948 which in its section 36
contain the like provision. Still Lawyers
are frequently representing both the sides
under what ever cover they are. And this
provisions in I. D. Act has proliferated an
other culture of political parties who with
meagre knowledge of Readig and writing
under-take the serious cases of poor and
ignorant workers and play not only with
their serious claim but also exploit this force
for wretched political ends.
There is no gain saying that there in an
escalating avalaunche of all types of litigat
ion traditional and non-traditional and a
phenomenal crisis of delayed justice attaining
disastrous dimensions. Committees, commi
ssions conferences and circulars have all
made marginal difference from their reco
mmendations, The most bruited court issue
confront the nation relate to the fright-ful
back log of cases Civil Criminal and other
at every level. But the goal is not to burke
or banish the litigation, but improving the
delivery system of social justice is the end
and not closing the door to the court.
The making of law is a complex special
ized job which calls for a sense of objectives
■ and drafting skill. But the law making func
The Maintenance pendent lite (providing
for expenses to the wife by the husband
during the course of the litigation) such pro
visions which are very helpful to the wife
with the magre resources are totally missing
in the Act.
ADVOCATES THE SPEED BREAKERS
On the road to the justice the Advocates
are the speed breakers which only obstruct
the flow of justice from the court to the
communty. That, but for the presence of the
Abvocates, the Courts are running on the
ball-bearings. Such must have been the sense
prevailling on the legislators when they
enacted S-13 which says:
“S-13 Notwithstanding any thing. Containid
in this law no party to a suit or proceeding
SAW
18
<5.
3
tion belongs to Parliament Currently the M.
P- s are not obliged to possess academic
qualificatian.
After all in the moderen wcrld no job is
done by the unskilled and legislation need
not be an exception. A country weded to
rule of law works its way to progress thro
ugh radical legislation. When courts give
jolts by their judgements
often times
the fault lies in the imperfect legislatiyn.
The present family court Act is one instance
legislative illiteracy and imperfection.
which debous the participation of Advocats.
Where as the family courts have been
i nvested witn the powers to decide the most
vital issue relating to properties of the party
and whereas the most complex civil pro
cedure code is made applicable to the func
tioning of the family courts, at the same
time the Act debars the parties to have the
assistance of a lawyer in the court. What a
travesty of justice. It is disarming both the
parties of any outside help to replenish their
inherent weakness and hope for an equal fight
Women in the present case due to its social
status in the male dominated society will be
more vulnerable to injustice. In our society
most men are more exposed to and therefore
more practised in dealing with the male
dominated world of public': affairs than arc
women. Men are also more used to speaking
and arguing in public. Therefore being dep
rived of a lawyer is likely to prove more
harmful for women than for men.
On one hand the Highcourt of land is
widening the horizon of Public, Interest
litigation culture by its valued judgements.
Such imperfect legislations work as the anti
dotes to these judicial efforts. After all even
progressive minds throwing away their judi
cial robes can only say “Give us the tools
and we will finish the job.“But the legal
tools have to be made in the legislatures.
But the state of affairs is not so helpless as
the legislature has viewed. Legal luminary
like justice Krishana Iyer was not merely
idealistic when he said “I regard the lawyer
in his professional consciousness and opera
tion as an arlist of justice amidst an environ
ment of in justice as an engineer of law
in a lawless milieu of power.”
President Carter was not paradoxical
when he told to the Bar at Lor. Angels.
“Lawyers of great influence and prestige led
the fight against civil rights and economic
justice...... They have fought innovations
even in their own profession.”
WANTED A JUDGE WITH
CONSERVATIVE VIEWS
Thus speaks section 4 of the Act when
it states that ”ln selecting the person to be
appointed as a Judge the Govt, is required
to be ensure that the person is COMMITT
ED TO THE NEED TO PROTECT AND
PRESERVE THE INSTITUTION OF
MARRIAGE”.......
It seems that the legislatures looks at
the present Marriage and Family Institution
with sanclimonious reverence and deem it to
be too sacred to be touched. It seem to asc
ribe there institutions as the product of the
wisdom of the ages and supposed it beyond
changes and interference. Hence the law to
preserve them. Law and institutions must
go hand in hand with new concepts and
changing values. With change of circumst
ances these institutions also must advance
and keep pace with the times. Each gener
ation has right to choose for itself the forms
of Institutions Massiage and Family etc, it
believes the most promotive of its happi
ness.
Let us have a glance into the Family
marriage institutions to which a judge would
be committed to preserve.
In almost every society the women face
a special ki id of opp-ession bicause of the
structure of patriarchy, (Father dominated)
which have resulted in the separation of life
into Public and Private sphers. The former
SAW
19
being active sphere of the Male and the
later being almost
the exclusive are
na for the Females The exclusions of women
from political decision making and parti
cipating in differnt lines, the exclusion of
women from economic market place and
denial of economic independence and the
perpetuation of belief through cultural opp
ression that woman represents the moral
fibre of society. This processing has resulted
in double standards of morality. Basically
this bouble standard arse because of the
Institution of the Family with its emphasis
on virginity and Fidelity for the woman
(alone) as the pre-requisite for rhe inherit
ance of peoperty through male-line. The
need to control biological reproduction
arises from a Patriachal Family structure.
And the political and economic basis of
Patriarchy is thee Present Institution of Faily. And the legal system is designed to
uphold this Institution. Family Courts Act
1984 cannot be exception. Therefore the
present Famil y Courts Acts is another Ins
trument to preserve the Status-Quo. The
law' helps to preserve the patriarchal family
by strengthening the relationship within the
Family making it diffiuult for any severance
specially for woman. It also ensures that
sexual inequality within institution as mai
ntained through unequal properry rights.
And lastly it perpetrates the double stand
ards of sexual morality by gsving legal
recognition to this twin images of woman
goodwife and mother on one hand and the
Loose-women on the other.
Such Laws will die out like ‘Dinas our’
if it dismises the demands of the 21st cent
ury and hybernates in the frozen layers of
Before Christ era. We may strike a warning
that the matrimonial jurisprudence must
part company with vintage legal scriptures
of State values and should be integrated with
the dynamic social values necessary for Indi
SAW
viduals to allow I hem to unfold their fullpopoltential.
Practical the provisions of this section
4 of the Act are capable of working injustice
againts woman. It is not quite clear what is
meant by saying that the persons to be appo
inted as judges must be “Committed to the
need to protect and preserve the institution
of maraige and to promote the welfare of
the children and qualified by reason of expe
rience and expertise to promote the settle
ment of disputes by conciliations and
counsellingn.
The experience of woman in the existng courts has been that the so called need
to protect and preserve the institution of the
marriage is often enforced by the courts
at
the
explnse
of
the
wife, very often judges arc reluctant to grant
decrees of divorce on the assumption that
the institution of marriages need to be pres
ented at any cost. And it is generally the
wife who is the bearer of such cost, who is
the victim of such enforced preservation of
institution of marriage due to her economic
dependence on the husband. More-over the
children being an important criteria to be
taken in to consideration in settling the
disputes by living together and preserving
the institution of marriage. It is rarely appre
ciated that though the welfare of children is
paramount the equally important need of
protecting the woman against the mental
physical cruelties cannot be sacrificed at the
alter of the institution of marriage.
We fear that more suitable judge (accoriding to Act.) will perpetuate more injustice
with speed and severity in the name of pres
erving the marriage and settling disputes.
This section further takes us to probe the
basic question ‘What is the best interest of
the Woman ? Whether to continue with a
Bad Marriage or Whether to bring it to a
painless and swift end ?” The judge whois
(See Page 23)
20
<S) -
Organised Gang Of Criminals
Bndian Police
This is talc of Gujrat where Anti-reser
vation movement is going on. Leaving aside
issue of reservation, a lot more has happened
which cannot be brushed, aside.
Advocates of Ant-ireservation move
ment gave a call for Gujrat Bandh on 18th
April. State Govt, made it prestige issue to
curb the implementation of Bandh taking
plea of Sporadic Violnt Incedents. Police
_ raided Gomtipur, Kharia and Astodia on
17th April.
At Gomtipur Central Reserve Police,
under guidance of two Senior Officers,
Additional Police Commissioner Bhargava
and R. K. Vashishat, paraded in streets with
their private parts exposed and howling to
bring girls. All this created a terror and
women startad running haphazardly shutting
their doors. But Police entered in houses
under garb of rounding up antisocial eleme
nts and started shameful acts of gang rapes
and molestation.
Gomtipur is mainly worker’s colony.
Virgin neeta daghter of textile worker was
gang raped after breaking the door which she
succeeded to shut but she could not succeed
in saving her. Women who resisted beaten
with gun buts on their breasts and private
parts. Even lunatic girl Meena was not spa
red. Two widows requested, “we have no
men in house please leave us ” But Police
Personnel replied, “what then we arc there
come....... ” and started molesting them.
Cupboardes and doors were smashed in search
of firearms. Police entered in kitchens. Some
urinated in grains and broke the luggage.
Next day people went to Gujrat High
Court against this rampage and court appo
inted Commission taking serious note of the
SAW
events. One report of the, Commissson of
Gujrat High Courts s.-ai?, “the statement
of Justice Mullah that. .kjblice is an organised
gang of Goorrdas is once again proved with
what police did in Ab msdabad. Court also
banned entry of Bhargava and Vashishat
certain areas but Govt, has taken no action
so far.
Gujrat Samachar and some other papers
gave details, covering the events exposing in
human acts of the police. There was pubfic
out-range on the events and many women’s
groups came out on the war path. Question
was raised in Parliament by Opposition
regarding 17th April to 20th April events
and why action against two Officers, even
court orders was not taken ? Ruling party
instead of feeling sorry on such acts rebuffed
that how judiciary can interfere in tasks of
executive (Police) and condemned attitude of
Gujrat High Court laveling it as bad norms
5>r democracy.
Press has been pillorised for instigating police by printing records of its brutalities and
covering the court proceedings. Police set
fire to Gujrat Samachar and then obstructed
fire brigade to do their job. They were totally
fearless knowing that, because Chief Minister
Mr. Solanky is having strained relations with
Gujrat Samachar ,so no one will ask them.
Having state patronage for all this Hoolinisim they least bothered about public
outrage but in turn did lathi oharge on pea
ceful dharna by two hundred women under
leadership of Ahamdabad Women’s Action
Group and broke their limbs.
lia Pat hie chai person of this group had
submitted memorandum to Governer Mr.
B. K. Nehru and Prime Minister asking for
for public apologise for crime against women
suffered.
says, “our dharna on 22nd had nothing what
A. K. Bhargavah Additional Police
so ever to do with the anti-reservation stir.
Commissioner Ahmedabad has come out
We were protesting against beating up of wo
more openely saying, “why do such incidence
men by poicemen who were supposed to be
take place only in Gujrat ? Why donot take
protecting them froWj^inti-social elements.
place in North India ? Because thee the
We had made them'’1 Very clear alongwith
women know their limits aud donot try to
the fact that dharna was to be truly Gandconfront the police. Here because men are
hian and totally peaceful even then police
unable to confront the police, place the wo
struck and struck unprovoked.”
men and children in front. As far as police
As a matter of punisment Bhargava has
are concerned if there is any trouble men
been shifted to Police Training School
and women have to be treated a like in conttrolling situation.” He also said that if it
thought to be punishment post but having
is known previously that women will parti
patronage of big wigs, he is in high spirits he
cipate then the female can be arranged but
and his wife have expressed views which are
worth examining.
it cannot be predicted and if suddenly the
famales participation is known they had to
Madhu Bhargvah, wife of Additioal
face male police.
Police Commissioner Mr. A. K. Bhargvah
incharge of Gomatipur oppression, declared
In his statement he has revealed more
“leave alone a man in uniform even if an
clearly as representative of state machinery
ordinary Person had done such a thing he
that state is to repress the people when
would have been locked up in mental asylum
they rise in struggle against it, Not-withswithin hours. It is totally untruec. Thank
tanding his arguments that in North such
God my sons are too young to pay much
events donot hoppen we want to ask were
intention to newspapers yet. but the number
those women. Who were raped and molested
in their homes, canes to confront police ?
of alarmed calls I have received from rela
they
think it entirely well when police does
tives and friends.......... ”
ael hooligoonism but unwell when women
Yes, Mrs. Madhu Bhagavah your vision
come out in protest. We don’t think that
can only see effect of newspapers on your
his statment of confront, atiot by the women
children but what about these children who
participant in struggle by male police in any
have witnessed these shameful acts ? What
condition be justified lawfully
about those women who have suffered ?
In fact there is nothing new. Only
You cannot feel this even as women because
cruel face af state has been exposed before
being defender of your husband who is part
the people of Ahmadabad. Each day with
of state machienary responsible for this
their struggles people are coming to know
rampage you have last that vision to see
who are their enemies, knowing more and
atrocities of state and suffering of poor folk
more anti-people character of police, Military
at Gomtipur and Khaira. Should we believe
all state machinery. Yesterday people of
you who concluded that all this is untrue
Assam, Bhopal, Punjab witnessed, today
sitting in your air cooled house or those
hundred who witnessed events, suffered on
Gujrat and tomorrow some other states. On
seemingly different issues struggles of peoples
tliier bodies, were raped and molested ?
Your version are true and faithful for your
are breaking but these have a common
class but these cannot be-fool those who
element that they are against oppression and
SAW
22
and arc oul come of this social system besed
on exploitation and oppression, liliterote
peopla are learning rbout there opressors
from such struggle and it is for elite anc
intelligentia to work out these connection
and provide leadershipato the toiling masses.
Continue from page 20
appointed man or woman irrespective is
primarily required to be sensitive to the
oppression! of women with in the present
frame work of marriage and respond to the
need of the changing society by recognizing
that the institution of marriage is not a
In Padunga people of Burning it is
sacrament and need not necessarily be prese
believed that long nack is sing of beauty so
rved at the dost of injustice to the women.
to achieve that from young age brass rings
are worn neck becomes elongated then anothr
But this task is equal only, to a social scien
ring is added and number of rings goes on
tist with a fearless democratic and socialistic
increasing till girl reached age of puverty.
perspective and not for merely a ‘judge’.
At specific age ceremony is held when rings
But such a judge may not be particularly
are opened one by one. At that time she is
pleasing if at all he has been able to manage
unable to hold her neck indepecdently so
amonn friends and relatives some one supp
his entry as a judge of Family Court despite
orts the neck till all rings are removed and
the vigil of the tedious sentinal Section four
she is able to bear weight of head on neck
of the Act.
without support. Then she is left with
The law itself though of social impor
elongated and urging neck to compete in the
tance is only one element in the total human
field of Beauty.
task. The task is to meet and master tholtse
But if at this age it is held that girl has
frustration that diminish man in his fulfil
broken the norms of society and she is guilty
ment within this human society our concern
of disregarding the moral code set by the
is with the human conditions and the imper
society then to punish her all the rings are
ative need to improve it, through such reso
opened at odee and it is ordered that no one
urces as we can develop. The burning issue
will support her neck. Poor girl, unable to
of our times is how our resources ca be devrsupport her neck straight, dies of choking.
loded and improvement of the human task
and improvement of the human condition.
It is a tragedy of our times that injustice
Reader’s may please not that the
masquerades as justice and. ‘Anatole Frame’
concluding portion of article family
was logical when he quipped “So long as
relationship couldtnot be published as
society is founded upon injustice the func
promised due to some unavoidable circu
tion of law will be to deferMa nd sustaion
mstances. New same my be expected in
injustice. And the more unjust they are the
more respectable they will seem." It is
Vol 2, No- 5- We rearet the cle lay‘
—
never too much to stress that the diaeectics
of legal system tends to repressthat to relieve
for SAW ASSOCIATER
the Weaker aud the Disabled. The rule of
Printers .■ Bhatti
Printing PrSss
Family Courts Act can hardly be an exce
Printers
Ambedkar chowk,
ption.
Jalandhar-144 001
23
SAW
h or not
An Information
<Break
^Aain«s
EMD WITH-DEVDASI-ISM
In the border district of Maharashtra
and Karnatka an estimated 4000 to 5000
girls arc dedicated annually to the Goddess
Yellatnma at the Saundalti temple, the
famed citadel of the devdassi system, system
of organised prostitution, during the lunar
Month of Magh on full moon day. Devdasis
rhe religious prostitution are maids of god
and men. ,According to a religious belief
young girls Jrom low castes are dedicated to
yellamma a Goddess. There girls are married
to goddess after which they cannot marry
but can be utilized sexually by any male
being devdasis.
With the efforts of Mahatma Phule
Samta Pratishthan of Pune headed by Baba
Adhar and his militant co workers, Professor
Subhash Joshi of Nipani and Professor
Vishal Banne of Gandhinglaj organised first
ever conference in 1975, International women’s
year to expose ignominous system and to
explode the myth surrounding the dedication
of girls to Yellamma. Then another con
ference was held at Nipani in 1980 attended
by 1000 devdasis.
Gaurabai Salvade-a devdasi was most
vociferous. She challenged the devi’s in
justice in choosing girls from the harijan
community alone “Why don’t the Marathas,
Brahimns and Lingayats dedicate their
daughters ? She asked. She appealed to the
devedasis present to have faith in yellamma
but not to dedicate their daughters to her.
Revabai Kamblc, a devadasi believed
like many others, met her profession had
religious sanction. Today she is the President.
of the Pune Devedassi Sangathan founded
in 1982. They are able to rouse health
consciousness among city prostitutes. Reha
bilitation of devdasis and helping them to
adopt some other method of livelihood,
hostels for their children, education for
children is being tried, also they are touring
area to stop parents to dedicate young
giiib.
During 1983 and 1984, Indian Health
Organisation conducted an intenstive camp
at Saundatti and it was first Medical organi
sation which raised demand to ban the
devdasi system. It is not out of way to
mention that act to end this system was
passed in 1934 and system is illegal but still
going on widely by connections between city
agents, old devadasis, priests and police and
in illeterate and poverty stricken areas it is
not difficult to persue, superstitions parents,
and relatives to bestow their daughters to
Yellamma.
Devidasis’ Demand
1. The government of Maharashtera and
Karnatka should see that the Devadasi
act of 1934 is strictly implemented in
order to eradicate the system.
2. Both these Governments should esta
blish rehabilitation boards to solve the
problem of devadasis.
3.
Devadasis should be given employment
by the Govt.
4.
Legal action should be taken against the
agents from big cities, who take advan
tage of poverty stricken superstitions
people and trap them into organised
prostitution.
5.
A census of devadasis should be carried
out as a basis for further action.
6. Old devadasis should be given pensions
by state even if they have a toss.
7. The maiden name of the mother should
be regareded as valid for all purposes
like admission to schools etc.
8.
Children of devadasis should be provided
all facilities given to children of back
ward castes.
9.
Children of devadasis should have a right
to their father’s property.
10.
The state should set up boards meant
exclusively for children of devadasis,
For Private Circulation Only
Womesii and Social Reproduction
As socialist feminists we see
women, just as we see the
working class, not simply as an
oppressed and exploited mass
but as a revolutionary force
which can change the whole of
society. That is why this topic
is so important because it tries
to locate the role of women as
people who produce and re
produce society, and therefore
as people capable of revolutio
nising that society. It thus
deals with women as workers,
and therefore predominantly,
although not exclusively, with
working class women.
For All Women
On March 8,
International Woman’s Day
Take time to listen
to the. voice of our strength
to the quiet brag of our hearts
We can, We can, We can
Then let our strength fuse
with that of our million sisters
and surge to the moment of change
moving always towards
another time
another place
of our own making
All working class women
work, whether they are wage
labourers or not; in fact, if they
are wage-labourers, they are
consistently working a double
shift, day after day. If they are
considered purely as wage
workers, then there is no
reason why they should be
considered differently from
any other section of the work
ing class, even though they
have peculiar problems of their
own. But the fact that they are
house-workers as well affects
even their status within wage
work, confines them to badlypaid work, marginal jobs
which are supposed to be ‘wo
men’s work’ and so on. So it is
Let our newly blossoming anger
assault unrelenting the injustice
that women and every oppressed class
live daily
ESTHER RAMANI
It is time now to raise our subdued voices and join
the millions to ‘speak the unspoken’; to lift the
weight of the crushing circumstances that confined
us to function within the narrowest limits; limits
that we all are forced to share just because we are
women; limits that divide us because of our race,
religion, caste, community and class; limits that
stifled our creativity through our education and
ethos.
been one of resistance, of innumerable struggles
our sisters have waged all over the world which has
split open the myth that our grievances are ‘private
and personal’ and revealed its political character;
that ours is a struggle against all forms of oppres
sion which is rooted in our society; that as women
we are marginalised from the main stream of politi
cal and social life.
As the murmur of our awakening fills our fibre, we
shall refuse to let ourselves be trampled upon.Let
our surging power challenge the bartering of our
bodies, the subjugation of our feelings and thought
to mere trivia. Let no one but ourselves define our
roles, our intellect, our selves.
We celebrate March 8 as a moment of breaking
away from the culture of silence and we grow and
spread by fusing our energies with the movements
of women and the oppressed all over the world and
so
March 8, 1857 represented one of the first orga
nised assertions of our collective will. On this day
the women textile workers in the United States
marched into the streets for the reduction of work
ing hours and more human conditions of work. In
1910 the Russian woman revolutionary Clara Zetkin proposed that March 8, be declared as Interna
tional Women’s Day. From then on our legacy has
Let our newly garnered strength
build a world of just laws
in which every person woman and man
can work and live in human dignity.
VIMOCHANA
J_Forum For Women b Rights.
ON INSIDE PAGES
On Subverting a Rhetoric. ....... 2
Do Feminists Need Marxism............
Women Are Conscious.... ....... 3
Militarism and Sexism.... ....... 4
Bill on Rape—Protectionforwhom ?
More About Rameeza.........................
Agitatingfor their Rights.. ....... 5
Whose Freedom And For What
6
8
12
necessary to begin by examin
ing the role of women as
house-workers in order to
understand their role in the re
production of society as a
whole.
The work which women do wi
thin the home—cooking,
washing and cleaning, caring
for children, etc., is work
which has to be done in any
society to keep it running. If
they stop doing this work and
no one else takes it up, all fac
tories, transport, construction
and so on will come to a stand
still, disease and hunger will
increase day by day, and very
soon people will start dying.
No production means no pro
fit, and a deep crisis will result.
So this is socially necessary
labour, work which is necessary
PERSPECTIVE
FOR WORKERS
CONTROL ?
for society; it is productive ac
tivity. In fact, from the stand
point of social reproduction it
is perhaps the most important
productive activity, because it
produces the people who pro
duce everything else. This is
why it is rather absurd to look
at women simply as consum
ers, because they, more than
anyone else, are producers.
They are most concerned
about inflation not because
they eat up most of the rice,
wheat and sugar and drink the
kerosene, but because for
them these are means of pro
duction, the materials with
which they work.
But although the work itself is
absolutely necessary, the way
in which it is organised is not.
There are some features about
it which are advantages over
wage-work, and some features
which are disadvantageous. If
we compare housework with
wage-work we get something
like this:
Wage-work
Housework
1. No pay Some pay
Collective
2.
Isolated
3.
No control over
Some
control product of work
over pro
duct of
work
No control over
Some
control method of work
over me
thod of work
In the first two features, wage
work has the advantage over
housework. However badly
you get paid, at least you get
something back from society
for your wage-work, and you
have the advantage of working
with others (unless you are en
gaged in domestic industry).
But in the second two features,
housework has the advantage;
within the limits of your in
come you can, for example,
choose what you are going to
cook, whereas in a factory you
have no control whatsoever
over the product; and in spite
of poor living conditions, over
work and dominating family
members, you can, to some ex
tent, organise your housework
in your own way, bring up your
children as you please,
whereas in wage-labour you
are constantly supervised and
directed by others.
So if we could choose what
kind of work we would like to
do, we would combine the first
two features of wage-work
with the second two features
of housework. We would do
work which is recognised and
compensated by society, and
we would do it collectively ins
tead of being stuck away in
isolation; but we would ourselves
collectively decide what to
produce and how to organise
our work, rather than having
some boss make these deci
sions and force them on us.
And of course there are fea
tures of both housework and
wage-work which we would
like to avoid, such as too much
work, bad working conditions
and the division of labour,
both mental/manual and
sexual.
From this standpoint we can
begin to evaluate the kind of
demands and perspectives
which women have raised con
cerning housework. Three
main types can be considered
here.
(1) The first is not a demand
about housework: as such,
continued on page 5*
ON SUBVERTING A RHETORIC:
I AM A WOMAN.........
I am a mother,
I am a sister,
I am a faithful spouse,
I am a woman,
A woman, who, from the. beginning
with bare feet,
has run all over the steaming hot lands
of the deserts,
I am from the small villages of the north,
A woman, who from the beginning,
has worked to the limits of her capacity
in the rice paddies and tea plantations,
I am from the far atvay ruins in the east,
A woman, who from the beginning,
with bare feet,
along with her skinny cotv in the
threshing field, from dawn to dusk,
has felt the weight of pain,
)
from the nomad tribes who wander
in the plains and the mountains,
A woman who gives birth to her baby
in the mountains,
and loses her goat in the expanse of
the plains,
and sits in mourning.
I am a woman,
A worker zohose hands turn
the great machines of the factory,
which, each day,
tear to bits my strength,
in the threads of the wheels,
in front of my eyes,
A woman from whose lifeft blood.
The carcass of the bloodsucker gets fatter,,
and from the loss of my blood,
the profit of the capitalist increases,
A woman for whom in your shameless vocabulary,
There is no word
corresponding to my significance,
Your vocabulary speaks only of woman,
whose hands are clean,
whose body is supple,
whose skin is soft,
and whose hair is perfumed.
I am a woman,
with hands full of wounds,
from the cutting blades of pair,.
A woman whose body has been broken
under your unlimited, shameless, back-breaking work,
A woman whose skin is the mirror of the deserts
and whose hair smells of factory smoke.
I am a liberated woman,
A woman who, from the beginning,
shoulder to shoulder with her
comrades and brothers,
has crossed the plains,
A woman who has created
the strong arms of die worker,
and the powerful hands of the peasant,
i myself am a worker,
i myself am a peasant,
with all my body
an exhibit of pain
with all uty body
the embodiment of hate.
How shameless ofyou to contend
that my hunger is an illusion,
and my nakedness is
a dream.
I am a woman,
A woman for whom
in your shameless vocabulary,
There is no word
Corresponding to my significance.
A. woman in whose chest
there is a heart
full of the festering
wounds of wrath,
A womar. in whose eyes
the red
reflection of the bidiets
of liberty are waving,
A woman whose hands have
been trained
through work, to pick up
the gun.
Msraeh Ahmadi Oskooji was born in 1945 in Oakoo (Iran). From early child
hood, through working in her father’s field, she became aware of the gross injustices,
within Iranian society. This made her determined to actively participate in ‘he
struggle against a system which was the root cause of the exploitation of her people.
She played a leading role tn the student movement of the 1970s. She soon joined the
ranks of the Organization of rhe Iranian People's Fcdaii Guerillas. In M>y» 1^73,
after courageously fighting the enemy in a street battle, she was shot by the Shah's
mercenaries, who even after her death were afraid to approach her lifeless body.
Compiled and Edited by Vimochana Editorial Collective
Vimochana, Fon,„ For
--------SANGHARSH
Post Box 4605, BANGAI.OM-540046.
Graphics: Shirley
..........
The last three years have
marked a major development
in the history of Indian
women. The nation-wide inte
rest in the Mathura case and
the subsequent effort to get an
antiquated rape law amended
were no doubt important in
themselves, but were also, I
believe, the enabling factors
for the actual development
which is of a different order
and represents a significant
advance for women.
For women, sexual assault (of
which rape is just one form)
has been a fear we constantly
live with. A fear that deter
mines and restricts the scope
of our lives. But just as, or per
haps more oppressive and des
tructive, has been the silence
in which this intimidating
experience has always been
shrouded. If we were attacked
in the street, on a bus, in the
classroom, or in the home, we
bore the guilt, the shame, the
blot on our honour (it was
always our guilt, our shame we
had been told, even though we
were the ones attacked) and
took pains to ensure that the
event never became public.
The significant advance that
has taken place over the past
three years is that such assault
has shifted, especially at the
social or public level, from the
region of the unspeakable or
the taboo into the realm of
speech. I say at the social or
public level, because even to
day at a personal level unless a
woman has a great deal of sup
port from her immediate envi
ronment and especially from
other women, it is very diffi
cult to speak openly about
such experiences. The dangers
are psychological, but more
importantly physical, material.
On the other hand, it is pos
sible today, in a way that was
only barely so even 10 years
ago, to talk and write about
rape, to make films about it,
and even, as in the Maya Tyagi
case, to initiate a political cam
paign where rape is the central
issue. There can be little doubt
that this is a major move for
ward, and that the media have
indeed played an important
role in relation to it.
What is, however, cause for
alarm is the exact form this
publicity has taken. Atrocities
on women are obviously the
concern of any responsible
nedia. But there can be little
doubt that the publicity rape
for instance has received, is
also because it combines the
vio'ence and power, guaranteed to
arouse the sado-masochistic
sexuality that is typical of our
time. Nothing like rape to up
the sales! Within such a sexual
structure, pleasure has its
source in inflicting (and the
converse, suffering) pain. Con
sequently, nearlj' every time
rape is spoken about or
imaged, be it in a journal, a
film or a political campaign,
however moral or reformist
the overt concern, the event is
always presented at its goriest
and most sensational. This
means that the report focuses
and elaborates on the woman’s
sexuality, her body, her age,
her occupation, her class; then
goes on to report in horren
dous detail, often accompa
nied by photographs, the
2
crime itself, before it salves the
guilt the average\reader is by
this time inevitably feeling
over his perverse engrossment,
with a moral edict denouncing
the rape.
And however loud or fervent
the explicit moral anguish, the
real message, embodied in the
style of the report, is unambi
guous. That the basis of this
“moral” indignation is again
nearly always male outrage at
the violation of his property;
affront because his woman
wife, sister, mother, has been
attacked and never really out
rage at the violence itself, is a
related question. But of that,
more later. The point I’m try
ing to make now is that if we
probe deeper into the popular
imaging of atrocities on wo
men, we find that the rhetori
cal act involved is structured
in such a way that it nearly al-
--- OR---
Nv N
Media
use Rape
I
ways addresses and reinforces,
at this psychosexual level, the
very norms that give rise to
and support such attacks. And
further, by evoking, by way of
stricture, a morality based on
the assumption that woman is
property, and that a sexual
attack on her is dishonour, not
so much to her, as to the pa
triarchal family and its exten
sions in caste, class and race.
What the rhetoric actually does
is reaffirm the socio-cultural
system that such a sexual rela
tion is correlate with.
A parallel can easily be found
in the nineteenth century con
cern with the abolition of sati.
Here we have an atrocity on
women that was taken up with
a fervency that was to make it
imaginatively, if not actually,
the touchstone for a whole re
form movement. And yet, as
we search back to the original
reports, (well reflected in their
modem day version of specta
cular colour spreads, showing
the women, the massive
crowds, but most of all, the
fires) we nnd the focus re
mains on the number of times
meet the haunting sense that
the moral indignation, willy
nilly, remains part of the same
perverse structure. Recent re
search confirms this hunch, for
it indicates that the incidence
of sati actually increased
around the time the reformist
action was initiated.
It is useful to look back. Histo
ry reveals a startling fact. The
incidence of sati was not
exclusively, or even predomi
nantly among the primitive,
tradition-bound Vaishnavite
peasantry, (as Rammohan Roy
would have us believe) but
among the urban elite of
the Calcutta region. In fact,
during the early part of the
nineteenth century sati was
most prevalent in areas ex
posed to western influence
such as the Bengal Presidency.
In a society thus disrupted,
where new, non-traditional
opportunities for upward so
cial mobility and economic ad
vancement became available
to those who came within the
sphere of British influence,
sati actually became a means
of upgrading a family’s social
status and demonstrating its
ritual purity. It is not unimpor
tant that the ux.arma Sabha
was able to organise what
might be regarded a proto
nationalist movement in def
ence of the morbid practice.
The issue is no doubt an in
volved one, but what I’d like to
point out here arc the connec
tions between three nodal fea
tures in this cultural world.
First at the moral level, where
we get the idea of the “virtu
ous” wife, the women on
whose life the family honour
or status finally depends; se
cond, the religious, communal
or nationalist sentiment which
can quicldy cohere on the is
sue; and third, the psycho-se
xual basis which established
sati as the “choice entertain
ment” it had obviously be
come by the 1820’s; and (if we
are to judge by the contempor
ary revival of interest, both at a
sensationalist and a communal
level) has remained even to
day. Such issues, are always
complexly
powered.
The
sources of their energy far
more deeply and mysteriously
■ine; the
hold tenacious.
take the currently popular
ulm Insaaf Ka Tarazu for ins
tance. Overtly it is a film de
signed to reveal the bias of the
the basis of this “moral” indignation
IS again nearly always male outrage
the violation of his property; af
motherTaU8u WS woman-wife, sister,
mother,has been attacked and never
reaW
at the violence itself.
the widow had to be pushed
back into the pyre, the force
with which she was held
down, how piercing her cries
were, how “consuming" the
nre was and so on. It is obvious
that the excitement aroused by
the event is no moral indigna
tion, though tile overt inten
tion in these reports is to decry
sati on liberal humanitarian
grounds. In fact just as in the
case of rape today, here too we
existing law on rape, more
especially the fact that women
can never expect justice under
its tenets. The plot is probably
“'miliar to most readers; but a
summary will be useful. A wo
man, working as a model, and
living with her school-going
younger sister in a well ap
pointed city flat is attacked
and violently raped by a man
whose attentions she spurns.
continued on page 3
Contd. from page 2
The court acquits the rapist on
the grounds that there is ho
proof that she did not consent.
Broken, she leaves her fiance
whose family now rejects her,
and the job she_can no longer
do as her image is tarnished.
With her sister she moves out
of the city to find work elsew
here, this time as a typist But
the story is repeated; the sister
is raped by the same man. En
raged, the heroine takes justice
into her own hands and shoots
the rapist. At the second trial,
the whole story comes out, and
the judge, disturbed and chas
tened by what he hears, gives
her a token punishment, then,
in a heroic concluding gesture
resigns, thus severing all per
sonal connections with this
faulty law.
At the explicit level this would
appear a pro-women movie.
One that all women must see,*
even the advertisement dec
lares. But the same bill tells us
not to miss the sexciting begin
ning where the real theme
statement of the film is made
in an abstractly posed, but
spectacularly filmed attack on
a woman, that resounds with
the noise of shattering glass.
At the gates (don’t tell me the
site was not deliberately cho
sen) of the “posh” theatre
where the film has been run
ning for four months, is a huge
(^■arding of Rajesh Khanna,
i rapist hero of Red Rose,
who, we are told, wears “Fabina Suitings”. We have here in
cameo the actual dynamic of the
film: an explicit moral or hu
manistic statement coupled
with a concrete filmic rhetoric
that not only undermines and
emasculates the former, but
firmly re-establishes the status
quo. In other words, the covert
rhetoric of the film determines
its message.
The movie opens with shot
after shot where Zeenat Aman,
who plays the heroine (the star
sex symbol of the Hindi screen
is aptly cast in the role) is
shown in revealing “wester
nized” costumes. The image of
the alien here, is not neglig
ible, or incidental. Neither is
the “she —asked-for-it” exnnsure of her body. The film
maker could argue that his ef
fort here is to establish that a
woman’s job or her dress does
not make her fair game for
rape. But the repeated expo
sure, and, more specifically,
the camera angles, leave us in
no doubt about the function of
these frames. Next is a sequ
ence in the very modem flat
where she lives with her sister,
without protection, either in
the form of husband or father,
of the patriarchal family. The
new woman, one might say.
But what do we see here of the
struggle, the fight, the demora
lization of a woman living
alone in a city like Bombay?
This woman’s living alone is
just a ball.
But we must not dwell too long
on such minor details. She
prances around the luxurious
ly appointed flat, in stages of
undress, cooking a meal for
her fiance in between a great
deal of necking and cuddling.
As one might expect, the pre
dominantly male cinema audi
ence now is really aroused and
the film responds by providing
the predictable “dream sequ
ence”. Shots of feet interlacing,
of a bed festooned with mari
golds, of a bride being kissed,
of her in underclothes again, of
her going down his legs, ad
nauseam. Whatever also she
HOW THE
MEDIA
USE RAPE
might aspire to be in this film,
she is established first and in
controvertibly as sex object.
The first round (as things go,
these days, fairly innocent, I
suppose) is over. Now for the
second. The setting: the same
flat. This time she emerges
from a naughtily decorated ba
throom where we watched her
shower, clad only in revealing
red negligee, and is brutally
raped by the man waiting for
her. The episode is presented
in great detail: the sado-maso
chistic scenario complete with
silk gag, black underwear,
ankles and wrists lashed toge
ther. Each black thong, each
knot, each brutal move is ca
ressingly watched by the excit
ed camera. Later we will have
this scene replayed in flash
back, twice. (The modified re
play, remember, only serves to
evoke the original scene even
more vividly than an actual
presentation).
The crucial event over, we
move on to the police report,
the lawyers office, the court,
and so on in quick succession.
The pace here is in striking
contrast to that of the earlier
Our training as social scien
fists and the ideology of plan
ning encourages an image of
agricultural women in whicn
the technological and scienti
fic solutions of the problems of
development are constantly
generated by an expert group
of planners and policy-makers
but are not accepted by the
‘backward’ peasant women. It
is assumed that the reasons for
non-acceptibility of develop
ment programmes are to be
found in the ignorance and
conservatism of the rural
women. This is not the case.
Here we attempt to dispel the
myths about women’s ‘back
wardness’. While we supplied
some useful background infor
mation about the causes of
women’s subordination in the
structural and historical pro
cesses, the village women
themselves interpreted their
own situation. Many of them
accused planners, develop
ment administrators and aca
demics of premeditated insu
lation and deliberate neglect
of peasant women and their
men.
We interviewed women from
58 households from a cross
section of village society.
The majority oi them belong
to the scheduled caste and
minority communities. Agra
rian technology and produc
tion on commercial lines in
these areas has not only led
to pauperization of small pea
santry but also polarisation
between women and men.
Marginality and discriminato
ry low wages are prevalent
among rural women through
out the northern region of the
Green Revolution in India.
Most of the manual and nontechnological work is done by
“Mera
sub
kuch
kho
gaya........... ” Only so much in
the realm of this film, for the
woman’s experience, her fee
lings, the world, as it appears
to her..........In court the rapist
is in the dock wearing an eleg
ant outfit. His lawyer exudes
an easy, even sleepy confid
ence. I’d like to dwell at some
length on the way the rapist’s
(male) lawyer and the victim’s
(woman) lawyer are contrast
ed, for here, once again the
film’s value system is revealed.
Here the battle is pitched bet
ween what I’ve called the cov
ert and totally uncontested, in
deed, given this structure, uncontestable logic and its atten
dant rhetoric, and the overt
verbalised statement The
male lawyer, representative of
course of the rapist, is middle
aged, unfashionably dressed,
unkempt, even ugly if a man
can be that, but clever. Its not
so much that he argues bril
liantly, as that he is in total
control and that he times
things, even his shouting, well.
His assurance therefore is
complete, unshakable. He can
even doze. And this is the mes
sage that gets across. He (and
volvement in production is
viewed as secondary to their
reproductive,
‘homemaker’
role and this is the basis of
their marginality and subor
dinate character in production
as well as neglect in the deve
lopment process. Significantly,
in addition to the pressures of
poverty, the struggle against
patriarchy is reflected in these
peasant women’s answers,
irrespective of their socio-eco
nomic background.
his kind) are made to win. ft
nattera little how. What of the
voman lawyer? White saree.
Deep red lipstick. Composed,
but tight, even brittle. Very
stylish. Immaculate hair do.
Immaculately manicured fing
ers. Several shots of long sha
pely nails painted red. The
theme sound as she moves
into action, is the click of high
heels. She argues too. She
speaks the truth (what use is
it ?) she argues with indigna
tion, but her passion is real,
not calculated and it seems
like hysteria-unnecessary, un
controlled. Worst of all, the
more worked up she gets, the
more sexy, the more desirable
and toylike, she becomes........
She’s for the taking too, it
would seem.
Now for the second rape. This,
men who have seen the film
tell me, is what gives the film
As “hit” rating. Evidently they
are right, for the film made Raj
Babbar (who acts the rapist) a
super star. This time the kid
sister looking for a job is
trapped in this opulent man’s
ridiculously furnished office
suite. She is slowly made to
strip. She protests, screams,
tries to break out. No effect.
No one can hear. She tries to
defend herself. Again its nc
use. He’s on the winning side
from the word go. Its a cool
game for him. With ease he
catches the objects she flings
at him, and smiling, sets them
aside. He insists she take her
clothes off. The camera stays
fastened on her. Moves up and
down her body. Stops at each
button, each hook. She is
made to walk, up then down,
then up again. Only occasio-
not easily accessible to a
Bhangi woman because of pol
lution restrictions.
Prema Devi seemed a consci
ous woman having the capac
ity to reflect and articulate.
She denounced the attitude of
caste Hindus towards her and
her caste women and men.
The caste Hindus pass taunt
ing remarks on the latter’s
mode of dress, hairstyles,
behaviour and “caste Hindutype” names. These manifesta
To have a better understand tions of modernity are consi
ing of the women’s conscious dered the prerogative of caste
ness regarding their exploita Hindus. According to Prema
tive conditions, we decided to Devi, the present generation of
include some case profiles in young, literate and semi-liter
our study. These women re ate women and men are more
present not only undoubted ruthless in observing untou
poverty and hardships in a chability. “Although now we
stratified, patriarchal system are allowed into the courtyards
but skills and strength to fight of most houses, the younger
back against the economic and women throw food at us as
social inferiority thrust on though we are dogs.” The vil
them. The life histories of three lage functionaries refuse to
of these women are presented touch Bhangi women, men and
here.
their children. The village me
dical practitioner, reportedly,
Prema Devi
would examine the Bhangi pa
Thirty five year old Prema tients only in the morning
Devi was married to Munshi prior to his ritual bath and
when she was seven and he pooja (prayer).
was ten years of age. She be Prema Devi’s husband has a re
longs to one of the two fami putation of being lazy, non
lies who work as Bhangi (sca productive and a gamb
vengers) in the village. Munshi ler. He is dependent on her.
owns about 1.5 acres of land The sole responsibility of pro
and six pigs which are reared viding for her family rests on
for sale. Premadevi, who has Prema Devi. Prema Devi is an
two yong sons, participates in assertive
woman
making
all the agricultural activities major decisions in the family
on her own fields, except regarding consumption and
ploughing. She goes scaveng expenditure. However, while
ing to the caste Hindu houses her husband is largely unhelp
each morning and, depending ful where contributing to the
on availability of work, does family income is concerned,
wage labour. However, she yet, when Prema Devi under
said that even wage labour is takes wage labour during
WOMEN ARE CONSCIOUS
Rural women in India who
constitute 81 per cent of the fe
male population and 36 per
cent of the total rural labour
are viewed primarily as home
makers and are denied their
productive roles. Furthermore,
Ale men increasingly have
'^*portunities to develop their
Jis and awareness, the treat
ment of women as members of
the families/households and
not as individuals in their own
right perpetuates women’s
backwardness alienating them
to the outside world. A study
on the impact of the Green Re
volution on women carried out
by us in three villages of Etawah District in Western Uttar
Pradesh reveals that peasant
women are highly conscious of
their economic roles and their
sex-specific and caste and
class specific social position.
Our research report (this paper
is abstracted from the report)
suggests that the rural deve
lopment realities are seen cri
tically by these women. Rural
women in this region seem
highly conscious of the fact
that development and welfare
programmes launched by the
Government are usurped by
the rural rich and the gover
nment officials at the local le
vel.
titilatory story sequences. We
pause briefly to note with the
police
photographer
the
scratch marks on her face. We
see her declare to her fiance
women, while men operate the*
new agricultural machines and
control the inputs as well as
the produce. Women’s in-
SISTERHOOD
Why ant I
Invisible,
Irrelevant,
Isolated
Privatized ?
Have I a choice
Can I change ?
Support me
So I may be
Whole.
With you, my sisters
I must be
M°re
ASTRA
3
naUy, and that too very briefly
during all thia are we shown
the attacker’s face. Who is in
terested in it any way ? In fact
for the audience he is an intru
sion, they are so completely
involved with the woman. Hei
indignity is their thrill. The
rape a fitting climax. At the
trial that follows his murder
Zeenat now moulded intc
respectability, wears an asher
grey saree and a demure
blouse. Such is the functior
the chastening authority of the
phallus. And the end of the
movie ? As all happy endings
3 Active sequence: extravag
anq unreal, of only formal va
lue, quickly forgotten. Wha
remains is a clear message
identical to the one the work
is perpetually, proclaiming.
How can this effect be subvert
ed ? How could the movie
maker, even if we allow hi:
;ood intentions, have changee
die court scene or the secone
rape, to question, even con
rovert the sado-masochistie
rhetoric that dominates ? Hov
could he have projected i
world that reflects women’:
real experience ? The point
am trying to make is that givei
the over-all structure, the has
ic psycho-social system that i:
not only left unquestioned anr
uncriticized, but reinforced
and the essentially male poin
of view that is filmically ex
pounded, it is impossible t<
avoid such an effect No sur
face change, no more intensity
of moral purpose, will trans
form the sexy, hysteric, to;
that the woman lawyer is it
the fdm, into a serious power
fill voice, any more than th.
transplanting and harvesting
periods he does most of th<
house work including cooking
washing and cleaning of th<
house. This breakdown of th<
sexual division of labour was
noticed among Chamar families and among poor Muslin
and non-caste Hindus of the
other two villages. Economic
necessity drives the able bo
died women and men to work
in the fields and the house
hold chores and children are
attended to by older men and
women.
Socio-economic
conditions
put the bhangi in the role of
scavengers and the arresting
social system offers no avenue
of release from this role. Prema
Devi said that the placemen!
of her caste in the lowest social
rung, poverty and thereby
dependency on the class oi
caste Hindus restricts her mo
bility and results in a loss oi
bargaining power. About 15
years ago she as well as other
Bhangi women and men orga
nised to strike work till such
time that their wages were en
hanced. The daily wage of one
roti for scavenging has not
been raised for the last 50
years. The Bhangi went
without their ‘roti’ tor a vouple
of days, but hunger drove
them back at the same wage
rate to the caste Hindus who
threatened to withdraw even
that one ‘roti’ if the Bhangi
people did not ‘behave’ them
selves.
However, Prema Devi’s self
confidence, self-respect and
refusal to be cowed down by
the high-handed treatment of
caste Hindus especially the
conlinued on p»ge 4
SANGHARSH
WOMEN ARE CONSCIOUS
__ _______________'continued from '
Thakur eroup is remarkable.
She related an incident of how
once her husband Munshi was
forced to gamble by a Thakiir
to whom he lost Rs. 150. When
the Thakur demanded imme
diate payment, Prema Devi
, pleaded with him to forego his
’ claim of the money. When the
Thakur refused to negotiate,
she offered Rs. 25 as earnest
money promising to pay the
rest later. However, when the
Thakur threatened to pour
kerosene oil over Munshi and
set him on fire, Prema Devi
walked to the police station at
a distance of seven kilometers
and lodged a complaint
against the Thakur who,
thereon, was arrested. Her
confidence is evident from
another incident when under
the UNICEF sponsored Ap
plied Nutrition Programme,
grain and oil were being given
to women and children. The
Thakur in-charge of the distri
bution refused to give Bhangi
women and children their
rightful share saying that they
came under a different territo
rial jurisdiction. At this, the
Bhangi families, with
Prema Devi as their spokeswo
man, threatened to stop work
and not cast their votes for any
of the village candidates dur
ing the Panchayat elections.
This threat hit home and they
were given their share of grain
and oil.
Prema Devi has a resolute spi
rit and enormous courage. She
perceives all women as being
oppressed mainly on account
of their class and sex position
However, while the rich
women do not have to fight for
mrnute economic problems,
the poor women are doubly
oppressed both economically
and socially. Prema Devi sees
her own liberation only by way
Xte^H^ imProvement of
Ciass cond'tions in
"Ml India. Poverty she feels is
becoming increasingly un
bearable now.
Sarbari
Sarbari, a Muslim woman aged
40 and a mother of six chddren, is not only one of the most
articulate women we encoun
tered on our field trip but is
also the most urbane and as
sertive m her mode of speech
Married to Sulaiman, both the
husband and wife sell cloth in
this village and the neighbour
ing villages. They have been in
this trade for the last 22 years.
They have a small house in the
neighbouring township where
their oldest son lives and
works as an apprentice with a
tailor. In the village, Sarbari
has a mud house, a major por
tion of it having collapsed in
the recent floods and torren
tial rains.
payment but abuse and curse
her in obscene language when
she asks to be paid. On a
couple of occasions Sarbari
has also been beaten up by
some Thakur men for having
the ‘audacity’ to ‘demand’ pay
ment for the material she sells.
She resentfully recalls an ins
tance when a Thakur openly
made sexual advances towards
her and when she resisted, he
set afloat rumours denouncing
her as a woman of highly ques-
with her and she retaliated by
severely beating up the Mus
lim. As a result, a case was
filed against Sarbari and her
daughter and Rs. 4000 was
spent in fighting the case. She
expresses her anger against
the Muslims of the village who
she feels have done nothing to
help her and, on the contrary
have criticised her for her defi
ance and aggressiveness
However, her fight against or
thodoxy and traditionalism
An adept sales woman, Sarbari
is very fluent and vocal. Her
contact with the oustide world
including cities like Etawah
and Kanpur where she goes
occasionally to procure whole
sale textile material, has gone
a long wav in develoome in
her, self-confidence and ability
to provide for herself and her
family. She recalls her struggle
for life; “I matured into a
woman at a very early age,
without ever having gone
through the innocence of
childhood.” After marriage,
apart from having to go from
house to house peddling her
ware, Sarbari has to bear and
rear children, look after her
husband, manage her do
mestic work and tend to the
cattle. She not only aPP<^
weak in health but decidedly
exhausted and run down. At
present, she is pregnant and
denounces God and society m
general for casting this curse
of child birth
on woman-kind
wZut
providing
adequate
the house by doing wage
labour. This year she has
taken some land on share
cropping. Shamshad is the
first woman in the region of
this study to emerge as an in
dependent sharecropper.
Sarbari stated explicitly that
while she and her husband
work at the same job, when at
home he never even lifts a fin
ger to help her. When the
children were small, not once
did he offer to help by mind
ing them while she worked. He
is a master at home and ex
pects to be waited on. She is
now totally exhausted with
having to combine the burden
of household work, child-care
and peddling cloth. “Women
have no relief from the drudge
and burden of back-breaking
work,” she remarked. Realis
ing the hard life a woman with
10 economic and social securty can have, Sarbari is encou
raging her daughter to stand
firmly on her own feet. She
whole-heartedly agreed and
nipported Chameli’s (another
Bhangi woman in the village)
contention:
“Dependency of a woman
on a man is what arrests
the
development
of
women. In a sense, the
high-caste women are
worse off than lower-caste
women since their mobil
ity is controlled entirely by
their men and they are
beaten much more. Their
only redeeming factor is
that economically they are
better off”
Shakuntala
means for bringing up child
ren. She strongly support*
family planning programmes.
Sarbari is a down-to-earth
realist. She has no d'usion.
about her profession and does
not attempt to either findjusrtfications for the fact that she
has been driven out of the
house by sheer econormepre^
sures, or glonfy the nature ot
her job. She related several in
cidents when she was subject I tionable character. Sarbari has
ed to cruel harassment by the developed a mental defense
Thakur men of the vil g- now against these rumours
These men get matenal
and has learnt to ignore them.
her, taking advantage of .the
There was an incident when
fact that on account of
she was accused of thieving by
dominant
socio-economic
position in the village, she a landowning rich Muslim
man and was belaboured.
cannot refuse them her good*.
Seeing her mother being bea
^memnPn“tSoX -thhold
ten, Sarbari’s daughter joined
has enhanced her determina
tion to “take on’ all adverse si
tuations. Her twenty year old
daughter, Shamshad, who was
deserted by her husband re
ceives tremendous support
and encouragement from Sar
bari. Shamshad has been stay
ing with her parents for the
last five years and has been
contributing towards running
Shakuntala aged 33 years is of
the Chamar caste. Her paren
tal home is in the district of
Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pra
desh. Her husband Vrindavan
owns about an acre of land in
the village and takes in addi
tion 1.5 acres of land from a
Thakur landowner on share
cropping. Shakuntala is a
mother of five children and is
expecting a sixth one. The
earnings of this familv are far
from sufficient to sustain it in a
proper manner. Most of the ol
der children do wage labour in
the heavy agricultural periods
and it is very likely that even
Shakuntala works for wages
although when asked she
evaded the question. However,
she confessed to being active
in agricultural activity on her
own fields.
Like other non-caste Hindu.
working class women, Sha
kuntala is very articulate and'
conscious offactor
her role.
Thecon!
one
over-riding
in her
versation with us was an acute
awateness of her own caste
status and its sooial implica
tions in the context of wider
socio-economic relations “Are
we not human-beings?” she
kept asking repeatedly. Shakuntala’s astonishing articula
tion could partly be attributed
to the fact that she comes from
a politically active region of
Ghazipur. She is also rather
widely travelled compared to
her counterparts in the villageshe has been to Banaras, Kan’
Pur, Allahabad and Et’awah'
However, her remarkably clear
perception and analysis of the
manner in which forces of on
pression operate in the rural
society arise out ofher own life
experience and struggle.
Shakuntala
that
in theirlamented
impulse the
for fact
up!
ward mobility in the social
,h.e Chamars have dis
lodged themselves from parti
cular skills and specialisation
m leatherwork, often heredir.
th?
°?er times aci>uired
trough the process of leammfnfSOhm fell°W WOmen or
men. She says:
'tx
“Earlier the Brahmin £>
Thakur used to give us
lr°m a d'stance and
e had dnnk using our
palms for cups. We
ic-ght that if we gave up
““r.traditiona! occupation
of leatherwork we would
, given food in metal
Plates and water in a lota
(brass container used for
drmkmg water and other
liquids); but things still re“am the same and we
come °StOUrWOrkand
With regard to women’s social
Position, Shakuntala says that
women slog to a back-breakroutine both in the house
and outside. Perpetual child
Oeanng, chronic sickness^, 4
lack of medical facilities, dft’i
and starvation had drained*).
and other women mentally
and physically.
GOVIND KELKAR
NIRLEP MALHANS
Centre for Women's Development Studies,
New Delhi
-------- MILITARISM \Mi SEXISM—
The purpose of this essay is to
explore the interrelationships
between sexism and militar
ism, to comment upon the way
the common values basic to
these interrelated belief sys
tems socialise, indeed “educ
ate” human beings to the ac
ceptance and pursuit of war
fare; and to make some obser
vations and recommendations
regarding the implications of
sexism and militarism for edu
cation for peace.
The term education as it is
used here is generally con
ceived to comprehend all of
the instruction the society pro
vides to the young which con
dition and form world views,
personalities, aspirations, va
lues and belief systems. As im
plied in the title, much of this
instruction conditions the
SANGHARSH
young to an acceptance of the
inevitability of war and instills
a value system which justifies
war as a legitimate means for
dealing with international
conflict. There is a growing
body of evidence which points
to an important relationship
between that value system and
militarism and sexism. These
two interrelated belief sys
tems, while outmoded by both
technology and contemporary
knowledge regarding human
oehaviour and human capaci
ties are still crucially influen
tial factors in human relations
and social structures.
Militarism and sexism com
plement, reinforce and help to
perpetuate each other. They
also constitute major obstacles
to overcoming war, largely as
they affect the education and
signed to prepare people for
specific unchanging roles in a
society expected to remain
structurally the same, genera
tion after generation. Among
these specific roles are those
determined by sex, and
among the expectations of
fixed sex roles is the likeli
hood of young men serving in
war, war oemg viewed, as are
sex roles, as the inevitable
consequence
of
“human
nature”. Thus, militarism has
been a significant aspect of the
socialisation and education of
boys and largely determines
what comprises socially desir
able masculine attributes.
These attributes tend to be
qualities deemed necessary for
military service, such as brav
ery, aggressiveness, endurance,
discipline and the repression
formation of generation after
generation of women and men
who accept these belief sys
tems and their institutional
consequences as part of the
fixed order of things dictated
by an immutable “human na
ture”. Indeed, insistence on the
concept of the immutability of
human nature and the desira
bility of a fixed order so distur
bingly (sometimes so poig
nantly) articulated by the cur
rent resurgence of ultra con
servative and authoritarian
movements, is the very core of
these belief systems. It is also
the major paradigm from
which traditional socialisation
processes and institutional
education are derived. These
processes still, in spite of the
rate and scope of the changes
in the world about us, are de
4
oi the “softer” human senti
ments. Boys are urged to strive
towards public achievement.
these intrinsic parts of their
masculine identity. They are
also reassured, perhaps as an
inducement to be willing, if
necessary, to make “the ultim
ate sacrifice,” that this identity
is superior to that of the
“otheri5, the feminine identity.
The school-age child is taught
every day from kindergarten
through secondary school that
to be orderly and obedient de
monstrates your goodness and
worthiness of love. Even
though before entering school,
children are taught that there
is a significant social differ
ence between men and women
and that society has widely
different behavioural expecta
tions from each sex. Boys are
to be physically active, asser
tive, adventurous and oriented
toward public achievement.
Girls are to be passive, compli
ant, timid, and oriented I toward
caring for the personal needs
of others. The role of the
school in reinforcing these ex
pectations will be explored in
the section on the effects of
militarism and sexism on ins
titutional education.
If the children’s day involves
athletics, either practice of an
actual competition, they are
urged to “lay low” or “waste”
their opponents. The powerful
lesson of sports in general is
that the highest human value
and virtue is winning and win
ning always means the oppon
ent must lose proving less
value and virtue in the loser or
continued on page 10
WOMEN AND
SOCIAL
REPRODUCTION
Contd. from page 1
but for an escape from hou
sework, the demand of em
ployment The positive as
pect of employment for wo
men is that it enables them
to break out of the isolation
of the home and gain some
financial
independence
from the family —the two
advantages of wage-work.
The negative aspect is that
it increases their work
load and decreases their
leisure time —both of
which arc consequences of
ignoring
the
socially
necessary character of
housework and therefore
not raising any demands
directly related to it. But
over and above these dis
advantages is a more seri
ous one: by itself, this de
mand is totally unrealistic.
Nowhere in the world, let
alone in India, is there li
kely to be a return to con
ditions of labour shortage
or absence of labour orga
nisations, which histori
cally were the conditions
in which large-scale em
ployment of women took
place In the advanced ca
pitalist countries., where
more and more women are
joining the wage-labour
force, they are not so much
being employed in indus
try or agriculture, where
employment as a whole is
declining, but in the ser
vice sector. Here, however,
most services,-as well as
a significant amount of
manufacturing, e.g^ food
processing — are provided
in the home —by women
(although even here the
tendency-to shift from em
ployment in agriculture
and industry to services is
beginning to be seen). In
other words, women as
house-workers are com
peting with themselves as
wage-workers. In a profitoriented system, it is obvi
ous that so long as women
go on doing this work wi
thout payment, no one is
going to pay them to do it.
So the demand for paid em
ployment, cannot meet with
success so long as women con
tinue to keep themselves out
of paid work by working for
nothing.
(3) Alternatively,
women
have demanded that the
state take over various ■
functions which are now
performed in the family by
women. This converto
these into paid jobs and
also socialises them. But at
the same time the advan
tages of housework are
lost: any control which
was earlier present is
taken away. The state, re
presenting the capitalist
class as a whole, is asked
to take over functions
which
were
formerly
under our control.
(2) One movement which has
All these solutions then, have
tried to meet this difficulty
serious drawbacks: is it pos
is the ‘wages for house
sible to develop something
work’ movement. Unlike
better ? Not something perfect,
the simple demand for
of course, but a solution which
employment, this move
is superior to those which have
ment does not accept the
so far been put forward ?
prevailing social defini
tion of housework as useless, At present, all we can do io
suggest
what a solution could
but recognises its social
mean: actually working it out
usefulness by demanding
will
be
something
that has to
payment for it. But it
be done in practice.
accepts the other disad
vantage of it, its isolated
Firstly, it would mean women
character, and by doing
organising collectively to do
this, makes the demand
the work which they now do in
one which is extremely
isolation —organising creches
difficult to fight for. The
where children can be looked
most that a movement like
after collectively, canteens
this can achieve is
where the preparation of food
something like a family al
can be centralised, and so on.
lowance for women. This There may be problems at
is certainly a step forward, first, because women are not
“AGITATINGFOR
THEIR RIGHTS
The fisher women of Goa
and Kerala are at the fore
front of the fisher people’s
agitation against the inva
sion by the trawlers and
mechanised craft. Over
four hundred trawlers
have been licenced in Goa.
In violation of the law for
bidding trawlers to oper
ate within the five fathoms
limit, they have been en
croaching systematically
on the preserves of the tra
ditional fishermen. As a
consequence, Goa’s 80,000
strong fishing community
is facing virtual extinction.
For the last three years the
community has been agi
tating for the enforcement
of the five fathoms limit.
The agitation has conside
rably intensified in the last
three months.
All through the agitation
the fisherwo'men have
been fighting along side
the menfolk. In the last
year the fisher women of
Trivandrum participated
in a chain hunger strike.
They also participated in
processions and morchas.
In Kerala, the Government
has been aole to solve
their problems to some ex
tent. In Goa, the fisher
U’cd- to working together in^is way, but it should not be
difficult to overcome these.
^hat is most important is that
^omen should do all this them^es so that they can develop
dieir initiatives and make use
°fand extend the skills, know
ledge and experience which
they already possess.
and gives women a small
degree of financial inde
pendence, but even if the
movement is successful,
there is still the problem
that once it is over women
go back to isolation in
their homes.
women blockaded the
road of the Chief Minis
ter’s residence. More than
two hundred fisher women
were arrested and taken to
jail.
season from selling fish.
Now I can barely make
three or four rupees. Our
earnings are now less than
Rs. 1000 a year, as against
Rs. 7000 to Rs. 8000
before.”
bitterly that many of them
had to stop sending their
children to school because
they could not afford to do
so any longer. She herself
had sold or pledged many
of her gold ornaments.
“We manage to keep the
home fires burning only by
borrowing heavily at 18%
Another woman in the
crowd intervened and said
One of the women com
plained bitterly of the con
ditions in the jail. She said
that “...... a hundred and
fifty of them were kept in a
very small crowded cell.”
They had to sleep on the
bare floor and were treated
on par with criminals and
murderers. They were
served with inedible food
and watery tea out of old
tin cans. They were fur
ther intimidated by the po
lice and warned that they
would be kept in jail for an
indefinite period of time
unless they withdrew from
the agitation.
But all this has not dam
pened the spirit of the
brave fisher women; one of
them said “It is a life and
death battle for us. After
the trawlers have invaded
our territory we do not get
any fish at all. There were
times, in the old days be
fore the trawlers came,
when I could make Rs. 25
to Rs. 30 a day during the
WOMEN
IN
STRUGGLE
division of labour.
Finally, it would also mean a
struggle to get payment, pro
bably from the state for this
work-some compensation from
society for work which is done
for society. This may be the
most difficult part, because it
is not likely, that small local
groups of women will be able
Secondly, doing it this way to achieve it alone. It would be
Qould mean retaining control necessary to link up and form
°Ver the whole process; in fact, a wider organisation of
oven extending it, since a women, as vzell as gain the
Btoup of women working col support of other sections of
lectively would be less sub the working class, especially
ject to pressures, for example, the trade unions. This would
from family members, than involve convincing them that
one woman in isolation. They this is not simply a sectional
would be able to decide what demand but a demand in the
exactly they want to produce, interests of the working class
tvbat kind of up-bringing they as a whole Surely, if a move
would like their children to ment of this sort were startea,
have, what kind of diet would it would give an enormous
he best, and so on —without boost to me working class
leaving these important deci movement as a whole. The
sions to others as they would self-confidence and experi
have to if the state took them ence of organiation and
struggle gained by women
over.
within it would undoubtedly
Thirdly, it would also leave
help increase their participa
the women in control of the
tion in work-place struggles.
toqy in which they organised
More than that, it would intro
themselves; it would be pos
duce a new element into these
sible to eliminate the division
struggles. Because the struggle
between those who make deci
for control over the production
sions and those who carry
and reproduction of human
them out, those who work with
life, human individuals, must,
their brains, and those who
work with their hands, those by its own logic, extend to a
who are more skilled and struggle for control and plan
those who are less skilled — ning of every aspect of social
the kinds of divisions which production and reproduction.
exist in every capitalist enter For example, ensuring the
prise. It may even be possible health of those individuals
to question popular notions of will involve control over the
what is ‘women’s work’ and production and distributional"
"men’s work’ and thus to begin food, clothing, housing, sanita
breaking down the most stub tion, medical services —and
born division —the sexual even ultimately, control over
some part of what goes on m
.their work places. Ensuring
their psychological well-being
per month from the local involves much more. The
land lords.“What is going circle steadily extends out
to happen to us ?”
wards. Thus women, instead of
at the tail-end of the
‘Your agitation does not struggling
labour movement, would be
seem to be getting you right at the forefront of it
anywhere. What if the
Government does not Upto now, the verv centrality
yield to your demands ? of women to the process ofso
Are you not afraid of cial reproduction has been
violence ?’ I asked them their downfall: it has been
“....we are even prepared used to marginalise them
the labour force'' and
to die rather than give up within
exclude them from any mea
our fight. We have no ningful role in organisations
choice in the matter What and struggles. Can we reverse
do you expect us to do? this situation and convert their
“.... It is already three role in social production into a
years now since the agita source
of
revolutionary
tion has started. We are strength ?
now prepared for drastic
methods and desperate so
ROHINI BANAJl
lutions if the Government
—Forum Against Oppression of Wcosn
Zkxabiy
will not do anything about
the trawlers we will catch
hold of the trawlers and
bum them.”
The fisher women of Goa
are extremely militant.
They are determined to
carry on the fight to the
finish. They are not de
ceived by the offers of
trawlers for all of them.
“How can we afford trawl
ers ? How many people
will get employment ?
Each trawler can employ
only five people, where
the rampon employs one
hundred and fifty people.
They will give trawlers to
Revolution mean*
change from
some of the rich fishermen
the top to the bottom
and to the leaders and
and that included
what will the rest of us
the way we deal
with each other
do?”
as human beings —
aley Kirm
Mathrubhumi
5
SANGHARSH
patriarchy with his Work „
.
In the past three years, a tendency
has emerged called socialist feminism.
Many feminists have argued that it is
the most progressive position in femi
nism today."
of labor for granted a He «
Socialist feminism is not a precise ,L.> ,|w,vs k ' ne assumes that
term. Those who consider themselves labor has always been divided Qn
basis of sex and that women have al
socialist feminists include female so ways done household labor He
cialists, women who consider imperi
vides no explanat10n for
P
alism to be the primary contradiction,
socialists who see feminism as a way justice to the fantastic vari t not
f do
,
of organizing women into the class content of work done by wXn and
struggle, and women who see patriar
men; as recent anthropoIogicaI work
chy” and class as equal and (to vary
shows childcare seems to be the only
ing degrees) independent sources of
type of work women do almost uni
women's oppression. The minimum versally? A more concrete analysis of
area of agreement seems to be that
the sexual division of labor jn differ_
Marxism has something to teach us ent societies would have highlighted
about the sources and maintenance of
one crucial fact: whatever women do
women's oppression and about ways
is considered less vaiUabie than what
to overcome it. On a theoretical level,
this assumption has led to attempts to ever men do. 1 he orthodox Marxist
integrate feminism into Marxism or to approach has not explained this fact
reconceptualize one in terms of the Nor does Engels explore the conse
quences for men, women, and chil
other.1
Feminists have received strong criti dren of the primary responsibility for
cism from both male and female Left childcare falling on women.
Second. Engels argues that wealth
ists for "dividing the working class,
making bourgeois "personal" issues was owned by the gens] and that the
gens
was matriarchal. But then, how
central to political struggle, and so
can he argue that cattle became pri
on.
Perhaps the turn to Marxism is to vate property of men because they
some extent an attempt on the part of were "heads" of these families?6 Ac
feminists to show that they too can do cording to more recent anthropologi
"real" political work and "real" the cal work, agriculture and herding de
ory. It may be a way of showing that veloped about the same time, so that
it is "correct" to organize women be the development of private property
cause they do produce surplus value in cattle could not in itself be such a
(through housework), or at least re radical transformation that it would
produce labor-power which is the pre lead to the overthrow of mother-right
condition for extracting surplus val (if it ever existed).
ue. Alternatively, since women con
stitute an expanding segment of the
working class, they can now be seen
as significant in the organization of a
socialist movement (as workers). Or,
socialist-feminism allows women to
argue that feminism, because it focus
es on process, is a valuable tool for
building revolutionary organizations
or revolutionizing the working class.
All these positions implicitly as
sume that women's lives in and of.
themselves have little or no revolu
tionary potential, that women's ex
perience only becomes meaningful
when it is related to the class struggle,
and that patriarchy is not a relatively
autonomous historical force which al
so determines the character of social
relations and human history. In short,
This is merely one concrete instance
socialist feminism suggests that femi
nists have raised interesting questions of the larger difficulty of assuming the
and developed forms of organization existence of a matriarchal society and
which must now be integrated into the primacy of changes in property re
lations. Engels needs a matriarchy so
ongoing class struggle.
These issues are considered subor it can be overthrown by men—not as
dinate to class struggle and have not men but rather as owners of private
been taken seriously as a fundamental property, or the instruments of labor?
challenge to the way Marxists under That is, the course of history depends
stand politics and political change. on changes in the mode of production
The real question is whether we ac and the consequent property rela
cept Marxism as the correct (if flaw tions, not on (or as well on) sexualed) paradigm for comprehending wo power relations or the mode of repro
men's oppression or instead call for duction. For Engels, the family be
the development of a new mode of comes part of the superstructure rath
analysis. What, if anything, can er than a part of the base. He recog
Marxism as it stands now teach us nizes the centrality of the ''mode of re
about women's oppression, and what production,” but fails to carry out the
is the utility of the Marxist method exploration of sexual politics required
for feminist analysis?
to understand it.
Third, also along these lines, if cat
tle and slaves were such clear signs of
wealth, how did the presumably male
Problems of Orthodox Marxism
heads of households claim them?
A careful examination of Engels' Why did they not belong to women?
'Custom''8 cannot explain why these
writing can point up the weaknesses
of orthodox Marxist theory”"in re sources of power could so easily be
appropriated
by men.
gard to the analysis of women's op
1 am led to two possible conclu
pression. 1 will not restate Engels' ar sions: either there never was a matri
gument in The Origins of the Family, archy (in which case one cannot exPrivate Property and the State,2 but plain the oppression of women solely
rather I will list seven basic problems on the basis of changes in production
with his argument and discuss how property relations), or the overthrow
these problems are related to the gen °f matriarchy was a political as well
eral nature of a Marxist approach. as.economic revolution in which men
Furthermore, I will show that Engels' as men subdued or destroyed the pri
own theory can be fully comprehend vileged (or perhaps equal) position of
ed only by integrating an analysis of women for a number of historically
SANGHARSH
possible reasons (such as men discov
ering their role in reproduction and/
or asserting control over reproduc
tion).
Fourth, why should inheritance be
such a crucial issue?9 Engels is reading
the present into the past. In gens soci
ety, is there any danger to children
themselves (would they be outcast, or
hot be taken care of), or is illegiti
macy and/or individual inheritance
even a meaningful concept in a matri
archal society? Men must already
have been feeling excluded from the
gens and/or from reproduction, since,
as Engels states, in pre-monogamous
marriage systems, only the mother of
the child could be known with cer
tainty.10
Thus, men might attempt to use
children as a means of claiming power
and overcoming exclusion, promis
ing protection in return. (As feminists
have pointed out, this is one of the
oldest protection rackets around—
women and children are guaranteed
protection by the aggressors—men.)
Furthermore, in most cultures, only
sons can inherit property, not daugh
ters; thus inheritance can be seen as
another way of keeping power and
property within male control.11 Alter
natively, inheritance could point to
the possibility that women and their
products (children) were already re
garded as property Indeed, LeviStrauss suggests that women were the
first form of property and were traded
out of their clan to cement relation
ships between men in differing clans.
Do Feir
By JANE FLAX
this point, the sexual division of labor
becomes an instrument of oppression.
Sixth, Engels argues that the over
throw of mother right could take
place through a simple decree. 12
Wouldn't women be disturbed by be
ing transferred out of their gens upon
marriage, thus losing a crucial source
of their power? How and by whom
could a "simple decree" be issued that
descent would in the future be patri
lineal? Why would women obey it?
Certainly legal doctrines had little
meaning in this era and would have
had to be backed by other forms of
power. Again, the very structure of
early social systems seems to point to
force being used by men against wo
men, originally for control over
scarce resources (children) and later
to maintain the privileges the initial
system created.
Finally, why did shifts in inheri
tance of property bring total suprem
acy to the male? Doesn't this view
transfer the present centrality of pri
vate property back to "primitive"
times? Moreover, there is no reason
to think that property owned by fam
ilies would necessitate or lead to maledominated families. The existence of
male domination and private proper
ty cannot be explained unless we pos
tulate a whole structure of society in
which power derives from and is exercised by males as well as by a prop
erty-based ruling class. All men are
kings in their castles, no matter what
or who they are in the King's castle.
In short, the dynamic which Engels
sees centered in property and inheri
tance must also be grounded in a
struggle for power, in the dialectic of
sex. Changes in the mode of production are not a sufficient explanation
for the overthrow of mother-right.
On another level, even though it is
doubtful that a matriarchy ever existed, Engels nonetheless needed to postulate one so that he could paradoxically avoid following out the implications of his statement about the
At least initially, such a system must
modes of production and reproduchave been instituted and maintained
tion. Women (communal property)
by force.
are overthrown by men (private prop
Fifth, Engels suggests that men
erty). Engels only examines property
relations, not relations between men
wanted their own children to inherit
and that this was a reason for over
and women, and hence does not carry
out a thorough analysis of the mode
throwing the then traditional matri
of reproduction. In fact, the mode of
lineal order of inheritance. But what
production and the mode of repro
is wrong with a sister's children (or
duction
are not necessarily in har
anyone else) as inheritors? There
mony, and contradictions can be
must already have been a property/
overcome
by force, by the mainte
patriarchal system in -which children
and women were seen as a special sort. nance of patriarchy, and by realign
ments of the family, and realignments
of property.
within the family.
This is where the concept and reali
Marx acknowledges this when he
ty of patriarchal privilege become im
discusses "the natural division of la
portant. Men, according to Engels,
bor in the family."13 Marx means
would want to retain the power and
"natural” in a very specific sense, i.e.,
privilege they held as a result of the
"uncivilized." "Natural" is the oppo
original division of labor. Women's site of "social." So the "natural" divi
natural interest in a restricted birth sion of labor in the family must be
rate (because childbearing is danger based on the capacity of women to
ous and tiring) would oppose men s
bear children, and since they bear
interest in increasing their power by
them, it is "convenient" (Engels) for
increasing the amount of property for
them to also raise children. Marx ex
trade or labor available to them. Re plicitly acknowledges that the distri
stricting births would also reduce
bution of labor and its products is un
men's control over women since wo
equal within the family and that it is
men would have more energy for ac
unequal because the man has control
tivities other than child-birth and
over the woman and children and can
child rearing. In addition, as long as
do with their labor and reproductive
women have children at home, ser
power what he wills.
Property is the power of control
vice to children spills over into service
to the man (why cook, sew, clean, for
ling others' labor.14 Marx does not ex
plain how/why men got this power.
example, only for children). Why
Furthermore, he says that the slavery
would anyone want to give up these
latent in the family is the "nucleus" of
personal services? So men have an in
later forms of property, which are
terest in controlling reproduction. At
6
i
,
1
1
1
1
J
I
■
]
1
’
<
1
,
proletarian class consciousness arises,
they thereby place themselves on the
level of consciousness of the bour
geoisie. And that the bourgeoisie
fighting on its own ground will prove
superior to the proletariat both eco
graphics by Sylvia Wallace nomically and ideologically can come
as a surprise only to a vulgar Marx
cussions of the family.
ist.11
Feminists must understand that in
Finally, any mention of worpen as
order
to maintain their hegemony,
women, or of how their historical de
velopment might have proceeded dif men will attempt to deny or obscure
the
experiences
and insights of wo
ferently from men's is glaringly ab
sent from Marx's discussion. Indeed,
this absence points to the dangers in
herent in any analysis of women's op
pression which relies solely on a his
tory of the changes in the mode of
production. Without an analysis of
patriarchy, women as historically
specific beings disappear.
ninists Need Marxism?
just higher forms of essentially the
same relation. Although the question
of how men got this initial power is
still unresolved, its existence permits
men to gain other, more extensive
and elaborate forms of property and
power. Thus we can argue that "patri
archal privilege" is both a foundation
for ("primitive accumulation"?) and
basis of men's economic power. Once
the initial act of expropriation (wo
men and children as property) is car
ried out, men can use their differential
power bases to subordinate other men
through gift-giving, wife-trading, etc.
To destroy men's privileged position
in the family means to take control
over our own labor power and thus it
is analogous to removing the privilege
of appropriation of surplus value
from the capitalist.
In fact, Marx himself seems to be
making a similar analogy in his next
paragraph when he says:
the division of labor offers us the first
example for the fact that man's [wo-'
man's] own act [childbearing, labor
for the man) becomes an alien power
opposed to him [her]—as long as man
[woman] remains in natural society,
that is. as long as a split exists be
tween the particular and the common
interest, and as long as the activi^L\
not voluntarily, but naturally divi
ded. For as soon as labor is distribu
ted, each person has a particular, ex
clusive area of activity which is im
posed on him [her] and from which he
[she] cannot escape?5
Translated into feminist terms.
Marx's argument means that patriar
chy is a form of individual expropria
tion which constricts the possibility of
developing a communal form of soci
ety. The man's private possession of
women and children leads to the anti
social form of private and privatistic
families. Nonetheless, the man has an
interest in maintaining this form of
property; he benefits directly from
this inequality. Furthermore, women
will remain enslaved as long as they
are subject to a "natural" as opposed
to "social" division of labor.
Marx does not point out, however,
that the division of labor has ditt^[.it
consequences for men and women.
Men go outside the home; the family
is the base from which they can move
out. Women remain embedded in the
family, and the split which results
from the sexual division of labor (particular/common, private/public), re
inforces the powerlessness and exploi
tation of the woman.*6 While histori
cally neither men nor women can es
cape their exclusive areas of activity,
men's sphere has expanded and in
creased in importance while women's
area of activity (the family) has de
creased in importance. Men, having
committed the first act of expropria
tion and having accumulated their
first property, are free to expand their
holdings and power. Women remain
slaves.
In addition, Marx has an ambigu
ous view of the family. He states that
"the third circumstance entering into
historical development from the very
beginning is the fact that men who
daily remake their own lives begin to
make other men, begin to propogate:
[they create] the relation between hus
band and wife, parents and children,
the family. "17 Since the two forms of
activity to which Marx refers—the
production of material life (food, clo
thing, shelter), and the creation of
ne-’ n
which arise once the old
j.
ax^ffatisfied—are constitutive of
human history, we might assume that
the mode of reproduction is just as
important as the mode of production
itself. Indeed, in the paragraph fol
lowing, Marx calls the production of
persons and the mode of cooperatior
which accompanies it a "productive
force."18 Marx implies that the family
could be treated as the "mode of co
operation" with which the production
of persons is allied. At the same time,
however, Marx says that the family
becomes a "subordinate" relationship
as society becomes more complex.
This would imply that although his
torically the family was one of three
aspects of historical development, ‘it
no longer retains any independence
and can only be understood as a sub
set of some more central, autono
mous aspect. However, Marx does
not tel’
here what the family be
es inordinate to or how this oc
curs—a typical failing of Marxist dis
they never really explored reproduc
tion as a crucial moment of history—
both in its internal relations 3 nd in its
relation to the other moments of his_
tory An overly determine meth
odology which focuses exc]usivel on
production m the narroWest 5/^
win of necessity, ignore women anj
he dialectic of sex because women,s
labor often takes place "outside" the
market Moreover, determinism leads
one to focus on things rather than on
relations, and patriarchy is above an
This is where socialist feminist the
ory must begin. We must trace the
history of the mode of reproduction
and its changing forms of social coop
eration. We must work out the rela
tion between the mode of reproduc
tion and the mode of production,
with special attention to the different
experiences of women and men with
in this history (the dialectics of sex as
well as thedialectics of class).
In order to carry out such an
analysis, we must overcome the sim
plistic determinism we have inherited.
(Marxists have their equivalent of the
Holy Grail—the search for the contra
diction from which everything else
follows.) An analysis of the mode of
reproduction requires considering
psychological and sexual-political di
mensions which remain almost un
touched in Marxist literature.
Patriarchal Ideology and
Feminist Theory
Georg Lukacs shows us the interac
tion between self-interest and theoret
ical unclarity:
The hegemony of the bourgeoisie
really does embrace the whole of soci
ety in its own interests (and in this it
has had some success). To achieve
this it was forced both to develop a
coherent theory of economics, poli men who challenge their privilege and a social relation.
tics, and society (which in itself pre power. Men will deny that they have
One cannot ignore the fact that
supposes and amounts to a 'Weltan any special self-interest because in or most socialist theorists are men. It is
schauung'),]? and also to make cons der to maintain hegemony, they must not in their interest to acknowledge
cious and sustain its faith in its own insist that they are speaking for and the existence of patriarchy. Engels'
mission to control and organize soci acting in the interest of society as a work is a clear example of the distor
ety.19
whole. If we deny the lessons of our tions and omissions typical of ortho
His words apply to men's protec own experience and/or try to fit that dox Marxists. After the opening chap
tion of their interests as well as to the experience into categories established ter of the Origins, the book becomes
bourgeoisie. Any ruling group pro by men, we will lose both the mean an analysis of the changing nature of
tects its hegemony by making univer ing of that experience and our strug production. Reproduction and the
sally valid rules out of currently exist gle for liberation (men cannot be beat family disappear, "hidden from his
ing relationships. In addition, how en on their own ground).
tory" indeed.
ever, the ruling group must develop a
Historically, socialists have put off
This means we have to stop "acting
clear enough grasp of reality to be like women," by justifying our theory women's demands until "after the rev
able to control and manipulate it. A and practice to men. We must stop olution," or have defined women s de
ruling group thus claims objectivity, seeking their approval of what we do.
mands as particularistic, divisive of
but only elucidates those aspects of In particular, we must stop proving the working class, not central to so
relations which are in its interest to we are more socialist than they.
cialist revolution or society. Again,
know. For example, bourgeois econo
Men do not have a monopoly on we must ask: who defines what is cen
mists could develop laws of the mar
truth. Indeed, their self-interest keeps tral and what is not? On what
ket but could not develop the Marxist
them from seeing the totality. The grounds? Working class demands are
labor theory of value or the concept
"personal is political" because our ex defined by Marx as both particular
of surplus value. The self-interest of
perience drives us both to understand and universal: this is precisely what
any ruling group must necessarily and to transform the present (indeed defines it as the revolutionary class.
lead it to ignore the deeper contradic
the two activities must be aspects of Working class demands as tradition
tory aspects of reality which underlie each other, integrally connected). If ally defined by Marxists speak to
the immediately given, and which we deny our own experience, if we transforming the social relations of
provide possibilities for revolt and decide a priori to fit those experiences production. We women must speak
liberation.
into categories which others have de to the question of reproduction, be
Lukacs contrasts the bourgeoisie's cided are politically correct, we lose cause in that realm, as well us in pro
need for mystification to the proletar the very possibility for comprehend duction, our labor is being expropri
iat's need for an analysis of the real ing and overcoming our oppression.
ated.
social relations underlying the pro
duction and exchange of things.20 He
In summary, it is the orthodox
Marxism can only belp us under
adds a warning that is as relevant to Marxists who have been insufficiently
stand women's oppression if it is radi
feminists as it is to socialists:
dialectical, and who have never cally reconceptualized- Specifically,
When the vulgar Marxists detach adopted the standpoint of women.
we must develop a theory of social re
themselves from this central point of They did not adequately deal with the lations, and analyze history as the de
view, i.e., from the point where a "woman question," in part because velopment of social relations.
7
Marxism can help us understand
nno asvect of social relations: that be
tween the exploiters and the exploited
in the realm of production. (It was to
understand these relations that Marx
developed categories such as surplus
value, commodity fe‘«hism' ’nd
class.) Furthermore, Marx (and He
gel) developed a method—dialectics
—one of the most flexible and richest
modes of social analysis. But there are
other, equally important aspects of
social relations, among them, rela
tions centering around reproduction.
Despite his insistence that all history
is rooted in concrete human beings,
Marx had little to say about these
other relations. The categories ade
quate for comprehending the realm of
reproduction have yet to be develop
ed; though reproduction and produc
tion are separate but inter-related
spheres, it is a mistake to impose cate
gories developed for the comprehen
sion of one directly onto the other.
In developing these new categories,
we need to look beyond Marxist the
ory. Psychoanalysis, structuralism,
and phenomenology have provided
many valuable possibilities for com
prehending the reproduction of social
persons, but they often lack a histori
cal dimension. Freud enables us to be
gin to understand how sex/gender
comes to constitute a central element
of our very being as persons. Linder
patriarchy we do not become a per
son but a male or female person. In
many ways our gender is who we are
and this identification goes far deeper
than sex roles understood in the sense
of socialization or intentional (and
easily changed) choices of roles and
behavior. The theory of the uncons
cious, the role of sexuality, and the
Oedipus complex which traces out on
an unconscious level the conse
quences of the domination of the fath
er-all provide a starting point for the
analysis of the social relations of re
production. Structuralism and pheno
menology are excellent tools for ex
amining ongoing social relations
without falling into the simple deter
minism characteristic of orthodox
Marxism.
We can conceptualize production
and reproduction as two spheres of
human life and history, constituted
by the social relations within them
and by the relations of persons to
their own biology and to the natural
world. These two spheres have histor- r
ically been related to each other
through the family. For this reason,
the organization of the family reveals
information about both spheres, and
shows us the attempts people are
making to bring these spheres into
some sort of harmony. The study of
the family can also reveal the contra ■
dictions between the demands of pro
duction and reproduction. The more
disjunctive the nature of production
and reproduction become (conceptu
alized by Marx as the difference be
tween use and exchange value, and by
Freud as the conflict between the plea
sure and reality principles), the more
Patriarchy means here a system of power
relations whereby men dominate women.
T7u? term orthodox." here means a sim
plistic. or mechanistic use of Marx.
of
“ drde
tt Weltanschauung" refers to a world view.
SANGHARSH
Historically, women have always been treated as property.
of their fathers, or their hus
bands, in legal statutes. Conse
quently, all laws are drawn up
within this framework. For
instance, the penalty for rape
is in retribution for defiling
another man’s property rather
than as a form of protection to
women in full recognition of
women’s rights over their own
bodies. It is in this light that
we must view the proposed
Bill on Rape.
Much has been written on the
Mathura rape case and about
it. Mathura has sparked off a
public debate on the question
of rape, more significantly
bringing into focus the inade
quacy of the rape law.
Mathura’s was not a lone
search for justice. Women’s or
ganisations recognising the
need for an urgent change in
the law, worked collectively to
demand an amendment to the
existing law.
Following nation-wide cam
paigns, protest marches and
demonstrations, a Law Com
mission was instituted by the
Government to study the pre
vailing law on rape and to pro
pose amendments. If such a
step promised some respite,
these hopes were soon belied.
Infact, the new Bill currently
pending in Parliament is a
matter of serious debate to all
Concerned about justice. It is
the bounden responsibility of
every conscientious citizen to
pressurize the Government
into accepting the recommen
dations of the Law Commis
sion, failing which, the institu
tion of a Commission to study
women some protection. In
arrested before sunrise and
stead, it has responded to the
after sunset, then a written re
situation
by stipulating a mini
port, following permission
mum
punishment of ten years
from a superior, must be made.
for all custodial rape. The
In situations of emergency,
minimum punishment in other
prior permission can be di
spensed with but a written re cases is seven years.
ed into the rape of Rameezabee
reiterated the ‘pitiable condi
port has to be submitted to the
The statute of minimum puni
tion of suspect women’ espe officer immediately after the
shment was opposed by the
cially of the poor at the hands of arrest has been made.
Law Commission because it
the police in police stations. 3.
That once a woman has been went against the concept of re
He even suggested that the arrested she should not be de
formist penology which is a
Government
should
act tained in a police station, but
universal concept. The idea
promptly to provide safe should be kept in a women’s
that minimum punishment
guards to such women. But detention centre or a women’s
would act as a deterrent is
despite his appeal, the Bill in or children’s institution.
false: in no way will such long
cludes no provision to protect
sentences guarantee a drop in
women from the harassment of 4.
That during interrogation by the incidence of the crime,
the police.
a police officer a woman
when the roots are social, eco
Recognizing the insecurity should be allowed to have a
nomic and political.
male relative or friend or
women experienced at the
Further, a longer sentence in
female social worker with her.
hands of the police in the
the case of custodial rapc al
police stations, the Law Com
5.
That in instances where most implies that rapc com
mission in a sensitive gesture
police refuse to record a com
mitted by a landlord, for ins
outlined several measures to
plaint in cases when a cognis
tance, is a lesser crime. And yet
protect the dignity and honour able offence is reported, it
we know that in most cases of
of women.
should be considered an
land disputes, wage increases
1. That a woman should be in offence.
or caste conflict, it is the class
terrogated only at her dwelling
It is distressing that the Gover
of landlords that use rape as a
place.
nment has not incorporated
weapon to suppress popular
2. That no woman should be any of these preventive mea
revolt, e.g., Bclchi, Narainpur.
sures which certainly would
arrested before sunrise and
A redeeming feature in this
after sunset. If in case she is have contributed in affording
section of the Bill, however, is
the decree that in the cases of
custodial rape ‘where sexual
intercourse has been proved
and where the question is whe
ther it was. without the consent
of the woman, and she states in
her evidence before ths Court
that she did not consyj z
Court shall presume that sh'e
did not.’
bill on rape
the law on rape becomes a
mere exercise in futility
A study of some ofthc
features of the Bin and the recommendations Of t|le ,
Commission is necessary ^o
understand its rniplicationson
victims of such abuse and on
women’s movements.
In its introduction ‘Rapc . pr0_
posed changes in thc
published by the Lawyers Col
lective, the book describes the
Bill as meant to ‘protect the
police rather than women’
There is every reason to be
lieve this, since the police
have a shocking record of atro
cities perpetrated on women
and other weaker sections. Of
course, fearing public outrage
at abuse of power by the police
the law cannot be too progres sive. The recommendations of
the Law Commission have
been cast aside only to pre
serve and ‘keep up the morale
of the police.’
The proposed Bill assumes
great significance in the con
text of growing repression;
rape at the hands of the police
being one specific form.
Some of the Main
Features of the Bill
A comparison between the re
commendations of the Law
Commission and the provi
sions of the Bill reveals the de-
PROTECTION
FOR
WHOM?
gree of commitment a Gover
nment that claims to be the lar
gest democracy, makes to its
people.
(a) Custodial Rape:
Custodial rape is said to have
occurred when rape is com
mitted by a male in a position
of authority or custodial con
trol over a woman, who, by his
very power and status should
abuse his officialdom to have
sexual intercourse with a
woman who would otherwise
refuse. This applies to police
men, public servants, jail or
hostel superintendents and
staff members of hospitals.
In recent times, police miscon
duct including rape (as the hig
hest form of physical violence
committed on the person of a
woman especially of the poor
est classes), has received wide
coverage in the media. In both
the cases of Mathura and
Rameezabee the police have
been indicted: the incident at
Bhagpat followed soon after.
Since then, the frequency of
rape in police stations has as
sumed alarming proportions.
Justice Muktadhar, who head
ed the Commission that enquir
(b) Past Sexual History:
The Bill indifferently over
looks the sensitivity inherent
MORE ABOUT RAMEEZA
A News item in the Indian
Express
(Bangalore
edition)
dated October 2, 1981 says:
Mr. Justice Vinal Rao of the
Karnataka High Court has ad
mitted a petition filed by the
Indian Federation of Women
Lawyers, the Stree Shakti Sanghatana and the Vimochana
(all Women’s organisations)
challenging the acquittal of
Mr. T. Surendar Singh, police
sub-inspector, Hyderabad, and
other policemen by the Ses
sions Judge, Raichur, in what
has become known as Ram..zabi rape case. It was alleged
for the prosection that the ac
cused had committed rape on
Rameezabi and committed
murder of her husband Ahmed
Hussain, in custody in the
Nallakunta police station of
Hyderabad in March, 1978.
The sessions judge acquitted
all the accused. The petition
ers contended that the deci
sion of the sessions judge was
wrm>g and illegal and prayed
that the same might be set
aside and the accused persons
sentenced according to law.
The State Government had
also filed an appeal separately
challenging the acquittal order
of the accused.”
This small item which did not
reach other editions is extre
mely significant for the
women’s movement. It breaks
and con*titutes
tnumph for women’s organisa
tions although it is merely an
admission. It may be recalled
SANGHARSH
that when women’s organisa
tions wanted to move the Su
preme Court in the Mathura
case their movement was not
recognised. The, admission of
.this revision petition is impor
tant because it indicated that
for the first time rape which
was seen as a private wrong
now assumes the importance
of a public issue. The Supreme
Court judgement on the Ma
thura case provided a rallying
point for women’s groups all
over India. This judgement
which reversed the Bombay
High court judgement and
acquitted the accused police
men brought into focus very
sharply the actual status of
women in this country. A large
number of women are jolted
into awakening to reality by
the bias of the judgement and
the obviously male attitude
and assumpions underlying it.
The main focus of the wotnen’s movement was an
amendment to the law con
cerning rape- This was chiefly
because these organisations
saw rape as an extreme form of
violence against women, an in
human crime. The main issues
Xd in this context were
that-the previous history of
the victims of rape was imma
terial; the long interval that
elansed between the actual in
cdent and the trial was against
*e interests of justice; the
<, of proof should lie with
:hneU accused rather than the
victim considering the pecu
liar nature of the crime.
Women realised that they
could not expect more than a
travesty of justice in the exist
ing set-up. Besides, they rea
lized that rape being one
aspect of the general violence
against* women-every woman
is a potential victim of rape.
Sita’s “ordeal of fire” and the
myth that virtue protects a wo
man were rejected outright.
After all, if virtue can protect a
human
being
why
did
Gandhiji fall a victim to an as
sassin’s'bullet ?
Or has virtue a gender and is
there a distinction between
male virtue and female virtue ?
Why is it that when a man falls
a victim to a vicious attack he
is glorified as a martyr while a
woman who is attacked is de
spised and held in contempt ?
One of the main demands
raised by the Women’s (organi
sations was that they should
have the locus standi to move
a court in a rape trial. This is
because rape is basically a vio
lation of a human right. What
happens in an act of rape is not
the dishonour of her husband,
father or brother, not a loss of
chastity but the violation of the
dignity of the human body.
The general trend now in
courts of law seems to be to
wards a liberalisation of the in
terpretation of standing. Witn
an increasing number of inci
dents of violation of civil
rights being brought before
the courts it is no longer pos
sible to restrict standing as in
the past to one who has a
direct interest or whose priv
ate right in private law is
affected. The focus has now
shifted to the objectives of the
8
statute itself. Even the right of
a member of a class who is li
kely to be affected by the act to
move the court in such matters
is recognised. The news item
‘S.C. on Locus Standi’ (Indian
Express, 20th October) points
out that the judge agreed with
the counsel that any of the 600
million citizens can move the
court if the court is satisfied
that he is moving it in genuine
public interest. Now cases of
rape are cases of public inte
rest deeply affecting the status
of one half of the population.
The few cases of rape which
managed to reach the courts
are cases where the incident
produces a public outcry forc
ing a trial. Why the question of
standing assumes importance
is that the victim of rape or any
atrocity is invariably povertystricken, illiterate and op
pressed. Ip expect this victim
to move a court or to appeal is
unrealistic.
What is needed is that any
public minded citizen with
real public interest or “belong
ing to an organisation with
special interest in the matter”
should be able to move in the
matter. The position taken by
the women’s groups in this
matter regarding the maintai
nability of the revision peti
tion refers to the chapter on
fundamental duties. This re
quires that not only should a
citizen perform his/her duties
but it is his/her duty to prev
ent infraction or breach of
these duties by qthercitizen or
by the state. Since one pf the
duties of the citizen is to de
nounce practices derogatory to
the dignity of women, it be
comes our duty to prevent
deeds such as rape.
The involvement of women’s
organisations in this issue and
the admission of the revision
petition marks the beginning
of an important trend. The rea
son a revision petition had to
be filed rather than an appeal
was that only one — the state or
Rameeza —is entitled to ap
peal under the Code of Crimi
nal Procedure. The fact that
women’s organisations have
•moved in this matter before
the state merely proves that
women are no longer prepared
to wait for justice but are de
termined to fight for it. That
even the state was forced to
appeal, however slowly, in the
matter as a result of the pres
sures brought to bear by the
women’s organisations under
lines the importance of a con
certed action.
When the hearings actually
begin women all over India
will follow the progress of this
case as it will provide a clear
indicator of the quality of life
and liberty that they can ex
pect in this society. What is
needed is that all of us should.
realise that every incident of
rape affects everyone perso
nally and politically. Of hund
reds of rapes only few see the
light of day. Each case of rape
allowed to go in favour of the
accused through default or
public apathy is a gradual ero
sion of our rights as citizens.
We must begin to see this now.
Otherwise it may be too late
VASANTHA KANN AB I RAN
Stree Shakti Sanghathana
Conld. from cage 8
Government has deliberately
refused to recognise a women’s
right to privacy.
make known the ‘identy of
the person against whom the
offence is alleged or found to
be committed’ will become a
(c) Medical Report:
punishable offence. By this it is
The medical report is of prim assumed that the victim will be
ary importance in confirming exempted from any undue ad
that sexual intercourse had
verse publicity. Clearly, such a
taken place. Fully aware of its ruling has a twin objective of
significance the Law Commis protecting the name and repu
sion argued that for the medi tation of the accused with the
cal report to be of any use it external appearance of being
should include the medical
instituted out of due concern
history of ‘both the victim and
for the ‘protection of the fair
the accused.’ Further, it sug
The judgement of the Court is
name of the woman’ involved.
gested that a medical report But there have been several
often influenced by the pre
should be complete with
vailing conventions and atti
instances of rape where police
details of the accused such as personnel have been indicted,
tudes bom out of social condi
age, injuries on the body, etc. in others, either landlords or
tioning, however distant they
The duration of the examina individuals supported
by
might appear to the issue at
tion, the conclusions arrived at powerful political groups.
hand. It is maintained that a
by the doctor supported by Naturally, such a law will only
woman of ‘loose character’ is
reasons, should be promptly put the lid on any attempt to
not to be taken seriously, false
sent to the Magistrate. There is expose the atrocities indulged
ly assuming of course, that she
always a possibility that any in by the accused. It is known
must have consented to the act.
delay in submission might al for a fact that it was largely due
Often, if the victim is a prosti
low for discrepancies to creep
tute, the logic tuns ‘it could not
to the supportive role of the
into the report as was evident press and the wide publicity in
have made much difference to
in the case of Rameezabee.
her* or ‘she asked for it’. Ironi
the media that provoked uni
cally, the accused is relieved of
The Government however, has versal outrage at the callous at
suspicion by default while the
not accepted any of these re titude of the police in the cases
guilt is sought to be surrepti
commendations.
of Mathura and Rameezabee. It
tiously transferred on' to the
also brought into sharp focus
women.
(d) Trial in Camera:
the inconsistencies in the
Despite strong pleas from Of immediate concern to the existing Rape Law and the
women’s organisations and the women’s movements is the need for long overdue amend
recommendations by the Law controversial provision in the ments to safeguard the inte
Commission that the private Bill that makes it compulsory rests of women. In fact, the ins
life of the victim should be of for the trial proceedings to be titution of the Law Commis
Inconsequence in establish- held in camera. Under this pro sion is a direct outcome of the
; J, rape except in her relations vision, the publication of the struggle taken up by various
women’s organisations all over
Vim the accused itself, the name or any matter which will
in this particular recommenda
tion. The Law Commission was
against the use of past sexual
history of the woman as evi
dence to testify rape. In both
cases of Mathura and Ramee
zabee it has shown how the
history of their sexual lives was
used against them. Mathura
was unmarried and not a vir
gin. Rameezabee was a prosti
tute it was alleged, and ‘so she
must have asked for it.’
the country.
The Government has taken a
controversial stand on the rape
issue. On the one hand, it ap
pears so keen to protect the re
putation of the victim by mak
ing it compulsory for the trial
to be held in camera. On the
other hand, its total indiffer
ence to the various recommen
dations proposed by the Law
Commission that could have
prevented or minimised the
occurrence of custodial rape,
can perhaps best be summed
up in a statement made by the
Union Home Minister: ‘Rape
has been committed in the
past, and would continue to be
committed I’
From experience we know that
it is only organised resistance
that delivers some justice. In
the circumstances, can we af
ford to place a controversial
law in the hands of an inconsis
tent Government that shams
sympathy over the ever in
creasing atrocites on women,
and yet fails to make amend
ments that could ensure physi
cal protection to all women ?
DONNA
VIMOCHANA
and defeated
we shall always win.
MIROSLAV HOLUB
O*1 Subverting
p.^etOIlC
continued
raped 8iste3r can become a
figure w0QlcI1 identity with,
because 8omc way Or other
we share her experience.
In fact this anti-woman world
view which is unquestioned
and which providC8 the film its
ground, emerges in another,
elaborately developed aspect
of the theme. The heroine, the
film reiterates, may be a mo
del, she may wear sexy foreign
clothes, but at heart (rapes
apart 1) she is really a virtuous
Indian ghj she is totally
“faithful”, pju marry, keep her
husband happy, raise a
family. She will coyly defer to
his wishes (even as she proects and deflects with true
feminine wile, his opposition
to her job). She will dress in a
saree, drape her ghunghat over
her head and touch feet when
she meets his family. When
she is raped, she will feel her
life is over. There is nothing
left for her. She refuses to mar
ry a good man and bring him
disrepute. In fact, her fantasy
presents her alone, widowed,
dressed in white, contemplat
ing suicide. Like the truly vir
tuous woman, her anger and
remorse is turned destructive
ly on herself.
Where will this take us ? What
can we do about it? One
answer of course, is what the
gested: protect
aee-old
?.n publicity. Tha^ there c«m
be little doubt, is the most re
regressive response possible.
The real answer, however, is
S more difficult, its form
more that of a still hazily de
fined direction rather than a
solution or a destination. Its
humanism a knowledge that is
in the making, not already
made. One can only subvert
powerful and many splendoured a rhetoric when we
women (and men, of course
but women primarily) speak
and write in the process of
searching our mutual experi
ence. But as this point of view
emerges in opposition to the
current socially formulated
one, what will necessarily also
have to be questioned is a
whole world-view: a sexuality
based on pain, a group identity
based on our oppression and
notions of virtue designed on
ly to safeguard property. The
process is difficult and inevi
tably hazardous, but unless we
are conscious of the basic per
versions that rest in the easy
humanism we proclaim, the
results of contemporary action
will be dubious.
SUSIE THARU
□TREE SHAKTI SANGATHANA
A NAMELESS GRAVE
•Glass bangles tinkling on trembling hands,
But alas devoid of golden bands,
Timid, she lay on the bridal bed
Awaiting the man she had just wed.
He entered the chamber, locked the door
Flung his coat upon the floor.
His greedy eyes looked her over
Her beauty the only wealth to offer.
Where was the gold she was to bring ?
There was nothing except the wedding ring.
This flowered creature —was she his wife?
No—never—not on his life.
So you’ve kept shackled and chained
My anger bums, bums, bums!
There is no fire as blue
Fueled as it is by my pain:
With bloodshot tyes—lips snarling
He fell on her—a rabid beast mauling.
Groaning and mangled, bleeding she lay
Till finally her life gave way.
To cool the flame
I can laugh though
At the powers that be
Who prove themselves unworthy
of their humanity.
In the darkness of night
A mound took shape,
A young girl was buried
In a nameless grave.
They keep you in shackles and chains,
But your word they cannot
And it shall be I
The mountain moving day is coming
I say so, yet others doubt
only awhile the mountain steeps
In the past
All mountains moved in fire
yet you may not believe it.
Oh man, this alone believe,
All sleeping women now will awake and move.
AKEKO YOSANO
9
SANGHARSH
7
| MILITARISM
: AND SEXISM
Contd. from page 4
I
the “other”. If you may some
day be called upon to kill
“others”, you need to believe
in their lack of value and vir
tue. Small wonder that boys
grow up believing that true
masculine identity resides in
soldiering, fighting and win
ning, and that some people
(especially women who cannot
even engage in, much less
triumph in the most physically
challenging sports) are less
valuable than others.
The media “bombard” our
young people with entertain
ment based on violence and
depict aggressive behaviour as
the route to adventure and
achievement. They advertise
as “toys? miniature, sometimes
very sophisticated, instru
ments of violence. The plots of
stories, films and television
programs frequently revolve
around a contest or competi
tion between opposing inte-
i
I
E
often
forces of good (a case in ;
is “the Force populari P ,
the film “Star Wars’" -fh
children are taugnt the lessons
that to serve one s coUnt r<_
quires overcoming its enemies
and that success depends
upon the capacity to compete
the ability to win, and the willingness to kill.
Few children receive instruc
tion about or are exposed to
strong images of alternatives
to the norms and values so po
werfully depicted by the me
dia, and so systematically in
culcated by the implicit les
sons of socialisation and the
explicit lessons of schooling.
For the most part, neither the
efforts of parents' to instill a
sense of the equal social value
of men and women and to nur
ture an understanding of the
constructive complementarity
of the differences between the
sexes, nor the instruction of
peace educators has had so
sufficient or significant effect
as to offer equally influential
socialisation and education for
peace. One thing seems clear;
both parents and peace educa
Defining Militarism and
Sexism
The suffix “ism” is used here
to connote both a belief sys
tem and the behaviours and
institutions it validates. Such
systems, institutions and be
haviours usually derive from a
particular world view and set
of values.
Militarism is a belief system,
emerging from a world view,
founded on the basic assump
tion that human beings are by
nature violent, aggressive and
competitive, and from the
corollary assumption that the
social order must be main
tained by force. Authority,
according to this world view,
derives from the capacity to
muster and apply force to
maintain social control and to
determine human behaviour.
Social worth can be achieved
by a willingness to be an in
strument of existing authority
in the application of force to
DO FEMINISTS NEED MARXISM?
The Socialist and the Suffragist
Said the Socialist to the Suffragist:
"My cause is greater than yours!
You only work for a Special Class,
We for the gain of the General Mass,
Which Every good insures!"
possible it is for the family to retain
an aspect of autonomy and uniqueness. The categories we employ must
do justice to these disjunctions, not
submerge them.
As feminists, we must not assume
' that there are Marxist answers to,
[ feminist questions. Our history is not
1 ,the same as men's—neither on an in! dividual nor on a collective level. Un
til we understand the mode of repro' duction more thoroughly, we cannot •
'■ begin to bridge the often dicussed gap
; between Marx and Freud. To compre. hend reproduction, we must continue
j to explicate our experience with the
. help of psychoanalysis, structuralism,
■ and phenomenology. This is not to
’ deny the interrelation of the world of
j production and reproduction, or to
ZiOore the fact that we are shaped by
• both—indeed we need to retain coni sciousness of this inter-relatedness
while carrying on our explorations.
We must come to understand how
and why men obtained and kept pow
er over women and how this power
relation varied historically. We must
explore the consequences this relation
has for the ways we are constituted as
persons. We must learn how power
relations interact with and affect rela
tions of production. Finally, we must
discover the most effective sources for
change.
Marxism alone cannot answer our
questions. But if we retain and expand
our original insights into our experi
ence as women, we will be operating
within the spirit which originally mo
tivated Marx—that history is rooted
in human needs and social relations.
By confronting Marxism with femi
nism we require an overcoming, a re
taining of the old within the new.
What we will create will be neither
Marxism nor psychoanalysis, but a
much more adequate form of social
theory. The concepts used by Marx,
Freud, and others are only guidelines
along the way, to be retained in a new
form within a more integrated and in
clusive theory. F°r noWz we
only glimpses of the necessity and
possibility of such a theory, through
the frustration we encounter in trying
to answer feminist questions.
-FOOT NOTES------- —------1 Juliet Mitchell, Woman's Estate (New
York: Random House, 1971), Maragaret Benston, "The Political Economy of Women's Liber-
'
|
!
j
I
It is very important to note
that these values are not ne
cessarily perceived as negative
even by those who advocate
the elimination of militarism
from our social structures. It
should be observed that the
military, and, indeed, tradi
tional sex roles, originated in
what were perceived as com
mon community needs for the
perpetuation and good of the
groups concerned. What we
question here is the degree to
which these instruments for
the achievement of more fun
damental values, in this case,
the values of survival and
security, have assumed the
social function of fundamental
rather
than
instrumental
values. Thus the maintenance
of military institutions and the
perpetuation of sex roles in
and for their own sake be
come ends rather than means
It is this distortion which re
presents so great a threat to
peace and human dignity. The
distortion also constitutes a
basic concept which those
seeking to overcome the ef
fects of militarism 2nd sexism
must understand. While it is
__________________________________ Contd. from page 7__________ _ ___________
Conclusior
’
maintain order and security
and/or in risking harm from
the force of a rival authority
such as enemies, rebels or cri
minals. The highest civic vir
tue is to “serve one’s country,”
most especially “to make the
ultimate sacrifice”. Soldiers
are undoubtedly what first
comes to mind when we think
of heroes.
The values most prized by mi
litarism are loyalty, bravery,
endurance, obedience and the
capacity to “carry out orders.”
In the case of authority, what
is most valued is the ability to
command and inspire the fore
going values in others, assur
ing the clarity and continuity
of relations between those
who command those values
and those who manifest them.
Following from these values,
the military paradigm appears
to be the most effective for so
cial organisation as the proto
type not only for protecting
the society and providing its
security, but for social order in
general and for institutions de
dicated to socialisation, the
schools being the most not
able.
tors must develop greater un
derstanding of militarism and
sexism and their impact on our
children.
Pion."Monthly Review. XXI: 4 (1969). Eli Zar
etsky. "Capitalism, the Family and Persona)
Life." Socialist Revolution. Ill: 1-3 (1973) apj
the articles on women's labor inRadical Amen,ca. VII: 4-5 (1973) all insist that in the last instance contradictionsunthin the sphere of production are the crucial determinant of women status. The radical feminists emphasize patriarchy as either equal to class or as the first form
of class oppression which still underlies all
forms of oppression. See Shulamith Firestone
The Dialectic of Sex (New York: Bantam'
1971). and Kate Millett. Sexual Politics (Gar’
den City: Doubleday, 1970), as well as Barbara
Burris. The Fourth World Manifesto " No
' No,es
2 Frederick Engels. The Origins of the
Family. Private Property, and the State ed Fl
From the Third Year.
eanor Burke Leacock (New York Internal,>
PuHishers, 1972), All citations from
reier to this edition.
*
3lbid._ p. 119.
See. for example, Claude Levi.c^,
The Family.” Man. Culture, and Sod,
H^ry Shapiro (London: Oxford Uni/
Press, nd) for the varieties of work done bC w'X
rr*n
primitive cultures.
wo*
See Sherry B. Ortner. "Is Female to Male a.
Nature ls l0 Culture?" Women. Culture ' a
Society, eds, Michelle Rosaldo and Louise!^
Phere (Stanford: Stanford Universin, ta™
•• ”74), pp. 67-73.
Press,
SANGHARSH
Said the Suffragist to the Socialist:
"You underrate my Cause!
While women remain a Subject Class,
You never can move the General Mass,
With your Economic Laws!"
Said the Socialist to the Suffragist:
"You misinterpret facts!
There is no room for doubt or schism
In Economic Determinism It governs all our acts!"
Said the Suffragist to the Socialist:
"You men will always find
That this old world will never move
More swiftly in its ancient groove
While women stay behind I"
"A lifted world lifts women up,"
The Socialist explained.
"You cannot lift the world at all
While half of it is kept so small,"
The Suffragist maintained.
The world awoke, and tartly spoke:
"Your work is all the same:
Work together or work apart,
Work, each of you, with all your heart
Just get into the game!"
6 Karen Sachs Women. Culture, and Soci
ety. eds. Rosaldo and
P?' 211-212
7 Engels, op. cit ■ PPslbid.. p. 119.
9Ibid . pp. 119-120-
n eblci: P™1?6' -tmoolite Questions about
n Suzie Olah ,1-PP0^,^ journal 1:1
Frederick Engels,
(March, 1970), p. 4J2 Engels, op cit . P- 12
Eni,e|s The GerKar! Marx and FreJ kEng
H
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
day. 1967), p. 424.
i’/bid.
.
)
16?'d ' <MV COn'"'nnof
P°int
R0M1‘
16 For an elaboration
,.
Culture.
do Theoretical CNeriJdo ^d Lamphere. pp.
and Society, eds. Ro5aJ
I? Marx and Engri5,
18/bid.. p. 421.
19 Georg Lukacs.
and Class Con1971), pp.
(Boston: 1
65-66.
20Ibid., p. 68.
21 Ibid.
Source: ISIS on Feminism
and Socialism
Sexism is a belief system root
ed in a world view which as
signs varying levels of worth to
different groups of human
beings. The worth assigned is
based upon innate characteris
tics and usually both deter
mined and is determined by
the social functions performed
by the group. Belief systems
based upon the inequality of
human beings frequently per
petuate themselves in this
way. They fit well into “fixed
order” thinking. “It will always
be that way because it has al
ways been that way.” As with
racism, the assigned social
worth under sexism also
serves as a rationale for the as
signment of less valued func
tions to those accorded the
lower social worth. It deems
that men, mainly by virtue of
the tradition male sex roles,
are more valunble than wo
men. In a form of circular rea
soning typical of such belief
systems, the assertions made
that men do more soc»Ax<T
valuable work and, there.^jj
it is assigned to them because
they are more socially valu
able.
Women are held to be inferior
to men, and have no legitimate
claim to authority. Fulfilment
of their social roles fixed by
this
“natural
inferiority”
requires submission to note
the exercise of authority. Tra
ditional sex role separation
has also kept most societies
from including women in the
military. And except in dire
straits where there was no
other recourse, they have been
at least officially excluded
from combat, for which they
are deemed physically unfit,
even in those societies where
they are conscripted into the
military.
The socialisation of
men is distinctly different
from that of men and the
more sexist the society, the
more distinct is that differ
ence. It has also been as
serted that the more mili
tarist a society is, the more
sexist it tends to be. For
example, Gloria Steinem
recently made this case in
a series of articles assert
ing Hitler had crushed the
German feminist move
ment as he militarised
Germany.
It is evident that the two sys
tems integrate well because of
their common characteristics.
As militarist organisation
holds clearly different beha
vioral expectations from “com
mand” than it does from the
“troops”, so too, sexist socie
ties impose contrasting beha
vioral patterns on men and
women. These patterns are de
signated as “masculine” and
“feminine”. Aggressive beha
viour is masculine. Submissive
behaviour is feminine. Stoic
ism is “manly". Emotionalism
is “womanly”. Strength is inna
tely male; weakness, female;
man Ideology, in Doy°
?
on
Guddat (eds.) WntmSs °‘c ,
City DoublePhilosophy and Society (Garden t-.ty
sciousness
evident that all institutions
and behaviours in a society
characterised by these values
and organised on the prin
ciples of hierarchical com
mand, it must also be kept in
mind that both the institution
and the form of organisation
were derived for a purpose,
universally perceived, to be in
the common good.
continued on page 11
10
Militarism And Sexism
Contd. from page 10
so it goes. There is no need to
rehearse at length these diffe
rences in behavioral expecta
tions so thoroughly explored
in feminist literature. The
point to be made here is that
the systems so complement
each other that they may very
likely be completely interde
pendent, and to attempt to
address the causes of and al
ternatives to one without con
sidering the other offers little
promise of finding the means
to transcend either of them.
education and, indeed, the mi
litary and the family them
selves for their positive values
and purposes are virtually des
troyed by the negative atti
tudes towards them which ine
vitably result from authorita
rianism.
course, history is always cited
to prove both the inevitability
of war and the limitation on
the capacities and contributions of women. History has
not shown interest in women
and few women have shown
interest in history.
The sciences might be cited as
the next subject most inf
luenced by militarism and sex
ism. Hard sciences such as
COMMON
CHARACTERISTICS OF
MILITARISM AND
SEXISM
The most admirable virtues of
the unknown soldier to whose
heroism so many nations have
dedicated elaborate monu
ments, anonymous service and
sacrifice for the sake of others,
are as well the virtues of the
archetypal wife and mother.
What the soldier has done for
the nation or the warrior for
the tribe through centuries of
do
what was expected of
hi. wJoman has done for the
family. She has been since
time immemorial trained to
sublimate her own needs to
the service of others. Soldiers
and mothers have ‘days’ dedi
cated in their honor. ‘These
are days on which society
offers thanks for all their
sacrifices ; for war and do
mesticity are in the natural or
der of things, as are the fixed
roles of soldiers and mothers
in that order.
The military chain of com
mand, while more complex, is
conceptually close to the pa
triarchal family, both being es
sentially hierarchical organi
sations. Small wonder the fam
ous generals often become “fathe^kmres" to their countries
ane^?: frequently called upon
to -ffl/e their nations from
“childish” civil disorder. The
nation like the troops, like
wives and children, submit
more readily to the dominance
of a military patriarchy, i.e,
“the masculine,” than to a
weaker civil state, i.e., “the
feminine”. Acceptance of con
ditions of dominance and sub
mission as the price tag of “se
curity”, are characteristics of
both patriarchy and of militri..
dictatorship.
Obedience to authority is the
corner stone of an effective mi
litary machine and the funda
mental principle of the patriar
chal family. To question
authority is to threaten the
natural order. Militarism and
sexism require that service and
sacrifice be performed without
reflection. Freedom and equal
ity, to the contrary, require the
full development of the reflec
tive and analytic capacities of
all citizens. The core of fulfil
ling human relations mutually
and the essential basis of de
mocratic society, rational and
reflective decision making are
fundamental values in conflict
with the prevalent belief sys
tems of militarism and sexism.
The institutions most da
maged by the value distortions
of militarism and sexism are
THE EFFECTS OF
MILITARISM AND
SEXISM ON
INSTITUTIONAL
EDUCATION
The process and institutions of
education also suffer distor
tion and damage as a result of
the values confusion which
nurtures militarism and sex
ism. These belief systems ef
fect education and, in fact,
continue to prevail largely as a
result of education! practices.
The effects of militarism and
sexism on education can be
seen in its organisation, the
curricular content and in
extra-curricular activities. In
deed, both the anti-miiitarist
and anti-sexist movements
have had much to say on diag
nosis but very little on pres
cription and alternatives to the
institutions held in place by
these belief systems.
As far as die content of educa
tion is concerned, history is
probably the most profoundly
effected and. the most respon
sible for the perpetuation of
the belief systems. History in
all cultures has almost com
pletely excluded women ex
cept for those few who have
performed men’s roles such as
great empresses or heroines
like Joan of /Ire or Florence
Nightingale who made their
fame through their roles in
warfare.
History texts written mainly
by men, from sources recorded
by men, often military men
give us voluminous informa
tion on conflict, battles, wars
and other masculine exploits
but provide us.virtually no ac
count of roles and contribu
tions of women. Nor has histo
ry focussed on the softer
values. Even the artists and
philosophers memoralised by
historians are mainly men,
manifesting for the most part
masculine concerns. And, of
those needed for military re
search and development are
given academic priority and
are for the most part deemed
masculine subjects. It could be
said that women have access
to education in the “life”
sciences or “soft subjects”
such as biology and “home
economics” while men are
able to pursue the “death”
sciences of physics, chemistry,
and mathematics which have
served as the basis for wea
pons development.
In some schools, especially
those where there are military
programs, “military science” is
considered a significant aca
demic subject. The term is ba
sically a euphemism for practi
cal aspects of planning and
executing lethal combat.
So it is quite logical that wo
men will “naturally” have a
greater interest in peace and
men in war, simply on the ba
sis of the content of their educaton. Although there has
been some attempt at chang
ing this situation through the
introduction of additional
courses in peace education
and women’s studies, it cannot
be expected that curricular inf
luence on educaton for war
will be overcome until there is
a drastic revision in both con
sent and organisation through
all levels of institutionalised
education.
vides little opportunity for
those not in command to exer
cise or develop responsibility.
The chain of command in edu
cation, while in many ins
tances not nationally hierar
chical, within individual insti
tutions and local systems cer
tainly tends to be so, with poli
cy making at the top most and
those at the actual level of ins
tructional practice having the
least influence on decision
making about educational
content or approaches. Stu
dents, parents and the com
munity exercise little or no inf
luence over these matters.
The upper levels of the hierar
chy tend to be rAainly mascul
ine territory, whereas at the
classroom level, particularly in
the elementary schools, teach
ers are for the most part
women.
Instruction in subject matter
also tends to reinforce sex role
differences with the sciences.
history, mathematics and me
chanical subjects being mainly
taught by men and female
teachers instructing in the sof
ter subjects and vocational
training such as typing and
preparation for roles designat
ed for women.
Most schools place great em
phasis on the maintenance of
order and discipline and ex
pect it to be a priority, some
times a higher priority than
the quality of instruction, with
all teachers. Competition is
encouraged not only on the
sports field but in the class
room through class ranking,
curve grading and similar
practices. Differences among
students are reinforced by
tracking according to “ability”
and by employment expecta
tions, and possibilities for hig
her education as well as by sex.
Perhaps the most militaristic
aspect of school organisation
is that it tends to instruct in a
form of leadership which rein
forces authoritarianism. It is
interesting to note how fre
quently the same statement is
spoken almost verbatim by
three or four-year-old siblings,
playmates or classmates who
are about six or seven-yearsold, “You are not the boss of
me.” The statement is usually
a response to some authori
tarian behaviour on the part of
the older child, very often
associated with a school set
ting, indicating the very young
age at which children become
aware of hierarchical authori
tarianism.
Competition and authorita
rianism are effectively taught
in extra-curricular activities.
As previously noted, emphasis
on aggressive competition is
the mode of instruction and
training in athletics and
sports. In this area as well, hie
rarchically imposed discipline
is seen as essential to perfect
ing athletic ability and to
achieving success in athletic
competition.
Educational
organisation,
especially at the elementary
and secondary levels and at
the university level with re
spect to teacher training is
stamped also from a mould
with strong sexist and milita
rist contours. Educational or
ganisation tends to be heirarchial and to manifest traditi
onal sex role distinctions. The
organisaton of schooling rein
forces competition and diffe
rences among people. Educati
onal practice by and large
tends to use authority as the
right to command and pro
Sports and military training
groups also provide major so
cial events and elements of ex
citement and entertainment
that simply are not provided
by any other form of education
within the present educational
institutions and practices.
Sex role distinctions arc also
reinforced by extra-curricular
activities, some by the organi
sation of certain students
clubs based on sex role diffe-
11
renttation, but
especially
mil ta^ effe«s on sP°ns and
ry Programs. The female
f° e 1S ?ot t0 contribute direct
ly to the achievement of the
purpose of the activity but to
°
lnsPlration and support
o ose who have the capacity
to achieve, men. Women’s
roles in school sports is a kind
■ of rehearsal for their roles in
warfare, non^ombatant, in
nocent victims of the enemy
and symbols of the positive
values to he defended by
armed force and virtuous in
spirations to righteous war
riors.
IMPLICATIONS FOR
PEACE EDUCATION
The current crisis in values de
plored by both conservatives
and radicals has helped to pro
duce the much needed chal
lenge to militarism and sexism
as they affect all areas of life
While one side considers the
cause of the crisis to be the,
erosion of the traditional
world views and values, the
other sees the roots in the
reassertion of these views and
values as a reponse to the un
precedented global problems
we currently face. The latter
urge the antithesis of these
views and values as a response
to the crisis, including such
notions as unilateral disarma
ment and eradication of all so
cial differences between wo
men and men. The former cla
mor for more numerous and
more powerful weapons and
extol the virtues of “macho
man” and “the total woman.”
What are the implicatons for
Peace Education ?
Education for peace seems to
be synonymous with that form
of global education directed at
social transformation. It im
plies education for fundamen
tal change in the belief sys
tems which sustain the present
order. It demands reformula
tion and re-prioritization of va
lues and the creation of new
institutions capable of actualising the fundamental human
values long overshadowed by
preoccupation with those ins
trumental values which com
mon wisdom has legitimised
as “human nature”. It requires
developing forms of bravery
and heroism of equal or great
er dimension than those which
Characterise “extreme valor
under fire.”
It may well demand a renewed
exercise of traditional “femin
ine” and “soldierly” virtue in
commitment to a long and ar
duous struggle to achieve a
more humanly fulfilling social
order. Perhaps the greatest
acts of courage necessary to
produce a transformational
form of peace education are
those to be taken by persons
now exercising authority who
may need to admit ignorance
and be prepared to share re
sponsibility. It will require suf
ficient fortitude from all of us
to acknowledge this degree to
which we all are militarists
and sexists, just as we all arc
the bearers of both masculine
and^aminine traits and cha
racteristics. Facing our own
complexities and weaknesses
may take very great bravery in
deed.
The most urgent task for peace
education is teaching the skills
and capacities necessary to
create and pursue alternatives
to the present order.
Those, therefore, who would
educate to transcend militar
ism and sexism must also
educate for the development
of alternatives to violent revo
lution. We need equally po
werful mechanisms for change
which do not depefid on des
tructive force, replicating the
militarist model.
Militarism and sexism cannot
be broken if we do not educate
towards an understanding of
the ethical relationships bet
ween means and ends. If the
same instruments are used to
achieve freedom and equality
as are used to maintain autho
ritarianism and oppression,
can we really nurture a com
mitment to a new belief sys
tem? Values clarification and
systems analysis are, therefore,
pedagogically essential to edu
cation for building alternative
social structures.
BETTY BBARDON
’eace Education Commission
Women For A Mudear Free World.
WHOSE FREEDOM and
FOR WHAT ?
Women’s Movement in India: an International Perspective
Every year we observe a grow
ing participation in Interna
tional Working Women’s Day
celebrations. After having
tried for two successive years
we will have a public meeting
in Madurai for the first time;
this year, the meeting in the
city is organised by Penurimai
lyakkam while in rural Tamil
Nadu and especially in Kanyakumari District, thousands of
women have been rallied to
the cause of women’s libera
tion since several years. Com
pare this with the situation of
ten years ago, when the stan
dard answer to my question :
“What about women’s move
ments in India?" was: “We
. don’t need any such thing, af
ter all we have a female Prime
Minister .and we even have
goddesses since the ancient
times 1” The change is drastic,
no doubt.
Yet, the cultural climate is still
overwhelmingly anti-women,
“Madam, what’s wrong in
beating one’s wife ?" my male
students ask when we discuss
the women’s question in the
class and “Women only want
to be prostitutes” they claim,
conveniently forgetting that
on every prostitute (usually of
poor background) there are
hundreds of men (usually eco
nomically better placed than
she is), a situation in which
economic, sexual and cultural
oppression tally admirably,
Besides, the employment op
portunities for women are on
the decrease and there are less
women alive per thousand of
men every decade. But my stu
dents say: “Women have more
opportunities than men, they
only want to dominate.”
Do we deceive ourselves if we
assume that the women’s mo
vement is picking up ? While
trying to organise in Madurai
we have met with enormous
diffidence and indifference in
women themselves. If they are
housewives, they are virtually
imprisoned in the house. If
they are working women, the
sheer struggle for survival and
the double burden of long
working hours, household
chores, childbearing and rear
ing, sucks the marrow out of
their bones. On whom, then
can we rely?
Under which conditions is it
possible to build a women’s
movement in India? How does
70mefn’s s'mggle relate to
the transformation of an eco
48%nfSyStem Which leav«
48% of our people below the
poverty line and caters to the
needs of the upper 5% ;n
social ladder? How does our'
situation compare with the in
temational situation ? pe"h ‘J
«« easier to understand our
selves if we place ourselves in
an international historical
ne ‘
spective.
al per
Our place in History
The first wave of the women’s
movement in the West str„
l«rh°m 'he SeCOnd halfof the
18th century until the twenties
SANGHARSH
of this 'entury, and was
stopped by fascism and Stalin
ism simultaneously during the
thirties. The seventies were
the decade of the second
strong wave of the women’s
movement in the western
capitalist countries. The wave
started during the sixties in
the United States, swept West
ern Europe, and by the end of
the seventies, Samizdat litera
ture from the USSR gave wit
ness of the new thrust of a
feminist movement in the
Soviet Union. In the countries
of the third world, we can ob
serve women’s participation in
the
various
anti-colonial
struggles during the thirties
and forties but since these
struggles did not voice the
women’s question in its own
right and therefore left many
women’s problems unsolved.
We can perceive a growing
women’s movement since the
middle of the seventies.
In India, the policies of the
“moderates” in the Indian
National Congress had tried
social reforms for women and
later Gandhi made it a point to
rally women to the national
cause, though the sheer sight
of Kasturibai Gandhi makes it
doubtful how liberating this
attempt was in actual fact. The
anti-Brahmin Movements in
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu
had a strong point in linking
up women’s liberation with
anti-caste
struggles.
The
Marxists tried with varying
success to integrate women
into the class struggle. The
present dismal situation of
women in our country shows
that all these attempts have
Three
approaches to
the Women’s
question.
somehow not worked. But
does the continuous need for a
women’s movement mean that
the movement has to be auto
nomous’? What do we leam
from the relative successes
and failures of the different ap
proaches to the women s ques
tion ? The present article oes
not attempt to answer these
questions but merely to s ar
pen them.
Three Approaches
I am certainly over simp i y 8
if I am characterisin8 1
basic types of apProac e ,
the women’s movement as i
eral equalitarian,” e*»_these
list” and “social15/
.
three basic categories e‘ £
applicable to the -op
movement all over »
Yet, the simplifi^ Uni
help to see some m
. k .
The liberal approach
rr
m trie Cdup with “democracy
equal
pitalist sense, demaP en but
rights for women aP°
jjffe' fails tn analyse cMonienas
fences which divide nerai. It
well as society in &e
also fails to analyse problems
of sexuality. The women’s mo
bilisation during the Indian
Freedom struggle falls into
this category. The “Extistentialist” approach, while also
demanding liberal equality,
goes further by analysing the
existential problems resulting
from a division of labour based
on sex and making valiant ef
forts to overcome the same al
ready here and now. A special
variety of the existentialist
approach is “radical feminism”
where women try to organise
autonomously and some what
paradoxically, to abolish a di
vision of labour on a sexual
base by refusing cooperation
with men altogether. Lesbian
Equal wage for equal work
comes into this category and a
rape law in which not the vic
tim is the accused but the ra
pist. A secular family law will
be needed and much revision
of other discriminatory laws.
There is a distinct women’s
side to the struggle for civil li
berties but even while we
struggle only for such liberal
equality we have to be aware of
the state power which increa
singly curtails any democratic
rights and have to build an
awareness of the economic po
licies which account for this
tendency. What throws women
put of work is the same West
ern technology which is capi
tal-intensive,
labour-saving
There is more to fighting
paternalism within the Left
than just quoting
Marx and Engels.
ism has become an important
part of this approach in the
West.
Radical Feminism has gone to
the extreme of envisaging the
abolition of female child bear
ing hoping to relegate it to lab
technicians. There is a blissful
unawareness of the problems
of industrialism, technocracy
and capitalist exploitation in
this approach. Yet, it has high
lighted problems of sexual
oppression like rape in a deep
way and has contributed much
to make women self aware and
to give them control over their
bodies. The existentialist ap
proach also tries to be cultu
rally creative, though it fails to
analyse the underlying eco
nomic problems in a deep way.
The socialist approach, as
derived from classical Mar
xism and developed in various
ways during this century, tries
to place women’s liberation in
the wider transformation of the
mode of production, economi
cally as well as culturally. Yet,
problems of sexuality, sexual
division of labour in the family
and sexual violence tend to be
neglected. This approach has
been criticised as “class reduc
tionist” and the attempt to let
the state take over the respon
sibilities of the family has not
been very successful in actual
ly existing socialism. At the
same time it is evident that the
economic equality of women
has developed furtherest in
the socialist countries even
though women remain politi
cally under represented and
the existing remnants of cultu
ral and sexual oppression re
main a taboo.
How does it all apply ?
There is still a lot to be done to
make women equal to men
even in the formal liberal capi
talist sense of democracy for
whatever it may be worth.
'and catering to the needs of
the elite. This we have to
■understand when we ask for
“equal job opportunities”.
The existentialist approach to
the women’s question is rooted
in western capitalism and “au
tonomous radical feminism”
hardly stands a chance in a
country where most women
cannot survive on their own
economically as well as cultu
rally, as things are. Yet, we
have to leam from the failures
as well as from the contribu
tions of this approach. We of
ten fall into the same traps like
the existentialist feminists if
we try to tackle women’s is
sues in isolation. This is for
instance to say we cannot
tackle dowries just by making
anti-dowry vows. While we fail
to understand how in capital
ism human beings are made
commodities and how the
cash-nexus replaces human
relations. Dowry in our de
praved capitalist system is dif
ferent from dowry under semifeudal conditions. We have to
analyse such differences if we
want to act efficiently. Rape as
another example, is not a
crime which individual men
commit against individual
women, it is a political crime.
Rape keeps all women under
terror, and thus keeps patriar
chy stable. Rape is the usual
outfall of caste clashes and thus
has to be analysed in its caste
dimension and implicit under
lying class dimension.
Rape is an outfall of every
war, it points to the connection
of the women’s question with
the question of peace and dis
armament. Rape of women has
also to be understood in the
larger context of the rape of
the earth, ecological exploita
tion which deprives present
and future generations of their
livelihood. The Chipko Move
ment in U.P. in which women
took a lead in saving the Hi
malayan forests, intuitively
made this connection, but it
12
remained unanalysed.
There is no doubt that there
are immense economic barri
ers to women’s mobilisation in
India. It can also not be denied
that the economic position of
women, their educational
opportunities etc. are most
advanced in the socialist coun
tries. If large parts of the
women’s movements in the
West fail to perceive this it is
purely due to anti-communist
propaganda and partly due to
an extremely individualistic
understanding of liberation
which is itself a cultural pro
duct of industrial capitalism.
While our women’s movement
has to absorb in a much deeper
sense the experiences of the
existing socialist countries,
whatever their actual shortco
mings, the left also has to learn
from the women’s movement
as a whole. The struggle
against cultural and sexual op
pression is no automatic im
plication of the class struggle.
We know too many Leftists
with utterly traditional, apoli
tical housewives at home and
it is too simple to blame the
wives for it. Remember the
poem in Pen Viduthalai, where
the woman struggling with
household and children being
asked where her husband is,
replies: “He is out for a meet
ing to talk on women’s libera
tion”. There is more to fighting
paternalism within the Left
than just quoting Marx and’
Engels.
Whose Freedom and
for What ?
The women’s movement in the
West is largely middle class
oriented and partly this ac
counts for its limitations. Dur
ing the Independence Struggle
the same applied to India and
this explains why the vast
masses of Indian Women have
never been exposed to a de
terioration of their situation.
Yet, present developments
give reasons for hope. While
the new Women’s Movement
in India since the middle of
the seventies has a vocal
middle class section, expe
riences seem to indicate that
working class women (be they
employed, unemployed or
under-employed) are the only
reliable element if it comes to
the problem of organisation
and struggle. This is also what
Gail Omvedt has documented
for Maharashtra and expe
riences in Tamil Nadu indicate
a similar development. Here,
women get organised on issues
like water, health facilities, ra
tion cards, housing, wages,
transport facilities etc. But at
the same time they take up
obscenity in the media, rape,
police harrassment of women
and drinking habits resulting
in wife beating. It is th^ )rking class women who®! ,ily
come forward in fasts, de
monstrations, gheraos and
they challenge the middle
class women who are less com
mitted. It is therefore less like
ly that the Indian Women’s
Movement can drift off into in
dividualistic feminist utopias.
The women’s movement can
also play a role in challenging
the present dangerous trends
towards a revivalist Hindu
Nationalism since it has an
awareness of the traditional
cultural forces which have
kept women in bondage.
Whether the women’s move
ment will succeed to become a
force of transformation beyond
capitalist liberal equality, de
pends not only on the political
awareness of women b”* also
on whether the Left w, pre
pared to have a fresh
c at
the women’s question.
GABRIELLE DIETRICH
MADURAI
To the women of this country, motners and sisters
IFe must go and sqy,
Unite together, take up the battle and destroy
this prison!
this prison in whose walls, daughters and daughters-in-law
are buried alive
In a web of slavery woven with the threads of cruel laws
No ! we will no longer die trapped in this net!
I___________________________ ______________ MADHAV CHAV AN
——
I’he internationalisation of
feminism is one of the most
controversial, intellectual and
political developments of our
time. Women around the
world have begun to address
the age old deep-seated pheno
menon of female subordination
and the strategies to overcome
it.
In 1975. the United Nations in
augurated the International
Women’s Decade at the Mex
ico City conference. Many
governments
established
women’s bureaux in prepara
tion for the mid-decade con. ference in Copenhagen in
1980. Extensive arrangements
are now under way for the end
of the decade conference sche
duled for 1985 in Nairobi.
Meanwhile, a new field known
as ‘Women in Development’
has emergedjgiving legitimacy
to academic inquiries and
policy planning pertaining to
women in the Third World.
Women social scientists and in
ternational aid agencies in
cluding the world bank arc
identified with this field.
Their ideas and strategies are
exported to the Third World to
<r integrate women into the pro
cesses of economic moderniza
tion. Many non-governmental
organizations and networks
have also oegun at the interna
feminism of such women is at
tributable to dominant interests, especially male ideologies
which succeed in manipulating
these women’s fears about the
risks and dangers of feminism.
The New Right in the U.S.A
which depicts the women’s
movement as a threat to the
alleged security of women’s
lives, and reactionary na
tionalist movements as the one
in Iran, which denigrate femin
ism as a Western fad or an im
perialist plot, are examples.
The distortion of feminism by
the media has also played it’s
part in alienating some poten
tially sympathetic women from
the fundamental concerns of
feminism.
Towards
International
Feminism
tional. national and regional
levels to deal with issues specific
to women such as reproductive
control and sexual violence.
Even the multinational cor
porations now give the libera
tion of women as a reason for
their expansion overseas.
But the solidarity among
women is tenuous. At every in
ternational women’s gathering,
the divisions of race, class, na
tionality and ethnicity erupt
tearing at the roots of what
brings women together. The
official U.S. delegation is
already discussing strategies to
avoid the infiltration of such
divisive issues at the Nairobi
conference. Indeed, we can
pretend that differences do not
exist, or we can explore them
and, in the process, refor
mulate feminism itself. The lat
ter is more difficult and pain
ful, but indispensable, if sister
hood is to become more than a
slogan.
Inspite of all the conferences,
declarations, academic treatises
and women’s projects, many
women around the world have
yet to hear of feminism or the
women’s movement. It is
unlikely that they will,until op
portunities for literacy and a
general improvement in living
standards are available to
them. But it is also the case that
some women who know of the
women’s movement show great
antipathy and resistance to
The contemporary women’s move
ment
is
of world
historic
importance. It has the potential to
improve the quality of human
relations everywhere.
feminism. But why should any
woman oppose feminism’s at
tempts to eradicate those social
constrain’s placed by sex which
inhibit women (and men) from
realizing their human poten
tial? Indeed, why do so many
women who stand to gain so
much from feminism,see it as
cither irrelevant to their lives or
are threatened by it?
Does this mean then that
women who are alienated from
feminism are ridden with ‘false
consciousness’' * If the feminist
vanguard were to enlighten
these irrational women of the
objective conditions of their op
pression, namely male domi
nance, could a mass-based, in
ternational feminist struggle be
launched ?
To a large extent the anti
Obviously, the answer is not
that simple. We need to move
beyond the familiar factors of
male manipulation, media dis
tortion and the implied false
consciousness of the masses of
women. Being careful not to
blame feminism for the
deteriorating conditions of
many women around the
world, we must ask never
theless if the feminist theories
and strategies currently
available,are adequate for com
prehending and changing the
oppression of most women and
the alienation of many from
feminism. Have the class and
cultural biases oi contemporary'
feminism and the women’s
movement, for example, con
tributed in any way to the suc
cess of anti-feminist forces
among certain groups of wo
men? If reactionary backlashes
against some of the hard-won
victories of the women’s move
ment are to be countered, a
reassessment of the objectives
and strategies of feminism is
clearly necessary.
On Inside Pages
Rameeza Bee - Justice denied.....................................................................................
2
Donna
A New Time Beginning
.......................................
3
Corinne Kumar-D’Souza
Sexism and the War System .......................................................................................
6
Betty Scanlon
Take the Toys from the Boys
.....................................................................................
7
Birgit Brock-Utne
Structural Violence in India .......................................................................................
8
Govind Kclkar
Status of Women in Independent India .................................................................
11
A. R. Desai
Women in National Liberation Struggles ...............................................................
12
Interview with Asoka Bandarage
15
..............................................................................
Sherly Alex
A Plea for Gender Justice............................................................................................
17
Krishna Iyer
Women - the Fractured Image...................................................................................
19
Rohini Nilekani
Behind High Walls : A Working Women’s Hostel ..................
21
Unionising for their Rights : The Gayathri Women
........................................
22
.............................. . ..........
22
H S. Charnpavaihi
Women and Violence
We need also to ask, if in fact,
most women are opposed to die
broad ideals of feminism - in
creased social and psychologic
Madhu Bhuslnin
1
al freedoms for women - or if
their resistance is to that particular brand of feminism aristng out of the white, middle
class experience in the West,
but popularly projected as ‘the
Women’s Movement’ by the
media and most Western,
middle-class feminists them
selves Those studies which haw
inquired into (he consciousness
of poor and Third World
women without resorting to
Western feminist concepts are
quite instructive. They have
revealed a great enthusiasm for
and acceptance of the broad
principles and objectives of
feminism among such disparate
groups as ‘untouchable’
women in India and poor black
women in the United States.
It is necessary then to make a
clear distinction between
feminism as a universal
ideology potentially acceptable
to most women and the middle
class, predominantly Western
feminism which has become
synonymous with the contem
porary women’s movement.
This distinction is at the root of
many of the conflicts that break
out among different groups of
women at international
women’s conferences.
What is problematic of course
is not that there are differences
among women, but that there
are inequalities and conflictive
interests among us, as among
men, based on the hierarchies
of social class, race, nation,
ethnicity, etc. For example, it
is obvious that imperialism
(Western economic, political
and cultural hegemony) has
given white women a higher
social status in the w'orld, over
Third World women (women
of color in Asia, Africa, Latin
America as well as the racial
minorities in the West). Simi
larly, women from the privileg
ed social classes in the West
Contd on page 4
,from the hidden furnace of my
spirit
:all an aggrieved people towards
rebirth
against these nocturnal beasts
who guard our dreams
and command our poems.
Don Mattcra
senseless destruction of human lives and instead.fosteis the construction and develop
ment of all human potential regardless of sex, caste, class, race or nation ity.
“And what is it
I
but fragments ofyourself
you would discard that you may becomefree?„
Within this broader framework therefore, specifically, both direct and structural forms
of patriarchial violence perpetrated against women, can be identified at one end of a
societal continuum, which ultimately manifests itself in such forms as militarism, economic
imperialism, racism, hierarchy et al. Rape and war for instance, are only two different
- Khalil Gibran
facets of an all pervasive culture of violence.
Thus while the world is hurtling towards its self-determined goal of destruction and
annihilation, there is an urgent need for a conscious and organised peace movement
the kind of movement, that while striving for military or nuclear disarmament, should
also seek a more humane and just society - a movement that applies itself to the eradica
tion of the causes of violence inherent in a particular system. The women’s movement
is part of this search.
be her or h
lom™ every individual in society
has to see beyond what appears to e her or hls reality and se]f;
of today _ a rca)i
comfortable for some’b"^hl? rts our L
years cvolved a tortuousfschema of values,
While
norms and attitudes, w ic
that we become passive ro e p y
ing our future.
cs and structures our persona to such an extent
not active; aware participants consciously charter
Three of the major articles in this issue focus on the relationship between sexism,
militarism and violence. They are papers which were presented by some of the women
members of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) at a conference held
in August, 1983 in Hungary.
We fragment that part of ourselves and reality which conditions us into playing roles
of either the oppressor or the oppressed,even while retaining the positive in our culture,
our ethos...... We fragment ourselves, only so that we can live again as individuals with
a choice. When oppression is a reality, paln can also be our strength; not when we allow
it to subsume and define us,but w en we use it as a transcending force to redefine
and reconstruct ourselves.
While envisioning a future and a culture of‘peace’ through the grim, dark,violent reali
ty of the present, we are also forced to take cognizance of particularly violent social ex
plosions in countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America - explosions which are manifesting
themselves in the form of liberation struggles. When one is forced to take recourse to
violence to break through the oppressive political chains of colonialism or military dic
tatorship, what is the role of women in such strivings for justice? What meaning does
one attribute to a ‘peace movement’, and what indeed, does feminism have to contribute
in such circumstances? We look at these questions by focussing on some specific situa
tions in Namibia, Pakistan and others.
This is the vision of Vimochana, where we ideologically identify ourselves with a form
of socialist feminism which does not reduce the women’s movement to that of a ‘male
female’ confrontation. We cannot hope to bring about a change in the nature of the rela
tionship between the sexes - a relationship based on the premise of inequality - without
envisioning a total social transformation. We reject a society that functions within a
discriminating socio-economic frame-work which can only find expression through stifl
ing hierarchical structures of caste, class or patriarchy. To that extent we recognise the
essence of exploitation in whatever form it manifests itself and work along with other
struggling movements like that of peace, ecology or that of the daliths, students and
workers.
The destructive, if pervasive, influence of a militaristic culture percolating into every
day situations was brought home sharply to us in Bangalore this year, ironically enough
on March 8th International Women’s Day. Four city women’s organisations (Vimochana,
Mantni, Women’s Voice and Bangalore University Women Law Students) were without
valid reason, denied permission to take out a peaceful procession. Denied even the oppor
tunity to assemblefor a discussion, the women, who were walking up to the starting point of the proces
sion were rudely intercepted, arrested and violently herded into the waiting police vans. We must
have been the only city in the world which was forced to commemorate International
Women’s Day from within the precincts of a police station! This incident is only reflec
tive of existing attitudes, even in a sovereign democratic republic like India, where the
police force, like any other state machinery, reacts to any legitimate and democratic cry
for justice as a ‘law and order problem’ and deals with it accordingly. This is also reflec
tive of the totally unjustified notion that violence, or repression, is the only instrument
which can effectively deal with such ‘problems’ and thus is a burgeoning culture of brutali
ty, legitimised.
While the women’s movement seeks to change an external reality which manifests itself
in destructive social formations and structures, it must simultaneously initiate and inter
nalise a constant process of objectification and a dispassionate assessment of its objective
reality.
‘Sangharsh’ while identifying itself as a part of this process,attempts to not merely
provoke some kind of theoretical enquiry and debate around issues relevant to feminism
but also hopes to provide a forum for discussion - a focal point for various women’s
groups and individuals to come together to voice their opinions, overcoming,yet main
taining ideological differences. The articles contained within it therefore, are not around
local day-to-day issues although they are in some instances, focussed upon. These specific
struggles find a regular outlet in the Kannada bi-monthly “Vimochana Varthapatra”,
a journal which reaches into the urban and rural pockets of Karnataka.
Is there not another way of thinking? Another way of doing? Can we not evolve another
concept of power - not the power that is synonymous with authority and oppression,
but a power that emanates from within oneself- a power that provides every individual
with the space to realise and define herself and himself, not at the cost of others. A power- .
that enables every individual to consciously cease being the oppressed or the oppressor!i
one therefore, that seeks a similar sense of ‘empowerment’ in everyone, in social
movements... one that is generative and not degenerative. It is certainly not an alter
native that is easily accesible in society today, but can it not be a vision we can begin
to realise and nurture from among and beyond the fragments of today?
Accordingly, in this issue while the main focus is on the concepts of violence and
‘peace’ as related to women and feminism - the attempt is more in terms of understan
ding the ‘basis’ of the personal violence that affects woman,rather than dwelling in detail
over the specific forms it manifests itself in - rape, wife-beating, dowry deaths and the
like. In this process, not only is the line of enquiry drawn towards the interplay of struc
tural factors in society that create an environment in which violence can flourish, but
also more generally, towards a concept of ‘peace’ which has its roots within a feminist
perspective : a perspective honed towards the construction of a new society devoid of all
exploitative structures and one that contains within itself a world view that decries the
March 8, 1984 will go down
in the history of the Indian
women’s movement as a day
when it was once again proved
by the judicial system that there
is no gender justice.
In what has come to be known
as the Rameeza Bee case, the
Karnataka High Court has
once again upheld the acquit
tal of the police personnel
responsible for the rape of
Rameeza Bee and the murder
of her husband Ahmed Hus
sain. The court holds that
Rameeza Bee had been raped
beyond reasonable doubt but
there was no sufficient evidence
to indicate who had committed
the rape. This judgement came
in response to the revision peti
tion filed by the women’s
organisations i.e. Indian Fede
ration of Women Lawyers,
Vimochana and Stree Shakti
Sanghatana (Hyderabad), chal
lenging the acquittal of the eight
accused police by the Sessions
Judge, Raichur. In a separate
SANGHARSH
move, the slate of Andhra
Pradesh too filed an aPPeal
against the verdict of lhe Ses’
sions Court.
It Will be recalled tho> on the
n'ght of March 29, 197®’
Rameeza Bee had gonc °
Hyderabad with her husband,
Ahm«l Hussain to see a Telugu
r‘lm Vania Gola’lhfr
return from the late show the
beat P°hce flnding her sitting
alone in the rickshaw, when her
VIMOCHANA EDITORIAL COLLECTIVE
of Rameeza Bee and the
murder of Ahmed Hussain and
recommended their prosecu
tion. On the basis of the Com
mission’s report , the State
Crime Branch Police suspend
ed, arrested and charge-sheeted
the accused police. But before
they could be tried, the accus
ed filed a petition in the
Supreme Court praying for the
transfer of the case to a Court
outside Andhra Pradesh. The
Petition was granted and the
case was transferred to the
District Court, Raichur, where
the trial began on October 22,
1980.
detention of Rameeza Bee, was
severely tortured. As a result of
this he died in police custody.
As the news of the rape of
Rameeza Bee and the murder
of Ahmed Hussain spread, the
public outraged by these
brutalities of the police,attack
ed the police stations - this out
burst took a violent turn.which
resulted in the loss of twenty
human lives due to the police
firings. In a bid to contain peo
ple’s anger against the misuse
RAMEEZA bee
- Justice Denied
husbancl ha<]
e awhi‘a‘O
answer the
tl of nature,
Whisked her
to the pohee
nation of N^aynIa where sho
was raPed hv r ur pohee per
sonnel, itiriyfo „ the sub
inspector, w “d<,y confined
and hara.,Se><le next dayAhmcdHulntllloea.neto
'he police
* to ProteS
against thc atl° ,nd illega
rape
The Sessions Judge, in a
weighty judgement held that
the rape story was a ‘myth’,
because the evidence of
Rameeza Bee was ‘polluted
and therefore,did not commend
any indulgence’. Throughout
the legal proceedings the police
and the public prosecution at
tempted to show that Rameeza
Bee was a woman of loose cha
of power by the police, the
Government of Andhra
Pradesh instituted a one man
enquiry commission under
Justice K.A. Mukhtadar.
Justice Mukhtadar in his fin
dings convicted the sub
inspector and seven constables
for the offence of rape
and wrongful confinement
2
racter and a prostitute. In fact
police were sent to her village
to enquire of her antecedents.
The prosecution even held that
she was a woman of ill-repute
because she had married twice.
From the entire legal pro
ceedings it was evident that the
prosecution almost acted in
defence of thc accused despite
the fact that Rameeza Bee had
in almost 21 identification
parades, identified the police
who committed the crime of
rape on her. Justice Mukhtadar
too, in his enquiry report had
pointedly noted: “There was
not an iota of evidence to in
criminate Rameeza Bee as a*
prostitute and Ahmed Hussain
as a pimp”.
The acquittal of the police in
the Mathura case, of the hus
band and the in-laws in the
Sudha Goel dowry murder case
and now, the acquittal of the
police in the Rameeza Bee case
are all expressions of the male
bias and. prejudice that is in
herent in the judicial system.
Donna
______
Vimochana
Sangharsh is not ‘regular' in thc strict sense of the term. Its peiiodicity depends
a great deal on the emerging relevance of, and responses to, any area of debate
related to feminism. To this end, we invite responses from other individuals and
groups, not only to the articles published here and thc earlier publication, but also
original contributions on ‘women and the media’- our theme for the next issue.
Compiled and Edited by Vimochana Editorial Collective
Design and Graphics : Sherly, Cris, Gerard
VIMOCHANA
Forum for Women's Rights,
Post Box 4605,
Bangalore-560 046
Printed at PRECISION FOTOTYPE SERVICES
51, Car Street, Ulsoor, Bangalore 560 008 Phone: 579583, 34311
that besides arrn, arld equip.
ment, training is a)so given t0
t e po ice and paramilitary
forces most directly involved in
t e torture, assasination and
incarceration of thc
litica]
opposition, of whom morethan
30% are women
Come, and pick up the rice
scattered along the railway line
drenched in the rain.
the movements of resistance
which search for new possibili
ties to reach new horizons, op
It’s a bag of black market rice
posing all concepts and struc
thrown out of the window
tures that are obstacles for a
just before reaching the terminus.
more human social order;
There’s nee spilt now on the rails movements which seek a
Come,and pick up the rice
‘change beyond the change’;
scattered now
changes that will move the
drenched tn the rain.
world away from wars and self
destruction, from systems that
Bring her back
exploit and dehumanize, to the
that woman the police hauled out
anticipation and creation of an
of the train.
authentic, humanist civilization
Ask her why her husband was taken
that will ‘restore to all human
to the war and killed
beings, their fulness and
Ask her how
sovereignity over their own
she can raise her children
lives’2; changes that will not he
with nothing in the till.
confined only to the transfor
Ask her if she can live, starving.
mation of the objective reality
Ask her whether
in material quantitative terms,
her children have ever eaten
although this is very necessary,
their fill of rice
but a change that envisions a
Ask her gently,
transformation in the quality of
Don’t be embarassed.
life - in individuals, in gender
relations, in political institu
As she picks up the rice, grain
tions, and the entire social
by grain, she will tell you: the
fabric.
woman without a face, the
woman without a history.
The Wars in The
Ask her quietly, ask her and
Third World
millions like her who live in the
barrios, the bantustans, die
It
is
here that two thirds of
bustis-in Calcutta, in the
ica suggests that should it’s
favelas of Sao Paolo, the camps humanity is born into a world
economic interests $n the third
of
hunger,
of squalor, of
in Beirut, in Soweto, Tehran,
world be threatened, nuclear
deprivation; It is here that the
El Salvador.......
developments and possibilities
developed countries through
designed*for Europe could in
their multinationals, their
women
fact be destined for the .third
technology, the new interna
wandering exiles
world. Both the neutron bomb
tional division of labour,
in a man’s world
and the Cruise missile have
plunder and pillage with the
illiterate
been discussed on this list, on
flag of progress, of develop
strangers to the archives
the assumption that their use
ment. It is here that military
against targets located outside
dictators and fascist regimes in
We have no history
the territory of the USSR and
the name of‘national security’
We cannot tell our daughters
and other repressive legislation
against non-European popula
‘Your ancestors were wise in
silence millions of its people;
tion would not lead to a full
judgement
here that three-fourths of the
scale nuclear confrontation’4
generous and strong in battle’.
global arms are transferred;
A ‘limited’ nuclear war? and
We can only say .
here that the possibility of
will it be the third world that
‘This one died in childbirth
regional conflict heightens;
will provide it its nuclear
that one outlived her usefulness
here that local wars multiply;
theatre?
as sweetheart, wife and mother!
What cannot be over emphasiz
It is here that the conflict of the
We can only say.
ed is that with the multiplica
super powers is concentrated
‘Your great grandmother
tion of nuclear arsenals, the in
and most concretely expressed,
is lost to us already.
creasing availability of nuclear
dragging every nation in the
technology and the capacity to
third world into the polemics
My own mother can no longer
manufacture nuclear weapons,
and
polarity
of
the
Cold
War
remember
the race for nuclear arms is be
For the big powers the world
her own mother’s girlhood name,
ing
globalized. More countries
war
ended
in
1945;
Che
any detail of her life1
in the third world are joining
Guevara speaking for the
the
nuclear club, achieving
peoples of the three continents
We women in the third world
nuclear capability and thereby
describes in his Manifesto that
are people with no history, but
soaring the possibility of a
‘ while the war ended in 1945...
pilgrims in the darkness. In the
regional nuclear arms race and
the war in fact continued every
growing social ferment of Asia,
the use of nuclear weapons in
where; throughout Asia, in the
Africa, Latin Amc-nca we must
regional conflicts. The line is
Middle East, Africa, Latin
refuse to continue to live
very fragile between nuclear
America’. To the industrializ
without a face, to speak without
plants
for energy and ‘peaceful
ed nations these wars are
a voice. We must search for our
purposes’ and the military im
limited, happening in distant
own word, name our own reali
plications of such civil
lands to'distant peoples, to the
ty, discover our own history; a
installations.
third world these wars are total,
history that will describe not
Militarized states and militar
against whole cultures, against
only our degradation, our
ism develops its tentacles and
whole civilizations.
anguish, our tears,but a history
that will also tell of our
A transformation in the quality of life
triumphs, our hopes, our
in individuals, in gender relations, in
dreams.
Though the understanding I
bring to you and the meeting,
has its roots in the specificity of
a cultural and civilizational
ethos that is of India and of life
in the third world, the vision of
the future towards which we
move (whether we are women
from the capitalist west, the
socialist east or the third world)
is of a vision of a future that we
can determine, a future of
peace. The appearances and
manifestations h takes, the
forms it expresses, the syipbols
it uses, will have a different em
phasis each in the different
cultures, but in essence, the vi
sion is the .game. The existence
of the universality of women’s
oppression and of patriarchy as
a world systemjbmds together
political institutions, and the entire
social fabric.......
It is necessary however, to make
a distinction between the two
super powers and not hold both
equally responsible for the in
creasing military interventions
in the third world. There are
differences between the basic
perception and policies of the
Soviet Union which still seems
to be ‘those of aggressive
defence’, while that of the
United States seems to be
‘more dangerous and pro
vocative in its general military
and diplomatic strategics’3
Military and political analysts
note that the recent military pol
icy of die United States of Amer-
roots feeding on the growing
arms trade and transfers to the
third world, whose share in the
international arms trade has
dramatically increased (from
$30.5 billion in 1973 to $47.7
billion in 1983). About three
quarters of the current global
arms transfers is to the third
world and many of them are
among the poorest nations in
the world. Besides the increase
in the number of recipient
countries there has also been a
proliferation of advanced
weapon systems, more facilities
for arms production and a
flourishing trade in repression
technology - instruments of
torture, counter-insurgency
and police weapons. The ma
jor competitors in the third
world arms market are the
USA, USSR, France, UK and
Italy. Third world govern
ments shop in their bazaars for
the most modern and sophis
ticated weapons, qualitatively
changing the character of the
world weapons trade. Twenty
years ago the bulk of the arma
ment transfers, were unsophis
ticated and second hand. ‘The
current SIPRI (Stockholm
International Peace Research
Institute) Arms Trade Register
covering weapons on order or
being delivered in 1981,identify
approximately 1,100 separate
arms agreements. 94% of these
contracts are for new weapons
systems. 2% are for second
hand weapons and 4% are for
refurbished weapons . The
bombs in Beirut, the tanks in
Tehran, the napalm and nerve gas
in Vietnam are not differentfrom the
Pershing II, the Cruise, the
SS-20’s: all these weapons are part
of the same system: part of the
repressive machinery used by
the State to contain the
increasing social explosions,
resulting in the escalating wars
within the third world Pakistan and India, Iran and
Iraq. Though the roots of these
conflicts are often within the
particular social formations,
the ability of these countries to
wage intensive and protracted
wars is sustained by the
increasing sales and transfers of
advanced weapons from the
developed countries, catapult
ing the wars of today to much
higher levels of violence and
brutalization. The import of
these weapons are explicitly in
tended ‘to help these countries
defend themselves against ex
ternal attack’. Studies of arms
export data of the advanced
countries however, reveal that
a substantial portion of these
arms are in fact used for inter
nal repression: to deter the peo
ple’s uprisings, to annihilate the
political opposition. Recent
arms deliveries to the third
world have included police
weapons, torture devices,
surveillance systems, anti-riot
equipment all totally unsuitable
for anything other than inter
nal security operations. Milit
ary policy studies also indicate
3
Women are the worst victims
o t e irect violence of war t ey and their daughters are
tortured, humiliated, raped;
the torture chambers are an all
male domain. The women’s
side of the war is rarely reveal
ed and almost never documente .
hen the anti-war movements demonstrated in
Washington against the ‘Rape
of Vietnam’, they were not
protesting about the rape anef
abuse of the Vietnamese
women. With the increasing in
terventions of the US in Asia
(Korea, Vietnam), to cite just
one example, the activities at
the US Naval Base in Subic
Bay in the Phillipines, were
intensified and extended to in
clude what was known as the R
and R (rest and recreation)
industry in Olongapo for the
military. The R & R industry is
an organized system of prostitution
and violence against women. It
claims for the industry the most
economically poor sections of
women to work for a pittance
as ‘hospitality hostesses’, ‘wait
resses’, ‘entertainment girls’.
In South Korea it is known as
the ‘Kisaeng’ industry which
provides ‘service facilities’ to
er hours, under more d.fficu
conditions of work; almost
everywhere lack nutrition
health care, maternity an
child care facilities: almos
everywhere used, abused,
almost everywhere, invisi e.
The process of capitalist ac
cumulation in Asia has led to
the increasing marginalization
of women in the least produc
tive terrors.
The
Status of
Women Report, (fnefia). depicts
the dramatic decline In the
employment of women in
cultivation and in household in
dustries , indicating that the
women are losing their tradi
tional mean of production and
that work opportunities for
women have been consistently
declining over thc last seventy
years. Of the total women
population in India, 80% live
in thc rural areas involved in
agricultural
operations.
Statistics and recent research
reveal that even in thc agri
cultural sector,women arc be
ing squeezed out of categories
like self-employed cultivators
into the strata of agricultural
labourers, on subsistence
wages. In 1911, approximately
18 million women were
cultivators while 13 million
were agricultural labourers,
while in 1971 about 16 million
were cultivators and 20 million
were agricultural labourers7.
While women in agriculture
arc concentrated in thc lower
strata in the lowest paid work,
the
military
personnel.
many more women are push
Woman flagrantly violated, her
ed out to join the ranks of the
body a commodity to be
non-paid
workers. The number
bought and sold, beaten and
of unemployed women increas
used.
ed in thc last decade from 153
Besides the wars between the
million to 219 million. Only 2.5
nation states in the third world,
million women of the women
it is necessary to take a closer
work force are employed in the
look at the wars within each
organised sector in India.
country - thc fascist regimes,
Millions,of course,continue to
the coups d’etat, the military
work as unpaid helpers in
juntas and other coercive forms
family farms or non-farm
of State, which are at war
enterprises,accounting for more
against their own peoples; the
than 35 million women work
war against thc people’s
ers. Women’s work is largely
movements for liberation, the
unrecognized, under-counted
war against thc blacks, the war
and under-valued; the concep
against the workers,the daliths,
tual paradigms and analytical
the ethnic minorities, and
tools used to discern what does
more particularly the war against
and what does not constitute
women's work are sex blind;
women.
refusing any analysis of the
gender relations and patriar
chal attitudes which have large
ly contributed to women’s
status, place and role in socie
ty. This is true not only for In
dia, but for other countries in
Asia, die third world. While
economic categories alone are
insufficient -indicators of the
declining participation of
women in paid work, if it is
related to the prevailing
The War Against economic and political systems,
it reveals that the more
Women
___________ _____ _________ _ repressive the State form, the
greater the marginalization of
This trend towards militarism
the wage earners and the
in Asia and in the third world,
is characterised by the penetra women wage earners in par
tion of the capitalist mode of ticular. Some of the most
authoritarian and militaristic
production and the resultant
marginalization- and pauperiza social formations which have
tion of the majority of the peo developed an armament cult
ure like Iran, Phillipines, In
ple, particularly the women.
donesia, Brazil and Argentina
‘Women in thf 'bird world are
show a very low participation
the poorest among the poor n0
of women in the sector of paid
matter how poverty ]jnes are
labour and these state^ are
drawn; the n10St economically
some of the largest importers of
vulnerab.e, no matter what the
military’ equipment and ar
nature of t^e cris’s and are
maments in the third world.
almost always to be founc[
lowest in the o^Pational lad
On
the other hand, the
der of most economieSj
jagt
economies of the Asian coun
in line6. Almost everywhere
tries are being increasingly in
women are Pus ed into jow_
tegrated into the world capipaid, low-sk* e Jobs; almost
everywhere
en work long
Contd. oxi page 5
SANGHAKSH
Towards
International
Feminii Con id. from page 1
and the Third World, though
themselves subordinated to
their men, are placed in relatons of dominance vis-a-vis
poor women and men . The
Radi al Feminist assertion that
all women arc oppressed by all
men, developed around issues
of sexual control and violence,
needs qualification in the con
text of such realities as the
racist use of the ape charge
aga'nst back men in the
United St les I the ast forty
years or so ou hundred and
fifty-five men ave been ex
ecuted for rap . Four hundred
and five o them were black.
No white man has ever been
execute-, for aping a black
worn n n this country
Note too, that the ontrasting
racist and sexist images of
white and black women her ,
depict the former as passive,
depend nt and delicate crea
tures o be prote ted and the
late- as strong matriarchs or
bad black women to be cast
aside. These stereotypical im
ages alone should raise ques
tions bout the prevalence of
uniform models of womanhood
and manhood for a 1 groups.
Not surpri ingly perhaps,
fem nist analysis and the
worn n s movement arose
w ?.hi he ranks of the relative
ly depnv d whiic, x
•
women in th West rather than
he absolutely deprived majoriWhat is important to note is
that the analytical categories
and social change strategies
produced by Western middle
class feminists, while couched
in universal terms, are derived
from the unique historical ex
perience of their own social
class and culture.
Western Feminism
and
Middle Class Values
Both the nineteenth-century
women’s suffrage movement
and
the contemporary
women’s movement in the
U.S.,have emerged largely as
responses by white, middle
class women to the contradic‘■ons created in their lives by
the processes of capitalist in
dustrial development. The
nineteenth-century movement
'nhaPnr,1CUlar'Canbesc':n‘“'he
challenge of educated middle
class women already envaeerl
th ^Ubllc aclivil>es, notably
he slave abolition movement
ha^ r°‘°Sy °f ^-ininii;
Jhat confined them
2
domestic sphere Their aim
was to legit,miz their intega
dontntopubli hfe through .he
voteland eventually to become
Similarly, the cont mporary
women s movement emerged
SANGHAKSH
(-/coSrX--
and others already in °™j
employment) secki
> c>
integration into
life
through sanSfying carc
deventually equality with their
men This movement must also
be seen tn the context of in
creasing commercialization of
domestic services and rapid ab
sorption of women into the
wage labour force.
The liberal integrationist
strategies and their emphasis
on legislative change,un'te the
two women’s movements in the
U.S, What distinguishes them,
is the emergence of a newer
more radical branch of,
feminism in recent decades
which has politicized personal
relations between men and
women within the family. Ex
tending its critique to other
social institutions. Radical
Feminism argues that women’s
liberation cannot be achieved
without the overthrow of male
dominance or patriarchy,
which is the foundation of
social life everywhere.
Many of the popular categor
ies of feminist analysis today,
such as ’ the private-public
dichotomy and the patriarchal
nuclear fami .
-e n
niulated Dy wnite, m’ feminists in the pr°
reassessing their unique
histories’ experience under in
dustrial capitalism- Like much
of Western male scholarship
then, feminist analysis and
practices too are ridden with
middle-class, and Westen
biases Feminist thinking w ic i
takes the middle-class ex
perience as the norm,may *ot
only be irrelevant and alienat
ing to most women, but thc
social change strategies ema
nating from such thinking may
have negative consequenccS °?
poor and Third World women
and men.
In this regard wC sh°U!d
remember how th<= ninet7nnt'in
century women’s
ef
the U.S. wh.cb emerge from
n’°ve^ciai
within the abolition
la'er capitulated to thc
and class pol rirs of
i
Whcnwh«eSuprem^POn,,en
r-ans pitted th,.votc for w n,
against
thc votc for
. X
.....
-he sum
fin bl;the.r
lusiw < on „n for'1’1 iddle7men-thaliswhi<e-"'‘ Ith
< lass women - wen' a g„ the
•he -is,
purmg
;arl’'de«de80fIwen'’elb|ling
, • ,,s ,n'fe>mms‘sS\a,c„ for
^.teSinU'e'r editions
blr,1> control lo0k
of
^Plj-ing (h’e reduc*>or thc
undesirable' , „ents 1 ,..
Population ' n aS bl8Cnci
foreigners ,• Ucb rants) «,,d
the )ow
"nm>g
b post^assess
tions fed into the eugenics
movement and the racial
hysteria of the time. Unless the
scope of feminism is broaden
ed, the contemporary women’s
movement (in spite of its roots
in the civil rights struggle),can
again be aligned with white
male politicians seeking to keep
women, minorities and the
working classes divided and
conquered.
Perhaps the most important
strategy of liberation advoca cd
by contemporary Libera] Femin
ism , is thc incorporation of
women into the paid labour
force as the equals of men. In
deed, for middle-class women
formerly confined to domestic
chores, a professional career
can offer greater self fulfillment
despite the new stresses that
come with these careers.
Women from the privileged
social classes in the Third
World have also benefit ted
from the higher education and
integration
into
paid
employment.
But for thc majority of other
women, integration into the
wage labour force entails at best,
working as a factory or field
labourer,and at worst,a maid
or a prostitute. Can absorption
into the prevailing structures of
empl y ent b ng 1 be ation to
most women? In the absence of
changes in those hierarchial
structures at the international
and national levels, integration
results merely in prestigious
careers for a few women and
men,but continued underpaid
and undervalued work for the
majority. Data now available
indicates that unequal integra
tion further deepens the class,
racial and national cleavages
among women, rather than
help build sisterhood.
Demands made in the name of
women’s liberation by Liberal
Feminist organisations in cer
tain Third World countries,on
ly exacerbate this trend. Take
for example the cry for im
ported luxury kitchen equip
ment that would supposedly
lighten the household chores of
busy professional women. It is
no secret that the conspicuous
consumption of the privileged
classes, diverts scarce foreign
exchange from the survival
needs of the masses of poor
women and men in those
countries.
Turning briefly to Radical
Feminism now, it can all be
argued that some of its basic
postulates such as thc persona)
is political’, are broadly ap
plicable everywhere But a
doser analysis of sorn of the
Specific institutions, such as the
male-headed, nuclear family
aga nst which Radical Feminism
directs its critique, helps
recognize the limits of this
analysis Research into social
c lasses and cultures outside the
Western middle class reveals a
diversity of family structures.
At least one-third of the
households in thc world today
are headed by women. Resear
ch also shows that thc family is
not the primary focus of
women’s oppression every
where. In some communities,
especially those subjugated by
racism as under slavery in
America or apartheid in South
Africa, black women have ex
perienced family hfe as essen
tially supportive rather than
oppressive. Women in such
situations may consider labour
for (heir families as their only
labour of love
Capitalism
and Feminism
are they
Compatible ?
Where do we turn then, for
theoretical direction toward a
more inclusive definition of
feminism , and strategies for
broadening the concerns of the
women’s movement? Few of
thc alternative theoretical
frameworks and women’s net
works now erne ging,do carry
thc potential toward making
feminism relevant to wider
groups of women.
It should also be noted that,
Socialists have long argued that
while sisterhood may be a new
most women and men for that
discovery for Western, middle
matter, cannot find liberation
class housewives isolated in
within the unequal and exploit
their suburban homes, it has
ative social relations under
long been a reality for women
capitalism. Thc prerequisite for
in many sex-segregated socie
the liberation of women, that is
ties whether in Asia, thc
non-bourgcois women, they
Middle-East, or in the female
point out, is their absorption
headed,, kin networks of the
into economic production
Carribbean and perhaps even
within a socialist economy. The
in working-class communities
growing body of feminist re
in the United States. Of course
search on thc effects of capital
it could be argued that thc
ist development on women,
sisterhood prevailing in such
particularly in the Third
communities is essentially con
servative ana directed towards World, gives much credence to
women’s survival rather than
this position.
the overthrow of male domi
nance. Lesbianism, when it ex
The processes of capitalist de
ists in these situations, is not
velopment in the Third World
politicized either.
have led to the marginalization
of women in the least produc
Nevertheless.it must be recog
nized that the conjugal role
tive and least remunerative sec
relationship is not the central
tors of Third World economies.
relationship for women m
While a handful of women
many' of these communities and
have gained access to presti
that their emotional needs are
gious jobs, most women are
met primarily' through their
confined to either unpaid or
relationship to other women.
underpaid,
■ '•native
■ h ■■ o.
" omen ':
rer?- • ,»v<.-rs,
alternative ciass anci cultural
maids, prostitute
A... ex
contexts may be psychological
pansion of private property,
ly freer from men. especially
wage labour, new technology
their spouses, than then
and the cash nexus have disad
Western, middle-class counter
vantaged women categorically.
parts. Women’s liberation then
In many' places in Africa for ex
cannot be a uniform exportable
ample, these new developments
ideology. It has to be defined
have robbed women of the
and achieved contextually.
relative independence and
Women’s liberation
cannot be a uniform exportable
ideology.
It has to be defined
My purpose here is no: to
denigrate < ithc r thc legitimate
concerns of white, middle class
women,or their efforts to find
freedom from their own par
ticular oppression .but rather to
begin placing western feminism
and the women’s movement in
comparative and historical perspec
tive. Thc contemporary
women’s movement is of world
historic importance. Il has thc
potential to improve the quali
ty of human relations every
where. But given the tremen
dous diversity and deepening
ir ual’t cs among women,we
must work toward an inductive
and comparative It mimsi
framework within which thc
concerns of wider groups of
women can be adequately ad
dressed. If not, thc very
legitimacy of feminism and the
women’s movement is seriously
threatened.
mobility traditionally' associat
ed with their role as the central
subsistence producers. In In
dia. thc disparity be. ween the
sexes with regard to both
employment and chances for
physical survival.have steadily
increased with thc socio
economic changes of the recent
decades.
At thc mid-decade conference
in 1980,women accounted for
half die world’s population,
two-thirds of the world’s in
come and less than a hpndredth
of the world’s property. Less
than one-third of women are
literate, and in many African
and Asian countries only one in
ten females even enters school
‘Feminization of poverty’ is a
structural feature of capitalism.
in thc Third World It is fast
becoming so in the United.
States (and Europe) too,where
women arc pushed into the per
manent ‘under class’ in larger
and larger numbers,as domes
tic work is subsumed by capi
talism, and the nuclear family
weakens
I’he structural analysis of
women s oppression and long
term vision toward liberation
presented by socialists are
highly compelling. But in the
absence of practical strategies
leading to social revolution, the
socialist vision can result mere
ly in an evasion of the daily
realities of poor women’s lives.
In the presence of poverty and
massive unemployment, most
women prefer exploitation on
the job,to starvation. Those
who are able to find regular
employment, as a field hand on
a plantation, or a Tost ess’ in sex
tourism’ often consider them
selves relatively privileged.
Even many Third World
governments that espouse so
cialist ideologies, including
China, have not been able to
extricate themselves from the
constraints placed by the world
capitalist economy. Their ex
periences bespea1, the tremen
dous difficulties of realizing a
socialist vision within a capi
talist world.
Without abandoning the struc
tural analysis and long-term vi
sion of the socialists, it is never
theless important to implement
strategies that are of immediate
value in improving women’s
lives. These should include the
provision of literacy, credit and
marketable skills for women
and the incorporation of
women’s concerns within th®
agenda for a new international
economic order (including the
new world information or er).
Women’s needs in particular
must be included m the codes
of conduct being devised for
regulating the multi nation: I
corporations.
It is also important to note that
although many poor and Third
World women prefer exploita
tive jobs to starvation, they are
ignorant,neither of their exploi
tation, nor the necessity for
change The courage and re
sourcefulness of poor women,
both in the Third World and
the West,have beeixindispen
sable historically for the sur
vival of their communities and
the world at large. Today we
are beginning to hear of iso<
lated but remarkable struggles
by such women for higher
wages and better working con
ditions in the multinationalowned factories of South East
Asia, against nuclear explo
sions and the dumping of radio
active waste by Western powers
in the islands oi Micronesia;
and against sterilization abuses
in the U.S and the Third
world
Reverting our attention now to
thc socialist position,it should
be noted that while it provides
a most incisive analysis of the
politico-economic bases and
class dimensions of women’s
oppresion under capitalism, it
lacks any real understanding of
the tultural and psychological
roots ol this oppression. This
becomes particularly clear in
the light of the experiences of
women in ‘socialist’ countries
such as the Soviet Union. The
persistence ot a sexual division
of labour and sexual hierarchy
at work, and male resistance
to the implementation of the
Family Code - the first legisla
tion anywhere toward equalis
ing domestic work between
men and women - in Cuba, are
also highly instructive. They
point out (hat thc incorporationof women into social produc-'
tion and benevolent state legisConul. on page 15
Contd. from page 3
at this juncture to ask
whether some of today s choices
which we make^vill help us'towards
our vision of tomorrow’s world? I
think particularly of the area of
research and policy planning
workers are women. In the
confined to reeling work and no
and programming that has
republic of Korba, women ac training facilities are provided
come to be known as ‘Women
count for 75% of all workers in because of their illiteracy and
in Development’, as I unders
the export industries. In three immobility.
tand development to be intrin
other Asian Export Processing
Women squeezed out of agri
sically
related to peace and to
Zones (Kachsiung, Nantze,
cultural and more traditional
the kind of future we hope for;
Taichung),80% of all workers
forms of occupation are push
also
for
the reason that the issue
are women, and in the Export
of development is Specifically
Processing Zone of Mauritius, ed into the big cities, the slums,
the factories, the multi
relevant to the movements of
over 80% of the workforce is
nationals, exposing themselves
change in the third world.
women and so it goes on. Also,
to new health and safety Many of the reports, docu
most of the women workers are
hazards, sexual harassment ments and literature in the
young women who are unwill
and other forms of degradation field, besides the
?ncrete
ing to organize themselves in
and
violence. The multi development programs in the
to trade unions. An investment
nationals,
mass
media,
adver
third
world,are
attempting
to
brochure describes : ‘the
tisements, tourism et al com
‘integrate women into the develop
manual dexterity of the
bine to project an image of women
ment
processes
’
by
this
meaning
oriental female is famous the
as one of commodity, of sex object;
that women are to be more in
world over. Her hands are
an entire organization of society
tensely, more effectively
small and she works fast with
upholding its gender war, its. war
brought
into the existing une
extreme care. Who therefore
against women; quietly humilaling,
qual and exploitative structures
can be better qualified by
beating, raping, burning its women.
of
development;
the emphasis here
nature and inheritance to con
The burning of brides is a
is on the integration of women but
tribute to the efficiency of a
specific atrocity committed on
the
context,
the
‘
model
’ of develop
bench assembly line, than the
the women in India, though
ment into which the women are to
oriental girl?’
concentrated in the urban areas
be integrated and made visible, the
concepts on which this ‘model’ is
built, is never questioned. The
The revolution to change the objective
development model approach
reality without addressing itself to the sub
has attempted to squeeze reali
jective factors, has often only meant the
ty into readymade compart
replacement of one system of repression by
ments, of dogmatic concepts
which prescribe formulae of
another within the old rubric, of a male
‘progress’, of‘green revolu
dominated society that respects war, the
tion’, of ‘catching up’, of
Time Beginning
Western was in fact, universal.
the world market economy. For
The West has for the last
when the degrees self-reliance
several
centuries imposed their
of the third world is measured
■models’, their notions o(
is not the yard stick used that
of economics? of the extent of development and progress,
their science and technology all
industrialization, of patterns of
wrapped up in an ideology of
consumption, of gross national
product? The New Interna
domination on the third
tional Economic Order in call
world. They speak of human
ing for the re-location of indus
rights, of technology transfers,
of concessions, of crumbs, all
try, the re-deployment of
resources, the re-structuring of
the while refusing to admit the
institutions like the Interna
need for a real transformation
tional Monetary Fund and the
of their economic and political
World Bank,in fact continues
institutions. Unhindered, the
to negotiate with the centre of
development of the productive
the world economy, assuring
forces has articulated itself in
the preservation of the essence of the
patterns of progress that are
existing world order, while pretengrotesque; the nuclear arms
<ling to search for new facades.
race, the trade and transfer of
Is the vision of women and the
weapons to militiarize the third
oppressed peoples of the world
world, the transnational cor
of a new international order,
porations, the plunder of the
only an economic question?
world’s natural resources, the
Would social justice and a
technological choices. The
more human , equalitarian
developing countries are being
society be assured if we re
‘integrated’ into the world
deploy industry, re-allocate
market system. Do we women
resources or restructure the
seek a similar integration’? Do
World Bank? Would gender
we want technical solutions to what
justice reach the millions of
is surely a political problem? Shall
marginalized women if they
we learn the ‘female prone’
were integrated into this pro
skills of sewing, knitting, em
cess? Is the issue merely one of
broidery and participate in the
inequitable distribution or are
‘income generating- projects’?
we overlooking the fact that in
Shall we attend the women’s
equitable distribution is the
literacy classes of the develop
necessary concomitant of a
ment planners and learn to ac
particular form of social order
cept our prescribed role and
- the capitalist order?
’ talist market, stabilising the
militarized and other coercive
forms of State which assure the
growth and sustenance of the
present world order. The
transnational corporations and
today, the Free Trade Zones
provide the market economies
of the industrialized world with
strategic military bases and
geopolitical links; there is a fun
damental connection between
economic policy and the sociopolitical
setting.
The
phenomenon of the increasing
violation of human rights, the
birth and growth of the torture
state with its system of institu
tionalized brutality, is directly
linked to ‘the classical unres
trained free market policies that
have been enforced by the
military juntas’8. For the last
two decades, economic invest
ment through the multina
tionals have been encouraged
as the ‘model’ for development
moving the emphasis from im
port substitution manufactur
ing to a policy that is oriented
to the export market. The rul
ing powers in the Asian coun
tries invite the multi-nationals
tHQffering all kinds of incentives
^por their investments - from tax
free repatriation of profits to
the supply ofcheap labour,with
military, its weapons.
an assurance of industrial
peace free from labour unrest
Many of the multinational
and a stable political climate.
enterprises,particularly the tex
- The creation of the Free Trade Zones
tile factories, garment, leat
is used as a strategy for rapid in
her and electronic industries,
dustrialization and this process is
prefer to employ
women1 but now spreading to the
almost always accompanied by
on low wages, m lieu of which
villages too. The increase in the
massive aid and arms to the police
they get maternity leave and number of dowry deaths in the
and the militaryfor internal repres
benefits. The lower wages are
rural and unorganized sector,
sion. The arms trade serves the
justified as it ‘costs the cofh- besides social and cultural fac
multinational corporations with
pany for these benefits’. An
tors related to the status of
new points of entry into these
essential factor in the preferen women in India,must also be
economies, setting up co
tial employment of women is seen from the context of the
production projects for the
declining participation of
that they provide a large,
manufacture of arms, condi
women in the labour force and
relatively unorganized work
tioned not only by the re
force so essential for indus a subsequent decline in
quirements of the third world,
development’. Of course the
trial peace and the smooth women’s earnings; ‘dowry’
Fhe concept of development, as
status in society? Should we be
but by the demand of the ex
words keep changing; we now
then serves as the compensa
repatriation of profits.
we know it, has its historical
thankful to the technologists
porting countries; ‘the sale of
speak
of ‘self-reliance’, ‘basic
tion. Dowry deaths in India are
and ideological roots in a world
(the ‘appropriate’ ones, no
What is increasingly significant. a euphemism for cold-blooded,
. .pis to the third world has
needs approach’, ‘new interna
doubt)
for making our burden
view
that
was
imperialist
and
J^ecome a very important
is the manner in which gender calculated murder; death by
tional economic order’ etc., but
hegemonic. It announced that— easier and inventing the gobar
is used as an important cri burning leaves very few
- source of income for their
the methodology used still remains
what was relevant to the West
gas plants, the smokeless
terion for employment. The traces. Thousands of these
economies’8. The Free Trade
euro-centrist, technicist, developmenhad to be relevant to the rest of
chulas, the grinders? Or, is there
Zones or the Export Processing Zones ‘Masquiladoras’, the multi deaths go unrecorded and untalist, manipulated by the forces of
yet another way?
the world; f°r
that was
national branches in Mexico,
mushrooming all over Asia decidedly
traceable, or if reported, come
hire mostly women because
prefer women workers. In a public
under the heading of ‘suicide’
‘
they
are
more
reliable
than
statement,the Investment Pro
and not murder. The existing
men; they have fine fingers,
motion Division of the Greater
legislation in India on dowry
smaller muscles and unsurpass
Colombo Economic Commis
(the Dowry Prohibition Act,
ed manual dexterity. Also,
sion invited ‘expansion mind
1961) has many infirmities and
women do not tire of repeating
ed
manufacturers’
un
inherent weaknesses, making
the same operations nine hun
—--------------- -----envision
ways, create a new world
view
precedented incentives and op
both the giver and taker of
Can we —
find
new words,
models
dred times a day’10. Women
portunities for ‘profits that can
dowry guilty for conviction; the
that
,
would
, , enable
, , us to go
„ hevondism
theand
existing
the wom
orthodox
en’s movements
moaeis
not be found anywhere in the 'are considered to be best suited conviction rate is almost
and classical paradigms?
• iousness a thought it thought
to monitor unskilled work: an
world’. To ensure these objec
negligible with most being ac
ideology that asserts andjustifies that
have brought to human co
tives it promised a labour force
quitted; the others, if
anatomy
is
women
’
s
destiny.
In
her
of 600,000 educated, highly
registered, must await investi
unthinkable, making another consciousness afraid .
study on ‘Integrating Women
trainable,mostly english speak
gation for long periods before In this section of the presenta
into Multinational Develop
inhuman conditions of life, the
ing men and women (women
their societies, and yet,even to
the caSe comes to trial. Many
tion an attempt will be made to
ment’, Marilee Karl describes
most horrendous repression, day, the right to vote and par
are preferred) with the most
are untraced, never heard of;
focus on the area of discussion
how deeply social myths and
the
most
sexist
discrimination,
competitive labour rates in Asia
ticipation in political processes
the bride is quietly burnt to
related to women’s participa
sexist attitudes are perpetrated
of its own people- The abroga
(that is, the lowest wages).
is officially denied to women of
death; for the man, another tion in peace and international
in order to strengthen the ex
tion
of
these
rights
then,
Besides a host of cost saving in
eight
countries in the third
marriage is arranged, another cooperation - in nation states,
ploitation of women n.
become, in the name of law and
centives, a liberal import duty
world: Bahrain, Kuwait, Nige
dowry. Dowry, rape, sexual in political parties, in the new
order,
in
the
name
of
national
on machines and so on, it pro
ria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
harassment and exploitation,
movements for change in the
Yet, in other sectors of modem
security, the internal concern of
mised that the Sri Lankan Con
Arabia, United Arab Emirates,
the double burden of work in third world.
industry when newer technol
stitution would guarantee
these ‘sovereign states’. What
side and outside the house,tor
Yemen Arab Republic. Most
ogy necessitates a redeploy ture and abuse of women
‘the security of your invest
Nation States:
is referred to are Particularly
of these countries are Islamic
ment in the work force,‘the political prisoners, the effect of
the sovereign states in
ment’. It is not a coincidence
States where religious law is us
On the question of human
tendency is to keep women
world
which
are
increasingly
thenjthat shortly after,the Na
drugs exported by the multi
ed to legalize the keeping of women
rights and the rights of women
workers on older non-automoving towaids blatant
tional Security Act was pro
the United Nations addresses
in purdah, the imprisonment of
nationals on women’s health,
matic machinery, denying the atrocities on harijan
militarized regimes and other
mulgated by the Government
itself to the ‘sovereign states’, in
women in the home. Of course,
them training on new jobs women, black women.... the
coercive
forms
o
stat
e
//
ls
in
and later, a state of emergency
the world. These declarations
that women do have the right
which are assigned to men’12.
declared. A recent analysis of
list of crimes against women to which the nation states are this context that te’^ny conven to vote does not guarantee that
Pushpa Sunder goes on to il is interminable.
tions of the Unit^ ^ations
d
the arms import data into Sri
signatories,then confer the res
they will have the freedom to
lustrate that twenty years ago
to the rights of “"men must be
Lanka suggests that much of
ponsibility for upholding these
exercise it independently, and
women used to work in reeling, But it is not sufficient only to
assessed. It *s ar^Ued that
the weapons imported are us
rights on the individual nation
this
is related to the general
weaving and the waste sorting list these crimes; we have come
signing of ,h<j,?’reu®n's (twen
ed for internal repression.
state. In the name of human
status of women in the societies
ty one in all>
ted to the
sections uf textile mills in India. a little way, but there is still a
rights, nation states which are
of
the
third world. The Inter
The scenario today for the long and difficult way to go;
In most of the Free Trade
rights of w?
> >s a step
signatories to this declaration
national Convention on Civil
towards maku>8
more
women textile workers is to be and it may not be out of place
Zones, over 70% of the
may now legitimize the most
and Political Rights and the
‘visible’ in the P°htiCa| life- of
FEMINISM, A HOPE FOR THE FUTURE?
5
Contd. on page 16
SANGHARSH
myth of sovere.gnty. another
significant support of -h
system. It also fails to chaMenge
When I first began to ex
plore the connections bet
ween sexism and the war
system, raising the issue
with peace researchers, one
woman researcher suggested
that a more relevant inquiry
would be sexism m the
“peace system”, meaning
the peace research ‘ esta
blishment.” The statement
reflected the primary
perception feminists hold of
peace research, another
arena from which women
and women’s concerns are
virtually excluded. For their
partjpeace researchers tend
to sec neither the exclusion,
nor the relevance of the
issues. And so it is and has
been with politicians and
“statesmen
After the war, Women’s In
ternational League for
Peace and
Freedom
(WILPF),sent a proposal to
the Peace Conference in
Paris in 1919, suggesting
measures
aimed at
avoiding a new war. When
Emily Greens Balch, the
first Secretary General of
WILPF, received the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1946, the
Director of the Nobel In
stitute, Gunnar Jahn, said:
“I want to say so much that
it would have been extreme
ly wise if the proposal
WILPF made to the Con
ference in 1919,had been ac
cepted by the conference.
But few of the men listened
to what the women had to
say. The atmosphere was
too bitter and revengeful.
And on top of this there was
the fact that the proposal
was made by women. In
our patriarchal world sug
gestions which come from
women are seldom taken
seriously. Sometimes, it
would be wise of the men to
spare their condescending
smiles’’
The gap between women’s
movements and the peace
movement, certainly has its
counterpart in the academic
and research communities.
This is probably a far more
serious split,in that it separates
the derivation of the theories
and strategies which feminist
scholarship and peace research
apply to understanding and
resolving conflicts which have
their origins in the same fun
damental causes. Thereby,
each field remains inadequate
to the tasks of deriving truly
relevant knowledge and devis
ing effective policies. While
both have become more con
scious of the inadequacies of the
other, neither has acknowledg
ed that these might be significandy reduced by a convergence
of insights,gained from their
separate inquiries into their
common concern with over
coming exploitation and
violence. Feminist criticism of
peace research and world order
studies dwells more on the in
adequacies in perspective of
those fields due to exclusion.
The mainstream discourse
of peace research (as in
dicated by publications in
the journals),has been cha
racterised as divided into two
camps: the quantitative
behaviouralists, and the
critical peace research
group This division is
SANGHARSH
the nation-state itself and al
related international structures
as essentially patrtarchal.
A lack of structural analysis
cannot, however, be attributed
to Marxist Feminists,nor to
those Third World femm.sts
who would, m fac ,
designate themselves as
feminists , but sec women s
liberation as only one compo
nent of a wider global pohucal
SEXISM
and the
WAR
SYSTEM
shghtlymisleading;someoi
thc latter pIay wj[h
fT '
many of,h“
former are attempting to
andah y Y Same
and hopes discussed by the
boT Sharpcri,i<Juesfrom
both camps,point out the
necesstty to study violence
the direct, personal and
Y‘reC,7 doctoral levels,
although they cannot agree
what v‘0<ence is and how it
may be recognised and
measured.2.
What stands out in this debate,
is the lack of recognition that
vi° ence is differently expe
rienced and participated in, by
''“men and men. This lack is,
"ould argue, causally con
nected to the sterility and futility of debate.
Ft ace studies aim io bring ablUI Fe‘,Ce- As Juergen Dcdring
as pointed out, such was the
°pe of the “pacifists and acyysts who were the godfathers
S,c)
Peace research.'’ Re
search alone is useless; there
ni^st be the “opportunity to
,nlluence rnen (sic) and
events. ”3
This lack of influence is no'
surprising (considering peace
studies’ naivete about po"er.
Berenice Carroll >n 1
,■
published a superb critique ol
the inadequacy of the concepts
of power and dangers ol t e
“cult Of power” >n pea“
studies. Apparently n°‘’Ton
listening: these issues and con
cepts have not been taken UP‘
journals.* In accUsing P“
researchers of naivete abou
power, I mean powe
general, and men’s P°sl '° n
and.interests in the worW '
Pnrticular'.^^^^fW
send,, as weU as c[aSS lines,,
TT^re^rx^TXace
^entASuTyof^
?’ paper, Canadia" 1
Research and Educa«°n A
nation, 1982)
2rilSpart,a world <’rde;/odf
pea« research cr>l'qUeenunism Would ert>P"aSTen-
■y8tem» in plyr
Self Criticism :
Feminism’s Limited
Approach to War.
narrow frame of reference; par
ticularly its attribution of blame
solely to patriarchy in its tradi
tional form .without acknow
ledging its present manifesta
tions in militarism and neo
colonialism. One of the
strongest statements in the
report .while indicating a cer
tain degree of transcendence of
male dominated international
politics,also, I believe, reflects
this narrowness of focus.
My own critique of contem
porary feminism as a political
movement,as well as a field of
study also focuses primarily on
the lack of structural considera
tions.which in turn seem to im
pose some serious perspective
limitations on its approach to
war and the war system.
The primary limitation which
world order perspectives would
attribute to feminist perspec
tives, as they are applied to
social, economic and political
problems, especially problems
of violence, is lack of structural
analysis and an insufficient at
tention to the characteristics of
the overall system. As the pur
pose of world order is to
analyse systems in terms of
their capacities to achieve
values, without such systems
analysis,world order advocates
would purport that feminism
cannot produce a valid nor ade
quate diagnosis of the fun
damental problems.
One example of this limitation
For example, the Isreali
participants proposed that
“the dialogue between Arab
and Jewish women that has
begun at this Tribunal shall
continue within the frame
work of international
feminism. As women we
understand that our oppres
sion is by men and not by
opposing nationalities.
The Tribunal is the first
International forum in
which both Israeli and Arab
women have each publicly
condemned their own socie
ties for their, oppression
against women rather than
condemning one another..”
struggle, liberation not only
from domestic confinement In
the home and other forms of
purdah, but also and foremost,
from oppressive economic
structures of imperialism, par
ticularly capitalist impenahsm.
Some such women scholars
even reject the concept ol
patriarchy as a cause of sexist
oppression, attributing it more
to capitalist imperialism, ignor
ing the fact pointed out by
Christopher Lasch, among
others, that sexism has existed
in many forms throughout
human history and cannot be
attributed only to capitalism
(Lasch, p. 206). Even Nancy
Chadarow in an interview
about her research on gender,
admitted that although her
work was “an attempt to create
Marxist Feminist theory, we
need more than analysts ol
capitalism to understand male
domination”. It could be
argued that a macro-historical,
feminist approach .reveals that
Marxism too, derives from
patriarchy.
The apparent conflict between
the two feminist perspectives,
one emphasizing patriarchy,
the other, imperialism, serves as
an obstacle to women’s move
ments' becoming a truly effec
tive force in the global transfor
mation process. For it is the
universality of women’s op
pression and the cultural com
monality of feminine values
which are the real potential of
feminism as peace force and a
transformatory power.(Devaki
Jain, the Indian political scien
tist,has written very cogently on
the universal element as the
source of political power for
women.)
Another somewhat fragment
For it is the universality'of women’s oppression and the cultural
commonality of feminine values,which are the real potential of
feminism as a peace force and a transformatory power
was the International Tribunal
on Crimes against Women
which was held in Belgium in
1976. This tribunal has much
to recommend it as an event
contributing toward raising
public awareness about the op
pression of women, first in its
specifying and documenting
those forms of violence which
could be categorized as crimes
against women, and secondly
as “a major accomplishment in
breaking through nationalism:
women of the world uniting to
oppose partriarchy every
where.’’ The official report of
the Tribunal, however, makes
little or no recognition of either
militarization or the economic
control exercised by multina
tional corporations as a major
cause of women’s oppression,
and it makes no reference at all
to political or economic struc
tures. This document seems to me
to have been drafted in a very
I sincerely doubt that such a
statement would have been
made by most Arab women
who, the changes in world
power balance notwithstan
ding, still for the most part see .
themselves as oppressed more
by Western imperialism,than
by their own men. As women of
the Third World\they know that all
people tn their society, both men and
women, are oppressed. While
women in these societies are certain
ly more oppressed, their oppression
is part ofa total system which such
Western feminist analysis,has
not taken sufficiently into ac
count. Indeed, to assert “that
our oppression is by men and
not by opposing nationalities’,’
is not only to ignore the struc
tures which enforce sexist op
pression and contemporary
economic paternalism, but also
to attribute to nation-states,a
degree of autonomy they simp
ly do not have, reinforcing the
6
ing and limiting tendency of
some feminist work,is the cen
trality given to women’s con:
cerns, separating them from
other political and social pro
blems. Certainly, any feminist
analysis would require that
problems be viewed from a
woman’s perspective. Granted,
specific problem impacts on
women should be studied as a
fundamental aspect of the
diagnosis of any problem of
public policy, but a diagnosis
which is only concerned with
one interest group, even when
that particular interest group
constitutes half the human
species, the interests of other
groups may be done a disser
vice in the proposed prescrip
tions. Such exclusion has cer
tainly impacted negatively on
women, particularly in public
policy areas related to
economic and social questions
and especially in the field of
development. If the larger goal
is research and political action
for a more humane world socie
ty, then, clearly, the impact
upon and the values of as many
groups as are concerned with
an issue,neec^ to be taken into
account. Conflicts of interest
and values must at least be con
sidered, if not resolved. As is
demonstrated by the perceived
conflict of interests between
Euro-American feminists and
Marxist and Third World
women activists and academ
ics, unless some resolution can
be reached,these manifestations
of separate interests can be a
major obstacle to the achieve
ment of the preferred worlds of
all concerned. Certainly, they
will slow progress in transcen
ding the general system of
oppression.
Here, however, it must be
observed that such perception
of separate interest is at once a
commonly experienced stage in
the “conscientization” of most
oppressed groups and a nece
ssary, though not sufficient,
component of the analysis of
any case of oppression. The op
pressed must perceive fully and
clearly,how their own interests
are distinct from those of the
dominant group. They must
also comprehend the invariable
consequences of the continued
suppression and camouflaging
of the conflict between the op
pressor and the oppressed by
the accepted social norms and
the dominant political and
economic institutions.
The actual experience of
women in the peace move
ment, relegation to making the
coffee, “manning” the
mimeograph machine and pro
viding sexual solace for “the
activists,’’ along with the
failure of the peace movement
to see the relevance and rela
tionship of women’s oppression
to the war system,are two very'
sound reasons for separatism.
The Vietnam experience is a
case in point:
As a matter of historical <-■
record, by the time the Win
ter Soldier Investigation had
been convened, the feminist
movement and the anti-war
movement had gone their
separate and distinct ways,
each absorbed with its own
issues to the exclusion of the
other, with no small amount
of bitterness among move
ment troopers whose
energies, ideologies and
sense of priority, pulled them
in one direction or another.
As a woman totally commit
ted to the feminist cause,I
received several requests
during this time to march,
speak and “bring out my
sisters” to anti-war demons
trations *‘to show women’s
liberation solidarity with the
peace movement,’’ and my
response was, that if the
peace movement cared to
raise the issue of rape and
prostitution in Vietnam, I
would certainly join in. This
was met with strong silence
on the part of anti-war ac
tivists whose catch words of
the day were “anti-impe
rialism’’ and “American
aggression,” and from
whom the slogan - it ap
peared on buttons - “stop
the Rape of Vietnam’,’
meant defoliation of crops,
not the abuse of women.
Contd. on page 10
The relationship
of feminism
to peace
A great peace activist like
Mahatma Gandhi announced
publicly that only women were
able to save the world. He look
ed at women as the incarnation
of ahimsa. Women had a dif
ferent upbringing from men;
they were a more peaceful sex
and more capable than men of
solving conflicts in a non-vio
lent manner. He warned
women against imitating men,
becoming like men. He said:
She can run the race but she
wiD not rise to the heights she
is capable of by mimicking
man”. (Gandhi, 1940). This
sentence resembles a feminist
adage of recent origin: ‘‘The
woman who strives to be equal
to a man lacks ambition”.
Gandhi said that he had learnt
the techniques of non-violence
and civil disobedience from
women, mainly from the
British suffragettes. Gandhi
was convinced that women
should take the lead in the civil
disobedience or satyagraha
movement in India. He said:
‘‘I would love to find that my
future army contained a vast
•'■eponderance of women over
j?en. If the fight came, I should
then face it with greater con
fidence than if men predomi
nated. I would dread the lat
ter’s violence. Women would
be my guarantee against such
an out-break”. It is a fact that
more than 60% of the par
ticipants in the Salt March
“When the men kill, it is up to us,
the women, to fight for the right to
live. When the men are silent,it is
our duty as we are filled with suf
fering, to raise our voices in
protest . "
Even among peace researchers
we find that female peace
researchers have other priorities
for research than their male col
leagues. They find that it is too
much mindless weapon count
ing in peace research and too
little about the human and
social consequences of the arms
race.
ends you want to promote.
Does the end
justify the means
To most feminists there must
be a congruence between the
nature of the end and the
nature of the means to reach
that end. To us it seems logical
that if you want peace, you
The answer is rather simple :
those in power also have the power
to define the world. They have the
power to define concepts, to
allocate prestigious words to
their own thinking, and to
stamp the thinking of others
through words which have a
negative connotation. Those in
power also have the power to
define concepts like defence,
security and justice. They have
ment continue to .
,
»ce sexual
equality, and other “
>>
. , ‘ women s
15sues as periphery concernSj
somedungforacti
important things are donc But
those on the nght,whorclcnt.
lessly work for hierarchical
order,ngs, authoritarian con.
trols and increased armaments,
correct y perceive that sexual
mequahty «the cornerstone of
the system they seek to impose
■B -
-
- -
•
Women the oppressed sex
It ought to be an obvious fact
that if women are the ones who
have the greatest potential for
saving the world, women also
ought to be given the leading
positions in society. As we
know, this is not the case. On
the contrary, all over the world
women are second class citi
zens, oppressed and exploited.
Frequently quoted United Na
tions statistics state that women
are doing two-thirds of the
work in the world (paid and
unpaid), receive ten per cent of
the salaries and own one per
cent of the property.
Gandhi was of the opinion that
even in the context oi marriage,
through two World Mars
Britain's first Peace Camp was established outside Greonham Common air base, near Newbury, Berkshire, in September 1981 in protest
at the proposed siting there in 1983’ot 96 American 'cruise' missiles. Many other Peace Camps have since been set up
prepare for peace. It is no matter of chance that Bertha Von
the power to stamp their own
thinking as rational - a word of
It is totally absurd, and structurally impossible, to try to bring about
world peace within a system in which aggression and conquest are con
sidered synonymous with manliness or masculinity, and in which the
one half of humanity which is taught to nurture and care, is excluded
from social governance.
on us all, and therefore also
work relentlessly against sexual
equality. President Reagan
has found his ideologue (much
as Hitler did in Nietzsche) in
George Gilder, whose book
“Wealth and Poverty’’,
he gave to all his cabinet
appointees. Gilder claims that
discrimination, both racial and
|y from men - and they are tur
ning away from Reagan and
from the Republican party in
very large numbers.
Those on the right see the
women’s liberation movement
and feminist ideas as a
dangerous threat to the society
they want to create. And they
are right. Evidence strongly
suggests that'the more militarist a
society is, the more sexist it tends to
be. Gloria Stcinhem shows in a
series of articles how Hitler
crushed the German feminist
movement as he militarized
Germany.The Nazi movement
was an essentially male organi
zation. German women’s vir
tue, according to Hitlerrwas to
bear children. Preferably sons
who were to become soldiers
and propagate with the sword,
the ideology of Nazism around
the world. The nutshell version
of his ideology is found in the
slogan: ‘‘Kinder, Kuche, Kirchc” (Children, Kitchen,
Church).
The best available research
from archaeology, anthropol
ogy, sociology, education,
psychology,
linguistics,
economics, and other relevant
disciplines point at a strong cor
relation between male-dominance, a
generally hierarchic and authoritar
ian system and a high degree of in
stitutionalized social violence.
These findings also show that
the horror and absurdity of our
male-dominated, hierarchic
and warlike system is not, as
some religious dogmas have it,
divinely ordained. Nor is it, a>
some scientists would have it,
due to ‘‘man’s killer genes”. It
TAKE THE TOYS gUKOBI riHIE IBWtS
were women. And out of the
30,000 people arrested in con
nection with the March, 17,000
were women.
/Recent opinion polls in the
'western world tend to show that
women have a different attitude
than men to the military build
up, to the arms race and to the
question of which means to use
in order to reach the end: a
peaceful and disarmed world.
A recent Norwegian poll ask
ing for the opinion on whether
Norway ought to grant 49
Million Norwegian Kroner
(approximately seven and a
half million dollars) as Nor
way’s contribution to NATO’s
infrastructural preparation for
the stationing of the cruise
missiles in Europe,showed that
76% of the women answered
‘no’ to this quest ion,against on
ly 46% of the men. Only 15%
of the women answered ‘yes’,
against 42% of the men. In
earlier opinion polls concerning
military questions, you find
more abstentions among
women than among men.
Among more recent polls this
is not the case. The previous'
abstainers among women are
now voting ‘no’ to the con
tinued arms race.
We may quote great Feminist
peace heroes like Bertha Von
Suttner, Frederika Bremer,
Ellen Key, Clara Zetkin,who all
believed that women had a
special role to play in the crea
tion of peace. In her peace ap
peal in 1915 to women in all
countries, Clara Zetkin said:
women should guard against
serving as mere tools of enjoy
ment for their men. (Ryland,
1977). He urged women to
refuse to play along by dress
ing to please man, which could
only confirm their subordinate
status in the world. In an ad
dress to women in Ceylon,
Gandhi (1927) said: ‘‘What is
it that makes a woman deck
herself more than men? I am
told by feminine friends that
she does so for pleasing man.
If I was born as a woman,I
would rise in rebellion against
the pretension on the part of
man that woman is born to be
his plaything”. Gandhi’s vision
of the role of women in Indian
society, and his stand on
specific social reform issues,
were remarkably similar to that
of leading feminists in India in
the twenties and thirties of this
century, women leaders like
Sarala devi Choudharani and
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya.
In theory and public speech,
although much of a co-feminist,
in his own private life, in his
relationship to his wife, he was
very much of a male chauvinist
(Sharma, 1981). To most
feminists,a male who deserves
the term co-feministralso shows
a high degree of congruence
between his private and public
life. A co-feminist does not only
take feminist stands publicly,
but he also seeks to promote his
wife’s independent career and
shares household chores with
her. If you are working for an
egalitarian society, you also
have to arrange your household
in an egalitarian manner. The
means must be in harmony with the
Suttner fought for peace
through the writing of pacifist
novels and articles, through the
participation in peace con
ferences and peace campaigns,
while Alfred Nobel invented
the dynamite. He once wrote to
her that he was convinced that
he did more to prevent war by
his inventing the‘dynamite
than she did through all her
peace conferences and cam
paigns. He said that they were
both fighting for peace, just
through different means. ‘‘Our
goals are the same”. Alfred
Nobel also wrote to BerthaVon
Suttner : ‘‘When the day ar
rives that two armed nations
can destroy each other within
minutes, then all nations will
shrink back and will dismiss
their troops”. That day has ar
rived, but the troops have not
been dismissed. On the con
trary, the great over-kill capaci
ty of modern nation states has
not stopped the world in rearm
ing as never before in history.
Nobel’s tactics have not work
ed. To most feminists his think
ing seems naive, irrational and
illogical. We find that if the aim
is complete disarmament, one
must first stop further rearma
ment and start disarming. We
do not believe in preparing for
war if you want peace. We do
not believe that in order io
reach the goal of complete dis
armament, we must first con
tinue rearming. Rearmament
is not disarmament. How is it
possible that this highly illogical
and irrational thinking be
stamped as rational by those in
power?
honour in a world where emo
tions are looked down upon
and reason is highly valued even though, according to most
criteria, it is highly irrational.
The relationship
of sexism
to questions of
peace and war
In the patriarchal societies of our
time, men stamp their own
main-stream thinking as ra
tional and manly. ‘‘You think
and you act like a man”, to
them is a compliment, (to
feminists, it is not), while to
behave like a woman is no compliment in a patriarchal society.
Some peace-loving men have
trouble understanding that
the more women are oppressed
in a society, the easier their
own view-points will be dis
regarded if they can be labelled
feminine. Those on the liberal
left and center who speak of
freedom, equality and disarma-
sexual, is a myth and that
women get paid less than men
because they produce less. The
thesis by Gilder, which is ac
tively promoted by the Reagan
administration, is that women
destroy their husband’s pro
ductivity by working, men
work hard only if they have
women and children at home
who would starve without
them. To get women out of the
labour force wUl restore the
American family’s viability. By
re-criminalizing abortion
another goal of the Reagan ad
ministration - they evidently
hope to create another baby
boom. We might cite Hiller’s
ideologist Nietzche (1885) here
“Men should be trained for
war and women for the recrea
tion of the warrior’’. Gilder
claims that feminism is incom
patible with the objectives of
black males. It ls a consoling
fact that where polls according
to sex have been taken, it ap
pears that for th<‘ first time
since women have had the vote,
they are voting quite different-
is rather the result of a 5000
year long detour in human
cultural evolution.
Are we educating
girls for peace and
boys for war ?
The great tragedy of our time.
as I see it, is that peace educa
tion from infancy onwards is
mostly taught to the female sex.
the same sex that is also op
pressed in our society. Women
are taught to nurture and care,
'to take responsibility for the
welfare of others, to share
power, to solve conflicts
through non-violent means
;and to build up egalitarian
structures. Many studies show
that women have other values
and priorities. Our up-bringing
has had some effect. While we
are taught to care for others,our
brothers are taught to conquer
and kill, to be strong and play
down emotions. It is totally ab
surd and structurally impossi
ble to try to bring about world
peace within a system in which
aggression and conquest art
considered synonymous with
manliness or masculinity, and
in which the one half of
humanity which is taught to
nurture and care is excluded
from social governance. In
order to build a lasting world
peace we have to end the cur
rent sexually stereotyped
socialization. A socialization
where only women, the subor
dinate or ‘‘second ’ sex, are
Cunld- on |».nje I»
SANGHARSH
STRlJCTUHAI.
Vro/ttfCs,
agaiflst women fa India
Fifteen women died of burns in this city OVer a
periodWweenM.^^^^ y.ear -The Male
" *" b“' ,hr“
cases,nobody is iutciy *
*
„
, , burning
,
nrcvalent in Delhi.2
Bride
most pr
Bride burning i. not a new phenomenon in Delhi. j
1981, the Union Minister of State tor Home Affairs hao
stated in the Parliament,thatthe rcP®^d “Women bur
ning incidents” in Delhi stood at 394 in 1980.3
According to official figures,332 cases of “accidental
burning” were reported in 1982,as against 305 in 1981.
These figures show that nearly one woman is being in
cinerated everyday in the capital. But according to
various women* s organisations, an equal number of ac
cidental burning cases go unreported. Many times this is
on account of the refusal of the police to register the
cases.4
The dowry witch-hunt has
taken its heaviest toll in the
middle class urban areas, but
the burning of women for more
money and domestic goods in
the form of dowry, is quite
widespread in the slums and
rural areas.
Investigations have indicated
that while woman burning is
prevalent all over the country,
it is more acute in Delhi, Har
yana, Punjab, the Western Ut
tar Pradesh and the Saurashtra
region in Gujarat. In Uttar
Pradesh where I was engaged
in a study of the rural women’s
work participation and sex
roles, the maximum ‘dowry
deaths’ were reported from
Thakur and Brahmin caste
groups. Both Thakurs and
Brahmins are the high caste
Hindus and have a recorded
history of female infanticide.5
Over a decade and a half ago,
the Gujarat Suicide Enquiry
Committee’s report noted 90
percent of suicide cases to be of
womenj867 women committed
suicide due to “family ten
sions” (as against 302 men)
and “particularly in the cases
of poorer women, the causes of
the tension were often related
th dowry”.6
These are more than just crime
statistics. They are a manifesta
tion of political malaise in In
dia and malady in the organiza
tion of our socio-economic
system If we want t0 under.
stand the nature of structural
violence on women in India to
day, it is necessary to look at
women s subordination in the
structure of material produc
tion. The issue of peace and
women in a third world society
can be studied only in a his
torical context. I have been
struggling with the problem of a
historical perspective on the
subject and how the Indian
‘“dershtp of
Nationa]ist
tnovemem period tried to involve women in the freedom
SANGHAKSH
struggle and later in the
reconstruction of society. To
what extent has the family,
given its present nature in In
dia, been responsible for
creating and maintaining struc
tures and ideologies of subor
dination: structures that in
herently resist the participation
of women in decision-making
and ideologies created by a
sex/gender system to maintain
existing power relations and
forms of exploitation ?
What is significant to our
understanding, is chat violence
runs along lines of power in the
sex/gender system. The family
with its basic axis of the sexual
division of labour is the prin
cipal institution that underlies
the sex/gender system. The
violence of women burning in
the privacy of the home.has to
be examined with regard to its
systematic relevance. What I in
tend therefore, is to include
more than just a description of
the kinds of violence meted out
to women. We need to look at
the familial authority relations
according to which the dowry
violence is organized and of
property relations which this
authority structure realizes and
maintains. The subordination
of women in the internal life o
families, extends beyond
families of the specific type to
instill a general understanding
°f women’s domest‘c ro e'
Socio-economic arrangements ol
sex/gender based on disparity.
for example, lower wages lor
women, their under rePor“"J
*n the labour force, and tne
disadvantaged positt°n
^/omen in health and educa”on
have been justified
gumption that women s e"
P °yment and phXsicaLof
'ence is secondary “> ‘h‘ a
7en. There is, therefore
C os<, connection
ami'y and the organisat
of
subordination of women in the
policy making and organization
of the economy.
The Constitution of India dec
lared the equality of sex as a
guiding principle and thereby
acknowledged that a family
should be a basically equalitarian unit,founded on equal
rights and the willing choice by
both the individuals who form
a family. In practice, however,
the subordination of women to
men and junior to senior„pervades family life in all classes
and castes in India. The ideol
ogy of subordination is requir
ed by the material structure of
production. Women are subor
dinate to men (and thereby
dependent too) because men
may own land and hold tenan
cies .while women by and large
cannot. Customary practices
preclude women from inherit
ing land as daughters, except in
the absence of male heirs. This
is wrongly justified that women
receive their share of patrimony
at the time of marriage in the
form of dowry.
The Hindu Succession Act
which has put the daughters on
an equal footing with the sons
in regard to the succession to
the parental property, and the
Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961,
are not a dead letter by any
means,but they can be appeal
ed to in certain circumstances
-in cases of disputes among fam
ilies or where the land ceiling
legal provision makes it expe
dient for larger land holdings to
be divided ‘on paper’ among
male and female heirs. In most
of the cases, daughters waive
their land rights in favour of
their brothers. Otherwise,
they would be denounced as
‘selfish’ sisters and would risk
alienation or severance of the
tics with the natal families
Women’s effective exclusion
from the possession and control
of land, is largely the basis of
their subordination and
dependence on men in the rural
India.
Women marry over long dis
tances and move out of their
parental homes to the house
holds of their husbands. Young
women are advised that once
married they should leave the
husbands’house only after
death and bear all pain and
humiliation. In order to adjust
in the new family, a daughterin-law has to be on her best
behaviour, submissive and obe
dient to her in-laws and
demonstrating ‘selflessness’
about her possessions. Her hus
band’s family receives cash,
jewellery, and domestic goods
usually made or bought special
ly for the purpose of dowry. It
is incorrect to regard dowry as
a kind of premortum inheri
tance of the daughter who has
to leave her natal family to join
another family, but who has
some rights over the former.8
There are two important points
in this regard; first the dowry
to value their role as the prin
cipal one in the national eco
nomy and ‘bread winners’ and
supporters of the family, while
women are excessively under
valued for their dependence,
ignorance of the outside world
and preoccupation with child
ren and household chores.
tests setting up women’s
centres where women in dist
ress could get in touch and
get support and legal aid.
Feminist magazines and net
work bulletins liave reported on
both the problems of women
and their attempts at resis
tance.
It is important to point out that
it would be wrong to assume
that women in India are
passively groaning under an
ever increasing opppression
within and outside the family.
Women have organized to pro
test the rape, sexual harass
ment and the burnings or kill
ings of women. Demonstra
tions and meetings are organiz
ed throughout the country to
protest against direct and struc
tural violence on women. For
the past few years in Delhi and
other major cities in the co urn
try, women’s organizations
have organized sporadic
demonstrations against the
husbands, in-laws, lawyers and
police officers involved in the
cases of women burning or kill
ing by other means. In early
August 1982, thirty women’s
groups in Delhi jointly organiz
ed a protest march against dow
ry and ’hey were spontaneously
joined by several hundred
women and by-standers.
Some feminist academics have
questioned the limitations of
social sciences in the study of
demographic patterns and the
female roles in economic pro
duction in their own society. A
landmark was the report
“Towards Equality” pointingout
the national neglect of women
and development programmes
for women , in the fields of
employment, health and
education.11 Feminist resear
chers have been involved in
studies of women’s roles in the
protest movements and their
participation
in nation
building. These studies have
further pointed out the existing
inequalities in the socio
economic, political system, and
how women’s studies offer a
new perspective which enables
researchers and students to
make an attempt to build an
egalitarian social structure,
within the family and
community.
These demonstrations on me
one hand have acted as checks
on the husbands and in-laws by
exposing the real nature of
violence or crime (often pro
tracted harassment and batter
ing of the woman followed by
killing and/or burning her) and
thereby disallowing an easy exit
through a facade of suicide or
accidental death. On the other
hand, they have pressed for ef
fective implementation of laws,
tightening of the loopholes in
the legal procedures and giving
due consideration for women’s
unspoken experiences of
harassment, torture and
molestation, through proposals
for reorganisation ofarrangement for police enquiries.
Women’s organised efforts
could no longer be ignored and
the Government responded by
setting up an anti-dowry cell in
Delhi, with a woman with the
rank of Deputy Commissioner
of Police, incharge. It is
obligatory fo- the cell to in
vestigate cases of dowry harass
ment and any unnatural death of
a woman within the first six ye
ars of her mariage. Strangely
enough, the woman cop incharge
Unless there is a significant change in the
hierarchical and authoritarian structure of
family to effect women’s socio-economic
equality through their inclusion in the
possession and control of land and other pro
perty, the extent of women’s independence
and freedom from structural violence would
be limited.
is transferred directly to the
bride.9 The parents-in-law
have full control over the
distribution of dowry. Second,
land is never gifted as dowry,
as far as I know. In the final
analysis, the woman is proper
tyless for she is unable to
generate any wealth from her
so called property, as a son
would be able to do at a man’s
death. I would argue that the
dowry witch-hunt in India
stems from women’s subor
dination in the structure of
material production, the
organisation of mariage and
family and the sexual division
of labour; these create gender
specific personalities : men tend
in a recent interview with a
journalist,said:
“It is very difficult to decide
whether a burn case is suicide
or murder. In both cases the
victim is doused from head to
toe in kerosene and severely
burnt. We feel that 80 percent
of cases
brought to
our
notice are suicides. The
husbands and in-laws are cer
tainly culpable because it is
their harassment which drives
the person to this act.”
Notwithstanding, conscious
women activists have made
skits, plays, and moyics on the
oppression and exploitation of
women and have launched pno-
The women’s protest through
their studies and demonstra
tions has made this violent
crime of women burning,visi
ble as a serious social problem.
It has opened a whole new vista
by calling attention to the op
pression, conflict and violence
hidden behind the portrait of
love, support and nurturance
in the family. This has led to
a critical perspective on
prevalent ways of thinking
about the family. Nevertheless
it would be too simplistic to say
that we are on the brink of a
profound change in the social
structure in the direction of
equality and justice.
Besides, there is, however,an
absence of satisfactory theoriz- J
ing in the women’s movement 1
in India. No serious attempthas
been made to examine the
material origins and perpetua
tion of male supremacy. The
family in India has been ex
plained in purely functionalist
terms of the distinctive cultural
features of the sub-continent.
Social scientists have been
engaged in debates on: (i)
Whether the nuclearisation of
the joint-family structure is tak
ing place in India; (ii) Or
whether the nuclearisation of
the joint-family structure is not
taking place.12 A few’ of them
concentrated on studies to
know the extent of nuclearity or
jointness in urban and rural
families. They did not question
the complex power relations
between gender and generation
that underlie the family, the
ideology and structure of
dependence and sexual division
of labour that stengthen the
patterns of inequality and the
oppression of women and
children.
In recent years, however, the fam
ily has emerged as a political issue
m India. The Government has
formulated policies to further
strengthen the family, while the
women’s movement raised
questions about family boun
daries. A policy debate was iniContd. on page 9
extent of women’s independ-
and equal rights to control the
means of production. How
ever, while a number of legis
lative measures were adopted
to guarantee legal equality to
women to learn their new roles,
the process of revolutionary
transformation in the social
position of women came to an
end,by being submitted to an
anti-participatory, elitist
bureaucratic structure of exclu
sion and manipulation. The
women’s movement succumb
ed to anti-participatory tenden
cies of economic growth and
modernization , in nation
building efforts.*
STRUCTURAL
VrOZ$.T<iC$>
against women in India
Contd. from page 8
tiatedI in late 1980 while discuss■ng the Sixth Five Year Plan
framework,wherein the plan
ners maintained that the un
mistakable way to improve
women’s position is to improve
the condition of the family The
women’s organizations pointed
out that the proposed planning
With It’s women in the family
approach, would not lead to
greater equality in society,but
to an increased polarisation
between the sexes. As a result
of pressure from women ac
tivists and scholars, a conces
sion was made by incorporat
ing a chapter on “Women and
Development” in the Sixth
Five Year Plan. The chapter
admits that women are “the
most vulnerable members of
the family and will continue
to be so “for some time in
future. ’ It further promises to
give “special attention” to the
interests of the ‘vulnerable
members’. Nevertheless, the
Sixth Five Year Plan insists
that “the family is the unit for
programmes for poverty eradi
cation.” The above account
evidently spells out the interests
of a welfare state in the family
and in maintaining its power
relations.
The problem of the repression
of women in the family was
acknowledged, but the family
as the basic unit of economic
development was maintained,
thereby preventing a construc
tive analysis.13 Nonetheless, it
is easy to manipulate agitations
and movements on the issue of
family. The family plays in
many ways,a repressive role on
behalf of the State, and parti
cularly so in a class-caste
stratified, patriarchal society;
and yet at the same time, for
most women and men,it is the
only place where they have op
portunity for sexual and paren
tal relationships, affection, care
and emotional support.
Historically speaking, during
the nationalist period under the
leadership of Gandhi, there
emerged a distinct approach to
the role of women in society.
The leadership realized that
women were “condemned to
domestic slavery” and there
fore sought to liberalize the
family to expand women’s acti
vities in the public sphere
within politically acceptable
limits.14 Women were urged
to give up the purdah and to
liberate themselves from their
family-centred roles and to par
ticipate in the struggle for
freedom of the country. Gan
dhi viewed women’s oppression
as historic and nearly univer
sal. He lamented their non
participation in social, political
affairs, women’s sexual subjec
tion to their role as “man’s
plaything,” women’s lack of
autonomy in the use of their
bodies and their backward
consciousness which made
them accept their low social
position.15
Women had developed, how
ever, courage, endurance and
‘moral strength’ to deal with
these oppressions. In Gandhi’s
view, these qualities made
women the ‘natural leaders’ of
a non-violent struggle against
the unjust socio-political
system. He wanted to ‘feminize
politics’ because women had
the potential to give a blow to
the established socio-political
power structure and could be
vanguards of a non-violent
struggle for a just and nonexploitative socio-political
order.16'
This seemed a radical stance
but the kernel of women’s op
pression,the sexual division of
labour and thereby her subor
dination in the structure of
material production-were
neither fundamentally ques
tioned , nor altered. The
“natural division of spheres of
work” between men and
women watf maintained,for a
woman has the duties of
motherhood and housekeeping.
“She is essentially mistress of
the house. He is the bread
winner, she is the keeper and
distributor of the bread”.17
Gandhi observed in Sevagram
that peasant “men and women
work on the fields, the heaviest
work being done by the males.
The wolnen keep and manage
the homes. They supplement
the meagre resources of the
family, but man remains the
bread-winner.”18
The glorification of women’s
role as guardians of Hindu
morality and spirituality and
their self-sacrifice and en
durance are central to the con
cept of non-violence advocated
by Gandhi, while he has fre
quently referred to women in
their domestic roles. One must
admit though,that there simp
ly has not been enough resear
ch to do justice to Gandhi’s
views on women’s historic role.
Gandhi was against the ex
cessive subordination of
women io the men but not to
the fact of women generally
playing a socially subordinate
role. This contradiction is
related to the entire Gandhian
worldview and idealism of
“mutual cooperation and pro
found outlook for the develop
ment of all”, including the
powerful class of the rich and
landlords and the social struc
ture of the hierarchical, patriar
chal family.
In the thirties and forties
there was an uneasy alliance
between feminism and nation
alism.19 While women’s
organisations accepted a subor
dinate and complementary role
in politics,they repeatedly came
in conflict with the Congress
when it threatened women’s
issues and alienated women
members. At the initial exclu
sion of women from the Dandi
March in 1930, the Women’s
The urban-ccntred develop
ment strategy in India, ag
gravated urban-rural differ
ences, while making only a
slight change in the role of mid
dle class women. Women’s
household role was reinforced
by the confluence of a family
policy and development
strategy that largely precluded
mobilization of rural women
through .non-availability of
education and lack of skill ac
quisition. Women, like the
lower castes, in India’s strati
fied society were treated as recepients not as _ participants, of
development plans and programmes.
There was hardly any govern
ment policy or programme car
ried out to organize rural
women (who constitute 81 per
cent of the female labour force)
and to make them conscious of
the benefits intended for them.
those jobs which pay less and
fequtre |e„ skill_ forcing
women to take up jobs which
come to be regardcd as purely
female task,. As a conse
quence, the invisibility °I"
women as producers of
economy is enhanced and they
increasingly losc ground in the
tra itional economic and
decision-making roles. There
was no attempt to redefine the
ro es of women; perhaps most
important, the division of
labour within the family retain
ed all its force.
However, technological rela
tionships and development
planning are by no means the
only impediments confronting
women in India. Unless there
is. significant change in the
hierarchical and authoritarian
structure of,family to effect
women’s socio-economic equal
ity through their inclusion in
the possession and,control of
land and other property, the
The problem oi
Xce is to be seen as the pro
blem of the process of mobihs
ing and empowering women to
overcome their inability of the
past and to acquire ability to
redefine their roles in he
sex/gender system and in the
organisation of the economy.
With regard to the specific pro
grammes for women’s develop
ment, the task of planning and
policy-making is to be seen as
the reorganising and transfor
ming of relationships within the
organisation of marriage and
family and to effect equality to
the powerless, dependent and
dispossessed masses of women,
in the structure of material pro
duction and the distribution of
property rights.
Govind Kelkar
Centre for Women’s Development
Studies , New Delhi
------------------------------- - Foot Notes -------------- ——- ------------
General of Police N WP and Oudh, from
1544/VIII 661 A-4 of 1892, Slate Ar-
7 AR.Desai, Urban Family and Family
Planning in India, Bombay Popular
Prakashan 1980, Chapter 1 and II
It is evident from the study of
documents available on the
Etawah Pilot Development
Project,that planners and policy
makers showed resistance to
women’s interests initially.21
Later .when they introduced the
women’s component in the
rural development programme,
it was designed after the
American Home Science Ex
tension programme.22 The in
tegration of women into rural
development through Mahila
Mandals (Rural Women’s
Organisations), most of them
were paper organizations, was
a scheme with a middle class
bias using American text books
and equipment, for demons
trating home science techni
ques. Rural women were given
training in crafts, sewing,
kitchen-gardenmg, jam and jel
ly making. Its objective as
stated by the Director of
Women’s Programmes, was to
help the rural women become
“a good wife, a wise mother,
a competent housewife and a
responsible member of the
village community.’23 Pro
tagonists totally disregarded
women’s work in the rural
economy, specifically their con
tribution to agriculture and
side-line production eg. cattle
rearing, fishing, weaving etc.
Most of these wife-mother im
provement programmes have
proved a failure,because they
are irrelevant to the needs of
women in subsistence agricul
ture and are unable to augment
women’s income in any way.
Indian Association protested
against the Congress leader
ship: “Thisdivision of sexes in
a non-violent campaign seems
to us unnatural and against all
the awakened consciousness of
modern women.” The Associa
tion demanded, that “no
demonstration organised for
the welfare of India should pro
hibit women from a share in
them”20
The Women’s
Organisations thus admonish
ed the Congress Party leader
ship and showed that political
participation has a restricted
meaning in a stratified, patriar
chal society where women
merely endorse the decisions
made for them and do not
determine their own actions,
roles, institutions and socio
economic environment.
In the following years, the three
basic components of the stra
tegy of planning in India i.e.
land reforms, co-operative far
ming and community develop
ment, in the fifties and sixties
were ridden with class, caste
and gender relations. Women’s
equality and development
formed a feature of constitu
tional guarantees in post
independent India. Women
were brought into development
planning, the legal barriers to
the advancement of women
were removed, and individual
women could rise to new posi
tions. Women were formally
given equal salaries for equal
jobs, equal rights to property
In India, the state serves the in
terests of the ruling class and
gender. Work opportunities
and participation of women has
been declining over the las!
several decades. The Green
Revolution technology on the
one hand denies women
emp oyment opportunities
otherwise available to them, on
the other hand stereotypes all
9
SANGHAJRSH
SEXISM
and the
WAR SYSTEM
Contd. from page 6
Communications between
feminist groups and antiwar
groups were tense as they
sought to raise our con
sciousness and we sought to
raise our own. I am sorry
that the peace movement
did not consider the abuse
of women in Vietnam an
issue important and distinct
enough to stand on its own
merits, and I am sorry that
we in the women’s move
ment, struggling to find our
independent voices, could
not call attention to this
women’s side of the war by
ourselves. The time was not
right (Susan Brownmiller,
in “Against Our Will).
There is little wonder that
Brownmiller did not devote
more time to the systemic and
structural relationships bet
ween rape and the war system.
(Her chapter on war deals with
it as circumstances rather than
system.) But one is given to
pause by the lack of such con
nections in the fields of peace
research and world order stud
ies so preoccupied with struc
tural analysis and systems ap
proaches. The critique of this
separatism levelled at feminism
by both,the peace researchers/
world order scholars camp and
peace movement activists
might well be tempered by a
sensitivity to this process and to
the subjective experience of op
pression. There is no better
way to fixate a stage of develop
ment than to respond to it as
a permanent characteristic.
Neither is there a more effec
tive way to reinforce separatism
*an to ac“P' the analysis of
distinct interests as sufficient
a nd to use it as the basis of ex
clusion from consideration in
he overall systemic analysis of
the problems at issue. In fact
“ "as, this acceptance of
women s .ssues as separate
which frequently
their inclusion in research and
policy making.
JhrS interP,ay between
hmned feminist analysis and
the exclusion of even
limited analysis from mos
research and policy discuss^,
that perpetuates the
masculine exclusion ofX
fenH,nU,e,?Om P-ee research
h"drWOr d.°rdcr indies, as it
has from the traditional social
sciences and virtually all in
stitunons of authority *d’
legitimation. Thisevri
and
-'-n.eadsTolXnm 'n
negative trend anion? Z'
“feminists” wj.n ■ ® onie
feminism as seeking "muX?
vantage
” for women
equal
advantage
placesVe'"g
Phasis on “advantage” a J
essence buys into the ’ d
the ‘advantaged" an,i ,°f
‘disadvantaged.” Policies a„d
strategies tend to concentrate
category.
SANGHARSH
'ormer
Such policies and strategics en
courage women to scck “suc
cess” within the dominant
structures characterized by
masculine values and beha
viours. Thus, many “feminists even in the academic,
research and social change
fields have accommodated to
the dominant masculine value
structure. Indeed, business and
professional women are en
couraged to do so by some
women’s magazines and spe
cial training workshops which
teach them how to “dress for
success” and how to behave
“more professionally.” Most
do so than men. Women tend
to identify with others as per
sons, not abstract groups or
classes , and with particular
human experiences such as
bereavement, joy, mother
hood, illness, etc. One sus
pects, for example, that it was
this personal “human” view
which led the white women of
the southern United States to
accept even before the “liberal"
men, in fact, to encourage and
co-op.erate with, the Civil
Rights movement. It is most
probably, too, what motivates
so many women now into ac
tive mobilizing roles in the
movement for peace and dis
armament. It certainly ac
counts for a very particular dif
ference between feminist and
world order scholarship.
Perspectives
as women
Only twenty of the 41 answered
the question whether women
approached disarmament in
distinctive ways. Several were
dearly irritated by the question,
and all, no matter how they
answered the question, felt they
had earned the right to be
thought of as scholars, not
women who were scholars.
Nine gave an unequivocal
“no” to the question; of these,
two said education erases
gender differences. Several
mentioned hardliner women
colleagues and pointed out this
was the way to succeed in the
field. On the other hand, six
thought there were differences,
and five thought there might be
differences, for a total of 11,
thus dividing the respondents
fairly evenly into pros and cons.
The “maybe’s” noted that
women arc outsiders in the
arms control field, have a
marginal status, tend to get less
absorbed in the excitement of
the power game, and on the
whole, appear more objective.
In meetings and conferences
their interventions are said to be
more to the point, less em
broidered with rhetoric. Those
who had a clear feminist
perspective saw women as hav
ing developed different skills
and different sensitivities
because of their social roles as
women, and therefore more
likely to “humanize” the data
they worked with, attempting
more interpretation, trying for
more reality testing They felt
that women were more inclin
ed to see the interconnections
between
militarization,
violence, and other features of
social institutions. They would
be more aware of the “ridicul
ousness of the intense pre
occupation with military
superiority” as one puts it (Elise
Peace Research :
Another Scientific
Male Preserve
While feminism may be lack
ing in structural analysis, peace
research has suffered several
analytic shortcomings. Both
peace research and world order
The slogan
“Stop the Rape of Vietnam”
meant defoliation of crops,
not the abuse of women.
such instruction is based on a
not too subtle process of
masculinization from wearing
“business suits’’ to “complete
ly objective decision-making.”
These behaviours call forth
understandable criticism from
many feminists as reinforcing
of “the present system” which
peace research and world order
studies assume to be in need of
“total transformation”. Unfor
tunately for both causes, femin
ism and transformation, those
few women who have gained
real power status in board
rooms, in the professions, and
at the highest levels of state,are
for the most part,examples of
such masculinization, and,
therefore, serve as oft quoted
evidence that “women in
power would be no different.
The presence of this “success
syndrome” in the Euro-Ameri
can women’s movement is a
significant impediment to the
realization of the transforma
tional potential of feminism; for
it's but another manifestation
of 'he feminine “personal
v'ew.” It may be harder for
women to perceive themselves
as members of a class or as
representatives of an abstract
group because they are socializcd ,o see things in P<"-sonal
terms and view people as pC"
sons rather than as co”'Ponc”’’
of abstract categories- *' m
als°
recognized ■>- £
most involved m th
saccess syndrome come from
lhccu|ture;and class wh'ch had
most isolated women fro”1 eacn
o,her as has happened «Pe7al’
'y in middleXs
“mmunities a„d i”
c'"es around the world?roup identity „f such wo'n(‘h(.
's as hkely l0 wilh fl”” X
successful men in •."X'
t'cular socio-economic c ‘ h
Gretas with wome” oafv°3
*rouPs Thisis not msaK.y
w°men don’t identify
w»th others r
theX 3
studies have also been sorely
lacking in the personal, the par
ticularly human dimension of
analysis and prescription. In no
area is this more evident than
in the minimal consideration
they have given to women’s
issues and women’s move
ments and the failure there
fore to include sexism as a pro
blem for research and analysis.
A more obvious, if not more
serious, exclusion is that of
much of the relevant work
women have done in peace
research and the participation
of women themselves. Resear
chers like other professionals
are always hard put to think of
more than one or two “quali
fied” women to participate in
or contribute to any scholarly
endeavour. Qualified, of
course, means conforming to
masculine standards of profes
sional competence; mostly,
having passed in a manner pre
viously alluded to,the appro
priate masculine success tests.
So it is that few women, and
fewer feminists have been read
or heard,much less “attended”
to, in research and policy
discourse. In the arms and
militarization field this is
especially lamentable. For no
where arc fresh views and new
voices more urgently needed.
As described elsewhere and
referred io earlier, several
women have organised and
contributed to activism of
European Women for Peace,
The Mobilization for Survival
and the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament and have de
monstrated both the vision and
the power required for a peace
force.
Boulding, pre-publication draft,
“Perspectives of Women Re
searchers on Disarmament, Na
tional Security and World
Order”).
Some of the real dangers of the
exclusion of women’s and
especially feminist perspectives
from peace research and educa
tion were highlighted in a
testimony on proposals for the
National Peace Academy :
It appears, however, that rAost
of the Commission, Staff and
Supporters arc nearly strangers
to most of the perspectives and
insights that guide and inspire
others and me in addressing
and organizing for many in
tegral dynamics of genuine
peace and conflict resolution.
Those
guiding
insights
are
especially
feminist
in philosophies, ethics and
potential. No euphemisms for
feminism will do; to avoid
and/or devalue or marginalize
the concepts, values and
language of feminism would
mean to be deprived of the in
sights, benefits and processes o.
this transformative and pro
found movement. Clearly,
feminism is radical . which
literally means acknowledging
and addressing problem
solving, in these instances,
creating peace and conflict
resolution. It is a basic premise
of this testimony that sexism in
its multiple personal and insti
tutionalized forms throughout
many societies is a (not the on
ly) very root cause of violence
of all kinds (Wilma Scott Heide,
Testimony for the Record and
Inclusion in the Final Commis
sion Report to the President
and Congress from the U.S.
Commission on Proposals for
the National Academy of Peace
and Conflict Resolution).
This was a classic example of
10
the invisibility of women to the
analysts and planners. Althoueh the Women s Decade
made the “invisibility” pro
blem more evident in the field
of development planning, it
seems not to have enlightened
most areas of research and
scholarship which deal w.th
politics. Most especially those
areas which deal with military
and security issues have been
almost as impervious tn the
"invisibility and consequent
exclusion syndrome” as the
established order has been con
sciously determined to keep
women’s concerns totally
separate from hard security
issues. It has also been reported
that when Scandinavian wo
men presented disarmament
petitions with thousands of
signatures to U.N. officials at
the Copenhagen conference tn
1980, the response was more or
less, “Congratulations and
thank you very much, ladies.
Now let’s gel back to the real
business of the conference.
World Order
Enquiry :
Whose
Preferred World p
There are some very colorful
examples of the habit of mind
which underlies the invisibility
exclusion syndrome, like one
peace researcher’s insistence
that concern with women s op
pression was distracting atten
tion from the more substantive
and pressing problems of
peace; and another asserting
that it was not a problem wor
thy of consideration because his
wife was not oppressed. While
these examples may seem
frivolous, they reflect a condi
tion for which there is ample
relevant evidence of the
absence of women’s issues and,
indeed, the limited representa
tion of women authors in peace
and world order. If, as the male
scholars assert, the data has
been derived and published as
a scholarly contribution toward
the planning and pursuit of a
preferred world, where and
how are women’s preferences
taken into account? This ques
tion which has been continually
raised since at least 1975 has
yet to receive a serious hearing.
While world order inquiry has
confronted the disparity in the
perspectives, value priorities
and political preferences bet
ween the First and Third Wor
lds, and at least taken into
account the conflicting interests
of East and West, the conflict
of interest between men and
women resulting from women’s
oppression has been ignored.
In his otherwise excellent essay
on authoritarian tendencies,
Richard Falk (A World Order
Perspective on Authoritarian
Tendencies, 1980) makes no
reference to the regression in
the status of women which in
evitably accompanies the rise of
authoritarianism. In his more
recent essay on demilitarization
(Normative Initiatives and De
militarization : A Third System
Approach, 1981),the omission
of these factors in light of the
more widespread articulation of
the significant link between sex
ism and militarism is truly un
fortunate. His very construc
tive suggestions on initiatives
would have benefittecl greatly
from the universal and pro
foundly transformatory aspect
that would have been con
tributed by relating the necessi
ty to transcend sexism in any
authentic process of demilitari
zation. It would have been sig
nificant if he had traced the
relation of every person on
earth to the demilitarization
process and focussed on an
issue which is manifest in al)
three “systems” he discusses,
the nation state, the United
Nations and the global change
movement, and on all “scales”
from global to individual. It is
in fact only issues of such
truly comprehensive nature,
which can serve as the real
foundation of a global transfor
mation movement.
World Order, even more than
other approaches to peace
research, tends to focus on
issues which require a global
analysis. For this, among other
reasons, it might be expected
that world order would, of its
own nature, include feminist
perspectives and demonstrate
concern for sexism. The in
visibility of the problem is a
serious blind spot blotting out
the most universal aspect of a
system in need of transforma
tion.
Another otherwise excellent
working paper is also a cogent
example of the tendency
toward blindness to certain
universals and exclusion by
omission which frustrates this
expectation and, paradoxically,
at the same time, offers a very
promising paradigm for femin
ist global analysis. Gernot
Kohler’s analysis of the entire
international order as a system
of apartheid (Global Apar
theid ),dividing the world into
advantaged and disadvantaged
is applicable, as well, to the sex
ist values and structures which
impose sex role separation. The
same analysis could be made of
the sex role separation system
as that applied to the global
apartheid system in the
economic, social and political
spheres. A similar paradigm, of
course, explicates most systems
of oppression, all forms of
racism, colonialism and various
manifestations of economic op
pression. The fundamental
paradigm which encompasses
the common characteristics of
oppression as they are manifest
in all these phenomena has,
however, not been applied by
world order research to the pro
blem of sexism. Even Kohler,in
this most comprehensive
analysis,does not acknowledge
the analogy to sexism. What
makes this especially lamen
table is that sexism offers the
possibility ol analyzing not only
the structural aspects of the
social, economic, and political
characteristics of oppression,but
like racism, it also provides the
basis for cultural and psycho
social analysis as well. In
addition to all this, it offers the
aforementioned element of uni
versality which would make the
analysis relevant to virtually
everyone on earth. Yet sexism is
not selectedfor the condemnation that
racial and economic apartheid is,
Cnntd. on page 14
The Status of Women in Independent India
A systematic examinatiian of the impact of personal laws prevailing in the country, as they affeet the trend of nationsil development and particularly as they affect th<: contributions of women
as active participants in the development of the
society, according to m e; is an area of research
which deserve a great piriority, in order to grasp
the position, status and contributions of women
in the country.
During the last decade, parti
cularly after the declaration of
International Year of the
Woman,1975 and subsequent
ly a decade by U.N.O., a series
of studies embodying valuable,
interesting and thoughtful
material on different aspects of
women’s life are being carried
on.
In fact,a few research organisa
tions and research units have
emerged, which are undertak
ing fruitful studies to examine
and unravel the transformation
that is taking place in the posi
tion of women, particularly
during the last 33 years. Ex
lamination and research on the
impact of the plans, of
economic opportunities, of
political measures, socio
cultural as well as welfare
measures adopted by the
Government of India, and the
role of voluntary organizations,
have developed at an exponen
tial rate. Studies on the impact
of education, of the mass media
like the press, radio, T.V.,
cinema, of literature and folk
culture, in projecting and shap
ing the life of women,are also
being organised. Similarly, a
growing body of empirical sur
veys, depicting the life and
situation of women working in
various occupations have also
been undertaken.
■ The monumental report of the
Committee on the Status of
Women in India, entitled
“Towards Equality” provides
a comprehensive, panoramic
picture oi the changing status oi
Indian women . The Report
suggests areas which are still
relatively unexplored, but
which fundamentally shape the
overall position of women in
India.
The Report rightly points out
that "Modes of descent, types
of family organizations, and the
nature of the institution of mar
riage, provide the major con
tours of the socio-cultural set
ting in which women are born,
brought up, and live their lives.
These features of social organi
zation are related to the eco
nomy in such a way,that while
their roots often appear to lie
in the economic system, even
large-scale changes in the lat
ter are not able to carry along
with them parallel changes in
these areas. The lag between the
two is a matter -of serious concern.
These institutions in the Indian
society have implications for
the status of women”.
The Report has also indicated
the aspects involved in examin
ing the impact of the modes of
descent, types of family organi
zation and the nature of the in
stitution of marriage in shaping
the status of women. For ins
tance, whether the descent is,
been examined with all its
ramifications as it should be.
The Constitution, through its
preamble . has announced
equality of men and women, as
a basic norm of the evolving
society. However, due to the
operation of the pull of a
number of historico-sociocultural, economic and
traditional normative forces,
the State has permitted a
number of personal laws with
diverse and even contradictory
rules regarding family, mar
riage, property, descent, in
heritance, succession and adop
tion. The personal laws vary
with regard to norms viewing
males and females.with regard
to their position, roles and
functions. All these diverse per
sonal laws affect the status and
opportunities of woman in a far
more fundamental sense than
of men.
During my study on “Urban
Examination of the underlying
economic, social, political, cultural
values and even personality premises
embodied in the personal laws, is almost
an unchartered area of study.
matrilineal, or patrilineal,
structures, functions and
nature of inter-relationships in
volved in family organization,
issues involved in the specific
type of institution of marriage,
viz. polygamy, monogamy,
bride-price or dowry, widow
hood, age at marriage, role dif
ferent :ation, changing roles in
changing milieu, and the situa
tion involved in women’s work
at home and/or outside. The
Report has also indicated cer
tain specific problems arising
out of the prevailing nature of
descent, family and marriage,
viz. prostitution, women in
prisons, unmarried mothers,
aged women, destitute women
and others.
In short, the Report has high
lighted the crucial need for stu
dying the impact of the above
mentioned phenomena in shap
ing the life of the women.
The Report has rightly devoted
the next chapter “Women and
the Law” to reviewing briefly
the laws affecting the status of
women, particularly focussing
on certain aspects viz. poly
gamy, age of marriage, dowry,
divorce, guardianship, main
tenance, inh eritance and have
made certain general policy
recommendations.
The Report has through its
general observations , high
lighted the need for a closer
examination of these problems.
Unfortunately, very little sys
tematic work has been done on
the crucial significance of
prevailing personal laws which
basically shape the status and
opportunities for women in
contemporary Indian society.
The impact of personal laws in
providing the setting for deve
loping the personality of wo
man as a citizen as well as a free
and active participant in over
coming the economic, social
educational and cultural back
wardness of the country, has not
Family and Family Planning in
India”, as well as in the course
of my active association with a
number of organizations, re
searching and struggling to
take up the problems of women
with a view to prevent the in
justice, atrocities and legal
discrimination against women,
I poignantly realised that a
thorough analysis of the impact-of personal laws, in differ
ent domains of women's life,
has not been done upto now.
tributions of Wotnen as actlve
participants in the development
of the society, accordingto me,
IS an area of research which
deserves a greater priority, in
or er to grasp the position,
status and contributions of
women in the country.
Such a study to begin with can
cover the following aspects:
1.
A systematic examination of
the major personal laws,by
evolving a set of indicators
to measure the status of
women in terms of the dif
ferent facets of her life.
2.
A systematic evaluation of
the interpretation of various
issues formulated in personal
laws in the context of their
interpretation in case laws.
Personal laws effect the position
of women in a decisive manner:
* In terms of her position
both at home and place of
work as wellias.her roleand
status in the larger society.
• In terms of marriage.
• In terms of family
relations.
* In terms of property
rights, inheritance succes
sion, descent, adoption,
right of ownership and
others.
In terms of her status and
functions within the home.
A systematic examination
of the impact of personal
laws prevailing in the country,
as they affect the trend of na
tional development and parti
cularly as they affect the con
with the premise of equality
of women as formulated in
the Constitution’s preamble.
To discover the overall nor 5. To discover the economic
and ideological functions
mative and legal institution
presumed to be performed
al ethos projected by per
by the personal laws, evolv
sonal laws and its relation to
the ethos of the overall pated by the state, pursuing a
specific path of development
‘ tern of development pursued
for eliminating backward
in India.
ncss in the country.
4.
To discover the major
value-premises
about
Dr. A.R. Desai
women underlying the per
Bombay Uni/crsity
sonal laws of the country and
discover their consistency
3.
The Indian Widow
The burning pyre
has subsided
into a heap of cold ash
wisps of smoke drifts
upwards, slowly, casually,
soon mingling
with the strong winds.
She stands alone young, vulnerable, defenceless,
watching in fascination,
wondering whether her life
too will fade
into nothing, like
the curling smoke.
The graveyard is empty
now, and the silence
echoes, eerily.
Her red bangles
were broken
into fragments.
A significant gesture,
it was said,
and she smiled,
with irony.
It is dusk now
and sensation slowly
creeps back into
a numb body.
She knew what it means
to be a widow
in a country
she has hated and
loved before.
Alienation, segregation
familiar faces averted,
and ridicule
masked by compassion
- to an insensitive
world, will it mean
the end of another being?
And the cry
torn from cold lips
will it be an unheard voice
in the wilderness ?
SANGHARSH
Dorothy Nyembe
from the Phillipines
Nelia
kM
ur i m
WHY ARE YOU SO HARD? THEY ASK
WHY DO YOU NOT BEND A LITTLE?
cook, wash, make coffee for the comrades.
They call it grace
Swaying like the bamboo
With the wind.
Listen to it weave
The people’s liberation movements in the third world must begin to
in which they develop their vision for change: for often, the military ■
label), the palace coups in the third world hair only meant a replace.,
and power by the other: the guns used against the colonial oppressor a,
people; the brutalization takes otherforms. In this culture of politics, tl
to or the women's movement, if it has a stronger profile, is often Sl
be integrated, to be subsumed, by the larger struggle, the larger organii
that we seek in the third world, is the great •rupture’in society that u
for it must take seriously the issue of sexism within the people liberal
feminist perspective into the movements of people in Asia, Africa, 1_
The music of compromise
While it kisses the ground
At your feet
Even bamboos however
On March 25. 1984 all Fighting women of our country must
stand ready to receive with warm welcome.the staunch veteran
- Dorothy Nyentbc -when the doors ol the racist Kroonstadt
prison open and release her after serving a fu|] |5 y(,a|.
sentence for fighting for her people.
Dorothy Nyembe’s release will
be followed by Fcziwe
Bookholane on 3rd April and
Elizabeth Gumede on 27th
June. Today, more brave
women are to be tried for
treason.
These are clear attempts to in
timidate us, and prevent us
from fighting. We must fight
back now - and ensure that all
our women, know about our
jailed women leaders and
fighters.
Dorothy Nyembe, who was
Natal chairperson of the
Federation of South African
Women before she was bann
ed for the first time in 1963,
played an important part in
mobilising women during the
Natal Women’s Revolt in 1959
and 1960. The women were
suffering. They were angry
because the men were spending
all their wages drinking “Ban
tu beer” in the beer halls own
ed by the white municipalities.
African women were not allow
ed to brew their own beer. So,
they organised and on June 18,
1959, 2,000 women from Cato
Manor marched, to the town
ship offices and demanded that
the beer halls be closed down.
The administration board
refused, and the police attack
ed hundreds of women and
children. Three people were
shot dead. Leaders like
Dorothy Nyembe and Gladys
Manzi, who has now just been
unbanned after 10 years, call
ed for a total boycott of die beer
halls. At first the men were
angry when women marched
into the halls and chased them
away. When they saw the police
attacking the women, they join
ed the women’s protest mar
ches. The uprising spread also
to the rural areas, and women
burned the government’s dip
ping tanks for cattle, which
they were forced to fill with
water without even being paid.
When the police shot dead a
baby on its mother’s back in
1960, the people retaliated and
killed nine policemen.
Dorothy Nyembe was arrested
in 1963 and sentenced to three
years imprisonment. In 1968
she was detained again and
charged for helping the soldiers
ofUmkhonto WeSizwe. She
was sentenced to 15 years
imprisonment.
Let us make Dorothy Nyembe
a symbol of the unbeaten and
unbeatable fighting spirit of
women who are prepared to go
to jail, to be tortured and even
to die for the freedom of our
country and our people.
Voice of Women
African National Congress
South Africa
Could only bend so much
When the storm comes
Listen to their cracking!
They break one by one.
You could only bend so much.
I would prefer to be a rock
Smoothencd by the years
But unswaying
WHY ARE YOU SO HARD? THEY ASK.
WHY DO YOU NOT BEND A LITTLE?
WOMEN I
RW ('KU
THE ONLY WAY
TO FREE OURSELVES
An Interview with
Ellen Musialela, SWAPO* Women’s Council
The struggle of the liberation movement in Namibia is against
both,South Africa currently illegally occupying its territory
and outside forces of the western powers, which have con
sistently supported decades of illegal South African colonial
rule in Namibia.
Although colonialism is a major factor in the oppression of Nami
bian women, there are, as in the case the world over, patriarchal
traditions and attitudes dating back to pre-colonial society which per
sist even today, and have been intensified and manipulated by col
onialism. Among them are traditional notions about “.men’s work”
and “women’s work”
women have sacrificed their
lives on the battlefield; some
are very good at communica
tions, reconnaissance and in
the medical field. Of course you
also find that women in the
camps are taking a very active
role in our kindergartens, in
our medical centres, as nurses,
as teachers, and in productive
work.
kETifif particular problems do
women face in exile, in the
refugee camps, and in the arm
ed struggle?
I think I should start from the
very beginning, to say that it
has been proved that no revolu
tion will triumph without the
participation of women. The
SWAPO Women’s Council
was created in 1969 at a Con
gress held in Tanzania, to
enable women to participate
fully in SWAPO and in the
armed struggle. At that time
there were very few women
who were active. Up to 1974,
when our women started to
come forward in their
thousands, we were still faced
with a lot of problems. Inside
Namibia itself, it is very hard
to communicate as women.
The apartheid system that we
live under, does not allow
women to move freely. You
have to have an explanation to
move from region to region.
We are the people who are left
in the villages, and you know
that the work of the woman in
Namibia is just to look after
children, to bear them and to
bring them up. Women also
have to look after animals in
the villages, while our men are
taken away for long months eighteen months at a time - for
the rest of their lives.
Men, especially in African
tradition, have customs which
hinder the progress of women
and which look upon women as
weak. But today you find that
our men in the camps don’t
look at women just as women,
to be separated out, to do the
cooking. But work is divided
up among groups irrespective
of sex, whether it’s gardening,
cooking or any of the work of
the camp. If you look at the
leadership of SWAPO today,
you find that both men and
women are coming up to be
members of the Central Com
mittee, the Executive Commit
tee. Women are starting to ap
pear at the international level,
in campaigning for SWAPO
Inside the country also, women
are playing an active role; we
feel proud that, despite the
traditional barriers between
men and women, women have
started to understand that we
have to fight together to fight
the system, because we are op
pressed as women, and we are
oppressed as blacks - both men
and women.
We have to make our women
understand the need to par
ticipate fully in the armed
struggle - not by saying that we
should go to work in the kit
chen, or carrying guns for our
men, but participating such
that today there are Namibian
women commanders. Some
SANGHarsh
In the rising social explosions in the third world,more and more
for national liberation, into the movements for an equahtanan andju
'who come into the national liberation struggles, it means a new begin,
power, of their potential. In a myriad of ways the movement transfer^
refusing to fall into traditional roles again. Yet, many women in thn
rades, experience sexist discrimination and attitudes: they are m the
struggle, often made to do the trivial tasks, the unimportant jobs, ivoM
How has the political conscious
ness of women changed as a
result of their participation in
the struggle ?
When women first started to
12
We are bringing these flowers in remembrance
of all the women who died m all the wars that
men have fought
We remember the nurses who died tending the
wounded of both sides.
We remember the Women who were raped by soldiers
of their own country
and by invaders, and who were
then rejected by their fathers and
their brothers and their sons.
We remember the women who died or were wounded
because they lived in cities where bombs fell
out of the sky.
We remember all our sisters, non-combatants.
whose lives were ended or foreshortened or
crippled because their fathers and
brothers went to war against the fathers
and brothers of their sisters in another
land.
We weep for them. We do not forget them. And
as we remember them, we dedicate ourselves to
making a new world where we and our daughters
can live free .
ISIS
come out, in the early 1970’s,
you would rarely see a woman
expressing herself. Inside
Namibia, the enemy has made
a point of depicting women as
less than nothing, just
something to be pushed into
the kitchen and to stay there.
This has made our women
think that even if they are
talented, they shouldn’t show
their talent. But when women
started to come out, when we
started to mobilise them, to
prepare them to participate in
any front that they arc called
to, you find that their con
sciousness has deepened. They
don’t feel that to take arms to
go and fight, to die, is just a
waste of time. They feel proud.
When 1 visited the battlefield in
May, I saw them sleeping in
the open, in the cold, some
times they didn’t have enough
food. I asked them : “Com
rades, why did you leave
Kate Nonesuch
Namibia?” They said: “V
just wanted to be trained, to
back and fight, because that
the only salvation, the only wi
to free ourselves”
Can you say something mo
about the conditions of worm
m detention?
I 11 start with Gertrude Kai
danga, the Deputy Secretary
the SWAPO Women’s Coui
cil, whom we elected at th
Congress in her absence. Sb
was arrested when she was tr
ing to come out to the Co)
gress. Since then we have bet
trying to find out where she
in Namibia, but we have vei
little news. What we do kno
is that conditions for prisone
in Namibia are- very bat
whether for men or women, v
go under the same condition
People should understand th;
arc drawn into the struggles
social order. For many women
a new consciousness of their
refusing the stereo-typing,
Ight alongside their men comnlext and vision of the larger
fiuritcrs, duplicating machines.
lion the conceptual framework
ilas (even those with a leftist
nt nJ one system of oppression
ften turned against their own
women's issue as it is referred
,i as a ‘wing ’ of the party to
ion. But if the new socialism
believe it is, (hen the struggle
n movements, bringing a new
'in America.
question of women. Women
are inferior to men, they pro
claim, so their place is in the
home, serving their lord and
master, the male. Secondly,
women, for the first time in the
history of Pakistan, arc
organising a mass movement to
fight not justfor the preservation of
the rights currently under attack but
for afurther deepening and extension
of those rights. As such, they con
stitute the group that is in the
vanguard of the political move
ment in Pakistan at (his time,
and need to be taken very ser
iously indeed.
The Pakistani Women’s Movement Today
In the Forefront
of the Struggle
Women in Pakistan, like their counterparts elsewhere
in the world, have been the victims of double oppression,
that of class and of gender. This means that in a country
like Pakistan,they have had to struggle hard to win any
concessions from a male dominated society, and have
also had a hard time maintaining themselves and their
families because the vast majority of the populace are
victims of deprivation, social, economic and political.
One may ask why write on the
issue of women’s rights in
Pakistan, at a time when the
At present, all political parties,
with the exception of thejamiat
connected ones, arc banned
from holding public meetings.
1’he Left, which was factionaliscd to begin with, has seen a fur
ther retrenchment with its
leaders and most.active cadre
exiled, imprisoned, killed or
underground. Since the tradi
tional bourgeois parties, the
populist Pakistan People’s Par
ty (PPP) and the Left have afl
been pretty much reduced to
individuals, this has meant that
the only organised groups
publicly taking a stand against
the regime, have been profes
sional groups like lawyers,
journalists and students.
except for some right wing con
servative religious elements,
and from a handful of indus
trialists and large landlords.
Thc reasons are : first, that
because this regime relics on
the religious elements the issue
of women becomes a critical
one, even more so thanduring
other periods in the history of
Pakistan. These fundamentalist
religious groups, while am
bivalent on other issues like the
relationships of labourer and
capitalist, agrarian taxation
and property, are in total
agreement when it comes to the
MOTHERS OF THE PLAZA
DE MAYO
The “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo”, in Buenos Aires, (Argentina),
continue their struggle and search for their missing children and
grand-children. Since the institution of the military regime in Argen
tina in 1976, thousands of people have disappeared, especially bet
ween 1976 and 1979. In March 1982, the grandmothers and mothers
denounced the disappearance of 112 children. The members of the
organization “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” are determined to find
these children and get them back. Their ceaseless search and inter
national support resulted in the restoration of nine children. This
result
formally denies the allegation of the military government
that the children were dead. The mothers insist by saying that the
military government knows where the disappeared children are, as
much as they knew where to find the restored children. They call
on all the countries represented at the United Nations,to commit
themselves that they will, never again, use the systematic disap
pearances of children as a method of political repression. Until Oc
tober, 1983, eleven children had already been restored! Some among
them were given back to their families, for others,further steps arc
being taken.
in detention in a South African
prison, you don't sleep - the
light is on for the whole 24
hours and they disturb you.
This has resulted in many of
our people coming out ofjail in
a disturbed and confused state.
The conditions under which
people are living in jail,
whether women or men, I’m
sure they have last been seen in
Nazi Germany. It’s up to
women here to protest for their
release. We ourselves cannot
get information from the South
Africans; there are many
prisoners
who
have
disappeared.
Can you comment on the
dangers that women face of be
ing raped by the securityforces?
In Namibia today the situation
is very bad. I’m not trying to
exaggerate, but our country
has been placed under martial
law. You find the South
African Police patrolling in the
streets, and their work is to
shoot on the spot, rape, and
commit all kinds of genocide,
by burning villages, and
destroying food. This has
resulted in many of our women
leaving their villages and cross
ing into Angola for shelter. Our
women are raped, whipped in
public, tortured almost to death
Even those
women who have left Namibia
in a mass exodus with their
children,are still followed by the
South African Security forces,
bombed and killed. South
Africa announces they have
killed SWAPO freedom fight
ers when in reality they have
killed innocent people who are
not armed, people who are run
ning away from their own
country.
What kind of solidarity can
women in their countries give to
women in Namibia?
It’s very important for women
in other countries to stand with
us as women. As mothers, we
should understand that it’s our
children, whom we carry for
nine months, who suffer and
die. It’s important that women
help us by writing petitions to
the South African Embassy and
to their own Government. We
want our political prisoners
released, especially Idajimmy,
Gertrude Kandanga and
Rauna 'Nambinga, and many
others whose names we don’t
know. It’s important for
women to protest, as women,
that these kinds of barbaric
acts, by which South Africa
harasses women, should stop.
It’s important that women all
over the world should side with
women fjom the liberation
movements in South Africa
and Namibia.
When we went to the Copen
hagen Conference, we were
very disappointed by the
women from the West. I don’t *
mean the Solidarity Commit
tees, although it’s up to them
to put pressure on women to
understand that it’s we who feel
the pinch. These women from
Britain, West Germany and
America were trying to force us
to restrict ourselves to equali
ty, development and peace, on
the grounds that if we were out
side these topics we would be
trying to bring in politics. But
we can’t see how we can other
wise talk about equality,
because in Namibia both
women and men are oppress
ed as people; we don’t vote; we
don’t control our natural
resources; we don’t have any
say. This is very well known.
We can’t talk about develop
ment because we have been
pushed out of our land - we
don’t have any land to develop.
Even if you are inside die coun
try you are pushed into the
bantustans. We can’t talk of
peace because our country is at
war.
MY'UNKNOWN
SISTER IN BEIRUT
Sister .unknown sister
whose dark eyes shadow my
escape,are the olives bitter
in your throat ?
Their pits embarrass
politicians
Your agony embarrasses
politicians
Sister, my sister,
there are lessons
to be learned from death
/.). II. Melhem
Extracted from ISIS No. 19
The complete text is available from the
Women’s Committee, Anti-Apartheid
Movement, London.
• (South African People’s Organuation)
I
13
women’s organisa*>ons
nave moved in[o the vaccum
create by
a[,scnce of tradi“onal Political formations.
Oraw'ngon a membership that
cuts across classes, they have
c allenged the regime and its
henchmen publicly through
orurns, mass meetings, press
campaigns, petitions and
demonstrations. They recog
nised the importance of direct
action at a time when the Left
was saying the conditions were
not conducive to such action.
Being part of no political par
ty, they address women’s issues
broader issues of economic
privilege and deprivation, in
flation, exploitation and in
justice. The women's movement in
Pakistan, like its counterpart in
Latin America and Africa, does not
designate man as the enemy but
rather a social structural formation
within which women are among the
most oppressed,though they are by no
means the only ones to suffer
oppression.
Women
and
The Military Regime
Ever since Zia ul Huq’s
military regime came to power
in 1977, women have been one
of the target groups singled out
for attack. In March 1983, the
Majlis-e-Shcxira passed a law of
evidence ordinance, whereby
the status of women is reduced
to that of half a man in terms
of her ability to bear witness in
court. In case of rape, it is
asserted that her testimony
should be considered invalid.
The murder of a woman is
given a lesser penalty, than the
murder of a man.
This degradation of woman to
the status of half a being, or
even a non-being, is merely the
culmination of a series of at
tacks on women. Prior to this,
the government issued other
proclamations banning the par
ticipation of women athletes in
international and mixed sports
events, attempted to repeal the
1961 family laws ordinance
which gave a modicum of secu
rity to women with regard to
marital and property rights,
announced its intention to
eliminate coeducation and to
institute separate universities
for women with separate sub
jects and clearly a much reduc
ed budget and consequent
lowered standard of education.
Census data are used to justify
the government’s intention to
drive women out of the professions ba«k into thc home
Gove<'I’"’cnl statistics in
Pakistaf’ as tn many other
countricS Provide a totally
distorted Plciure of women’s
involve"’ent tn the workforce,
and consistently underestimate
their economic contribution.
Apart fr»n' “'eir contribution
as domS’bC unpaid workers in
their own household, estimates
for the rural sector.range from
„ 12 percent up to 8
in surveys done by
women themselves.
The government sounds out its
policies through the ultra con
servative religious leaders.
Thus the last two years have
seen the emergence in the mos
ques and the media, television
in particular, of mullahs pro
selytizing against women, and
proclaiming the wonders of the
Iranian model with regard to its
position on women. This is
exempliricd by the chador aur char^’"•^r/mntroversy generated by
I Israr Ahmed, a member of
Zia’s handpicked consultative
council, and others. Israr in
particular,was the spokesperson
of the view that a woman’s
place is to serve and titillate the
male of the house. She is
designed to be an object of
pleasure for her spouse as well
as a beast of burden,entirely
dependent on him. Notorious
ly vulgar sermons in the mos
que emanated from Israr.
Pakistani women responded
with anger, vigour and
initiative.
History ■
of the Movement
The women’s movement in
Pakistan can be traced back to
the pre-independence period
when middle class women con
stituted a vocal element in the
anti-colonial struggle as well as
in the Pakistan movement.
Many of thc Muslim women
involved in this process,did not
work independently among
women but alongside other,
often male, family members
Their efforts led to a recogni
tion of their contribution by
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who
made a strong plea for theremoval of constraints against
women. As early as 1944,he
told men : “No nation can rise
to the height of glory unless
your women are side by side
with you. \Ve are victims of evil
customs. It is a crime against
humanity that our women are
shut up within the four walls of
the house as prisoners. There
is no sanction anywhere for thc
deplorable condition in which
our women have to live. You
should take your women along
with you as comrades in every
sphere of life.’’ Viewing the in
dependent state of Pakistan as
essentially a secular state, Jin
nah said that women had
claims to the same rights aS
minorities, nationalities or
other oppressed groups within
the limitations of a bourgeois.
liberal, democratic state.
Following the creation of
Pakistan, to which a vast
number of those same mullahs
unfortunately moved, the same
women who had been active
previously, decided to push
their efforts further and con
cretise some of their demands
Could on page 14
SANGHARSH
TAKE
THE TOYS
FROM
THE BOYS
the same age do OnJ .
minutes of unpaid . y s,x<een
per day. Time studi OJ*sework
Central Bureau of rorn the
also show that husban'at'stics.
actly the same atno s do ex
paid housework
°‘unwhether their wiv.Per da>'
time career-womCn or^ f“nthey arc housewiVes
hethcr
Contd. from page 7
taught the behaviours of love
and peace,while “mankind is
from infancy handed toy
swords and guns and taught to
kill.
To me,it is obvious that we
make a big mistake in peace
education,if we do not consider
the fact that boys and girls are
given a very different education
in our society, both at home, in
school, through the media and
through leisure Activities. Girls
are taught behaviour, skills and
values which are highly esteem
ed in any peace education pro
gram , at least when peace
education is defined as critical
and oppositional, committed
and engaged, Jot specific
values.
At the same time, girls are
taught to be the ‘second’ sex,
to be oppressed, to be quiet and
let the boys, later the men, talk.
Boys are taught behaviour and
values which are antithetical to
a committed peace education.
At the same time, boys are
taught to be the first sex, taught
to downgrade and humiliate:
Girls even at the age of fifteen
do ninety minutes of unpaid
housework per day, while their
brothers and school-mates at
o f the Struggle
Contd. from page 13
through the legal code. Women
were given the right to vote,
but their ability to run for of
fice was curtailed by a system
of quotas set aside for women.
Ostensibly, this was designed
to ensure minimal representa
tion, but in reality it was used
as an excuse to deny women
seats contested in a general
election. Following a long
struggle, they finally succeed
ed, under Ayub Khan’s mili
tary regime, in getting passed
the Family Laws Ordinance,
1961. This ordinance recognis
ed women as rightful heirs of
agricultural property under
Islamic law, made second mar
riages contingent on the the
Ifwe go on teaching only our
daughters the behaviours of
lovc, peace and co-opcration
while we teach our sons to com
pete and give them war toys
then we ought to strengthen the
self-confidence of giris and Ja(cr
give women the leading posi
tions in society. If We sdll Want
to let men play a leading role
in society, or share the power
equally with women,we ought
to abandon their war toys,
break their toy guns and
swords and perhaps ask them
to look after small children in
the neighbourhood, and we
ought to play down the com divorce more difficult for the
petitive elements in boys’
male and for the first time,
games and teach them co gave women the right to initiate
operativephysical activities. It divorce, on certain specified
is a challenge to peace educa grounds only. A system of
tors to look closer into the peace registration of marriages was,
building elements in the educa also introduced for the first
tion we give girls and into the time.
warlike elements in the educa
tion we give boys. This educa Never adequately implement
tion is life-long. It starts when ed, this ordinance was
the children are born, goes on nonetheless considered a major
through adolescence and into victory by women’s groups It
adulthood when the boys are was a recognition by the State
further socialized in the of the need for reforms to bet
military. “The Army will make ter the status of women. Also,
a man out of you”; while the
insists on the consideration of
girls see their fullfilment as
values, but as is the case with
mothers and wives.
its parent disciplines, avoids the
Birgit Brock-Utne
true seat of value formation,
Peace Research Institute
that which educators (educa
Oslo, Norway
tion is a semi-feminine profes
sion) call the “affective do
main,’’ the world of feelings.
Sexism and the War
Contd. from page 10
much less even mentioned in most of
the litanies of oppression.
There is some reason to suspect
that it is precisely because of its
universality that it is ignored.
For once it is recognized, even
those of us who put forth the
problem diagnosis acknowledg
ing sexism as the tap root of op
pression, will have to acknow
ledge our own need to take part
in the prescriptional process.
Like the Orwellian equal pigs,
we who live in a sexist society
are all sexist, though some are more
sexist than others. Not only will
we have to admit our own aqquiesence if not to the system
at least to its norms and its
manifestations, but also, if we
are truly committed to transfor
mation, we, too, will have to
change. This means giving up
some control, as with the much
denounced nation state, it
means the relinquishment of
certain aspects of personal
sovereignty and control over
others - a process which comes
especially hard to the masculine
mind whether it resides in a
male or a female body.
the women’s movement at
Pakistan’s inception was led by
middle class elements. Having
received relatively more educa-
cognisant of tne law and were
able to manipulate it to their
own advantage. By virtue of
the family law coming into ef
fect their rights as women were
safe-guarded. Yet the law did
not penetrate vpry far. Work
ing class women in the urban
areas were only marginally able
to benefit from it,to the extent
that they either had middle
class patrons, or that some pro
gressive organisation was will
ing to take up tlic fight on their
behalf. Rural women, isolated
as they were from the political
scene, continued to be in,pretty much,the same condition as
before. The women’s organisa
tions existing at that time, the
All Pakistan Women’s Associa
tion (APWA), being the best
known among these, were pri
marily social welfare and chari
ty organisations and the nature
of their work reflected this. In
The women’s movement in Pakistan, like its
counterparts in Latin America and Africa, does not
designate man as the enemy but rather a social
structural formation within which women are among
the most oppressed though they are by no
means the only ones to suffer oppression.
lion than women of other
classes, and being part of the
political mainstream, often
related to men who were in
politics, these women were
addition to providing relief dur
ing emergencies, taking care of
the destitute and orphans, they
placed a strong emphasis on
education, but took a limited
peace researchers understand
the feelings of women scholars
as they see publication after
publication with no women’s
names, or a few “tokens;’’ or
as they view photograph after
photograph of all male meetings
(the women sometimes appear
in pictures of the cocktail recep
tions) It is that intense feeling
of exclusion and rejection
which always gives rise to the
question, “whose preferred
world?’’ Like the bar in the
Princeton Club.it appears to us
that the futures projected by
world order scholars will be en
vironments “where women
cease to trouble.” Nor do I
believe the male governmental
delegates, who sat with emo
tionless faces at the dying day
of the Second Special Session
oji Disarmament,could have
truly understood the tears shed
during those same hours,by the
women volunteers in the Plow
shares Coffee House they tend
ed across the street from the
U.N.,to nurture the informed
concern of the non-govern
mental peace workers.
vestigation. Research into
causes seems to be limited to
overt political and economic
structures and systems, omit
ting the “inner psychic
In the name of scholarship,
world order in particular,and
peace research in general.have
steered clear (in spite of pro
“radicalism”) of digging into
the fundamental root causes of
war, which certainly “begins in
the minds of men’’ and no
The resurgence of interest in
psychological perspectives on
the arms race is owed primari
ly to the anti-nuclear move
ment; and if any scientific field
is to be credited with this
development, it is medicine.
The psychiatrists themselves.
have put forth their contribu
tions within the context of the
physicians movement, and
some of them, have come tantalizingly close to fully exposing
the raw center of the human
psyche from which war and
violence comes forth. Yet, none
of these significant recent works
have given any serious atten
tion to some significant pos
sibilities for understanding
and policy response which lie in
feminist scholarship. Given the
nature of the threat they pose,
the preoccupation with nuclear
weapons and impending an
nihilation,rather than with (he
institution of war and the pro
mise of transformation, is un
derstandable, but still disturb
ingly outward, and it seems to
me nearly as phallic as the
preoccupation with building
and “improving” them.
Attention to the personal and
The Cartesian Trap :
The Fundamental M'oural d,an lhe n>asculin® The world in which sexism festers most and inflicts the deepest pain
is the world in which the roots of the war system are continually
Sexism of
scientific an
cvc’
cultivated by suppression and oppression of half of what it means to
Social Science.
______ be human. ______
he masculine mind tends to
rejectee sphere of feeling, and
masculine “sciences” deni
grate “emotionalism.” per.
sonal change requires confron
tation of feelings, of the emononal components of the situaOn 10 be Ranged. While there
’ome recognition that polh
,tal Chan«e requires beha-
SANGHARSH
which ha, I h rna
lized inI°
»riencC
by ' and human eX,P j( into
SfienUficffSsiona,izinfpSychia-
,rya"d^%r'd°rd<;r
The world in which sexism
festers most and inflicts the
deepest pain is the world in
which the roots of the war
system
are
continually
cultivated by suppression and
oppression of half of what it
means to be human.
I cannot believe that many
14
feminist peace researcher
would seek to change that wor
ding. Both seem to have gone
along with the symptomatic,
reductionist approach which
deciares the need to treat the ill-
necessarily conduct a true
j
pathological
or etiological in-
behavioural has been sorely
lacking. This may be why in
spite of elaborate models and
inspired visions of preferred
worlds, we have no sound,
workable transition strategies,
why we have not a clearly mar
ked route “from here to there”
Il may also be why there are
still such strong contradictions
approach in its provision,
restricting it to the creation of
APWA college, and the setting
up of a few vocational training
and handicraft centres Their
attitude was paternalistic, their
approach basically reformist,
and their reach, limited. In a
sense,theyreflccted their class
position-altruism combined
with reforms, tinkering with
the system but never fun
damentally challenging it.
The coming to power of Bhut
to in 1972,saw the emergence
in Pakistan,for the first time,of
a popularly elected populist
regime that drew support from
workers, the rural peasantry
and women. The 1973 Con
stitution granted women rights
closer in accord with United
Nations stated principles,
modified to fit Pakistani reali
ty, along with a promise to ex
tend education on a mass scale
to all groups, including
rural and urban women. Wo
men’s groups, though they in
creased in number during this
period, remained in the back
ground in that they did not
perceive themselves as being
under attack from Bhutto’s
regime. They chose, therefore,
to exploit the favourable en
vironment to push for an exten
sion of women’s rights within
the framework of the State, not
between our behaviours, our
actual lived lives and the world
order values we articulate.
(Why is it seemingly so much easier
to apply these values to political
analysis than to personal behaviour?
Why, indeed, do we acknowledge
sexism as a social problem but remain
reluctant to admit to it in ourselves?)
Most probably, it is precisely
because we know how deep it
lies within our very beings,that
we are reluctant to put it in our
professional agendas. What we
seek to avoid,is the scorn of our
colleagues in the “scholarly”
■mainstream whose “scientific”
standards we purport to observe
and uphold, so as to legitimate
and validate our field as a
though those are admittedly
disciplines). The war system has
brought us io the brink of an
nihilation, and we still refuse to
face the very fundamental feel
ing it arouses, fear. The socie
ty is paralyzed by the masculine
suppression of emotion. Surely
peace research and world order
studies should attend to this
paralysis as the first priority in
transition. Yet,for the most part
we, too, continue to close out
the world of feeling and the
repositories of that world,
feminine values and women.
The male chauvinist bias of the
field was, however, inevitablygiven the intellectual formation
vironments in which the
research is pursued. Academias, like all institutional power
bases is profoundly and scan
dalously sexist. And on the
academic farm, the sciences,
both natural and social, are
somewhat “more sexist” than
other disciplines. The social
sciences in which some sem
blance of ethical and human
concerns might have been ex
pected to wield some influence
have gone to extremes to pro
ve themselves as sciences. Con
cerns which carry feminist
Vimochana Yun have met
with several women's groups in
India and you have also had the
opportunity to assess the pre
sent general status of Indian
women. Can you identify the
nature of the women’s move
ment in India today?
Asoka As you know I am in
India primarily to visit and
evaluate a few income generat
ing projects for rural women.
Although I have been to many
areas, I have not really been
everywhere. Whatever I say is
based on my experience during
this trip and also on the ex
periences of previous visits.
The income generating projects
that I have visited at best help
in raising women’s income by
5 or 10 rupees at the most. The
basic structural relations bet
ween men and women however
remain the same. There is yet
a lot of work ’ hat is needed to be
done.
Il would seem to me that the
consciousness about women’s
experience has changed in the
past 10 to 15 years. I believe
that there exists now a great
deal of passion and interest
about the ‘women’s question’.
Often women who articulate on
this issue are the more
educated, urban and are from
the relatively privileged social
classes. Yet, this does not mean
that the women's issue is only
a middle class or an urban
issue.
Among the economically lower
strata of women there is com-
paraiively greater social mobili
ty, unlike, the middle class
women who arc bound to a
greater extent by norms and
values. But economically these
women are so exploited, so
what does this really mean?
That they can walk out on their
husbands,but walk out to what?
There are obviously questions
that cut across class lines questions of cultural oppression
like dowry; there arc the
specificities that one cannot
ignore.
Vimochana: In your paper
you speak of the need for
autonomous women’s move
ments. How do you see an
autonomous women's move
ment linking up with the na
tional liberation struggles and
other autonomous movements
like the Dalit Movement in
India, the Black movement in
the U.S.?
Asoka: 1 see the need for the
recognition of the separateness
of the women’s movement,
while at the same time
recognising the need for
linkages to larger struggles. In
.all national liberation struggles,
the issues of gender have to be
recognised.
Take the Blacks in the US for
example. Black women in
America confront the white
women’s struggle on the one
hand, and participate in
National
Liberation
movements on the other. There
is an explicitly black feminist
literature developing in the
Interview with
Asoka Bandarage
Asoka Bandarage. was in Bangalore recently, and addressed a
meeting organised by Vimochana, on ‘international feminism
Following are excerpts from an interview with her.
oppression
on
several
dimensions simultaneously and
cannot fully belong to any
organisation which only
focusses on onlv one dimension
of oppression. There are now
even separate women’s
minority organisations like the
Committee on South Asian
women. Issues like dowry and
arranged marriages etc.,
cannot really be understood by
the white women’s movement.
Minority organisations take up
these issues.
In third world countries like Sri
Lanka,there arc specific forms
of cultural oppression that
women face like arranged
marriages, social restrictions
and dowry, and this in a
country where the literacy rate
for women is quite high. There
are equal opportunities for
education and jobs, for men
and women. Yet, the attitudes
and personal relationships are
so difficult to change without a
struggle. Participation of
women in the labour force nas
not always been liberating. The
coming of women into the
labour force would have
happened anyway with increas
ing commercialisation of
domestic relations.
U.S. This literature is not anti
male, anti-nationalist or anti
feminist. But when one says
feminist,it is assumed to be
white, middle class women and
the nationalists struggle is
assumed to be that of the black
male, ultimately,black women
find it difficult to be identified
in either struggle.
Vimochana: To what extent
are you involved with the
women’s movements of the
third world? What do you feel
are the questions raised by
women in Sri Lanka parti
cularly,and what are the issues
around which they have started
organising?
Asoka: Mine is not really an
involvement with women’s
movements in the third world.
When I am in the U.S. I am
more involved with the
minority groups and identify
with some of the issues that are
raised by minority women
within the women’s movement.
The question for the minority
women is how can we make
race and class, or caste and
class a relevant issue. A
minority woman feels the
Vimochana: What do you
think ol the special reservation
quotas for women in various
fields?
ment in the West and derive
their categories of analysis from
that experience. The ‘domestic
labour'debate concerned with
the patriarchal nuclear family
and the housewife role, which
are both historically specific
class and cultural phenomena,
bears witness to this. These at
tempts towards a Marxist-Fem
inist synthesis which are based
on
the western capitalist exThe obvious shortcomings of
•
pcricnce have limited relevance
each of the currently available
to the qualitatively different
feminist theories - Liberal,
forms of subordinate or depen
Radical and Socialist - have led
dent capitalist development
some women intellectuals in the
and cultural transformations
west, to work towards a broad
taking place in the Third World
synthesis of Marxist, Socialist
today. Moreover, Marxistand Radical Feminist thinking in
. Feminism, like Marxism and
conceptualising the oppression
(
other theories formulated by
of women. Very briefly, most
,westerners is unlikely to pro
such attempts toward a Marxist
,
vide a coherent analysis of
racism and imperialism that
speaks to the concerns of
dialectical interaction between
women in the Third World.
social production within
However, very interesting and
market sectors and domestic
promising research on women
production (including biologic
in the Third World,is now be
al reproduction and the repro
ing done by some Marxist Fem
duction of labour power) within
inists, mostly women anthropo
the family.
logists. It is their research on
the impact of multinational in
But the emergent Marxistdustries (especially textiles and
Feminist synthesis, like their
electronics in free trade zones),
liberal and radical feminist
the Green Revolution, tourism
etc. on women that has helped
processes of capitalist develop-
Towards
International
Feminism
Gomel, from page 4
lation are insufficient for eradi
cating sexual inequality either
in the public or the private
sphere.
The experiences of women in
socialist countries and the ex
periences of middle-class
women integrated into the
higher echelons of paid employ
ment in capitalist countries
(both in the West and the
Third World) reveal a basic
fact: while material well-being
is a prerequisite, it alone will
not guarantee the liberation of
women as women. I his con
firms the broad postulate of
cericd struggle of women again
st sexist altitudes and behaviour
in all spheres, including the
most intimate realms, is neces
sary for liberation. Sexism is
deeply psychological.
question strategies to further
integrate women into the proB 'cesses of dependent capitalist
c development. This Marxist. Feminist research in the
Third World is still very much
at an incipient stage. Like
MarxistiFeminist inquiries in
the West, they have focused
largely on the effects of the ex
panding capitalist mode of pro
duction on women and have
neglected those aspects of
women’s oppression which lie
in culturally specific ideological
and familial structures. An in
tegration of the older anthropo
logical tradition of intensive
cross-cultural research with the
emerging Marxist.Feminist
perspective could be highly
fruitful in overcoming the in
adequacies of current research
on Third World women
Nevertheless, it needs to be
retterated that the psychology
of racism and imperialism may
inhibit even sensitive Western
researchers and activists from
understanding some of the
complexities of female subor
dination in the Third World
for this reason, western resear
chers and activists need to be
very careful in their interven
tions. Take the outcries of
western feminists against me
liorrors ol •• female circumciS'°n m many Muslim (and a
few other) communities around
t le world. These must include
interventions against involunster‘lization, corporate
dumping” (of dangerous
drugs, chemicals, etc.) and
other abusive phenomena
15
say ‘no’
° that, but I
on(. has t0
^thehmitatiOnsin(hatkind
o a strategy. The
for[he
blacks’
quo!a for the
women etc., does not really
change the po5ition of a largC
numbcr. -’f People. These
reservations
c
WOrk TCrainc* ?
Sl3rt tO
work against structural change.
In the absence of other changes
tins becomes like the in,.ome
generating projects - it starts to
buy people. In the women’s
movement because of the
ongoing struggle, some women
have been givcn .,laccs of
importance. Yet we sc.-some of
_the ami-feminist spokespeople
being women, Rough they
have often times benefitted
from the struggles made by the
women’s movement. There are
a lot ol women who take
advantage of the battle fought
by the women's movement and
yet do not utilise their position
for positive action.
Vimochana: And now a
question on women and peace:
Do you feel that theoretically
and practically feminists have
a contribution to make to the
peace movement? (In India we
would understand these move-.
ments to be movements for
justice, for social transform
ation).
Asoka: A lot of women’s
movements are now active in
the peace movement. In fact
feminists are the strongest
critics of the arms escalation
and the nuclear arms race. But
feminists are divided on the
peace issue, because some of
the women who are anti-militariists and pacifists are using the
argument that women are
more peaceful by nature, more
non-violent and more nunur-
rooted in Western economic,
political and ideological
institutions.
While there are few, if any, na
tional
or international
organizations that work ex
plicitly within a Marxist or
Socialist Feminist framework,
there are a number of them
which do so implicitly. Some of
the international women s
health networks involved in the
Nestle’s boycott and the cam
paign against the export of
Depo-Provera, a banned drug in
the U.S. to the Third World, are
examples. Groups such as the
National Women’s Health
Network campaigning against
Depo-Provera direct their'
struggles against both the sex
ist ideologies of the social and
medical sciences and the
unethical and exploitative con
trol exercised by capitalist
pharmaceutical companies and
international population con
trol agencies over women’s
lives. These multi-pronged ef
forts have in turn helped forge
links of solidarity among many
grassroot woim n s organiza
tions around the world.
Similarly, the recent feminist
actions against militarism in
the West could be extended
toward a struggle against the
politico-economic and ideologic
al roots of the arms race thereby
enabling the incorporation of
many different groups of
women.
Bui given basic inequalities and
conflicts among different
groups of women, how likely is
----------- TZrefore they have a
ing and there
make t0
special contrib
Though
this IS not
[hat this IS
a danger of say J
.
women’s natural
This is reinforcing
going back to feminity.
Radical Feminists started with
the critique of defining worn
by their biology. Unconscious
ly perhaps, to some extent the
feminist peace movement starts
with moral superiority or the.
non-violence of women.
Theoreticians like Nancy
Schroeder say that because
women give birth to children,
the nature of the relationship
between the mother and child
is different. They believe that
women are involved with
people m a more direct and
intimate way, unlike men.
This, they claim leads to
different socialisations and
different expectations of male
and female children at a very
early age. There may be some
truth to this. I don’t know if we
can negate all of biology, but
it certainly should not be our
destiny. Feminists have been
very eager to throw out
women’s biology because
women’s biology has been used
against them to define and
subordinate them.
Sherly Alex
Vimochana
it that a single women’s move
ment which could address all
the issues of all women,every
where,would ever emerge? It
seems that culturally specific
gender oppression has to be
dealt with within alternative
movements organized by
women experiencing those par
ticular forms of oppression
themselves.
This does not mean, how
ever, that the separate women’s
movements must necessarily be
isolated or antagonistic toward
each other. Feminism today is
an
international
issue.
Women’s subordination is a
systemic feature of the world
political economy and ideology-.
The struggle against women’s
subordination must also be in
ternational in character. It is in
this common struggle against
those aspects of women’s sub
ordination rooted in the “world
system,’ that different groups
of women and their culturally
specific movements can come
together. If feminism is truly to
be internationalized it must
have the flexibility to become
a distinct but interconnected
struggle within a wider and
holistic movement toward
social change and human
freedom.
Asoka Bandarage
A Hope for the Future ?
Conid from page 5
Convention of Elimination of
All forms of Discrimination
Against Women, two impor
tant Conventions on Women’s
Political rights have been
ratified by only a few countries
in the third world; four in Asia,
four in Africa and nine in Latin
America.
The role of women in the go
vernment and higher echelons
of decision making is only of
token participation. The token
woman must ‘integrate’ herself
within the dominant structures, must
‘accomodate’ herself to the existing
masculine values, must not dare to
move beyond’ hospitals, children
prisoners and women; nothing in
short, that might frighten men and
bring them to think-thai women may
invade their territory™. If ever
women have reached the posi
tions of Ministers,they have
always been given the portfolios
of welfare, health, children.
women, all the time re
inforcing every traditional sex
role, while the bastion of
political power remains essen
tially a male preserve. Is it
possible for women to really
contribute to peace in the world
functioning through societal
structures that are completely
sex blind?_______________
Political Parties:
Are political parties very dif
ferent? Here, what is being
'
specifically referred to are not
the political parties of the tradi
tional liberal model, or of the
extreme right in whose position
and party programs,women arc
objects of reform or welfare,but
to political parties and.
movements which project an
image of ‘progressiveness’, of
‘radicalism’; particularly,
political parties of the ‘left’ in
the third world. While there is
an urgent need to increase the
visibility of women’s issues
challenging both the capitalist
and patriarchal relations in
society, most of these political par
ties have responded to the women’s
movement as being ‘disruptive of the
class struggle’: and dangerous to
the cause of the ‘revolution’.
Hence, women have been
organised into the‘women’s
wings’ of the party, leaving all
the important decisions to the
political bureaux and other
party decision-making bodies
where the closer one gets to the
top of the party hierarchies,
women become increasingly in
visible. The party often benefits
from the ‘tasks’ performed by
the women which are no dif
ferent from the labour she must
do in society - cooking, typing,
making coffee for the com
rades; even women who have
been directly involved in the
national liberation struggles
have been ‘sent home’ after the
revolution, or at most have
been appointed as Ministers of
Culture, or Women’s Welfare
by the new revolutionary
Governments. Ideals of equali
ty and the dignity of women are
very much part of the vision of
liberation movements and these
political parties, but often the
women encounter discriminat
ory and sexist attitudes as they
fight ‘alongside their men’, and
when they come to power
women are often returned to their
homes and to their traditional roles.
This is not that the very crucial
roles and tasks' performed by
the women in these political
parties and movements are not
recognised, but that these ques
tions must be asked of
movements in the third world
whose choices today will deter
mine the kind of socialism we
will have tomorrow. Any
analysis that dogmatises that
the revolution must come first
and once the means of produc
tion are socialized (removing
the material basis for women’s
oppression) we may speak of
women’s liberation,or worse,
that women will be automatic
ally liberated, must look again
at the revolutions in history.
While it cannot be denied that
women have certainly made
several material gains within
these societies, there still re
mains the struggle against the
system of patriarchy.
their development model, a
subsumation of all social
phenomena, refusing the ques
tions, denying the challenges?
New Movements
for Change
Mother, Woman
Mother, Woman
Walk and raise your fist
Affirm your decision to be free.
You are salt; You are sap
You are strength; You are work
Thus you are life,
In the fields,
In the factories,
In the home,
You have the truth ofyour strength
From your life-giving bosom
Don’t walk three yards behind
Your comrade and the Revolution,
Walk in front of them.
j
It’s your place by right / y
Mother, Woman
f °
The Revolution is You
W^8|
Choices today
will determine the
kind of socialism
we will have
tomorrow
The women’s movements and
the new movements for a new
socialism in the third world
need more than ever today to
move towards developing con
ceptual frameworks, which are
born of a praxis that is rooted
in the specificity of its social
and cultural processes and are
able to dialectically relate the
particular to the universal.
This socialism must seek a crea
tive alternative to bourgeois
liberalism and to orthodox
marxism; a new socialism that
will not confine itself only to
changing the objective reality,
to the material conditions of
life, but one that would seek a
Can the histories of whole
cultures, of whole epochs be en
capsulated into economic
frames that may explain the ap
pearance, the structure of
phenomena, the social reality,
but categories which do not and
cannot capture the essence, the
history of peoples? Can we
continue to use the paradigm
of the class struggle only,to
explain the divisions and
discrimination of gender?: at
tempting through the single
model, as do the capitalists with
sexism and the war system
qualitative change in in
dividuals, in gender relations,
in political processes. It is ex
tremely difficult to think of
qualitative changes in the
perspectives of the social
transformations in the third
world, for the immediate need
expresses itself more in quan
titative terms; more food, bet
ter shelters, sufficient wages.
Yet, history continues to in
dicate, through the phenomena
of the ‘leftist’ military juntas,
the palace revolutions and so
on, that the revolution to
change the objective reality
without addressing itself to the
subjective factors has often only
meant the replacement of one
system of repression by another
within the old rubric, of a male
dominated society that respects
war, the military, its weapons:
If the socialism of the future is
indeed the ‘great rupture’ in
society that we believe it is,
then we need a vision that
would seek a ‘change beyond
the change’; a socialism that is
humanist and pluralist,
developing in a world of dif
ferent civilizations and
cultures. This would lead to a
qualitatively more human social
order, a new consciousness, a new
political praxis. This political
praxis recognises that the strug
gle for a new social order will
find its expression in a diversi
ty of social movements - the
women’s movement and femin
ism, which expresses another
world view has a great signific
ance and contribution to make
to this alternative vision of the
future, for an alternative social
order as against the present
military world order. The inter
relatedness of these movements
for social change - the workers
movements, the movements of
the daliths, the blacks, the
peace and human rights move
ments, the women’s movements
represents the beginning of a
general awakening to that new
phase of our evolution which
alone can promise us any
future....16.
References:
Feminism has begun to challenge the political structures,
Contd. from page 4
values or perspectives, while
sometimes considered, are
given very low priority and
seem to be something of an cm-.
barrassment,particularly when
natural scientists deride the
scientific pretensions of the
social scientists. Peace research
and peace education in their at
tempts to gain a foothold in the
scholarly community, have
sometimes tried to be "more
quantitative than thou." Even
world order inquiry with its
avowedly normative perspec
tive and value orientation has
gone to great lengths to
establish its scholarly creden
tials. These circumstances, tor
a whole host of reasons, a
number of them discussed in
earlier sections of this essay.
militate against feminine in
fluence and women’s partici
pation.
These circumstances, while
they may be inevitable are not
irremediable, and they must he
openly reviewed and amen
ded. Not only because they
perpetuate sexism in peace
research, but most especially
because they serve to prevent
Peace research from producing
applying transformattona
knowledge Nor are they ex
cusable, having been brought
up to researchers on n,any °?'.
casions over the PaSt
and by many critics 0 1*
western intellectual cst , '
ment. One of the most re
and cogent of these being
feminist futurist
M .
d"son who has referred o hc
5ter>le rationalism ol
sciences as the
lrap'.'aniceenucleat>on of ,
"hole culture and mind sc°f
In an argument reHJ,n ‘
the
Garcia Chafardet's
distortion of masci>l>n'ty
fem>ninity inherent m seX
separation , Dougl3S .
of
“sorts that ,he dis,tor‘‘°lting
soence, “scientism’ rc f m
its separatim’
human and ethic,,l cone or(he
large part respons’bl
t
development of
P|ism it
nuclear peril. The d“ fraC.
has fostered has tender
“Onate knowledge. fr‘« (ht.
“Perience and den>(Fat
.
lntuittve and imagi"3*" |dy a<
S "e need so dfSP^Vatts,
Jh’8*Juncture. Theselat
nla|
We a8ree,are fufdan,e
The closer one gets to
the top of the party
hierarchies, women
become increasingly
invisible
The women’s movements and
the movements for societal
change will not be identical in
the different societies, each will
bring to it its own emphasis, its
own specificity, its own forms
of organization, its own prac
tical politics. For instance, the
women’s movement in the
third world while recognising
that a fundamental transforma
tion of class society is necessary
would emphasise the specifici
ty of the oppression and ex
ploitation of women and would
link its struggle to the struggles
of the other oppressed sections
of society. It is too early to see
what forms of solidarity and
collaboration these movements
might take; what is significant is
that the resistance has begun,
new paths seem to open in
dependent of the existing
models and ideologies, a new
time beginning.
Corinne Kumar-D’Souza
Vimochana
UN Expert Group Meeting on “Women
and Peace” (in preparation for 1985
International Women’s Conference),
Vienna, December 1983.
The fundamental sexism of our intellectual tools and our
political strategies must be confronted and transcended.
(translated by Nadine Samanich - ..
Theory, Vol. 1. Macmillan Press I.til.,
1981.
must also challenge all intellectual paradigms.
The women's movements and
these new movements for social
ism in the third world are as yet
only mushrooming but firmly
rooted in the struggles of the
people; hopefully these move
ments will produce a form of
politics, a political culture that
will move away from the domi
nant culture, expressed through
the intensifying militarism
which pervades every dimen
sion of society. It is not difficult
to sec that we are at an end of
an epoch, ‘when every old
category begins to have a
hollow sound, and when we are
groping in the dusk to discover
the new’. 17 Yet, the end of one
epoch also signals the birth and
transition to a new time; a time for
new ventures, a time for new
visions, a new time beginning.
3. Thompson, E.P , Protest and Survive.
feminine elements forced out of
intellectual and political
discourse by masculine ra
tionalism and reductionism.
While this mind set still con
trols the flow of the scientific
mainstream, there are some
refreshing contemporary' cur
rents from which we can take
hope.
4. Halliday.F., The Source of the New Cold
War, Exierminiim and the Cold War,
Collection New Left Review, 1982.
16. Bahro, Rudolf, A New Approach for the
peace movement, Exterminism and the
Cold War, Collection New Left Review
1982
17. Thompson, E.P., Exterminism the Last
stage of civaixation. Exterminism and the
Cold War, 1982.
Since at least the beginning of
the twentieth century', much has
happened within science that
calls into question the exclusive
ly reductionistic, mechanistic,
and nbjectivistic understanding
of reality that nineteenth cen
tury scientific assumptions
seemed in so many ways to sup
port. Increasingly in this cen
tury, the data generated in
scientific inquiry, die inter
pretive frameworks employed
to make sense of the data, and
the understanding by scientists
of their own methods of inquiry
have all become less and less
congenial to a world view reared
has attempted to be more holis
tic than other world affairs
studies; it.aspires to the iden
tification of universal human
values; and, at least at the level
of articulation, it abjures male
chauvinism. As a woman I
have often felt uncomfortable
in settings of world order in
quiry. As a feminist I have
always been comfortable, if not
satisfied, with the world order
framework. For me,it works to
explicate most of the structural,
the skeletal issues of the global
social order while feminism
serves to flesh out the inquiry,
to give it the human, living
dimension sought by all global
humanists. And I would place
most world order scholars and
most feminist peace researchers
in that category. However/he
goals of global humanism, the
exclusively on a positivistic
foundation (Douglas Sloan,
Insight-Imagination: The Eman
cipation of 'Thought and the Modem
World, 1982).
It has long been my belief that
world order inquiry is just such
an interpretive framework. It
16
world order movement and
universal feminism,all require
that the fundamental sexism of
our intellectual tools and our
political strategies must be con
fronted and transcended. Fem
inism has begun to challenge
the political structures, it must
also challenge all intellectual
paradigms. Virtually every
paradigm, every discipline,
every mode of inquiry is based
on the model of masculinity as
human, the male as the norm
for human development, per
sonally, socially and intellec
tually. Our intellectual tools,
therefore, are inadequate and
inhumane and need to be
redesigned according to a
balanced, fully human model of
the person. This redesign task
is. however, as much the res
ponsibility of peace research
and world order studies as it is
of feminism.
Neither women in general.nor
feminists in particular,have re
jected the significance of war as
the major threat to survival.
While some see the liberation
of women as a necessary first,
but not necessarily simulta
neous, step toward the aboli
tion of war, there have been no
outright refusals from feminists
to consider the other issue, and
the exploration of the connec
tions between the structural
and personal is at least under
way among feminist scholars.
Betty A. Reardon
Commission on Feminism
and Militarism
International Peace Research
Association
„ised family
society wa\°X of the rOO'S
dons D
United Na'
‘°
' for Women iS 3
^nd-mark with global dimenS10nS and ‘"'Plications ;
A plea for
Gender
Justice
Let me, at the outset, state
my testament of faith : India
can never really be free until
the last Indian-is free. And In
dians, except by political fic
tion, can never be free until the
last mother, ,sister or daughter
is free. And, if I may whisper
the truth, Indian Womanhood,
in large numbers, but with
marginal exception, is still liv
ing behind feudal - colonial
bars, in cultural chains, familial
fetters and under legal, political
economic and social discrimi
nation, now covertly, now
overtly, but never in fearless
equality. The husband, the
father and the son, as in
Manu’s vicious verse,are still
the bosses who matter. Bond
ed labour, as woman’s lot, is
writ large on the law of life,
even though some of them, out
of long habit or sublimated
fear, even love their chains.
Don’t point to the statue of the
woman prime minister or the
figure of some lady governor to
contradict me. The Constitu/ tion of our Socialist Republic
has textually liberated woman
and guaranteed her dignity
and personality. No bonded
womanhood in Bharat? Law
and life are distant neighbours.
The fact i, tha( women’s
issues and politica) issues can
not be separated Worldwide,
women clearly acknowledge
that global political considcra'■°ns demand their attention.
Worldwide,
we
are
sophisticated enough to
distinguish between substantive
discussions On
specific
measures and actions to aid
women and political polemics
on issues that the World Con
ference could not resolve. The
ability to make that distinction
between substantive recom
mendations and rhetorical
polemics, and then resolve to
make the United Nations
system more responsive to the
feminist perspective of most
women of the world on global
issues, is our best hope for the
future? (Viviant L. Derryck,
Director 1980)
our revolutionary testament
and operational technology'; a
gender movement on the mili
tant march with aware cadres
in numbers, is our social
locomotion; woman’s per
sonhood and potential, in all its
dimensions and without inhibi
tions, is our destination. This
fighting creed must impreg
nate law and life
genera1 ^‘"aw bearing on
reform o
when glaring
woman s 1 .
(<j i(s n„tice,
injUSt?ll acted through Indian
Whitehallacte
s
he Sat,
S—eit.ongago.but
that apart :
’’Oneofthe early attempts at
redressing the
Hindu woman
>s
^XVIH of 1937. the Hindu
Women s Right to ProperAct which came into force o
14-4-1937. Before the Ac
Hindu woman had a right to
maintenance from her hus
band’s share of joint family
property and in default of a
‘on grandson or great grand
son, she would inher.t his
separate property. 1 he 193/
Act destroyed the concept ol
survivorship and enabled her to
share her husband’s estate with
her son on her husband’s
death. This Central Act was
supplemented by provincial
enactments extending such
rights to agricultural properties
also.
What is the lot in law of
woman in the mass? How does
it compare with their kismet in
But it must be remembered
the callous universe of mas
that, generally speaking, inter
culine dominance? What tools
national law has been often
and techniques and feasible
cipherised in practice because
projects have to be fashioned?
there are no formal executive
These claim our immediate at
institutions to enforce it.
tention. Principled pragmat
Nevertheless, the world is mov
ism, not slogan-mongering
ing more and more towards
adverturism, is social realism.
moral compulsions upon mem
The Hindu Succession Act
The basic strength of gender
The Indian working class,
ber States to accept and imple
all groups of women? Identify
has conferred on, woman ab
justice is that it is rooted in the
even the organised, conscious
ment
international
Lning an inter-relationship bet
solute rights in what she in
Constitutions creed. Articles 14
struments.The parameters of
ween certain demographic and unions are unkind, apathetic or
to 16 declare the legal equality
hostile to the working woman.
Universal Gender Jurispruden
other trends, the Committee
band, parents and children.
of the sexes- a non-negotiable
Women
in
the
labour
market
ce are clear as is lucidly set out
concluded that they were in
She can adopt a child in her
fundamental. Though sex
are anathema and unions are
in Article 1 and 10 of the 1967
dicators of “a process of change
The crime of gender injustice
own right/ She can be an
discrimination is anathema for
male-bossed.
Declaration. I have maintain
which is moving in a direction
committed for so long, on so
adoptee. She can divorce her
the paramount law, have the
ed the view that having regard
opposite to ^he goals of our
many, shall be fought in the
husband and remarry, if so
laws pouring out of the
Human Tights, in their high
to Article 51 of our Constitution
society and its plan for develop
homes and in the offices, in the
minded. From Sati, she has pro
legislatures kept true faith and
tide,
have
found
expression
in
and
the
moral
pressure
of
intcrment”. The Committee also
factories and in the farms, in
gressed
to widow remarriage.
allegiance with the basic man
national conscience, the
identified major information
the fields and in the streets, in
The widow’s remarriage no
date? Has the Executive, which
Declaration on the Elimination
gaps and elite biases which had
the slums and pavements, in
longer results in her forfeiting
has the effective responsibility
obliterate, by progressive
of Discrimination against
affected the shaping of policy
the brothels and parlours, in
her rights in her late husband’s
to actualize ' the equality of and programmes for women’s
stages, the gender inequality
Women is an interpretative in
politics, public offices and the
estate. Central Act 30/56 has
women, raised their marital
which
has
been
a
curse
of
the
put
in
de-coding
the
meaning
development.
professions, in the ranks of
displaced the Hindu Widow
and materia] status, their rights
human heritage. The 27th
of Indian constitutional and
capitalists and landlords, as
Re-Marriage Act 1856 in this
to property and employment,
General Assembly of the
My first submission to all
other legislative provisions.
among workers and tillers even
their social, official and political
respect. A group of companion
United Nations proclaimed the
those committed to national
with crimson labels. I see
Acts
have codified Hindu Law
opportunities, to match that of
year 1975,. International
The law of the Constitution
reconstruction and confidence
gender exploitation omnipre
and have, in the process, pro
men? Empirical studies chal
Woman’s Year, designed to
in the rich capacity of women
is perfectly plain that sex
sent and omnipotent, with
jected an image of a Hindu
lenge the legal fiction of gender
strive for equality between men
to make substantial contribu
equality is a guarantee and the
women and children at the vicwoman who is no longer han
equality. Even the Judiciary
and women; to promote a
tion to the country’s planned
State has positive obligations
y tim’s end.
dicapped by reason of her sex
has at times, betrayed the
higher role of women in the
development, is to organize a
towards women in their various
only in the matter of civil
weaker gender by constitu
economic, political, social and
heavy shower of researches, in
roles as workers, as mothers, as
Today, the Indian labourer
rights.
tional cautery. To unveil the quiries, investigations and
wives and the like. The human
cultural life of countries; to pro
sells his sister and child to Gulf long gap between fiction and
studies from many angles and
mote their active participation
ist concern for the woman s
Arabs and other foreigners for
In the eyes of law, some
fact, assumptions and actuals,
in many fields, all focussed on
in the struggle for the develop
condition is compassionately
covert causes with court pro a flood of empathetic but
civilized provisions conferring
ment of friendship and co
realities of inequality, gaping
evident in Parts III and IV of
ceedings to cover up the sale;
authentic research is urgently
substantial
equality in the mat
the Constitution, provided we
injustices, legal shortfalls, the
operation between nations, for
in Madhya Pradesh markets
needed. Society’s great guilt
ter of marriage and ownership
why and how of the current
peace and social progress. The
read the text in the light of the
tribal girls and in Karnataka
towards the weaker gender will
of
property
have emerged since
struggle for Independence and
situation and the know-how of
equality of sexes in status and
Yellammas’ lustful customers
shock and shame the nation’s
Independence. Prime Minister
delivering political, economic,
opportunity has been affirmed
in the context of the radical
buy innocent damsels as
surviving patriots.
Nehru and Dr. Ambedkar had
social and cultural justice to the
in the Universal Declaration of
standards of gender justice ex
devadasis! No middle class wife
to face fierce reactionary
suppressed gender. A national
Human Rights. On November
pressed in International Instru
is free because her husband
Before women’s condition in
resistance then. Articles 14 to
upheaval of awareness involves 7, 1967, the General Assembly
ments. The Supreme Court, a
finally decides for her, except on
law and life is eyed, we need
16 are a high promise of equali
a solar exposure of injustices to
of the United Nations pro
few years ago, did interpret
some tremendous trifles. From
unbiased studies, fearless fin
ty, pursuant to which, some
the mental-moral vision of the
with benign concern for feminclaimed what may be called the
Sita to Kasturba, Rani ofjhandings and follow-up blue
legislations on marriage and
people. Militant research is the
Magna Carta of Women’s
ine welfare, the provisions
si and Sarojini Devi are splen
prints. Masculine domination
divorce etc., also have been
desideratum.
Equal Status : The Declaration
relating to plantation labour
did exceptions; the weight of
had prevented and polluted
enacted. The Equal Remu
and maternity benefits.
invisible irons are felt by one
researches on gender injustices.
neration Act. 1976,confers the
gender. They call her ‘the bet
Now that the National Com
“For every social wrong there must be a
right to equal wages for equal
By and large, though law did
ter half to hide the horrid sin.
mittee on the Status of women
on the woman. Mono
not
stipulate
it,
the
Hindu
way
remedy. But the remedy can be nothing of life stipulated the respective work
If I exaggerate to make myself has conscientised society to
gamy is enforced both on the
heard in this noisy world, it is
some extent, some vital issues
Hindu man and the Hindu
less
than
the
abolition
of
the
wrong.
”
roles
of
bread-winner
and
my way of protest against law’s
are thrown up:
woman. And even regarding
home-maker for man and
insensitive silence at this
woman. The demal of a right
inheritance, the Hindu
lawlessness.
Why had understanding of
by birth to a Hindu daughter tc
women’s status is, in large
The second submission is
on the Elimination of Discrimiwomen’s contribution to socie
thjit male exploitation of
measure, equal. Equal oppor
a share in the joint family estate
ty been shrouded in so much
women extends to the working
tunities for employment under
flowed logicaBy from the fact
Non-Aligned
Nations
Hava
“For every social wrongthere
mystery? Why had planners
class and peasant class where
that her place ln her parental
the State (which expression in
na and Delhi Meets - have
must be a remedy. But the
and social scientists seen
the capitalist ethos and feudal
family was only temporary, as
cludes the Public Sector Enter
shown considerable interest in
remedy can be nothing less
women’s concerns as of welfare
folkways diehard. Karl Marx
she was transplanted to her
the cause of women and it may
prises, thanks to the liberal in
than the abolition of the
or peripheral .rather than cen has, with tragic foresight, gone
husband’s family on marriage,
be rightly said that there is
terpretation by the Supreme
tral to the developmental pro on record :
wrong.”
female ferment present in the
a very early marriage in those
Court) are equal for men and*
cess? What are the historical
Now the capitalist system buys
days. A son never left a family
International Legal Atmos
women, although this mandate
Victory for the exploited is
and value dimensions of
children and young persons under
except on death. This basic
phere and International
does not currently operate in
indivisible. The exploited men
changes in women’s roles and
age. Previously, the workman sold
Gender Jurisprudence man
circumstance accounted for the
the vast private sector of the
cannot win, leaving women in
status in Indian Society? Are his own labour-power, which he
dating equality, and non
difference in status between a
national economy.
bondage. The cause is human
the empirical dimensions and
disposed off nominally as a free
discrimination emerging as
son and a daughter in a family.
Even so, the law is what the
and transcends cender. We
part of the human order.
agent.
Now
he
sells
his
wife
Hindu
law
conceived
the
joint
law
does and the test is not the
indicators
of
status
selected
by
Must have a revolutionary
family as a unit of ownership of
and child. He has become a
social scientists to analyse
text but the fact of how law
theory and radical strategy.
The
Copenhagen
World
property
as
ancient
Hindu
slave
dealer.
affects life,
Conld, <» P>8.20
women’s position applicable to
The constitution-in-action is
17
SANGHARSH
It is a crime against humanity
that our women are s; ut up Within
the four walls of the houses
as prisoners.
In the Forefront
of the Struggle
in antagonism to it.
Not until three and a half years
after the military take over in
1977, were women once again
to emerge on the political scene
as a mass force. This time,
however, the organisations that
came into being, though they
have a historical continuity
with tbe past, are qualitatively
different in their emphasis and
approach.
A Transformed
Movement
The late sixties and early seven
ties saw a blossoming of intellec
tual activity and grassroots
organisation, albeit in embryo
nic form. Women in larger
numbers joined the profession
and though their numbers were
relatively small as compared to
men, they made a significant
contribution. Television in par
ticular, broke the taboos gene
rally connected in Pakistan
with music and the arts. Col
lege going women with artistic
talents took advantage of this
opportunity and become in
strumental in portraying a dif
ferent woman. A recognition of
the media’s transformational
capacity may lie behind the
current regime’s attempts
to drastically alter its program
ming and personnel.
The mushrooming of left wing
parties in the late sixties and
early seventies, tied as they
were with the. working class and
the peasantry, drew into the
political arena, women who
were previously totally dissociat
ed from it. Not only did this
serve to politicise more women
than ever before,but it also gave
them badly needed organisa
tional experience. Even though
women joined the left, the posi
tion oj different left groups vis-a-vis
women remains unclear. Although
in most cases the rights of
women arc formally recognis
ed at a theoretical level, at the
personal level where theory is
acted out, a lot remains to be
desired. Also, organisationally,
left parties have reflected the
male orientation of society as a
whole in that few women have
risen to positions of significant
responsibility.
All of this past history cumulat
ed and waited for the right con
juncture to express itself. The
prelude came during the first
few years of military rule dur
ing which the reconstituted
state came to rely very heavily
on Islam as an ideological
weapon. The three groups
most under attack, workers,
peasants and women, were not
deceived by this ideological
cover. Given that the State in
Pakistan under the military has
seen fit to take away the hard
pressed rights won by all tKree
groups undet previous regimes,
the linkage between the State
Which is Viewed by most Pakis
tanis as the most reactionary
repressive regime jn the
tion's history and the Jamiat
elements, has served in
Pakistan, to totally delegiti’mise
the fundamentalist version of
Islam in (he eyes of these three
groups.
The current regime has denied
to workers the right to strike.
Among the rural tenants and
landless labourers too, there is
a severe sense of deprivation.
The fact that a tenant can to
day be evicted at will, despite
laws to the contrary, tells him
that the State is his enemy. See
ing the religious elements link
ed to this type of State, they are
strongly in opposition to them
selves lead - that the need was
to educate each other and fight
for their rights, not only in
response to the current
barbarism inflicted upon them
by this regime, but also to over
come inequalities that pre-,
viously existed.
regime’s manoeuvres, but also
because of their own inadequa
cies, both theoretical and
organisational. In other words,
though the toilers in Pakistan
show strong signs of dissatisfac
tion with the military and have
taken independent initiative on
occasions in opposing the State
there is no organised group
capable of channelling this
discontent, and the leadership
essential to such a movement
is just not there.
Created initially by profes
sional middle class women in
Karachi, in September 1981,
WAF soon received the en
dorsement of seven women’s
groups. These groups, while
maintaining their independent
In the case of women,things are
different. All these years of
cumulative experience provid
ed the expertise that is now be
ing put to organisational use,
at a time when the situation in
Pakistan critically demands it.
September 1981 saw the birth
in Pakistan of the Women's Ac
tion Forum (WAF), a mass based,
popular front of many different
women’s groups, organisations and
concerned individuals. The specific
issue that saw the birth of WAF
was a zina case, wherein a 15
year old girl was sentenced to
under WAF’s banner in a
popular, front,dedicated to one
common goal - women’s devel-
mem of basic human rights for
all Pakistani women. These
rights are seen to include
education, employment, physi
cal security, choice of marital
Blind Girl Punished
For Being Raped
On August 6, 1983, women’s
organisations in Lahore held an
emergency meeting to protest
against the court award of 15
lashes to a blind girl Safia who
had been raped by her
employers.
these people refused to help
him. Only after the child was
bom and died, did Safia’s father
manage to register a case of
rape.
",
The court acquitted the accus
Safia, a young blind girl, work ed men for “lacli of evidence’,’
ed as a domestic servant for a because the current law in
week. Then she returned home Pakistan requires four adult
and told- her mother she had male eyewitnesses to prove
been raped by Maqsood, her rape. However, since Safia, an
employer’s son. Some days later unmarried girl, had borne a
when Safia’s mother was not at child, this was treated as
home, Maqsood’s mother came evidence of her having commit
and again took her to the house ted adulterv by consent (zina bil
where she was raped by Ma raza). She did not get the benefit
of doubt which the men had
qsood’s father. As a result of the
got, because the fact of her hav
rape, Safia became pregnant
ing borne a child was used
but she hid the matter from her
against her. Thus the court con
father, who came to know o it verted the case of rape to a case of
only a few months 'ater'
c adultery by consent, found Safia
then solicited the help of village
guilty of zina and sentenced her
officials and police to register a to 15 lashes in public.
case of rape (Zina bil j“b’)’but
The bourgeois politic3' Part,“
ln Pakistan are all top hea /
and have a very weak mass
b“e. Their tigs tend to be'aore
traditional and their pr0^" .
generally incoherent an
opportunistic. This of course
excludes certain groups front
'he minority province. eSPcc,<*
'y Baluchistan, where, beca“ ]
of ‘ho nature of the na‘>°nal
otofetnent, these part.ej have
a more defensible stand- Th
'aktstan People’s Party *b“*
‘he party that SP^’J0;
'ar«f segments of the toderj'
'as »een its leaders
‘otprtsoned, exiled. The
f°UPs. which also had a b3S;
a'"°ng the workers and pe
Recognising the enormousness
of the task confronting them,
the organisers proceeded
cautiously. Initially they
devoted their attention to
fighting to preserve rights cur
rently held, but under attack
from the military. Given their
limited numbers at this point,
a lobbying cum pressure group
approach was used. The first
task undertaken was a national
signature campaign based on
five issues affecting women.
Over 7,000 signatures were col
lected between October and
December 1981, and the docu
ment was presented to Zia ul
Haq.
flogging in consequence of her
having married a man of a
lower class background, con
trary to her parents’ wishes.
This sentence triggered off a
response among women, com
bining as it did issues of class,
social morality and choice.
Following as this case did,upon
the heels of news about women
professors being molested and
removed from their positions
women being tortured for their
political beliefs and affiliations,
restrictions on the professional
activities of women, imposition
of dress code requirements for
women public employees, ac
tion was felt to be imperative.
It was also recognised that help
could not be expected from
other quarters, either from the
Movement for Restoration of
Democracy (MRD),or the left,
since these groups were fighting
for their own survival, and had
not previously taken a very ac
tive part in any national effort
to push for women’s rights.
Women recognised that this
was a fight they must them
Realising even at its inception
that the State was unlikely to
concede other than token
demands if it limited its ac
tivities to submitting petitions,
WAF decided to broaden its
base. Towards this end, in
January 1982, the Karachi
chapter of WAF organised a
two day symposium on
“Human rights and Pakistani
women’’ with simultaneously
running workshops on educa
tion, law, consciousness raising
and health. This was the first
of a series of symposia and
workshops held on a wide
variety of topics of interest to
women in English. Urdu, as
well as the regional languages.
Initially made up of urban bas
ed, middle class women, WAF
also began to reach out to
’ *n consequence
SANGHARSH
While deepening its base,
WAF was at the same time;cxtending it. October 1981,saw
the creation of its second
chapter in Lahore, thc capital
of Punjab province. This was
soon succeeded by others in
Islamabad, Peshawar, Bahawalpur, Lyallpur, Quetta, as well
as a number of other cities. It
was made clear that anybody
who so wished could initiate a
WAF chapter, provided they
werq willing to adopt the
charter drawn up by the
Karachi chapter. Thc activities
of each new chapter would
however, be subject to scrutiny
by thc two oldest chapters,
Karachi and Lahore. If any
discrepancy is seen between thc
activities of thc local chapter
and WAF’s charter, that
chapter is subject to expulsion
WAF’s chapters arc also en
couraged to incorporate as
many of thc women’s organisa
tions existant in eac h area as
possible, this with a view to ex
tending the reach of the orga
nisation,facilitating co-ordina
tion, and avoiding duplication
of effort. WAF recognises the
centrality of the gender ques
tion as a determinant in the for
mation of a united front for
women. In their organisation
as a mass movement, they constitute a dynamic force in that
their activities are constantly
e xpanding, membership growing,
status, planned parenthood,
non discrimination.
Report from Pakistan
<as well. One would expect
therefore,that the movement
against the regime in Pakts<an
would be composed of 'hese
•hree elements - the workers
’he rural peasantry. a
women. Facts show otherwise.
Let us examine the spec,r,cl y
minorities, as well as to work
ing class women. Their panels
and workshops reflected this
new membership by including
such topics as inflation, con
sumer consciousness, thc na
tionality question, thc latter be
ing brought up because among
thc WAF founders were Sindhi
women who took this question
very seriously.
18
and the base expanding at an
accelerated pace. By virtue of
this dynamism, emerging so
shortly after their coming into
being, WAF is clearly in the
forefront of all other political
formations in Pakistan at this
time.
Not only is WAF a mass organi
sation, it is also democratic in
its structure,in that it is nonhierarchical, and non-bureaucratic. It has no president or
secretary, and decisions arc ar
rived at through discussion. A
working committee handles
organisational matters con
nected with different chapters
and each chapter sends a repre
sentative whenever all the
chapters meet. In terms of its
organisational structure, its
membership and its pro
gramme, therefore, WAF
represents a radical departure
from previously constituted
women’s groups in Pakistan.
Important
Achievements
lit its battle with the regime,
the women’s movement, on the
surface, seems to have lost
more often than it has won. In
February 1983. 200 women
demonstrated in Lahore again
st the proposed changes in the
law of evidence. At least 20 of
the participants were injured in
their clash with the police, and
another 30 arrested. In spite of
this demonstration and the sup
port the women got from men,
the proposed changes were
nevertheless rammed through
the puppet legislative assembly
less than a month later.
They were also unsuccessful in
their attempt to pressurisethe
regime into sending women
athletes to international sports
events last year, specifically the
Asian games in the fall of 1982.
The move to institute separate
universities for women and the
dismantlement of the family
laws ordinance have both tem
porarily been shelved, but it is
expected that thc regime will
reopen these matters at a later
date, in a manner opposed by
WAF and other women’s
groups. The one big victory
WAF has had in its confronta
tion with thc regime has been
the removal of Israr Ahmed
from television, although he
continues to hold his post as a
member of Zia’s handpicked
consultative council.
When one moves away from
attempting to draw up a score
board saying “regime’s wins,
women’s losses’’ which seems
to be a fairly limited way of
viewing the whole matter, the
gains, though intangible, seem
fairly substantial. Women have
foi the first time adopted an
organisational stance which
makes them an.important force
that any political group in
Pakistan will now have to
reckon with. They have broken
out of the old pattern of refor
mism and paternalism which
have characterised the Pakis
tani political scene for too long,
and have initiated a process of
education, organisation and in
formational work that will leave
a mark on women for times to
come, regardless of whether
WAF survives as an organisa
tion or not.
In broadening and deepening
its base, WAF has been con
scious that it is not sufficient
merely to critique the regime
on the grounds it sets, but to
deal with those issues that im
mediately touch the lives of the
average Pakistani women,who
arc not concerned with univer
sities , whether separate or
co-education al ,or with womens
involvement in sports events, to
cite but two examples. To this
end, they have initiated discus
sions on topics of more im
mediate concern like child
labour, growing narcotics use,
scarcity of public services, sup
pression of women, crimes
against women, all issues affec
ting the working class very
directly. They have initialed
serious research on the status
and condition of women in
Pakistan in order to concretise
their position and work. In a
public fashion, they have kept
in the forefront the opposition
to the current regime. To this
end they have blitzed the
media with articles, comments,
enquiries, hnd in so doing have
recruited more and more.
women into their ranks, as well
as gained increasing support
among men.
lhe task of organising women
is much more difficult than that
of organising either workers or
peasants. One has to struggle
not only against economic
forces but also against the social
taboos that have a strong sanc
tion in Pakistani society.
In the Forefront
of the strusfffle
research cells, whose work will
be to provide,not only informa
tion,but also the infrastructural
backup needed if this additional
information is to mean anything
in concrete terms.
Contd. from page 18
WAF’s desire to constitute a
mass organisation can be seen
not only as a consequence of
the nature of the question they
are addressing, but also as a
consequence of the lessons
learnt from the past, where, too
often, groups isolated them
selves from the bulk of the
population because of the
rigidity of the positions they
took. Such rigidity often led to
the degeneration of differences
into personal squabbles, factionalisation, and stagnation.
Some Limitations
We have earlier alluded to the
mass character of the women’s
movement, drawing as it does
women from all classes. Thus
has been an integral part of the
movement, though there is not
always agreement between the
women who belong to the older
women’s groups like APWA
which have a strong upper class
bias, and WAF members who
£) have either just entered the
political current, or have had
previous experience with dif
ferent Left groups. The latter
tend to view issues along class
and national lines, and though
aware that the gender question
is a critical one, their approach
to ways to resolve gender dis
crimination , extends beyond
that of previous groups.
Although thus far all these
various groups have worked
well together, it is possible that
there may‘be a parting of the
ways when,and if,the more
radical elements begin to push
for changes that are both' class and
gender based, and as means are
sought outside formal struc
tures. It is important to note
that this division is not seen as
immediate, but is merely
/y pointed to as a possibility.
The different WAF chapters
are incredibly uneven in their
membership composition, and
this unevenness is reflected in
their work. The Lahore chapter
is clearly the most advanced
politically, and more willing to
take actions that other.chapters
might back off from. The
demonstration in February
was organised by this group.
The decision making structure
is also subject to modification.
Since there is so much uneven
ness between different chap
ters, there has been some con
cern among the more advanc
ed segments in the movement
that certain individuals in cer
tain chapters.might deraij the
movement by pushing for a
more conformist,collaborative
approach. In order to avoid this
happening, attempts are being
made to restructure tne inieinal organisation. The balance
between democracy and cen
tralism is always a tricky un°
and so far a resolution has been
shelved. When the restructur
ing does occur, however,there
is no doubt that it will not
satisfy everybody, and its
repercussions will be felt in the
composition
of
the
organisation.
Similarly, WAF has.so far had
no formal membership struc
ture or elective process. Respon
sibility has been based on work
contributed. Indications are that
this matter too will be placed on
the agenda this year. The tenor
of the movement will be critical
ly affected by the path chosen.
What this unevenness and class
heterogeneity suggest. is that
once the regime begins to take
a more antagonistic stand
towards WAF in particular, and
the movement as a whole, there
is a possibility that the more
uncertain elements within its
membership might choose to
leave the ranks rather than
engage in confrontational ac
tivities. The extent of this fall
ing away is impossible to
predict, since a large section of
WAF’s membership consists of
women who have previously
had no political experience, and
therefore have not stood the test
of time. There is no doubt
however , that some of the
women with close ties to the
bureaucratic elements, wjio
have more at stake in the
system, will leave.
Its urban character also means
that the WAF, and the women’s
movement, as a whole, still have
not been able to reach the rural
women, who constitute one of
the most oppressed segments of
the Pakistani population. This
is a shortcoming that will only
be rectified as the membership
increases, and a deliberate at
tempt is made to spread out in
to the countryside. Given the
nature of the popular struggle in
Pakistan, which has always
taken its inception in the cities,
this bias, at least in the initial
phase, is to be expected. Also,
given the linkages between the
workers in the urban centres
with their rural counterparts, it
is expected that as working class
women become more integrated
into the movements main
stream, this link will be made
organically.
Inherent in me movement, as
in other progressive formations
previously existing in Pakistan,
is a tendency towards tailism,
that is, to allow the regime to
determine the direction of
struggle. The more advanced
elements tn the women’s
movement seem to be cogni
sant of this possibility but the
newer recruits are so tied up
with day to day reactions to the
military’s policies, that the
wider issues and needs could
easily be lost sight of. By letting
the regime set the agenda, women
will be permitting the forward mo
tion to be determined on the terms of
the State and not on their own
definition oj what needs to be done.
There is a critical need
therefore, while responding to
the day to day attacks on
women's rights by the regime,
not to let this sap all the energy.
It should also be kept firmly in
mind,that a lot of these legally
won rights really mean very lit
tle in the existential reality of
the bulk of Pakistani women.
Transforming that reality neces
sitates educational and informa
tional work rooted in an auto
nomous women’s movement.
WAF is to some extent trying
to deal with this matter by set
ting up legal, publicity and
Certain chapters in WAF have
stressed the non - political
character of the movement.
This assertion, combined with
the fact that the wives of many
prominent bureaucrats and up
per class males are active in its
ranks, has to a certain extent
contributed towards the tenden
cy of the regime to allow WAF’s
continued existence in public.
However, there are indications
that this is a fragile existence.
The demonstration in February
is an indication that the regime
is becoming uncomfortable with
the women’s movement, and is
beginning to see it as more of
a threat. This is unavoidable if
the movement is to continue to
be dynamic. As soon as WAF
sheds its non — political
stance,there is every chance that
the regime will ban it from
meeting publicly and legally.
The women’s movement must
make a conscious attempt to
keep from slipping into an elitist
position, such as happened with
previous women’s groups. To
keep the movement limited to
the question of legal rights is to
fall into the trap of letting the
state determine its tenor. Even
if these rights were to be
granted, which admittedly at
this point seems a pipe dream,
we have seen that, as in the
past, they will go a very short
way in actually transforming the
reality within which the bulk of
Pakistani women live. In order
to achieve real change, for-
malism must be shed, and an
understanding of the nature and
dynamics of class and national
oppression'as a whole must be
and
1984 fourth Film Festival, held between March 12
Virn
tions°chan
that th,
Bangalore showed the very different percep-
on’y one ? different directors have of women. Interestingly,
rcrnindin, '”e 7 ftims screened, was directed by a woman,
by men, a US|flat the film industry is very much dominated
developed.
The women’s struggle in Pakis to'vardswotn ,Iencc suffers from a measure of insensitivity
tan, as elsewhere,is a struggle tB‘s slant wi||n’eVCn ,n ,ts more progressive form. Hopefully,
that will not be won overnight.
much reduced as more and more women
Regardless of whether the military Parttcipatc
regime slays or goes, it is a struggle
that will continue on into thefuture.
The proponerifs of the women’s
movement must therefore pre
pare for an extended struggle.
This they can do only if they
develop the organisational
capacity to deal with the
possibility of a future when they
are no longer permitted to
operate legally. They can do
this by forging close links with the
most progressive sectors ofsociety, and
by maintaining their relative
autonomy on the gender question.
Women in Pakistan, by taking
die initiative in confronting the
military regime in an organis
ed public fashion, have shown
their determination to be part of
a nationwide struggle for
societal change. They have de
nounced the regime’s brutalities,
not only when they affected
women,but also other groups
like students and minorities.
The time is ripe in Pakistan for
women to push for putting the
gender question on die agenda
of progressive groups. This is a
strategic and a tactical question
for both the women’s move
ment and for the progressive
movement in Pakistan as a
whole.
Shahnaz Ahmed
(from The Pakistan Progressive,
Vol. 5, No.l, Spring‘1983)
-------- *film making.
The Fractured
Image
It WHS fitting (hat lhc film festi
val should have been inaugurat
ed by Ms.Prcma Karanlh. and
‘ Phaniyamma’ (Kannada),has
been well accepted by feminists
all over the world, shaking
them out of temporary complacence by showing the hor
rific customs that women have
been victims of. It is the story
of a child widow who is
ostracised from mainstream
society, because of the customs
of the day. Being very sub
missive by nature, Phaniyam
ma encounters a younger
generation of women who are
learning to rebel against their
refuses to go back to her unjust
in-laws, afld a young widow
who refuses to shave her head.
Phaniyamma watches, and far
from criticisingthem, she who
has learnt of the hypocrisy of
men, supports their icono
clasm. Phaniyamma, and the
film, therefore act as a catalyst
for change in a sexist society
In ‘Ekakini’ (Malayalam),
Director G.V.Panikker ex
plores the rhetoric of ‘feminini
ty’ and ‘masculinity’ by jux
taposing a newly married cou
ple in their sexual stereotype.
As the feminine sensitivity of
the bride clashes hard with the
macho masquerade of the
groom, the film ends with the
girl summoning the courage to
walk out on her husband.
While the intentions of the
director were honourable, he
never seemed to question,or
work against the accepted
‘feminine’ values, which unfor
tunately made the film less in
teresting than it could have
been.
‘Angivera’ was a subtle film,
showing the development of a
young girl in newly communist
Hungary. Vera is influenced
by two women, one a dogmatic
ideologue, the other a non
conformist. who has not re
jected life and laughter in her
communism. As the film pro
gresses, Vera seems to tilt away
from the humane Maria, an
impression confirmed by her
betrayal of her lover at a party
meeting. The film raised ques
tions about the role of feminism
in a communist society, as, to
whether women can manage to
retain the warmer aspects of
femininity,or inevitably co-opt
with the cold logic and 'self
seeking ambition of the male
superstructure.
Bergman’s
‘Cries
and
Whispers’ was interesting,
because it depicted the
underdeveloped love-hate rela
tionship between three sisters
one of who is an agonised
invalid and dies in the course
of the film, leaving the other
two sisters with a new beginn-
The softness spat in my face.
field labourers,
tired out by (he day’s toil,
bent their heads
and fumblingly wrote
on their slates with .chalks
"Fire”
Again she said .
"Write once more, clearly-Fire”
Bending their heads,
they began to write,
with more confidence, this time.
I saw their fingers,
moving ova the slates,
turn into flames,
and as they completed the word,
their hands became torches.
"Hat take this now ifyou want it”
So saying,
she gave me back the flower.
(translated from-Hindi by Mannski)
MANUSHl
19
ing lor their lives.
•Portrait of Liv Ullman’, trac
ed the accomplishments and
'emotions of Norwegian actress
I.iv Ullman, her relationship
with friend and lover Ingmar
Bergman and that with her lit
tle daughter. The documentary
reminded one of Simone de
Beauvoir (in the “Second
Sex”),who says that,the greater
sensitive
comments
on
motherhood and on the com
plex experience of being a
woman, it would seem that Liv
Ullman belongs to the first
category Still.it is worth men
tioning that acting is one pro
fession where women are not
torn between contradictory
aspirations, where often their
professional success con
tributes, if anything,to their
sexual valuation While this
makes it easier to. escape the
yoke of men, as Beauvoir puts
it, it is only the more sensitive
actress who will go beyond
mere exhibition, and give
meaning to her life by giving
meaning to the world.
Coming nearer home, one of
the better screenings in the
festival of films on women was
‘Dakhol’ (Bengali),directed by
Gautam Ghosh.The protago-
mother of two, who is fighting
a losing battle against the
wealthy zamindar for posses
sion of the fallow land made
rich and fertile with the years
of toil and tears put in by her
and her husband. The film
brought out starkly,the need to
link up the women’s movement
with a broader class struggle,
and the double burden of
poverty and womanhood that
Andi carried.
A major event in the festival,
was the premiere of Kumar
Shahani’s new film ‘Tarang’
(Hindi). Already chosen for ex
hibit at the coming Tashkent
ni’s second venture after
‘Maya Darpan’.made 12 years
ago. Tarang is in epic form....
a film about greed and ambi
tion, frailty and sacrifice, the
class struggle and militancy....
all the gamut of emotions that
have been the building blocks
of the human condition today.
Even more interesting than the
film however,was the general
symposium that followed the
screening of ‘Tarang’,
Kumar Shahani himself ad
dressed the audience on ‘Struc
tural Violence Against Women
Contd. on page. 22
SANGHARSH
and one man - one value. The
I feel it is
.
suicide among young married
.
.
injustices of the past are not in
public opiniOn 10^ t0 akrt
Although the Constitution,
women. Increasing the age of
the least disturbed by the pre
in its basic declaration, is broad
ful aspect that thi
a painmarriage to 18 is desirable
tence to justice of the present
A Division
e r'y=als.
enough to ensure equality of
because, until then, a girl is not
and we judges and politicians
the
Highest
C
o
°
r
t
l
C
°
U
t"'
men and women before the
physically and mentally mature
and civil servants play Judas to
State, has clearly
r '^ls
law, its interpretation and
for the responsibilities of
the Jesus of our Constitution.
efe";°fthe,unbndlXlwher
implementation have led to
parenthood.
Does Anatole France ring a bell
gaping disparities. For instan ofa Muslim husband , !■
for the Indian elite when he
ce, th'e personal laws, especial hiswife.IanteX^^
Gujarat has made child mar
acidly says :
WhpVthJv°rthipshagves^
riage a cognizable offence and
ly the Islamic Family Law,
contain gross discrimination in
provided
for
the
appointment
'kLtX5' M°id- (‘368
“To disarm the strong and
the field of marriage and
of a Child Marriage Prevention
arm the weak, would be to
Officer. This is a good lead;
divorce, succession and inheri
change the social order which
The Dowry Prohibition Att,
tance, guardianship and main
The only condition necessaty
who have watched female
it’s my job to preserve. Justice
enforcement, it is necessary
tenance. But such inequality
1961 (No 26 of 1961),sought to
workers in summer’s blistering
u
eXercise
‘he
is the means by which esta
that
all
offences
under
the
before the law,and unequal
counteract
a
deep-rooted
evil.
rtght ofd.vorce by a husband. heat on road construction and
blished
injustices
are
Child Marriage Restraint Act,
Dowry is often a cover-up for
protection of the laws have sur
other hard toil cannot complain
1S that he must be a major and
sanctioned.
1929, should be made
vived the lethal claws of Arti of sound mind at that time He
tnat women are unfit for the sale of girls by their parents,
cognizable and Special Officers
an atrocious, unethical, but die
soft jobs of chaprasis. It is
cle 13. The Courts have
can effect divorce whenever he
I should really request the
hard custom which has claim
appointed to enforce its
watered down ‘equality’, by the desires. Even if he divorces his
masculine prejudice that is at
suppressed gender to rise in
ed
more
lives
in
modern
India
provisions.
doctrine of reasonable classi wife under compulsion, or in
the bottom of the rule and it is
insurrectionary non-violence
fication,as justifying differential
good that the Kerala High
cest, or in anger that is con
for translation of constitutional
The Suppression ol Immoral
‘witches’ in primitive Europe.
Court has exposed the vice.
treatment and have gone a step
sidered perfectly valid. No
rhetoric into domestic and
Traffic Act, 1956, hardly helps
The Court observed :
further to hold that classifica
special form is necessary for ef
public reality, so that woman,
womankind because of the
which all society is vicariously
tion of communities on the
fecting divorce under Hanafi
in the fullness and fairness of
loopholes
in
the
text,
half
guilty,
was
prohibited
by
Act
basis of religious denomina law... The husband can effect
equal
partnership, may emerge
heartedness in execution, and
28 of 1961. Another legislation
tions for purposes of family
it by conveying to the wife that
The right of women should
to shape a new Bharat. Neither
thanks to judicial interpretato salvage girls from the sinister
laws r may be regarded as
he is repudiating the alliance.
not be denied on fanciful
a doll nor a drudge nor a
practice of pre-puberty mar
reasonable and therefore, con It need not even be addressed
assumptions of what work the
criminal’s helpless target shall
riages, is the Child Marriage
prosecution is launched. The
stitutionally sustainable.
to her. It takes effect the mowoman could do and could not
woman be, but a builder of
Restraint Act, popularly called
truth is that neither the
Muslim womanhood could well
ment it comes to knowledge.
do. Whether the work is of an
the Sharada Act. The forbidhave been salvaged if constn’"
Should Muslim wives suffer this
arduous nature and therefore
“
To
disarm
the
strong
and arm the weak
dence
of
marriages
of
persons
tive judicial statemanship had
tyranny for all times? Should
unsuitable for woman,must be
below a certain age is a protec
would be to change the social order which
adopted a more humanistic
their personal law remain so
decided from the point of view
tion
against
sale
of
girls
in
perspective to constitutional
cruel towards these unfortunate
of how women feel about it and
it’s my job to preserve. Justice is the means
matrimony without their adult.
construction of Articles 13 and
wives? Can it not be amended
how they would assess it. It is
consent. The remarkable thing
by which established injustices are
14. But judges are no better nor
suitably to alleviate their suffer
regrettable that decisions of
about these two legislations, is
worse than others in society,
sanctioned.
v/1
ings? My judicial conscience is
material consequence said to be
that while rhe evil was rampant
whatever the halo of their of
disturbed at this monstrosity.
in the so called interest of
and the menace could not be
fice;. and, on crucial issues,
Bharat, a partner in society and
women, purporting to protect,
The question is whether the
legislature
or
the
judicature
nor
combated except by the most
where prejudice affects think
a free person with potential in
the position of women, are
conscience of the leaders of
indeed the administrative
stringent swing into State ac
ing, objectivity is a myth in
her own right!
public opinion of the communi
generally taken not after any
culture, has the social will to
tion, the notorious fact which
court, as out of court. I still
consultation with representa
ty will also be disturbed. (1972
save the weaker gender. I
history will record against the
plead that the absurdity and
Let us look at the facts of life
tive
bodies
of
women,
but
KLT 512 on 514)
remember introducing, while a
rule of law,is that under these
acerbity of personal laws, irra
bearing on gender justice, now
unilaterally by the adminis
Minister in Kerala, a Dowry
paper tiger legislations, hardly
This see-saw of law shows a
tionally cruel to women, may
that
we have some idea of the
trators , most of whom carry
Prohibition Bill in the Kerala
any prosecution was launched
political judicial disposition to
well be relieved by the High
crisis of hypocrisy from which
with them the hang over of the
Legislature which had teeth and
or conviction secured and the
woman’s welfare,and readiness
Bench which can afford to play
past, the past of male domina
would bite, not merely bark if law and justice suffer. A
evil flourished unabated
to surrender to religious fun
the statesman and enforce
tion in our social set up.
enacted and enforced, which dialectical approach to the
because the impotence built-in
damentalists and communal
gender justice,even in family
pathological conditions of
was furiously opposed by the
by
legislative
draftsmanship
chauvinists. The Indian Adop
law by imaginative application
female handicaps, reveals the
Judged in the background of
Church and a few other
and the ineffectualness bred by
tion Bill became a casualty in
of the egalitarian creed of Ar
inhumanity of man to woman.
our traditional attitudes and
religions in Kerala,with the
non
enforcement,
led
to con
Parliament for communal
ticles 14 and 15.
Women, in every religion,-every
conventional sentiments it may
result that I had to allow the
tempt for legislative projects as
cowardice. And Mathura s
community, every caste and
perhaps appear that woman
legislative
bill
to
lapse.
By
teasing illusions. The Report
case, a rape episode which end
Look at the ugly, nonsecular
every tribe, are second class
whose role has all along been
contrast, the Central Bill which
on Status of Women states :
ed in conviction in two courts, understood to be domestic
and grossly discriminatory
citizens. Thus the exploitative
was enacted with out much
met with a magic acquittal in
situation in regard to Christian
factor in society is compounded
dominance, cannot expose and
opposition, had no teeth and,
It
is
hardly
necessary
to
the Supreme Court because
Succession in a progressive
in their case. They are a back
adjust herself to some of the oc
may be, no intent to bite,
argue the case against child
gender justice was sacrificed at
State like Kerala. I tried, when
ward class, maimed psychically
cupations which have been the
salved
masculine
conscience
marriages. It may be pointed
the altar of moth-eaten rules of
I was a Minister there, to unify
and manacled physically. Even
sole preserve of men hitherto,
and slumbered on the statute
out however, that the Suicide
the law in the three regions of evidence.
in rich communities .woman R
and that might perhaps explain
book.
The
basic
issue
of
gender
Enquiry committee appointed
Travancore, Cochin and Mala
has a, raw deal. For instance,
the inaccessibility of several
by the Government of Gujarat, justice that occurs to my mind
I do not propose to be ex
bar by the uniform application
among
Marwaris. with higher
posts to women. Just as the
is as to whether we, as Indjan
reported that child marriage is
levels of prosperity, the young
of the Indian Succession Act
haustive in my probe into per
Civil Rights Movement of the
humanity, do accept the axio
one of the significant factors
throughout the State. My Bill
vasive gender injustice, t is
woman
is exposed to dowry
1950s and 1960s in the United
logical import of one woman
leading to the high incidence of
was resisted vociferously by the
deaths, disowned after pomp
enough to say that even in e
States aroused a new national
Congress and Socialists, ob
ous
marriage
by parents and
administrative areas, there
sensibility to sex discrimina
viously at the instance offoul play. Muthamma s case
detested by in-laws who make
tion, situations may arise in
(AIR 1979 SC 1868). shows
masculine and other vested in
more demands, with hara kiri
this country too, compelling
terests. The Bill could not be
as the only hope of escape. The
how even the rules of t e n
women to seek enforcement of
proceeded with and today in
dian Foreign Service displayed
girls are not qualified to be self
what is due to them. Woman
India 1983, in Kerala,which
vulgar discrimination against
dependent or employable, with
is no longer content merely to
has seen Marxists in power and
confidence to walk irito the
women and the Court ne
sit at home expecting the man
the Congress which boasts of
wide world when, like a bear at
to earn the bread for the fami
shot down the Pr0'?>Hnes
Likewise, in the India* Airlmes
secular credentials, we have the
bay, she has to live her own
ly. Both are quite often equal
Travancore Christian Succes
life. Girls are brain-washed into
partners in sharing the finan
Corporation Rules. air
sion Act,which gives next to
believing that matrimony is
cial burden of running the
esses were subjeC‘e and
nothing to the female gender on
their destiny.
home. This social change must
Shameful discriminatl°"
succession, and the Cochin
the Supreme Court (Al
, necessarily have its impact
Averages often hide many
Christian Succession Act,which
sc 1829) Struck down^fL- upon traditional perspectives
ugly facts. If we examine State
gives something,but not a fair
concerning women’s role and
average
literacy rates further,
A veneer of legal
share,to women on inheritance
that must call for change injppr
the position is very unsatisfac
and the Indian Succession Act,
laws, particularly
equalitv
in —
. . ' so in the light
- .
tory, with references to schedul
which
is substantially
just
«.**«*«—more
.,.v.vjuai
1
J
but of the constitutional mandate oi
ed castes .in general and
to wives and daughters of ’ favour
of
equality. IVUiVa
Rules ouwvuu
should not
“ —* V/4
cqucuiiy.
scheduled caste women in par
Malabar Christians. As for
’beneath the sur
—
ace operate as a deterrent td suchv
ticular. There are 46 districts in
Muslim women, apart from
change, but promote it. A time
the country (mainly in Andhra
injustice is writ larSe^ must necessarily come when all
their discrimination in inherit
Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pra
ance, how can it be that, in the
posts,excepting those which due
desh, Rajasthan and Uttar
egalitarian ethos of our con
to physical reasons women can
the injustice but sustair,ed’ tO
Pradesh),where the literacy rate
stitutional order, the triple
not take up, must be available
my surprise, another Par '
among scheduled caste women
t-alaq can fatally snap the
to them. The attempt should
is less than 1 %, going down
marital rights of a woman while
not
be to perpetuate
It looks as if Indi^ w°e^"
even to 0.2% 'in some cases. At
in most other Islamic countries,
discrimination but to obliterate
as
a
class,
are
unw<
’
rtl
'
/
’
every level it seems the girls
even in Pakistan, marital rights
‘Obe peons, as a
and women are neglected.
and the law of divorce are far
“ton discloses Justice ”
of
more amelioratory than in In
Kd'“nay the Governn
Although
the
legislatures
We reach the tragic inference
dia. Justice Khalid of Kerala
have not been activist enough
Kerala for perpetra'
deny
that our educational system has
wrote many years ago in a con
to
enact
measures
under
Arti
gender injustice as me last
treated the female of the species
cluding paragraph of a judg
cle 15(3), one symbolic statute
women the right to
thc
as untouchable and unappment on Muslim Divorce:
may be mentioned as a dubious
grade servants un ' vojve
gesture of well meant futility.
Pretext,that these p°9ts' ma|es
Before parting with this case,
arduous duties. Those m
Contd. irom p»sv 1'
A
plea for
Gender Jostnc©
SANGHARSH
A
plea for
Qender Justice
Contd from page 21
Wortien’s education has its
impact in job opportunities,
selection for high offices and
role in political life. Indeed, the
percentage of votes cast by
women has increased with
education. Women’s turnout
has been relatively high in
the more developed states,than
in the less developed states.
Unfortunately, we have
miles to go before women can
claim to be on an equal footing
with men in education. Conse
quently notwithstanding the
boasts and the hopes express
ed by our planners and our
politicians, the status of women
has a big gap between the
equality that law claims and the
inequality that life unfolds.
Thus we see that the woman
is the victim in law and in fact.
Even where the law gives
equality, it is rarely enforced ef
fectively and there are fields
where women suffer for want of
legislation. Bonded labour af^jets women more and aboliof bonded labour, despite
legislation and the 20 Point
Programme, remains an illu
sion for want of bona-fide en
forcement and absence of
rehabilitation measures. Con
struction workers, mostly
women workers, are
not
only
under-paid - as
the Asiad case brought out in
the Supreme Court - but also
denied the basic creature com
forts and elementary amenities
without which life becomes
animal existence,sans dignity.
And yet, no legislation to pro
tect construction workers has
been undertaken. At the end of
a seminar on the subject, a
Draft Bill was prepared in
Madras two years ago At the
instance of the seminar organ
rs I sen copies of the Draft
1 to all the Chief Ministers
the country and not a single
Chief Minister, except the
humble Tripura Chief Minis
ter even acknowledged the
receipt of this compassionate
draft. In a masculine world(
even Chief Ministers with lef
tist labels do not respond to the
woman’s call
«
An overview of the law in the
books and law in-action vis-avis women reveals the existence
of what I may call- taxidermic
legislation puffed up to look like
gender justice but in truth mere
make-believes, beset with
hurdles and flawsome in judi
cial eyes. These laws are not
seriously enforced, when en
forced,do not succeed in court,
apd criminal justice betrays
criminal neglect towards the
molested gender. Even the
specific suggestions for reform
made by the Nati nal Commit
tee remain to be implemented.
made in favour of the man and
the land reform laws empower
the male head to choose the
lands for the family. In reli
gion, woman is God’s Cmdrella, devalued and aparthei
dised. She cannot be priest in
most religions, nor is she a
trustee of religious institutions
Hindu, Muslim or Christian
widows are even unapproach
able to some Sankaracharyas
Rightless and tea ul is the
woman s universe of law and
fact. The poignancy of the In
dian woman’s condition is that
she is a slave, a bonded labourer
bought and sold, raped and
murdered, eve-teased and
dowry burnt, employment
wise cxlcuded defacto and even
by rules, profession-wise
banished mto the background,
and in industry and agriculture
and science and technology
silently barred from entry or
promotion. Even the benefits
and reservations the State ex
tends to tribals, harijans and
backward classes go to the
male, the female being invisi
ble to official eyes. In politics,
this ‘gender’ sector, half in
number, is denied voice and
presence by subtle strategies of
domestication In the judiciary,
women have but taken entry.
Why, even in mothering, the
highest maternal mortality in
the world is the curse of the In
dian woman. So too are infant
deaths, avoidably high. Social
Justice is a mock phrase for In
dian Woman even in 1983:
Women constitute half the
world’s pop 1 tion, perform
nearly two thirds of its work
hours, receive one tenth of the
world’s income and own less
than one hundredth (1%) of
the world’s property (UN
Report, 1980).
When we measure gender
justice in India by any standard,
we realize how constitutional
rhetoric, political promise and
ihe top presence of Nehru’s
daughterf have been but, the
opium of the people, and how
is collective rape of India s 350
million members of the weaker
sex, developmentally speaking.
Politico economic suttee is still
her lot' And yet, in the strug
gle for Indian Freedom what
was the role of women? The
Resolution of Remembrance
pa-ed all over Ind a on
January 26, 1931, recited .
We record o r homage and
deep admiration for the woman
hood of India, who in the hour
of peril for the motheiland, for
sook the shelter of their homes
and with unfailing courage
and endurance, stood shoulder
to shoulder with their menfolk
in the front line of India’s na
tional army, to share with them
the sacrifices and triumphs of
the struggle....
The exploitative male-cul
ture has suppressed, oppressed
and ‘animalized’ woman as a
rule of law and life, so much so,
our cultural heritage vis-a-vis
women, is a callous outrage
and the vast crime against the
weaker sex is just dismissed as
a law of nature. Even the
worker and the tiller, even the
member of depressed classes
exploits,
ill treats
and
dehumanizes woman ' Our
society is sick, so sick that it is
not aware of the pathology of
sex injustice!
The fundamentalists’ plea that Muslim
Law, even in areas like divorce and
polygamy which cry for reform, should not
be legislatively touched until the last fanatic
withdraws his veto, is no longer tenable.
anti-female religions, educa
tional handicaps and economic
discrimination have manipu
lated a sex apartheid. God and
Man have been joint villains
against women ! In sum, there
In politics, women are but a
nominal factor. This shall not
be. In public services, especial
ly the police, women are rare
or minimal. This shall not be.
In the professions - the fifth
managements, they are im
Behind High Walls: A
mune to government interven
tion and there being no legisla
Working Women’s Hostel tion or body to oversee the run
More women are now com ng into the cities on their own in
search of jobs, in search of livelihood - prompted more by
economic necessity than by any overwhelming urge to ‘realise’
themselves Due to the fact that most of them are not usually very
highly qualified, they have' to st tie for mediocre^ jobs, with a
mediocre salary on which they have to not merely maintain
themselves but also their families back home.
The problem of accomodation for these women,who have to
stay away from home,is a crucial one^ The only feasible alter
native for fhem are working women’s hostels, since due to finan
cial and social constraints, a woman cannot usually stay in any
kind of lodge or take up ac modation as a paying guest, as easi
ly as a man c n.
In this context, a work
ing women’s hostel is ob
viously more than a business
unlike other kinds of boarding
houses or lodges taking in in
dividuals (almost always men)
as a commercial venture with
a profit motive. In today’s In
dian society, working women's
hostels therefore,have a very
.definite social responsibility to
discharge - a responsibility
within the framework of which,
they must determine the dyna
mics of their functioning
In the past, working women’s
The role of the judi iary, hostels evolved as progressive
regarding w men and the lawA institutions, products of the
liberal reform movements of
leaves much to be desired.
the 19th century which en
With an all-male cast at the
couraged a certain class of
high judicial levels, this bias is
women to come out and par
not a surprise The passion to
ticipate in the national
defend womanhood’s honour
movement.
and stature in civil and
^criminal justice is just absent
The executive echelons too,are
Today, most of such hostels be
anti-woman in action. Even
ing run by private and religious
Government land grants are I managements are unabashed
ly functioning as solely profit '
oriented ventures. Exploitation
of the residents is rife. They
more often than not, have
to put up with intolerable
living conditions, pay inflated
rents they can ill-afford, be
contained by archaic rules and
restrain any impulse to
organise or protest since they
are constantly faced with the
threat of arbitrary eviction.
Unfortunately being private
ning of such institutions, they
can continue to mis-manage
their affairs with the utmost
impunity.
In hostels run by religious
managements, the situation is
worse,since they are able to
cloak their mis-deeds with
misplaced morality and a
hypocritically virtuous garb oi
charity. The nine month strug
gle of the residents of the Our
Lady of Grace Hostel, of
Bangalore,is a case in point
On August 6, 1983, the
management of the hostel put
up a notice announcing a sharp
increment in the fees, without
any prior discussion with the
hostelites. Since the new rates
far exceeded the salaries of
some of the residents, all 140 of
them made a collective repres
entation to the management re
questing them for a meeting to
discuss the possibility of a more
moderate fee hike. The mana
estate of the m
women are but °^'rn world "
industr’al and a'”'CrascoPic.In
allied areas are8^ultural and
except
apnen,)
re women'
ges’In as
labour
u^8esordrud
sant m .■em.r7sandPra'l
class and daht d ’ backward
gender does not ?andS’ thlS
backseat Inlaw?Ve ekven. a
tim, in life sh(;S ' the vcperson. We mus| ’ the n°n
enrrv
sorry scheme ofustthichange
SH this,
A militant massiV(. J
ve movement
- 300 m-|v'ajOr ^ward class
300 million Wo
_ must
organise, conSeieni,2e cata]yse
ano demand that under fhe
Consutuuon,^ sha|] be
declared a favoured dass under
A^l^andabX^clt
under Art.,16(4) ;(nd
t
reservations on a
gramme basis and w,thac[lo„.
oriented vigour,
a„ the
educational and economic
avenues permissible. In two
years, Lenin fulfilled his Octo
ber Revolution pled, to onicn
and Soviet Land is a pilgrimage
centre for believers m g nder
justice. Mao transformed
feudal, cruel Chinese society
into a haven for women To
day in that country where
lawyers arc not as many as in
ours-
Over 10,000 women judges
are working in different courts
of China With the improve
ment of the legal s stem in re
cent years, China is paying
greater attention to the train
ing of women judges. The in
crease in the number of women
taking to the legal profession
was due to the country’s Con
stitution which stipulated that
women enjoys equal rights with
men in spheres of politics,
economy, culture, social and
family life.
. , to women.
If le8al
projects with
through reX in
women wo
women ju^5
o^an,Tdol ed to change the
wU,be^ e of courts, if'vomen
atmosphere of
horlzonpolice,vertte^yover
cases
tally. °Peroamen. >f legislators
against women
* high
and Jud®fSwomen and make
density o
to meet tfie
and interpret la
women, if
justice demands
the professions mcluti
journalistic p
y„iversities
‘XkXVy^ concept
'of women’s equality and Stan.
a°n offensive on that behalf >f
the exploited species like
workers, harijans tribals and
tillers a cept the justice of their
Sister’s claim to equahty and
struggle within themselves and
in society for gender justice; if
the state and society, the ex
ploited manhood and woman
hood jointly strive to imple
ment the imperatives of In
depend rce and constitutional
fundamental of equality, our
job is d ne. G ve us the cadres
and we can fnisn the job. I
reques. the women's Univetsit e in tins country - as yet
there are but a few, and the
progressive institutions of
Research and Action to pool
their resources and plan coor
dinated projects, then perhaps,
gender justice in law and fact
will be a reality.
Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer
(extracted from a series of lectures
delivered under the auspices of the
Centre or Women's Development.
Studies, New Delhi)
gement high handedly ignored
the repeated requests and on
one occasion even informed the
women that the increase was
“none of their business’’.
Frustrated beyond measure,
not merely by this reaction of
the management,but also a col
lected history of grievances
centering around inadequate
facilities and outdated rules, the
women came together in a
spontaneous spirit of solidari
ty and began voicing their pro
tests by shouting slogans, in the
hope that the management
could be forced to come for
ward fra dialogue. On
August 26, they approached
Vimochana for their help as a
women’s organisation. But
when Vimochana sought a
meeting with the management
to facilitate some kind of
dialogue,they were also rudely
turned away
Even the efforts of a Citizens
Committee composed of a
number of public spirited in
dividuals from various fields,
bore no fruit. Thrown out of
balance by the fact that the
women were focussing public
attention on the hostel by ap
proaching various influential
(citizens and organisations for
help, the management while
closing down the mess facilities
with a day’s notice,also an
nounced the closure of the
hostel within a month.
The women, although they
could ill-afford it;were fc . ced to
go to court in order to seek a
status quo on the eviction
notice. At this point,unable to
bear the expenses of the court
fees, several women were even
forced to leave their jobs and go
back home.
Since the management was
consistently refusirig to meet
the residents, a series of
demonstrations and proces
sions were held near the hostel,
and the Archibishop’s house by
members of Vimochana and
the Citizens Committee , m
order to draw public attention
and mobilise public opinion. In
retaliation,and in the attempt
to further break the unity of the
protesting women,not only did
the management serve injunc
tions against 14 of the more ar
ticulate wpmen, preventing
them from creating noise on the
campuS/but they alsQ proceed_
co to fife a series of totally ex
aggerated and fabricated
criminal charges - one even acContd. on page 2£
control the recalcitrant
management. In fact, the
apathy and -lack of objectivity
and sensitivity on the part of
church officials and their at
tempt to defend the management,made it amply clear that
they would spare no effort to
ensure that the ripples of ten
sion would not be allowed to
spread outside the church
circles, and by granting
themselves an above law’status,
they could take refuge in
religious sentiments only as a
strategy to contain and diffuse
the struggle.
Behind High Walls:
A Working
Women’s Hostel
Contd. from page 21
cusing them of an attempt to
murder. By this time the
management had enlisted the
help of the police who were of
course completely in con
nivance with them. Police
presence on the campus was us
ed as a means to intimidate and
terrorise the women into com
plete passivity.
Since Vimochana had been
completely involved in the
struggle,and had,in fact,even
been implicated in the charges
filed against the residents by
the council for the manage
ment, it made out an applica
tion to implead itself as a par
ty to the case. This application
was dismissed after partly
listening to the argument of the
lawyer. In November 1983
the case was transferred to
another court.
The legitimate struggle of
the girls was vindicated at yet
another point when the wo
men were acquitted in a
majority of the false criminal
charges filed against them.
What made the victory sweeter
was that along with the judge
ment order of acquittal, stric
tures were also passed against
the concerned police officials
investigating the matter.
In a spirit of unholy ven
geance on January 2, 1984
although a ‘status quo’ had
been granted to the inmates,
the management taking the law
into their own hands, com
pletely cut off the supply of
water and electricity. By this
time the harassment had
reached intolerable limits and
of the original number of 140,
only 35 women had stayed
back.
The management made de
termined attempts through
petty forms of harassment to
coerce the women into leav
ing the hostel. Among the very
definite strategies they used
towards this end,were sending
telegrams to the parents of the
women asking them to come
and take their daughter Sway
since she had been arrested,and
exerting pressure on the
hostelites through their
employers asking them to
apologise to the management if
they did not wish to lose their
jobs.
Getting the domestic staff to
help them in their efforts to
break the morale of the
residents, they even descended
SANGHARSH
to
‘X such
waterdepths
on thc ^hkmr°W,ngdirwere going out to work" 2
to come
and girls
serveaar
restpohee
warrants
on the
"d
threaten
lo ,akc
fod
^“.‘onmg during odd hours
evening and night. The
chmax was on March 7 1984
when they forcefully confined
a res,dent ,n the
afier preventmg her from
escaping
by locking the gates
^■he.lathts-fromtfiepX'
who were passively standing
around and beat up the girl
severely.
5
All this was sufficient to
build up an atmosphere of ex
treme terror on the campus for
the residents (aJJ lhis in a house
° God where ‘contemplation’
,s the order of the day),who
were instilled with extreme fear
for their own safety. So much
so that the last ten women who
managed to stay together arid
bear up against the vicious at
tacks of the management, were
also forced to go out of the
hostel. However, as they have
made it clear to the court, they
have moved out of the hostel
only for reasons of security and
since they have left a major part
of their belongings inside, they
intend to go back to the hostel
as soon as some solution - legal
or otherwise, is in sight.
The Brigittine Hostel issue
cannot remain an isolated
localised struggle confined to
either 140 or 10 women. It is
a microcosmic situation
representative of the sheer
hypocrisy of certain propound
ed pretensions and values and
the attempt to expose and
break the legitimising forces
which attempt to give vic
timisation and exploitation an
aura of righteous respectability.
Here certain specificities
emerge as related to religious
institutions which attempt in
tegration into the mainstream
°f society, by setting up ‘social’
Organisations like hostels for
Unionising For Their Rights:
The Gayathri Women
Gayatri Womens Welfare
Association’, an ancilliary unit
of the HMT watch factory, was
started with 30 employees in
. with the intention of
helping physically handicapped
’ well as economically and
socially oppressed women The
work consisted
in component!
assemblinK
watches
from the
obtained from the main Hin
dustan Machine Tool (HMT)
factory unit. The number of
employees increased from
30 ‘° aboul w°. by
During 1978-81, the
workers production reached an
all lune high of 5 lakh watches
resulting m a substantial pro11 for the management. How
ever, service conditions
deteriorated, the salaries of
even the senior most employees
stagnated at a mere Rs.250/while the authoritarian altitude
°l the management became
more oppressive. The reason
given by the unconcerned
(c) As an extension of the management for the non
fact that the Brigittine hostel
increase in salary.was that the
has to be viewed in terms of the
Oan of Rs.16 lakhs'they had
changing status and role of
taken from the bank had to be
women in Indian society, the
cleared. Disillusioned and
residents of these hostels for
disappointed, the workers
working women have a histori
^eTK U2iOn in November
cally evolved, ethical and even
tyoz. lhis however.led to the
legal right to ask certain basic
unjustified suspension of the of
questions about the (mis)
fice
bearers
of the
union.
Enraged
at fledgeling
this® th!
management. This also has to
be seen in the context of the
employees undeterred by then
socio-economic background of
economic and social conditions
such women. In the Brigittine
started their struggle with a tool
Hostel, for instance, a majori
down strike. In their huni for
ty of the women having at best
justice they met all the top level
a Pre-University education, are
politicians, including the Chief
working as secretaries in
Minister. For a month they
private firms , earning an
even went on a hunger strike in
average salary of Rs.350/-.
front of the Labour Commis
Supposedly, ‘social service’
sioner’s office.
organisations meant for pro
viding shelter to such women,
Since at this point a few
in the ultimate analysis are
politicians also got involved
reduced to mere ‘self service’
and went on a hunger strike in
organisations.
support of the employees, the
government intervened and
What has to be done to
orced the management to
counter . the prejudiced and
avaricious
attitudes
of
Hence of activists towards
managements incapable of run
change, but he warned of the
ning hostels for independant
dangers in expecting art to
working women in need of
change immediately with the
security and shelter? Even if
social condition of women If
long term plans can foresee the
cultural activity is to change, it
setting up of independent com
has to fall back on questionable
munity housing structures
methods, often succeeding in
managed by residents, the
remforcmg prejudice, instead
more immediate need is for
of displacing images to get new
progressive legislation which
meanings. While facile and
brings within its ambit, all such
easily understood images arc
hostels regardless of their social
needed, the only way t0
or religious standing.
radicalise cinema content is to
take rec°urse to traditional
vehicles-of expression and try
Vimochana
to work against them, maybe
by raising new slogans.
(b) Further, taking advan
tage of this protected status and
fortified by a pious, religious
image, the management found
it easy to use official machinery
like the police and public opi
nion, to break the morale of the
protesting residents. In the eyes
of the public, the credibility of
such managements is rarely
called into question ,while the
character and veracity of the
residents, who being women
staying away from home is
always suspect.
OTWMWW
The IFractur®^
Omag]@
in Cinema’ bringing up several
points that are well worth
greater discussion and debate.
forking women.
Often, he said, the theme of a
(a)
On account of being a film is mistaken for its content,
citing the example of ‘Insaf Ka
religious organisation run by
Tarazu’ the much criticised
missionaries’ the hostel
film which, while ostensibly
management could take effec
tive refuge behind its minority decrying the fact of rape, ac
tually
invites a sexual.relation
status which granted it immu
ship with the protagonist......
nity from governmental inter
Zeenat Aman.
ference. Moreover, even within
the hierarchy of the church, the
He spoke of the natural iinpaarchibishop made no move to
Perhaps this is what Shahani
has tried to do himself in
‘Tarang’, where J^naki (Smita
Patil) although alluding to
several mythological arche
types, is meant to break the
sexist sociological pattern on
which these archetypal images
are built.
Here he also cautioned against
a sexualisation of politics and
then of all reality, and later
reminded women that they
should recognise that the sub
jectivity of men is as much in
22
come forward for some kind of
agreement. Meanwhile, even
before the agreement was sign
ed by the management, some
of the women workers got
beaten up by the police on one
occasion. At present,although
the agreement has been ‘ac
cepted’ by the management,
the inhuman harrassment still
continues to be meted out to
the workers within the factory
while 5 of the union members
are facing an enquiry - the
struggle
therefore
still
continues.
Within this ongoing struggle
of the women employees of the
ancillary unit, there arc cer
tainly some wider fundamental,
if, provocative, political ques
tions related-to that of women’s
rights and women’s struggles
that can be discerned.
For one, the management of
the Gayatri Welfare Associa
tion comprises of eleven
women belonging to the higher
•echelons of society, whereas the
employees coming from the
lower middle class and lower
class, are mainly widows,
physically handicapped and
daliths. The struggle,although
seemingly a typical manage
ment - employee confrontation,
therefore goes deeper,and on
analysisTreflects the class con
tradiction of the women’s
struggle.
Ironically, the all woman
management has been using a
typical strategy, imbibed
through the values of the male
dominated society, to control
and suppress the struggle of the
women employees - a struggle
aimed at the right to live with
dignity. So 80 desperate
women today are being ex
ploited by women of a higher
class, under the deceptive if
hypocritical guise of social ser
vice. For instance, the manage
ment threw the girls otlt of the
bondage as is the objective
quality of women, saying that
women’s freedom depends on
freeing mankind in general.
Coming back to cinema, he
spoke of the difficulty in
defeating the immediate logic
of the visual....... where
everything is presented as an
object. “We have to change
our conception of feminine
form ( curves, smooth lines
etc)”, he said. The women’s
question is difficult to unravel,
he went on, because of the long
history of exploitation which
makes instant solutions far
from possible. And yet, he said,
“The task of the filmmaker is
to restore the sensuous and to
restore that activity of man
which can change society.”
His speech was followed by a
long and lively debate, where
the director was grilled aboui
his work, his own exploitation
of Smita Patil’s sexuality,
which he strongly denied, and
a general question and answer
session about the condition of
women in film and society.
Sadanand Menon, a journalist
from Madras, spoke on the
portrayal of women in South
Indian films. He lamented the
fact that while men’s roles have
undergone tremendous dif
ferentiation over the years,
hostels they themselves had
provided as accommodation,
without caring that the women
had been literally forced out in
to the streets without basic
necessities like food and shelter.
The management , using its
position as a group of high
society women,has also resorted
to the typical move of casting
aspersions on the characters of
the girls who because of their
backgrounds,Arc vulnerable to
such attacks. The forming of
th’e union for better service con
ditions and decent wages was
the only ‘provocation’ for the
management to resort to such
underhand tactics.
‘Women
arc
against
women ’ is often repeated to
describe situations like this.
And what we in the women’s
movement must be aware of,is
that while there are issues
(dowry, rape, sexual harass
ment and so on) on which
womerf can unite, we must not
forget that we are also divided
bv class, by caste.
Despite determined efforts
through their union,the womei^j
employees continue to bear the
intolerable harassment at their
place of work. The intervention
of government has also not
brought any relief. The mili
tant workers still continue their
struggle to achieve justice. If
the management continues to
be authoritarian and high
handed and the government
proves itself incapacitated to
solve the problem, whom can
the women employees turn to
for help? At this juncture when
no short term solution seems to
be working, the situation war
rants a radical change in the
functioning of society. This ap
plies to all the issues we are in
volved with and the Gayatri
struggle is only one such
example.
Champavathi H.S.
Vimochana
women were still trapped in
iconic images like those of the
Umman Cult, where primal
woman, the handmaiden of
superstitious bigotry, reigns
supreme.
“Why do women consume
their own devaluation ?”he also
asked. That is a question easi
ly answered. Even now, when
women are beginning to take
part in world affairs, it is still
a world of men. A woman still
seeks a definition of herself
through the eyes of men, and
if men portray her as a seduc
tress and doormat, it is hard for
her to break that image.
That is why a new cinema, a
cinema of and for women,is so
strongly needed in India. The
big screen is the only means of
mass entertainment develop
ment. If it is influential enough
to serve as a trampoline into the
political arena, it is also a ma
jor cultural vehicle for change.
A few signs are showing that
women are coming into their
own in Indian cinema.... not
very radically so, but at least
differently from men. Hopeful
ly, in a larger context, film
festivals and discussions like the
one presented by Vimochana,
have their own role to play in
fostering a climate for this
social transformation.
Rohini Nilckani
/
• fe S°U. t at walks in fear knows no freedom...... , and the soul of a woman
is ear u . .ittle wonder, when she is entrapped within a vicious circle of
vio ence t at constantly seeks to not merely violate, exploit and even destroy
er emg, but also define and direct her very process of becoming.
Women and Vtoltence
waves of raging torment
instill in my soul
a fear so deep,
a feeling so numb,
a protest so mute,
that another myth offreedom
is stifled without a sigh
What
explains her un
conscious if passive accep
tance of stereotypes and
preformulated roles? Why
does the woman allow
herself to be used, abused
and exploited through in
stitutions like the media?
Why is she susceptible to
particular forms of direct
violence like rape and other
^emeaning forms of sexual
>Vid physical harassment?
To find answers to these,we
cannot merely seek recourse
to pedagogues like Freud
who unabashedly claim that
the distinguishing traits of a
female personality are
"passivity, masochism and
narcissism”, granting such
phenomena a biological and
psychological inevitability.
We must go beyond finding
explanations in immediate
realities to analyse the kind
of structures in society
which perpetuate such
forms of personal and struc
tural violence.
A complex interplay of the
jfcrces of an unequal socioJponornic system and the in
stitution of patriarchy
generates an ideology and
value system which seeks to
propagate itself through an
invidious
process
of
socialisation and structural
forms of violence -i.e. in
stitutions such as the law,
media and family, which
reinforce
social
and
economic relations and
roles. Personal violence
against women, like rape
and dowry deaths therefore
only reflects the systematic
violence of our society th'at
creates conditions whieh are
in themselves destructive.
This understanding should
prevent us from viewing
acts of physical violence
against women as isolated
incidents attributable main
ly to individual aberrations.
Oppression of and violence
against women has, very
definitely, a
cultural
psychological, material and
sociological base.
This is clearly to be perceiv
ed in countries like India
where on account of une
qual social and economic
structures (like that of caste
Today, the increase in
incidents of individual
violence like eve-teasing and
other forms of sexual
harassment , could be at
tributed to the fact that
women are not only being
seen more outside their
homes,but are also in the
process, stepping away from
normative behaviour pat
terns. In the absence of
traditionally defined at
titudes towards women in
such roles, people in general,
define their own attitudes,
and men In particular, for
mulate their reactions which
are conditioned by en
vironmental factors.
and class) an endemic and
perpetual violence is
generated which is express
ed through marginalisation,
lack of opportunities and
discrimination against large
sections of the people.
Within the structures of
class and caste domination,
the submission of women to
men remains a constant
feature — they are discrimi
nated against not only on
the basis of caste or class but
also gender.
Violence against women is
basically only reflective of a
general culture of violence
being nurtured in today’s
society. With values of
‘maschismo’ and the com
petitive spirit inculcated
during the socialisation pro
cess itself through institu
tions like the family, school
and media, ultimately these
aggressive little games get
logically extended into the
most organised and legitmised form of violence-war.
Wars not only throw entire
social,
political
and
economic systems out of
balance, but also indirectly
unleash forms of savagery'
specific to women, like rape.
Structural violence is inher
ent to the patriarchal fami
ly structure which institu
tionalises power and gender
relations. Women who
work can not shrug off their
household duties. Moreover
the patriarchal framework
by imposing traditional
behaviour patterns and
prescribing roles , clearly
limits their entry and parti
cipation on an equal footing
with men in the economic,
cultural and political
spheres.
The media is yet another
form of structural violence
which not also helps to rein
force gender roles (the self
sacrificing, passive wife of
our hindi films is an obviousexample) but alsq reduces
women to mere sexual ob
jects to be exploited and us
ed. This portrayal of
women as erotic , sexual
objects forms the basis for
prostitution or porno
graphy’, perpetrating still
other forms of violence. In
advertisements for instance,
the point of sale becomes
not the product but a
woman who is used to titil
late the readers and viewers,
juxtaposed incongruously as
she may be with the pro
duct. The copy and the
visual one in such cases by
no stretch of imagination or
logic, are linked to each other
Reducing a woman to an
object as a voyeur's delight
or glorifying and reiterating
traditional roles (e.g. the
ideal woman in the ‘Vanaspathi’ advertisement) then
becomes an economically
and ideologically viable ven
ture for that dominant
group or strata of society
celebrated or avenged by
raping the women folk. This
dehumanising form of
violence can be traced back
to the concept of a woman
as a piece of property which
can be bought, sold, guard
ed or ravished as the situa
tion demands.
which benefits from such an
act.
Structural societal violence,
as reflected in the patriar
chal family structure whose
main ideological function is
geared towards moulding
children into sex roles,is fur
ther specificially institu
tionalised in the system of
dowry — a concept which
not merely reinforces the
lower status of woman,
stamping her as an econo
mic liability,but has also of
late, begun carrying within
itself a possible death war
rant and a sanction for
psychological and physical
torture of the bride at the
hands of the in-laws.
In today’s highly consumer
ist society, a bride has
become a source of substan
tial capital for the groom
and his family. When the
bride fails to live up to
material expectations, she is
considered disposable and is
either done away with or is
driven to commit suicide.
The structural form of
violence implict in the
dowry system in such cases,
finally erupts into direct
physical violence.
This raises questions about
the ‘stability’ of a family
structure within which arti
ficially maintained relation
ships show' signs of violent
disintegration in response to
the slightest external
pressure. Cruelty to wives
and other women in such
domestic situations is a fair
ly common feature. The
dynamics of such family
violence, in this’context,is
much more complicated
since it is also linked to the
problems of unequal social
and economic structures. In
fact,studies have shown that the
shortage of resources in a family
group increases the incidence of
violence in thefamily, thus ver
bal and physical attacks on
women and children is one symp
tom of such a problem.
Rape as a form of personal
violence, is not merely a
physical assault and sym
bolic of the degradation of
23
woman kind, but a viola
tion of the most sensitive
part of a female psyche.
Susan Brownmiller defines
it as “a conscious process of
intimidation by which all
men keep all women in a
state of fear” It is only of
late that rape is being view
ed as a criminal attack
against an individual and
specifically a woman.
Otherwise,the shocking sen
timent implicit even today
in the law besides the at
titude of society, is that a
woman “asks for it” or in
a spirit of condonation
states that a rapist is an in
dividual giving in to his
‘natural virility’ 1
Although one cannot negate
the fact that a rapist could
be a psychologically disturb
ed male, lust is not the sole
reason for rape. Mass rape
has frequently been used as
a political weapon to either
punish opponents or in
timidate lower classes, harijans and tribals. Every vic
tory or defeat in war is
While
it
would
be
‘unrealistic’ to presume that
we can do away with
violence in all its myriad
forms, surely we can do
away with certain con
sciously and unconsciously
developed structures, con
cepts, processes and at
titudes which perpetuate it?
The
most
basic
if
‘simplistic’ remedy would
be to initiate the levelling
out of unequal social systems
which encourage skewed
power relations based on
sex, caste, class atid race.
But,perhaps,some of us in
the interests of self-survival,
would consider even that
venture ‘idealistic’?
While the anguished souls
mutely cry out in agony
One tormented spirit breaks out
and beckons
a new fear
a new questioning
a new hope...........
Madhu Bhushan
Vimochana
SANGHARSH
IDEAS^FO
Rethinking
women and
development
Over the last two develop
ment decades, there has
been much evidence to show
that the situation of women
* in developing countries has
deteriorated. As we enter
the third development dec
ade, there are several ques
tions to be raised regarding
the nature of development,
and the role of women in it.
To understand why women
have been left out, a brief
historical review of develop
ment is essential.
1960-1980:
from then to now
During the first development
decade (1960-1970),
the
^world’s gross international
^product increased by one
trillion dollars. Of this, 80%
went to the industrialized
nations (average annual in
crease: $1000) and 6% to
poor nations (incomes less
than $200). At the end of the
first development decade, an
annual growth rate of 5% had
been achieved by most
developing countries. Also
increasing were rates of
unemployment, population
growth, and the disparity in
people’s incomes. By this
time it had become clear that
in spite of rising GNP, the es
sential needs of people were
not being met.
At the same time, developing
nations were being depleted
of their natural resources at
an alarming rate - either in
the form of direct imports to
developed nations, or as raw
material for production of
potentially exportable com
modities. The development
strategy in the 1960s had
concerned itself with in
creased food production to
meet increasing population
growth. With technological
revolutions such as the Green
IF Illustration No. 104
vvyatt
A resource guide for organization and action
Women in development
In their first years, wom
en's movements tended
to concentrate on issues
directly affecting women
in their own country —
job discrimination, vio
lence, child care. As the
women and development
debate has gained mo
mentum, however, wom
en have begun to address
some of these issues of
international politics and
economics from a feminist
point of view.
ISIS, the Women’s Inter
national Information and
Communication Service,
has compiled a resource
guide "to recent thinking
and literature about wom
en and development and
to the feminist critique of
these". The areas of fo
cus are multinationals;
rural development and
food production, includ
ing appropriate technol
ogy and income gener
ation; health; migration
and tourism; and edu
cation and communica
tion.
The overview articles in
each chapter are fol
lowed by a list of sel
ected resources as well
as descriptions of action
groups, institutions, and
governmental, intergov
ernmental and develop
ment agencies which pro
duce materials on the is
sues discussed.
The article "Rethinking
women
and
develop
ment" on this page is a
shortened
version
of
Anita Anand's introduc
tory article to the guide.
It is the hope of all those
women who have con
tributed that "the shared
insights, ideas, experien
ces and resources... will
contribute to developing
a new theory and prac
tice
of
development
which includes a feminist
perspective".
Contact:
ISIS Switzerland
P.O. Box 50 (Cornavin)
1211 Geneva 2,
Switzerland.
Revolution, this had been
achieved, yet food shortages
were acute. Massive popu
lation control programmes
were promoted, yet the real
reasons why people had chil
dren were never fully under
stood by the population
experts.
With the increasing militancy
of the developing nations, a
more palatable form of de
velopment had to be devised.
So new concepts were devel
oped by the experts. With the
use of terms such as ‘basic
human needs,’ ‘new direc
tions,’ ‘meeting the needs of
the poorest of the poor,’ and
more recently ‘growth with
equity,’ a whole new devel
opment jargon emerged. The
developing world retaliated
with the New International
Economic Order (NIEO), de
manding a fairer share of the
world’s • resources,
fairer
trading patterns, and more
input into international de
cision making. Currently, the
two sides maintain these
positions with the developing
countries pushing for the
NIEO, seeing BHN (Basic
Human Needs) as a ploy to
avoid dealing with structural
issues. The developed coun
tries continue to talk of hu
man rights, land reform
technology transfer, without
admitting the need for real
change in their own econ
omic practices.
During these two decades
women working on develop!
Continued on page 2
Issue No.
21
1985/2
FOCUS ON WOMEN
Rethinking
women and
development
Continued from page 1
. • en in development were
°f d8 proPagated, the nature
°
Ve °Pment> as it existed,
never questioned. The
vPrp°nePts of such thinking
•_°as’c agreement with
thoiioV»eam
development
The only quarrel
.
\ was that women had
been left out. Even to this
?e most ardent proP
n s . of
integrating
L.,„etl *nto development
ha e not realized that neither
mainstream nor marxist mo
dels have room for women, as
neither group has addressed
the problem of patriarchy.
Society s acceptance of male
domination has pervaded de
velopment work. Though
much lip service has been
paid to the equal partici
pation of women in the maledominated development cir
cles, this has remained by
and large ‘integration’ with
out much thought or attempt
towards genuine power shar
ment issues were suffering
the same fate as women in
general. They were con
sidered marginal to the pro
cess of the highly intellectual
development debate, and
were treated as such. In the
early 1970s several European
and North American women
began advancing the concept
of ‘integrating women into
development’. Their work
pointed out that development
had actually harmed women,
that many women in de
veloping
countries
were
worse off than before. More
studies were conducted by
social scientists, political
scientists, and other academ
icians, confirming these find
ings.
In 1975 the International
Women’s Year conference
declared a decade that would
concentrate on women the
world over. Since then, at
national and international
forums, women’s role in the IFIllustration No. 105
economic process has been a
major component, and the ing with women.
race for ‘women in develop For mainstream development
ment’ was on.
models, development has
meant the ‘integration of de
countries into the
Integrating women veloping
in Rational marke system
the notion of
into development: whereby
fiwth’ was to be mama pseudo-feminist £ted in increased economic
myth
production. Towards
his
£ education and employ
The definition of integration ment were considered a
is ‘to form into a whole’; ‘to " ' for income generation.
incorporate into a larger Sfore, h should come as
unit,’ ‘to end segregation of no surprise that common inand bring into common and d tors used to determine
equal membership in society when’s involvement in deor an organization’ (Web Orn ^ent have been emster).
pfoyment and education.
In the case of ‘integrating
women into development’, if
the ‘whole’ is development Income.
then we can assume that hpneration:
bringing women into devel
opment would end an essen no questions asked
tially sexist process of prog
ress. However, when the When most women live in
literature and theories about S areas and m a non-
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
market economy (70 to
are involved in subsistence
work), these indicators have
little validity. As women
make up 60 to 90% of the
agricultural labour force and
produce 44% of all food, why
is it crucial to talk of income
generating projects? Rather,
would it not be better to re
cognize women’s current
productivity? Most develop
ing economies have moved or
are moving from agrarian
based to industrial-based
economies, in spite of what
their governments may claim.
During this process, the
structure of agriculture has
suffered. With growing em
phasis on cash cropping and
non-food crops, subsistence
farming has suffered a major
setback.
This has had serious reper
cussions on women and the
rural communities. Through
subsistence farming, most of
a rural family’s and com
who have been forced into
non-farm work. However, it
further exacerbates the prob
lem of vanishing subsistence
farming and food depen
dence on foreign markets.
Enlisting women in new jobs,
largely for manufacturing
export items, often requires
their migration to urban
areas. Skills that women are
taught are ‘female-prone’ - a
term used to describe skills
which women are supposedly
best at, such as sewing, knit
ting, embroidery, and which
are low-skilled, low-paid, and
easily replaceable. Local and
multinational industries such
as textiles, electronics, and
agribusiness have capitalized
on this shift and preferenti
ally hire women. Paying low
wages for long hours in un
healthy and hazardous work
ing conditions, these indus
tries claim they are liberating
women. Multinationals have
been keen advocates of this
ideasWforum
IDEAS FORUM is published by UNICEF's
Information Division
Peter David, Editor
UNICEF Geneva Headquarters
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Telephone 346011, Telex 27908
UNICEF New York Headquarters
United Nations
New York 10017
USA
Telephone 7544124, Telex 127895 (Western Union)
For information about published articles
or contributions to forthcoming issues
contact the Editor or Contributing Editor or:
Bert Demmers
Chief, Communications and
Information Service
UNICEF Regional Office for East Africa
P.O Box 44145, Nairobi Kenya
Jacques Danois
Senior Regional Information Officer
UNICEF Regional Office for West and
Central Africa
P.O. Box 443, Abidjan 04, Ivory Coast
Antonio Carvalho
Regional Information Officer
UNICEF Regional Office for the
Americas
Calle 76 N° 10-02, Bogota, Colombia
Regional Information Officer
UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia
and Pakistan
P.O. Box 2-154, Bangkok, Thailand
David Mason
Chief, Communications
and Information Service
UNICEF
P 0. Box 1063, Islamabad, Pakistan
Regional Information Officer
UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle
East and North Africa
P.O. Box 5902, Beirut, Lebanon
Razia S. Ismail
Information Officer
UNICEF Regional Office for South Central
Asia
73 Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003, India
Paul Ignatieff
Representative
UNICEF Officer for Australia
and New Zealand
G.P.O. Box 4045, Sydney N.S.W. 200
Australia
David J. Exley
Representative
UNICEF Office for Japan
c/o United Nations Information Centre,
22nd floor
Shin Aoyama Building Nishikan
1-1, Minami-Aoyama, 1-Cbome
Minato-Ku Tokyo 107, Japan
munity’s needs were met.
Excess edibles were sold or
bartered in local markets for
commodities such as soap
and clothes. With increasing
numbers of women having to
shift to cash cropping, and
with meagre economic re
turns, the family’s needs are
not being met. Nutritionally
this has taken a heavy toll on
the health and well-being of
rural communities. Former
food-producing communities
are now growing cash crops
or non-food crops for export
to urban, national and inter
national markets. Whereas
once they were somewhat
self-sufficient,
they
now
mostly rely on government
hand-outs or foreign aid.
Income-generating projects
may be a godsend to women
with few opportunities for
subsistence farming and few
or no skills for alternative
work in a limited job markets
transfer of women’s work
from self-sufficient to mar
ket-oriented types. The in
dustries well realize the gold
mine they have struck with
women who are usually the
most willing to work, the
easiest to fire, and the least
likely to unionize. Income
generation advocates little
realized the complexity of
issues when they suggested
this. With little or no protec
tion for wages, benefits and
work, women are the most
abused section of the formal
labour force.
Education:
literacy or critical
consciousness?
Education, along with in
come-generation
capacity,
has been perceived as the key
Continued on page 3
or the UNICEF COMMITTEE in your
country.
Articles or extracts may be reproduced on
condition that the source is mentioned
A copy should be sent to the Editor.
Prints of UNICEF and IF photos,
illustrations and graphs can be obtained
from UNICEF Geneva Headquarters.
Articles appearing in IDEAS FORUM do not
necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations Children's Fund.
Also in this issue:
IYY
Youth in service to the most
disadvantaged
page 14
Facts and figures page 15
DEVED FORUM
Japanese children
want to know
page 1 7
AFRICA EMERGENCY
The Chad drought — up
setting traditions and life
styles
pages 18-19
Zimbabwe — a food
exporter once again page 20
IF Illustrations by WYATT
FOCU$J2^
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
Rethinking
women and
development
Continued from page 2
to the golden door of success
and equal participation of
women in the development
process. It is true that women
meed education to be able to
participate in society, but the
nature of this education has
not been sufficiently ques
tioned.
In industrialized societies or
urban areas of developing
countries, education can be a
stepping stone to economic
self-sufficiency. However, the
educational systems in most
developing countries are rel
ics of their colonial past, and
irrelevant to the needs of
most
people,
especially
women. The education is
either highly specialized (in
which case women have to
compete in a narrow job
^market) or too general (in
’which case women have ac
cess only to the lowest paid
jobs). Economically, even
such education is beyond the
means of most people. If a
child has to be educated,
preference is given to the
male child, who is a better
asset in terms of financial re
turns. For the affluent, edu
cating women is an exercise
that will increase their price
in the marriage market.
If education is to have any
value for women, it must be
a means to raise their
consciousness about the op
pressive structures that keep
them in positions of power
lessness. Most educational
systems do not provide a cli
mate for such thinking skills
to develop. In developing so
cieties, most educated women
- the leaders, academicians,
professionals in establish
ment organizations - per
petuate the status quo. The
reasoning behind this is that
if the patriarchal system has
worked for them, it should
work for all women. De
mands for traditional educa
tion from Third World worn-
en and others come from a
lack of perspective of what
this limited privilege can be
used for.
When a woman is relatively
powerless and has little con
trol over what is happening
in her environment, edu
cation
for
literacy
is
meaningless. What she craves
is knowledge of why she must
bear so many children, work
endless hours without respite,
be beaten and raped, have an
alcoholic husband, and go
hungry. Existing educational
systems have not provided
women with the tools to
understand and analyze the
true nature of social, politi
cal, and economic systems
that govern their lives and
oppress them, and this is why
they have failed. If women
are to be change agents in
their societies, the education
offered them must be a tool
for consciousness raising and
action. This end result cannot
now demanding technologies
that meet the needs of their
budgets and projects.
Taking off from the ‘small
is beautiful’ ideology, the
concept of appropriate tech
nology emerged. Developed
countries
rushed
into
developing ones with new
designs and innovations that
would revolutionize the de
veloping world. Recognizing
that women do back-break
ing work for long hours,
the women-in-development
community sought solutions
once again in technology. In
stead of examining why
women, after hard work in
the fields and markets, have
to return home to cook, care
for children, gather fuel and
water and take care of ani
mals, the development plan
ners seized upon appropri
ate technology. Smokeless
stoves, grinders, seed hullers,
weeders, hoes and such were
invented and improved upon
societies, and often involve
resources alien to the local
environment. Even when th«
appropriate technologies at6
locally developed, they ate
often done in research
laboratories and academic
institutions with little input
from the women and men h1
the field who will be utilizing
the technologies.
Health
Most of the health care focus
around women has been in
family planning and nu
trition. While it is important
for women to have access to
information and services to
control their fertility, much
of the help offered has been
misguided and controlled
mainly
by
population
specialists and family plan
ning agents, who are usually
men. Reproduction infor
mation and services made
the needs of
caSh-cr°P
is being used °generationping and mcomeg probiejn,
To alleviate
proposed
solutions lamented such as
-md implement
Soyfood substitute5^ w th
meal) which ar
ple
diet of the lo
Questions
therefore’X overall strucrelating to the
of land
wreS °hf „a8r crop prtoilies;
SS'mXes such land reform or water reallo
I? a°society were coipml“®d
to maintaining a fair stan
dard of health for its people,
jt would devise and im
plement systems of agricul
ture and health care that
would make the goal poss
ible. As long as foreign
exchange earnings and mo
dernization are higher pri
orities for most developing
societies, basic health care
will remain an illusion. Re
search and development em
phases will be on diseases
which affect mainly the elites
(e.g. cardiovascular diseases),
with little attention to the
politics of malnutrition and
reproduction. Development
experts, unwilling to question
the power and control of
medicine and researchers,
will continue to ignore the
role of women in the health
and planning process, except
as a means to serve the ex
perts’ ends.
Toward a theory
of women
development
IF Illustration No. 106
be brought about by learning
the three Rs or being drilled
in nutrition and family plan
ning.
Appropriate
technology:
appropriate for
whom?
Transfer of technology has
been a major ingredient
of mainstream development
work. This transfer has filled
the coffers of many multi
national corporations that
manufacture and export
heavy equipment, has sup
ported highly specialized and
largely intellectual research
and development institu
tions, and has meant large
investments for developing
countries. It has proved an
expensive and futile exercise
and developing countries are
WYATT
to cut the time spent in these
tasks. The inherent sexism in
permitting men to return
from the fields, bathe, eat,
and go visiting with friends
has never been questioned.
Job sharing of ‘women’s
work’ is unheard of.
Similar questions can be
raised regarding technical
innovations that have sup
posedly eased the burden of
women’s work in developed
societies. Have the vacuum
cleaner, dishwasher, blender,
ice maker enabled a woman
to have a more equal
relationship with a man?
Equality cannot be achieved
as long as women are seen as
marginal to the existence of
men, society, or develop
ment.
The new directions in tech
nology suffer from the same
malady as development.
They are male-dominated,
designed mostly in developed
available
women are
largely male- and establish
ment-controlled, and un
suited to the life-styles and
bodies of the women receiv
ing them. Additionally, ser
vices such as regular check.
ups and pre- and post-natal
care are rarely available.
A similar situation exists in
the area of nutrition. The
popular thinking is that most
people in developing coun
tries do not have sufficient
know-how to balance thendiets and need to be edu.
cated. However, it can be
said that development has
done more to undermine the
possibility of achieving a
balanced diet than to help it.
Development strategies, sup.
ported by international foo<]
politics, have pushed for the
boost in food production of
items for export (to earp
foreign exchange for sophi$,
ticated technology and re.
fFoOrceWO?nen
a vital
iorce m their societies
change will have to be based
on a new theory of develon
challenged™ dP°S? SOme
be addressed if anv
must
and inclusive workdnR^6
mg about a new ord
bringdone- It ouesL e7St°be
flc>al barriers hit the arti'
Pohtical, social6
the
°mic aspects <-«r’ and econJr
and
these orders pl
late to
?erts that the Peminism as.
V^eUTe^
Sss
all T^ed and vahdmen be
Exn °rk elated a dated in
can^bg68?f h°w tMsdhn§eexist,
ndeveI°ped a be°ry
ni°vemePrO8ressive wnreadV
that lr s a11 over
°men’s
are
S
FOCUS ON WOMEN
Rethinking
women and
development
Continued from page 3
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
they can go hand in hand, ible, with maximum partici
especially in societies where a pation of all people. For
total transformation of the those in the developing and
political, social, and econ developed world it means
omic system is not in sight, study, consciousness raising,
but there must be under dialoguing and brainstorm
standing of the means and ing about how people can
gain control over their econ
the end.
The us 1980 Democratic omies, no matter where they
Political Convention illus are. It means concentrating
trated the need for such on the problems locally,
awareness. Political reforms state-wide, nationally, and
meant that for the first time, internationally.
women were half of the del A feminist approach to this
egates to the national con future would require that this
vention. However, as a process happen before ‘de
columnist, Richard Reeves, velopment’ is planned. It
pointed out, “Women, even would also require the par
when they share floor space ticipation of women in every
at a convention, may never step of the way.
truly share political power or And finally, women - and
change politics. The game men who are concerned
has rules made by men and about development - must
they have a life and momen learn to stand fast. Too long
tum of their own”. Such re the theory has prevailed that
forms are important, but when other more pressing
should not alone be taken as issues of politics and peace
necessarily representing a are dealt with, then human
real shift toward equality in kind will be able to turn to
power of patriarchy. Women
are organizing, speaking out
against injustice in the home,
workplace and society. These
struggles are not restricted
to upper- and middle-class
women (as we are often told),
but evident in working class
and peasant women’s groups,
who have a long history of
struggle against oppression.
At the same time, the struggle
against patriarchy and econ
omic oppression cannot be
separated from the struggle
of those who are poor
and powerless. Progressive
women’s movements can be
separate, and part of all those
who work to bring about a
just, participatory, and sus
tainable society.
□ Maternal mortality rates — the risk of dying
from pregnancy-related causes — vary greatly in
different parts of the world. In Europe today,
the rates are as low as 6 per 100,000 live
births compared to rates up to 1,000 per
100,000 live births reported in parts of Africa
and Asia. Unregulated fertility, high rates of
illegal abortions, and partial or total absence of
care during pregnancy and childbirth are main
causes.
□ If all births were spaced at least two years
apart, infant mortality could be reduced by an
average of 10% and one-to-four-years child
mortality by around 16%.
IF Illustration No. 107
4
Women and health
□ About one-half of non-pregnant and twothirds of pregnant women in developing
countries (excluding China) suffer from
nutritional anaemia, a syndrome often caused
by a combination of malnutrition, infection, and
almost continuous child-bearing.
Strategies for
change:
reform or radical?
There is no one strategy that
will ensure equitable devel
opment for all. However,
there are several directions
that such strategies can go
which could enable equitable
development. If change were
to be categorized in two
broad areas - reform and
radical - each category would
have certain strategies that
would enable change to be
brought about.
Reformist strategies are those
which are devised to alleviate
problems (e.g., food stamps
for the hungry, unemploy
ment compensation for the
unemployed) without much
attention to the cause of the
problems. Radical strategies
are devised by examining the
root of the problem, and
proposing alternatives to
presently existing structures
that are responsible for cre
ating the problems.
Whether
strategies
are
reformist or radical in nature,
Facts
ami figures
decision making.
Both reformist and radical
movements share a common
goal for change. The under
lying ideologies of the two
are different, but reforms
rightly integrated can become
steps to more long-term
change.
Helping shape
this future
Individuals and institutions
interested in building this
new just order need first of
al] to do more intentional
thinking about the kind of
Political, social, and econ
omic order that will meet the
needs of all people. Towards
His end, development must
rnean the production, distri
bution, and consumption of
goods and services in the
niost equitable manner poss
the needs of women. The
challenging idea of our times
is a determination to build a
world less divided between
rich and poor, the weak and
the powerful. In moving to
this goal, the old theory can
no longer hold. True devel
opment, just development,
cannot happen when the
needs, talents, and potenti
alities of half of the world’s
population are seen as sec
ondary and marginal. That is
why feminism is not a frivol
ous concern. It deals with
work, with struggle, and
above all with the dream of a
new day for all peoples.
By Anita Anand, Consultant, Inter
national Development, 712 4th Street
N.E., Washington, D. C. 20002, USA.
□ Infant and maternal mortality are highest
among teen-age mothers. Women who become
pregnant while they are still adolescent have a
much higher risk of complications during
pregnancy and childbirth. In some countries a
considerable proportion of first births occur to
young women under 20. Postponing the first
birth — whether by marrying at a later age or by
suitable family planning — will greatly improve a
woman's health status, make pregnancy and
childbirth less hazardous, and give baby a
healthier start in life, and mother a chance to
mature physically, mentally and emotionally.
□ Out of approximately 125 million annual
births in the world, roughly 20 million are lowbirth-weight (i.e. one in six births), with a
higher risk of death and a lower potential for
healthy growth and development.
■ It has been estimated that there are about
300 million couples who do not want any more
children but who are not using any method of
family planning, chiefly due to inadequate
access to services in the developing world,
especially in rural areas and urban slums. As
always, the poorest layers of the population are
the last ones to be provided with social
services.
■ If women the world over were able to have
the children they say they want, the crude birth
rate would range between 1 6 and 28 per
1,000 population rather than the present range
of 28 to 40.
Source: who.
FOCUS ON WOMEN
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
Women's time
stressful processes of repro
duction and breastfeeding.
The result is that too many
women are worn out by work
and by child-bearing. Every
year, half a million mothers
die from causes related to
maternity. And for every
other mother who dies, many
struggle on in a state eu
phemistically known as ‘ma
ternal depletion’.
Almost without exception,
low-cost strategies for pro
moting the health and
growth of children demand
more of their mothers.
Longer breastfeeding con
sumes time and energy; oral
rehydration therapy de
mands time and patience to
mix up a fresh solution each
morning and administer it
slowly several times a day to
a sick child; preventing mal
nutrition will mean taking a
child to be weighed each
month and spending more
time in the preparation of
the four to five feeds a day
which are necessary to ad
equately supplement its diet;
and making sure a child is
immunized means repeated
trips to health clinics or vac
cination posts.
Too Bittle support
/Too much work
Yet many of the women of
the poorest communities in
the developing world are
already working 12 to 16
hours a day. Often spending
many more hours in the
fields than men, women are
responsible for at least 50%
of family food production in
the developing world. Once
the harvest is in, it is also the
woman’s job to do all the
pounding, winnowing, grind
ing, boiling, straining, drying,
and storing of the family’s
staple foods. On top of that,
women are normally respon
sible for collecting firewood
JLnd drawing water, gathering
'fodder and looking after ani
mals, tending kitchen gar
dens and marketing any sur-1
plus, cooking and washing up
after meals, cleaning and
washing clothes, sewing and
weaving, maintaining social
obligations and attending to
the sick and the elderly - and
all of this is on top of the
tasks of bearing and caring
for children.
If the mother fives in one of
the slums or shanty towns
which now house almost a
quarter of the developing
world, then she may also face
the special difficulties of de IF Photo No. 519
pending entirely on the mar lems. Usually, diarrhoeal and
ket-place for her family’s other infections come during
food, of long hours away the busiest seasons of the
from home as she struggles to agricultural year. Once the
earn an income, and of an rains have begun, hoeing and
overcrowded and dangerous planting cannot wait. Once
environment in which to the crop has ripened, the
bring up her children. In the harvest must be gathered in.
five largest cities of India, for At these times mothers can
example, 60% of all families not keep returning to their
live in one room — and most homes to administer more
have neither safe water nor oral rehydration solution or
to prepare one of the small
hygienic sanitation.
In a rural area, the mother is and frequent meals which a
likely to face different prob- weanling child needs. In one
NICOLE TOUTOUNji
African nation, for example,
surveys have shown that
women’s work in agriculture
means that many small chil
dren are fed, on average, only
1.6 times a day.
As important as a mother’s
time is her energy. And again
the unequal standing of
women, and sometimes their
out-and-out
exploitation,
means that the mother is fre
quently ill and tired, devoid
of the capacity for extra ef
fort which improvements in
her child’s well-being may
demand. Of the 464 million
women in the Third World,
for example, no less than 230
million are estimated to be
suffering from energy-sap
ping anaemia.
To the long hours of physical
toil in fields and homes must
be added the physical burdens and nutritional stresses
of repeated pregnancy and of
breastfeeding. At the age of
30, a woman has often spent
80% of her adult life in the
If mothers in poor communi
ties are to put into practice
the strategies now available
for protecting the lives and
the growth of their children,
then they will need more than
just information - they will
need practical support from
their men, their communities,
their leaders, and their
governments. They will need,
for example, technologies
which relieve them of the
hours a day spent collecting
wood for an inefficient open
stove, or the hours a day
pounding grain with a pestle
and grinding it with a stone,
or the miles and hours a day
spent carrying water. They
will also need a fairer div
ision, within the family, of
labour and of food. The
woman, often working longer
and harder, often eats last
and least. In her own child
hood, the future mother usu
ally has less to eat than her
brothers with the result that
her growth is impaired and
her own children may be
born - and may grow up underweight. In pregnancy,
the mother is often left too
small a share of the family
pot with the result that her
baby is malnourished even
before it is born.
In times of breastfeeding, the
mother often does not eat the
extra 500 calories or so of
food each day which she
needs, with the result that her
own body becomes depleted
by the protection she gives to
her child.
In short, progress in women’s
rights is possibly the most
important of all advances for
improving the lives of women
themselves and for support
ing mothers in the task of us
ing the new techniques to
bring about a revolution in
child survival.
Excerpted from the 1 985 State of the
World's Children report. Chapter VII:
"Women’s time", edited by Peter and
Lesley Adamson, published for unicef
by Oxford University Press, Oxford
1984.
5
FOCUS ON WOMEN
ideas forum No. 21
UNICEF and
The situation of women in poverty
Although circumstances vary in different areas,
certain generalizations can be made about poor
women in developing countries.
• In many countries the
ratio of women to men is
greater in the poorest income
groups than in the popu
lation as a whole; the econ
omic standing of the poorest
households often depends on
the women’s income-earning
capability, even though they
are at the height of their
child-bearing years.
• The 16-hour daily work
load documented for many
rural women increases during
peak periods of agricultural
labour and in times of com
munity responsibilities.
• Evidence points to sex bi
ases throughout life in favour
of males in the allocation of
food and the treatment of ill
ness, as reflected in lower fe
male nutritional status and
higher female child mortality
rates - girls’ mortality is
lower than boys’ at birth,
equal to boys’ mortality at
ages 1 to 2 years, and double
that of boys’ at ages 2 to 5
years.
• An estimated 10 to 30 mil
lion girls undergo mutilating
circumcision operations be
fore puberty.
• One-half of all women of
child-bearing age and twothirds of pregnant women
suffer from anaemia.
• Maternal mortality rates
in some developing countries
are up to 200 times higher
than in Europe and more
than half a million women
die of causes related to child
birth each year, leaving mil
lions of motherless children.
• Illegal abortions kill up to
200,000 women yearly and
permanently injure countless
more.
• Overall, half the female
population is illiterate. In at
least 16 countries, female il
literacy is 85% and above,
and more girls than boys fail
to enrol or drop out of pri
mary school, inflating the
ranks of the illiterate. Un
schooled women are likely to
have more children and are
less likely to enrol their chil
dren (particularly daughters)
in school, perpetuating the
cycle of female impoverish
ment.
• Women’s access to land
and food production has
been severely affected by ac
celerated shifts of land to
male-controlled cash crop
ping and increasing deterio
ration of land reserved for
women
for
subsistence
agriculture. Where govern
ments promote cash crop
ping, it has been shown
that ’ subsistence production
steadily declines while export
crops record consistent suc
cess. Women in many cases
are excluded from member
ship in agricultural cooperat
ives and from receiving
the benefits of agricultural
technology and extension
services.
• Women in both urban and
rural households are increas
ingly responsible for provid
ing family income because
nf mule unemployment/unIF Photo No. 520
deremployment and absence,
and the erosion of traditional
kinship obligations that sup
ported women.
• Mass production and
capital-intensive technology
in urban areas and mechani
zation in rural areas have
squeezed women out of tra
ditional spheres of pro
duction and at the same time
reduced the demand for their
labour in wage employment.
Rural women are thus rel
egated to marginal, seasonal
or part-time jobs on farms
and plantations, and urban
6
J.-C. CONSTANT
women to low-status, irregu
lar and poorly remunerated
work in the lower echelons of
informal sector activities.
Migrant women are particu
larly vulnerable in urban
areas.
• Work options, particularly
in urban areas, are limited
because of child-care prob
lems and because impover
ished women are physically
depleted as well as unpre
pared to compete in the
world of work.
• Households headed by
women are increasing and
appear to be the most likely
to suffer economically, with
single
and
abandoned
mothers being the most vul
nerable group. The evidence
to date shows that womenheaded households
have
lower incomes, less access to
productive resources, more
children and fewer secondary
sources of income than male
headed households. There is
evidence that child malnu
trition is most severe in
households where men have
migrated for labour and send
no remittance home.
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
women
Strengthening women's programmes
The evolution of UNICEF policy on women
reflects the increasing awareness of women’s
multi-faceted role in the health and develop
ment of children.
The early focus on relief,
basic health, and social ser
vices was reflected in actions
centred around mothers,
child
caretakers,
home
makers, and the schooling of
young girls. Since the mid
1960s, however, it has be
come increasingly evident
that raising the status of
women is necessary for social
development. This awareness
has led UNICEF to adopt an
expanded definition of the
mother’s role, one that sup
ports not only women’s nurturing/reproductive
func
tions but also their needs and
responsibilities as economic
providers, food producers,
and community leaders, em
phasizing combined actions
that offer synergistic benefits
for women and children’s
well-being.
■ The connection between
programmes for women and
the child survival and devel
opment revolution needs to
be strengthened, in order to
more effectively empower
mothers with the knowledge
and the techniques they need
to protect their children’s
health and growth. Program
mes that enhance women’s
capacities to act (literacy,
skills, health, availability of
water, fuel and technologies),
advance their influence in the
community
(participation,
leadership, decision-making),
increase their cash earnings
and
productivity
(occu
pational skills, access to
credit, cooperative training),
and actively involve them in
the implementation of devel
opment programmes (as ex
tension
workers,
health
auxiliaries, project personnel,
village motivators) need to be
fully supported.
■ A more comprehensive
approach to women’s health
needs should be developed,
that also covers adolescents
and the elderly - the foun
dations for healthy mothers
are laid early, and older
women play an important
role in infant and child care.
The capacities of communi
ties to organize, plan, and
IF Photo NO. 521
MAGGIE MURRAY-LEE
implement health program
mes with minimum depen
dence upon core institutions
should be strengthened.
■ Nutrition
programmes
should be linked to some of
women’s other critical social
and economic needs by in
corporating literacy
and
skills-training
components
into basic nutrition education
programmes, strengthening
informal child-care arrange
ments in the community, in
cluding men and older
women in health and nu
trition education program
mes and sensitizing them to
the issues of food distri
bution and discriminatory
health care, and making safe
and suitable alternatives
available to those women
who cannot breastfeed be
cause of physical depletion or
who can only partially
breastfeed because of work.
□ The whole process of
learning needs to be intensi
fied: for young girls, ensuring
maximum enrolment in and
completion
of
primary
school; for adolescent and
adult women, strengthening
IAIN GUEST
family-life education, pro
moting literacy, and revising
non-formal education curric
ula in order to make them
more relevant to women’s
needs and multiple roles.
■ In order to bring about
food self-sufficiency and a
reduction of poverty, women
must have greater access to
agricultural training, techni
cal assistance, and inputs
such as water, fuel, seeds,
food storage facilities, etc.
■ Stronger advocacy efforts
need to be undertaken to mo
bilize community-based as
sociations, women’s gr°ups,
rural extension services, arid
the mass media to carry the
message of responsible par.
enthood and family planning
to all members of the com.
munity.
These proposed actions re.
fleet UNICEF’s integrated
approach to the problems
con fron ti ng low-income wom.
en and children. Their frame.
work stresses:
- the need to improve t^
socio-economic status Of
women for their benefit a^d
as a prerequisite to social
velopment;
- the need to emphasize
programmes that will reduce
the heavy workload of poor
women and improve their
health;
- the interdependence be
tween the health of infants
and children and the avail
ability of resources for
women.
From UNICEF response to women's
concerns. Policy Review
JX’
Executive Board
1 qrr ' UN. F’
E/ICEF/1985/1 i 7C ,85 sess|on,
1 ooo/ L. 1,7 February 1985.
FOCUS ON WOMEN
Little
girls'
rights
The neglected needs of the
girl child have come in for
critical review by women’s
organizations and youth
groups in India, in consul
tations and action-oriented
workshops being organized
to highlight the common
concerns of the Women’s
Decade and IYY.
IDEAS FORUM No.
"This is but one
UNICEF volunteer's
story'’
In September 1981,1 had my sponsibilities included typ in a collaborative global ser
preparing
mailings, vice project with UNICEF.
first ‘real’ involvement with ing,
UNICEF. Although as a answering the telephone. As I was lost at first as to how to
teenager I had collected pen time progressed, my role begin, who to contact, etc.
nies for UNICEF at Hal evolved as well as my re After making a number of
loween, it was not until I had sponsibilities. An early proj long-distance calls and writ
become a mother myself that ect that I became involved in ing letters, I was finally
was a Sunday School’s par steered in the right direction.
I became a volunteer.
Early one morning while ticipation in a ‘Trick or
breastfeeding my then four- Treat’ Halloween activity for
month-old son and simul UNICEF. It was a success for A global service
The fact that the first - and
taneously
watching
the a first attempt, and a little
most crucial - decade of IF Photo No. 523
project
every woman’s life remains a pation, and peace. The influ morning news, an advertise over $1,000 was collected.
ment
about
UNICEF
came
on The following year I returned
period marked by depri ence of social attitudes was
vation and discriminatory debated in relation to each TV. Suddenly, reminiscences to work as a primary teacher The national president of the ,
treatment has come into topic - and this highlighted of my journeys to Africa (remedial reading specialist) sorority was very receptive. 1 >
sharp focus. The balance how many options are closed came to mind - pictures of and was therefore unable to Interestingly enough, the or
had
recently
women
wearing volunteer my time as I had ganization
sheet of actions taken during for the weaker sex from the African
flowing dresses with babies done previously. My com created a group called
the Decade reveals few in earliest years.
mitment
to
UNICEF,
how
‘Women Involved in Global
itiatives on behalf of the girl The recommendations of the strapped on their backs. So
child, and experts in women’s NGO women’s consultations many of those women share ever, remained. I was able to Concerns’, which addresses
the
same
concerns
that
I
do
become
involved
in
activities
the needs of women in de
were
shared
with
the
inter
studies feel they have
stumbled on a major ‘per national conference of non- about having a healthy child, such as contacting other vol veloping countries. And it
aligned and developing coun but their options are much unteers to, for example, sell was seeking a global service
ception gap’.
cards at a fair, or help with project.
Honest review of this ‘crucial tries hosted in New Delhi fewer than mine.
decade’ was an important by the Indian government a I recalled how in Ghana I the promotion of the Gandhi After careful consideration
and with input from the US
feature of a two-day national week later. They will also be saw mothers lined up at a film.
Committee in New York, I
NGO consultation of women conveyed to the NGO Forum health clinic to have their
children
weighed
and
im
decided that a Liberian West
held in New Delhi in early in Nairobi in July.
munized,
and
that
it
was
a
The
prospects
during
IYY
African
UNICEF Project
April - and participants gen
More
exposure
would be the most feasible.
erally acknowledged the need and beyond - for female UNICEF-supported project. I
Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority
for concerted NGO advocacy youth were debated at a day recalled in the countryside of to UNICEF
then recommended UNICEF
and action to remedy their long workshop organized by Senegal and Tanzania the
neglect of fundamental as the°NGO Forum for Ideas prayerful faces of those I also felt the need for the as the global service project
mothers
who
had
walked
community from which I ori for any interested chapters. ( ;
pects of women’s equality and Action during the same
and development. The con time. About 100 Forum par long distances in hopes that ginate (a Black community) To date, several chapters
their
sick
babies
could
be
to have more exposure to have contacted UNICEF of
ticipants
began
to
work
out
sultation, which brought
together over 200 women community action plans that cured. And these, too, were UNICEF. The UNICEF staff fices in regard to suggestions.
from all over India, was the would promote better social UNICEF-supported projects. was supportive of this idea. I have had articles on UNI
result of a joint initiative of attitudes towards the rights That afternoon as my son In this vein, I sought out CEF published in the sor
the YWCA of India, the All of daughters’, and encourage lay sleeping. I realized how some organizations that I felt ority’s journal, and some of
India Women’s Conference, more equitable care and blessed I was to live in a might be interested in sup the sorority’s regional direc
the National Federation of socialization of girls as a first country where he has a porting a UNICEF project, tors, have drawn their mem
Indian Women and the steD towards making then- chance to grow up healthy, particularly in Africa or the bers’ attention to UNICEF.
Centre for Women’s Devel participation in society both and where there are many Caribbean. The South-East The final thrust of tins proj
opment Studies. Both UNI more meaningful and more ways for me, as a mother, to Regional Director of the US ect will be to have the sor
become
better
educated Committee
for
UNICEF, ority make a sizeable contri
CEF and the Indian govern rewarding,
ment provided technical and The NGO women s rec about nutrition, etc. Im Sheryl Manley, came to bution to UNICEF-supported
mediately,
I
telephoned
the
speak to some of them. One projects in Liberia.
ommendations are now per
funding support.
Those who took part in the colating to other parts of In Volunteer Division of the lo of the organizations is now This is but one UNICEF vol
cal
UNICEF
office.
I
was
in
preparing to make a financial unteer s story. Unfortunately,
lively exchange of ideas and dia via the 200 women who
vited to come in as soon as contribution to an edu it is not entirely a success
experiences and worked to foreed them into a manifesto
possible.
cational programme in the story, but I hope my ex
formulate a common state thJ women’s groups and
L
in different pro- I arranged to have a woman Caribbean.
periences will
encourage
ment and a wide-ranging set r°m
could implement. keep my son one day a week I also began to coordinate others to give of their time
of recommendations for both Sfyouth Forum Jlans to and began my new role as a
many of UNICEF’s art and monies to support UNI
government and NGO action
volunteer, still somewhat ig exhibits in the public schools, CEF. There are so many
included lawyers, journalists, carrv its workshop activity to
norant of UNICEF’s many and presently I have gotten projects in the Third World
an
/her
metropolitan
centre
teachers, dramatists, union 0? h,tta to motivate and
programmes and the roles of several Black organizations that need support. And we
leaders, social workers and
m Size’young people there. its National Committees. I to sponsor UNICEF art can help make the difference.
grass-root activists, govern
ment planners and social Th° girl chi,d - 100 young to thought that selling cards was exhibits at local libraries. The Let s all give more support
r. her voice in either set- the only function of a response has been phenom to UNICEF! Children and
scientists.
ti Se hmay yet be heard be- National Committee, and enal.
women in the Third World
Discussions
focused
on fitihe Dide ends.
that caring for sick children During the spring of 1983, I need it!
health, nutrition, education,
was UNICEF’s only concern. undertook the project of in
unorganized and organized
What an eye-opener and volving the oldest Black
employment of women and
women’s sorority in the By Beryl Graham Kalisa, Atlanta.
girls, law, media portrayal, R----- TTjsmail. Information Officer, education I received!
Razia
De
|hi,
India.
Initially, my volunteer re I world (Alpha Kappa Alpha) Georgia, USA.
women’s political partici- CNicef, New Dem
8
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
Grandmother Rohey Bah,
one of The Gambia’s 800
Red Flag volunteers, is out
of work. For over two years
she had demonstrated to vil
lage mothers how to mix a
simple sugar-salt solution to
administer to children when
they have diarrhoea. “All the
mothers know how to make
it now”, she said, when we
visited her in her village of
Kerr Chemo on the North
Bank of the Gambian River
this November. “They don’t
need me any more.”
The Red Flag volunteer
project was part of a mass
education campaign launched
in 1982 by the Gambian
Medical and Health Depart
ment with the support of
USAID to fight dehydration
caused by diarrhoea, one of
the main causes of infant
mortality in the country.
Firstly,
the
programme
aimed at training all categor
ies of health personnel. Nu
tritionist Haddy Gabbidon
was the national counterpart
on the programme. “We used
three teaching methods”, she
explained. “The radio, with
regular messages and songs
on oral rehydration; three
types of printed materials;
and face-to-face teaching.”
Once the nurses and com
munity health workers had
been trained, they in turn be
came responsible for training
the community volunteers
chosen by their villages.
“We had about 1,000 red
flags printed, with a picture
of a healthy baby on them.
Each health worker was to go
to about ten villages around
her station and teach ten Red
Flag volunteers”, Haddy
continued. “They were not
only taught the importance
of rehydration and the cor
rect way to prepare a sugarsalt solution, but also the
necessity
of
continuing
breastfeeding and giving
solid foods. We particularly
stressed the fact that ORT
does not halt diarrhoea, but
prevents the dehydration that
can be fatal”, she went on.
“On the radio, we reinforced
the message in the vernacular
by telling mothers, ‘Every
time you see a red flag, you
know it is the right place to
go when your child has di
arrhoea’.”
Then each volunteer was
given a ‘Special Diet for Di
arrhoea’ poster, a handbill
explaining how to mix the
The Netherlands
Course
on
maternal
and child
nutrition
sugar-salt solution, and a red
flag to hoist in her com
pound.
Though her red flag days are
now over, Grandmother Bah
still has her poster: “To mix
the sugar-salt solution you
must clean three Julpearl (a
Gambian softdrink brand)
bottles and fill them with
clean water”, she explains in
Wolof, showing us the first
picture. “Then you clean the
The International Course in Food Science and Nutrition,
annually held in Wageningen, The Netherlands, will in
1 986 be focused on the theme: 'Maternal and child nutri
tion: the prevention of the main nutritional disorders in the
world'.
The course will be directed towards the alleviation of the
nutrition and health problems of pregnant and lactating
mothers and young children, these being the most vulner
able groups in many developing countries.
The programme is designed to be of particular relevance to
those who are responsible for or involved in the planning
and implementation of programmes dealing with mother
and child nutrition and health.
The requirements for admission are:
• an academic degree (B. Sc. as a minimum), or its equi
valent in nutrition, food technology, home economics,
medicine, or a related field of study;
• a professional position with tasks related to the theme
of the course and through which dissemination of the ac
quired knowledge is possible and can be expected;
• some years of practical experience related to the theme
of the course;
• fluency in the English language.
is best for the baby. Bottle
feeding should be discour
aged because it is dangerous,
it causes the infections which
produce diarrhoea. Breast
feeding protects the child
from infections. If the child is
off the breast”, she said as
she came to the last picture,
“he should be fed solid foods
like rice porridge and pow
dered fish”.
. .
“One can also add the juice
of four limes or oranges, or
even coconut-milk”, Haddy
put in. “They provide the
potassium contained in UNI
CEF’s packaged oral rehy
dration salts.”
Asked what effects the ad
ministration of the solution
had on the children, Grand
mother Bah, having tested
the method several times on
her own grandchildren, re
plied, “When a child has di
arrhoea, his eyes are dull, the
skin stretches, and his back
bone sticks out; but after the
treatment, the eyes brighten,
the skin becomes firm and
the fontanelle fills out.”
At the beginning of the pro
gramme her compound was
always busy with activity.
But to her the fact , that the
mothers no longer come back
for advice is confirmation of
the programme’s success. An
evaluation recently under
taken by Stanford University
testifies to this. Preliminary
results show that two-thirds
of the mothers in the country
have learned how to make
the sugar-salt solution and
put it into practice, and onethird know how to make it
but do not use it.
New mothers are taught di
container for the solution. arrhoea control by the nurses
With the Julpearl bottlecaps and midwives when they
you take one measure of salt come to the infant welfare
- it must be level - and eight clinics. “The mothers just
measures of sugar, and put have to know about it”, said
them with the water in the Isatou Dibaia, a nurse at the
container. Then it is import Brikama Health Centre, “we
ant to stir the ingredients so have nagged at them so
that they dissolve. When the much”.
child has diarrhoea,” she
continues at the next picture,
“he should continue to be
By Maggie Murray-Lee, Information
breastfed because the breast Officer, unicef, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Course period: 7 January - 5 June 1 986
Venue: International Agricultural Centre,
Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Fellowships: The Netherlands government has a
number of fellowships available for
thls course.
Language: The course wj|| be conducted in En-
gush.
information about the
c°Wse or the fellowships and for apfandtion forms' contact the Netherwritn embassy in y°ur country or
to the course secretariat at the
aDD[?ss below- The closing date for
for s «anon for the course as weH as
a fellowship is 1 5 August 1 985.
Address: ^national Course in Food Science
I \ Nutrition,
c-^ekse Allee 11,
TheLAN Wa9eningen,
Tpl Netherlands.
Iel' 08370-19040.
Application: For fu^^g,.
9
FOCUS ON WOMEN
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
study established the major (PCRW) programme, which
extent of women’s contri uses
the
formation of
bution in the first two women’s groups as the basis
spheres, indicative of the for income generation and
substantial but unrecorded community development ac
role women were playing tivities.
nationally in a largely sub Shanta Khadga has a good
sistence economy.
job: she is a senior pro
The study argued that gramme assistant at UNICEF
women were caught in a vi in Kathmandu. She agrees
cious circle: “Since in the that more educated young
process of modernisation, the women are taking jobs and
! centre of economic activity are willing to go to rural
moves away from the house areas to work - “Women I’ve
hold towards the market sec talked to say, ‘At first we
tor, the problem of in- were hesitant, now we find
side/outside dichotomy and we’re enjoying it’.” Ms.
consequent dependence of Khadga and her sister were
women on men for in the first generation of women
termediation with the outside in her family to be sent to
limits both supply to and de school, and to her, family
mand from women for mod means a community of 700 to
ern development resources.
800 people in the Kath
Reasoning that women were mandu valley. Ms. Khadga
already an important source was the first person, male or
of production, the study con female, in this family to get a
IF Photo No. 524
MARK FELSENTHAL
cluded that to improve university degree.
women’s access to credit fa Her work takes her to the
cilities, training, and func sites of the Small Farmers’
tional education, not to men Development
Programme,
tion community services, one component of which is
would be of vital importance the formation of women’s
in the national development groups with the same goals as
strategy.
the PCRW groups. She finds a
greater confidence and an
increased awareness of how
to tap resources among
women who have partici
m socnaD
pated in the SFDP groups.
development
“Once women take responsi
bility in a group, they take
Chandani Joshi is the chief of the job very seriously. Before
the Women’s Development they’re in a group, they’re
Section of the Ministry of often indifferent; but once
Panchayat and Local Devel they become involved, they
opment. If Mrs. Pradhan is do the job well.”
the skeptical academic, Mrs.
Joshi is her complement, a
tireless lobbier for women Teaching them
and their capabilities. She is they have rights
quick to point out that
women are not just benefici When Chandani Joshi says
aries, that the goal is to tap of rural women, “They’ve
their potential; and that al needed someone to wake
On the ridge at 12,000 feet, a chilly fog clamps down and the travellers though her section adminis them up”, she could have
are glad to reach a hut. Inside a Sherpa family is brewing tea for people ters programmes specifically been describing Indra Guat women, women rung, who has been a WDO in
on their way to a festival nearby. The bright-eyed girl who serves it is targeted
becoming involved across Gajuri, a two-hour drive west
Sabitri, age 12, the youngest of seven daughters and two sons. She is the are
the board in education, of Kathmandu, for the last
only one of the girls to have attended school.
health, agriculture, and busi three years.
ness. She points to a rising “They’d been doing the same
What does her father think of Development and Adminis ahead with one of your tra awareness among educated work for years and years,”
a girl like her learning to read tration, which between 1979 ditional methods and hope women about issues of social she comments, “with no new
and write? “Well, she should and 1981 published The that the women are taken development. Her section is ideas. After w'e’d been there a
know how, a little bit any Staitz of Women in Nepal, a care of. It would open up responsible for a 15-month- year or so, things began to
way. And knowing how to c°niprehensive set of back whole new areas if you de old information exchange change - for example, they
count is useful.” Sabitri, ground reports and field veloped
paradigms
for which has 70 members and began to ask for family plan
warming to the strangers, studies. Mrs. Pradhan con women’s activities.”
meets monthly. WDS ap ning. They used to say babies
hesitantly tries out a few tributed to the study a paper The original study drew at points Women’s Develop
English phrases. Her father on institutions concerned tention to figures that ment Officers (WDOs) to
laughs: “Oh, she’s only been with women as well as a summed up the hard lot of work in the field and in es
to school for a few years, she monograph on women of the the Nepalese woman: literacy sence act as a two-way con
doesn’t know much.” But he Ne^ar ethnic group. She has among less than 5%, an aver duit between village women
leans forward and listens, been a perceptive and often age of 6.8 live births per and banks and government
and breaks into a broad, critica] observer of govern woman, a life expectancy at agencies.
.
toothy grin when he hears ment and donor agency ef birth of 43 years - five less The role of the WDO is key.
the foreigners answer his
“
I
was
told
that
the
idea
of
than
men.
forts on behalf of women.
daughter in English.
“It’s a cultural issue of such More important, perhaps, the the WDO was a dream When asked to discuss chan depth - a decade is not study created a conceptual ‘You’ll never find educated,
ges in the status of women in enough time. It’s a whole model
of
ever-widening qualified young women from
Nepal over the last ten years,
Process of unlearning and re- spheres of economic activity, the district of the project site,
Bina Pradhan expresses some learning. In the social scien starting within the house you won’t get’them to work
reservations. It is a subject ces and in economics, gender hold, moving to the family’s in villages’ - we’ve disproved
she is well acquainted with.
Iras never been an issue. If agricultural production, to those myths.” At present
A lecturer in economics
you want to introduce new the bazaar and village mar there are just under 60 WDOs
at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan
and assistants working in the
University, she is a member ^eed$, new inputs, the gender ket-place, and finally to the
UNICEF-assisted Production
of the Centre for Economic d,fferential is not taken into larger world of towns and
Consideration. You just go cities away from home. The Credit for Rural Women IF Photo No. 525
More than
a question
of equity
10
various
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
were gifts from God’. Now
they understand that they
can do something.”
She adds, “Now they know
that they can get help from
the health post, from the vet,
and so on. Low-caste people
used to let themselves be
dominated by others; now
we’ve started to teach them,
convince them that they’ve
got rights.
“Village women would look
at us - educated women who
came out to villages - and
would say, ‘How lucky you
are; we can’t leave home
even for a day, we were never
able to study.’ So we would
talk about why they were
weak, and they became ex
tremely interested in learning
new tilings, learning new
skills. In that way we trav
elled around the villages,
building self-confidence.
“But in Nepal, tilings happen
slowly... there are so many
hills!”
J
Interview
PouSde woS I
from the outs‘, pverything
who do not otherwise attend
think that
no is n p
DOwer.
depends
on who
school. Rajmani Shrestha is
In some countnes, the heads
one of the rare local women
of state and certain numsters
who has finished high school
are very sensitive to wo^n
and has a teaching certificate.
issues. We have been able to
She worked hard to get vol
unteer labour from her com
get the idea of social justic
munity to build a primary
for women accepted
school once the UNDP/UNIconferring to women the
CEF/UNESCO-funded project
status they deserve, recogniz
offered support; she has also
ing their rights, etc. But, at
taught several classes for outthe planning level, there is
of-school girls. Attitudes
still a great deal to be done. I
about the role of girls - and
don’t think we have yet
poverty - are still major ob
found the arguments to bring
stacles, she says. “If the girls
bankers, economists, plan
can get a job portering loads
ners, to include women as a
from the airport, they won’t
human resource in their de
come to class. People say,
velopment plans. We have
‘What’s the point? They
been caught up in the need to
won’t get any money for it’.”
explain, to justify, and have
However, the girls themselves
forgotten that it is also
are lively and eager partici
pants, and there continues to
necessary to provide quan
be a demand for the classes
tifiable facts and arguments
from communities. Female
proving that development
attendance at literacy classes
cannot take place without
has also increased signifi
women, because of the im
cantly in the area, reflecting
portant role they already
the interest women have been
play.
displaying nation-wide in
Finding time
becoming literate. This year
I-£^I>T-Olher_words. in areas
in Seti there will be over 100
for school
~-^fA_cjccess_io_q-e_dit, access
classes of around 20 partici
One reason why women have pants each; roughly 60% are
traditionally had low rates of women.
Pradhan
cautions
literacy and formal training Bina
M.-A.S. Some of our governin agricultural skills is be against the complacency that
ments have signed conven
Marie-Angelique Savane, from Senegal, has in her own
can
be
caused
by
the
exist
cause female labour has
tions, and it would be an er
soft-spoken way become one of Africa’s leading women
always been important within ence of an office like WDS:
ror not to recognize the ad
sociologists and feminists. President of the Association of
the family to assure that land “It should see whether
vances made here and there
African Women for Research and Development
and livestock resources were women are involved in all
during the Decade. But over
(AAWORD), and Project Leader of UNRISD’s research
fully utilized to provide a sections of government. If
programme on Food Systems and Society in Africa, she
all, people haven’t realized
subsistence base. Little girls there’s an office, everyone
has
been
involved
in
research
on
rural
development,
nu
tends
to
dump
all
issues
on
the need, for example, for
are not sent to school because
trition, planned parenthood, and women’s rights.
that one bureau.” WDS is in
their labour is needed.
agricultural credits geared
An
education-for-rural-de- fact beginning to place WDOs
specifically to women, since
velopment project in Nepal’s in programmes administered
women don’t have access to
remote Seti zone has added by the Ministry of Agricul IF. In your opinion, has the lation to us as women, a land ownership, and so have
early morning classes for girls ture; women are also filling Women’s Decade had any ef search for other possible ap no way of providing a
positions in the health infra fect on the status of African proaches we could follow so guarantee. In some countries,
structure and the educational women?
that African women would such as Bangladesh, there
system in greater numbers M.-A.S. The Decade has reap the fruits of their labour. have been experiments in
than before.
definitely served to create a
credit for women. Africa
Despite obstacles, which they much greater awareness of IF. Wasn’t the Decade in_q could also benefit from such
have always faced with ten the problems of women and way responsible for the cre programmes.
acity and spirit, Nepalese development in most of the ation of AA WORD, since it yq^
For there’s no point in fool
women are beginning to take African countries, where at the Mexico Mid-Decade
ing ourselves - we’re a long
advantage of opportunities national mechanisms have Conference that a movement
way from being able to own
with increasing self-confi been set up - women’s bu in this direction started?
dence. Although at first a reaux, ministries, associ M.-A. S. Yes, in fact the cre land. In most African coun
limited group of educated ations, etc. I think that even ation of AAWORD was one of tries, the pressure on land re
women have benefited from if these structures have not the responses of African sources is increasing, es
the new chances, they are es always been very effective, women, at least in the realm pecially since the traditional
tablishing a precedent of have not touched the roots of of research, to the new poss methods of crop rotation are
achievement for what Shanta the problems women face, ibilities opened to them. still widely used, and require
Khadga calls “the thousands they have brought about a There was a greater chance of a considerable amount of
of women willing to do real awareness, which was it being accepted than if the land. But if women could at
something,” but whose lives one of the objectives of the Decade had not existed least have access to credit
have yet to be effected by the Decade.
Through
AAWORD whaj and begin to buy fertilizers,
accomplishments of the Dec The non-governmental or women researchers were say pesticides, etc., they could in
ade. Projects that assist rural ganizations have had a sig ing was that “we, too, want crease their productivity and
women in becoming more nificant impact in bringing to contribute, by means Of their income. Access to credit
productive, that introduce about changes in the con research which will enable Us would also open new poss
time-saving elements such as ditions of women, whether to better understand Wom ibilities to women in urban
community water-taps or through small- or large-scale en’s problems and suggest zones. Those who have been
child-care centres, that in projects. My only regret is solutions”.
successful so far have done it
all on their own.
crease self-confidence and that the Decade is ending
self-reliance, are being rec without the emergence of a ir. in spue ot the lacKJAAen^
ognized as vital to overall clearer stand by African inist movements in niosLoftfe IF. Do you feel that this is the
national development not women. In only a very few African countries, doMAL fppi principal problem facing Afri
just because equity calls for African countries has the that governments are_JUQVhqy can women today - economic
it, but because efficiency re idea of feminism caught on. I ahead in improving wgRienV survival? Or are there also
quires it.
don’t mean a feminism which status?
other equally crucial prob
is an imitation of Western M.-A.S. The governments lems ?
movements, but the result of new awareness was not an M.-A.S. The economic prob
By Mark Felsenthal, United Nations
lems are important. But 1
Volunteer, Assistant Information Offi a thinking through of our so endogenous phenomenon.
cieties’ development in re was created primarily by t^
cer,
unicef
,
Kathmandu,
Nepal.
MARK FELSENTHAL
think we have too great a
An
irreversible
movement
Continued on page 12
11
FOCUS ON WOMEN
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
Kenya
Breast milk
sharing
Kenya’s largest maternity
hospital is pioneering an in
novative method of ensuring
that every baby delivered
there is breastfed. In the
Newborn Unit at Pumwani
Maternity Hospital, mothers
who have milk but cannot
breastfeed are expressing
their milk so it can be fed by
tube to their infants. It is
usually the premature babies
and those with jaundice or
other infections who benefit
from the practice, as well as
those babies whose mothers
have cracked nipples or other
problems in breastfeeding.
When occasionally a mother
has no milk, another woman
will express the excess she
has and ‘share’ it. The idea of
breast milk sharing was in
troduced in the late 1970s,
but met with resistence. Most
mothers found it culturally
unacceptable that their milk
should go to another child.
Now, however, after several
years of education work by
Nairobi’s
highly
active
Breastfeeding
Information
Group (BIG) and the hospital
staff, the practice has been
widely accepted. Said one
mother, as she expressed her
milk with a pump, “It’s quite
comfortable. I don’t mind it
going to another woman’s
baby. It’s good to help other
mothers who don’t have any
study carried out in Nairobi
in 1982 revealed that 78% of
mothers surveyed knew that
a glucose solution given by
bottle was the first feed their
newborn baby had received
in the hospital. At Pumwani,
it’s a different story. “We
have no bottles here”, claims
Sister Gatogo, who is in
charge of the Newborn Unit.
“Bottles are old-fashioned!”
the programmes in action.
IIRR’s 23rd and 24th training
sessions are scheduled from
28 October to 22 November
1985 and from 10 February
to 21 March 1986.
By Marilee Reiner, iirr Director of Re
source Development, New York, USA,
bracket, although at the
lower end of the spectrum.
If the scaled-up efforts of the
last two years continue in
Kabul and the Plan of Oper
ation is implemented as en
visaged, a steep reduction of
IMR seems within reach in a
reasonable period of time.
Day-care
centres
Afghanistan
LinOsey
Information Officer,
Ea5t
Ulhern A,rica Regional Of
fice, unicef, Nairobi, Kenya.
India
A plan to reduce
infant mortality
With women increasingly
entering the work force, or
ganized care for their young
children, especially during
the breastfeeding period, has
acquired a new urgency.
A programme to set up day
care centres in institutions
and other work places was
initiated by the Ministry of
Education in 1983. Forty-six
such centres have been set up
by the Department of Kin
dergartens, and the idea is
catching on with other organ
izations such as the Wom
en’s Club and the Women’s
Continuing Education Cen
tres. More centres are in the
process of being established.
The programme keeps the
young infant close to the
mother during the most cru
cial period of its life.
governments have internal
problems and conflicts, and
so are not prepared to resolve
the many problems facing
women. I believe very much
in NGO action, but the NGOs
must re-examine themselves.
At the present time, most of
them in Africa are affiliates
of North American and
European NGOs. Africans
must find a way to generate
indigenous NGOs which are
able to build on village organizations and structures,
and which can deal with all
of the problems facing both
village men and women. This
kind of approach would lead
to a greater awareness of the
need to increase women’s
productivity and their par
ticipation; for at the local
level, even if there are things
that are difficult for the men
to accept, at least they recog
nize that women make an
important contribution. The
governments should also be
supported in the positive
measures they take and be
pushed to go even further.
It’s obvious that at the mo
ment we’re living in a very
troubled political climate in
Africa. There’s no guarantee
that the conflicts will not
cause every new step forward
by women to be questioned
in relation to traditional
values. Unless the develop
ment models that are chosen
are better suited to solving
our problems, it’s obvious
that people will tend to turn
to tradition, to religious fun
damentalism, which are in
capable of generating new
attitudes, a new develop
ment.
Afghanistan’s State Planning
Committee and UNICEF
signed a Plan of Operation
for 1984 and 1985, which has
Women leaders
four main objectives for
for rural
Kabul:
<9 reducing the infant mor
reconstruction
tality rate (IMR) and increas
ing the child survival rate
Two women who are govern (CSR);
ment leaders in India ob ® planning, monitoring, and
tained UNICEF support to evaluating IMR/CSR-related
attend leadership seminars at activities;
the International Institute of O optimizing the all-round
Rural Reconstruction (IIRR). development of children; and
Amita Paul, Project Director O improving the situation of
for the Development of women.
Women and Children in Ru The Plan calls for the active
ral Areas Project of Bihar, involvement of all relevant
and Rukmani Haldea, Direc government and non-governtor of Women’s Programmes ment organizations and in Aim irreversible
of Rajasthan, were partici stitutions to help in ‘going to
movement
pants at the 21st Seminar for scale’ in respect to the
Senior Managers, held 29 IMR/CSR actions. The Wom Continued from page 11
October to 24 November en’s Club Organization, the
1984, at IIRR’s campus in Si Afghan Red Crescent So
ciety, pharmacies, factories, tendency in Africa to con
lang, Cavite, the Philippines.
The main thrust of the Bihar and religious leaders are all centrate on them, and to for
milk”
Women’s Project supervised being involved in the effort get the problems related to
Up to 90 babies are delivered by Amita Paul is to bring to reduce the infant mor our status, our oppression.
at Pumwani Hospital every poor rural women into the tality rate in Kabul.
Much has been said about
day. Situated as it is in a low- mainstream of the develop The means chosen to reach female excision, but there are IF. Do you think that the pro
income shanty area of the ment process by helping to this goal focus on the im also the tattoos, the mourn cesses put into motion by the
city, the children are gener identify and provide employ munization of all children ing customs - all sorts of Decade will continue never
ally susceptible to compli ment opportunities for them. and mothers, the minimi social norms which confer to theless?
cations due to maternal mal UNICEF is sharing the costs zation of the effects of diar women an inferior status, M-.A.S. I think the women’s
nutrition, infections, and all of this programme with the rhoea by the use of ORT, the and shackle them in terms of movement is irreversible.
the problems associated with government and will help promotion of child growth finding personal fulfillment. Whatever the detractors may
urban poverty. According to Primarily to establish the monitoring, and the im There is also the problem of say or write, the fact that a
consultant paediatrician Dr. project infrastructure and provement of nutritional education. With universal Women’s Decade has existed
Edward Lubulwea, the inci develop the training modules status. Advocacy efforts to education, the number of has already been an impor
dence of infections has de and materials.
inform, motivate, and edu girls enrolled in schools has tant victory.
creased dramatically since The Women’s Development cate all sections of the popu increased, but they have not
breast milk sharing was in Programme, as stated by lation on issues and actions been able to go beyond a By Janet Nelson, Information Officer,
troduced. “Diarrhoea has Rukmani Haldea, began related to IMR/CSR consti certain level because of diffi unicef, Geneva.
almost disappeared since we operations in May 1984 and tute a strong core of these culties of access to certain
started”, he claims.
will initially cover seven dis actions. At the same time, the types of education - scientific
All the breast milk expressed tricts of Rajasthan. The aim Plan also emphasizes the im fields, for example. Progress Corrigendum
is used the same day; none is of this pilot project is to em provement of the drinking in this area is blocked be
Youth efforts rewarded
stored. Prudencia Kimbugwe power women to improve water supply and sanitation cause, in our patriarchal so In our article in IDEAS FORUM No.
Malongo of BIG points out their social and economic facilities in all children’s in cieties, the men don’t yet ac 20, p. 12, on the work youth are car
that although a breast milk status through their own ef stitutions, health centres, and cept the idea of women play rying out among the street children
Manaus in Brazil, one of the
bank might be a good idea in forts and to involve them ac hospitals. Early childhood ing an equal role, of provid of
young women’s names was incom
theory, there is a danger that tively in the development education, better-quality pri ing women the conditions plete: that of Marcia Barauna, 21,
milk taken away from the Process. A key element will mary education, and wom necessary for them to be able who was one of the first street edu
hospital might be fed to the be the training of village en’s education and develop to catch up in spite of their cators to work with the ‘wild’ kids.
Our apologies.
baby in a bottle. Although
ment are the other signifi late start.
°nien.
breast milk is intrinsically w
International Code: update on im
The foundation of IIRR’s cant components of the Plan.
plementation
better than infant formula, it
w°rk is its ‘social laboratory’ A joint UNICEF/WHO study IF. How do you think progress The Central Planning Department
can still be contaminated
of viuage communities where showed that the IMR in ur can best be made without pro of Tonga has informed us that on
through the use of bottles
pe°ple-oriented development ban Kabul (with a popu voking the kind of backlash August 7, 1984, the government
that have not been properly
officially adopted the International
lation of nearly 2 million) is that we’ve seen in some other “Code
of Marketing of Breastmilk
sterilized. Therefore, for the Programmes are tested and
re
fhied.
Ms.
Paul
and Ms. around 110 per 1,000 births. countries? Through govern Substitutes in its entirety and as a
moment, breast milk sharing Haldea were particularly
ment action, through NGOs?
voluntary measure”.
This
figure,
while
much
be
is limited to tubal feedings by
tested in the role of low the national figure of 200 M.-A.S. I would say that the According to the key to the table on
hospital interns.
status,
Tonga
best strategy is to ‘walk on implementation
should therefore have been listed as
Bottlefeeding is still initiated Wottien in rural reconstruc- to 210 cited in UN/UNICEF
in category 9 (IDEAS FORUM
in many Kenyan hospitals. A tlOnand spent three days liv- documents, still places Kabul both legs’ - even though I I being
No. 19, p. 18).
In8 in these villages to see in the ‘very high IMR’ know that many African
12
oivvvS^
FOCUS ■*
IDEAS FORUM No.?1
Interview
Half of the population
the women
were left out
Aminata Traore is Director of
Research and Planning within
the Department of Women’s
Status in the Ivory Coast,
with which she has served
since 1976. With a Ph.D. in
social psychology, she is also
Research Officer at the Insti
tute of Ethno-sociology at the
University of Abidjan.
A. T. In many of our coun
tries, the political parties have
had women’s branches since
the 60s. But since 1976, more
technical government agen
cies have been created, such
as ours. We set about devel
oping an approach stressing
the micro-economic side of
development, since many of
the agribusinesses have been
facing financial difficulties.
What is particularly signifi
)
cant is the fact that we have
M. M.-L. As we near the end been involved in the prep
of the Women’s Decade, how aration of various develop
would you sum up the situation ment plans. Even though we
of women in general in West might not have the necessary
Africa? Has the Decade funds to carry them all out,
at least they spell out what
brought about any changes?
A. T. The Decade has cer the women’s role should be in
tainly not gone unnoticed in each programme. This new
our region. There have been emphasis on women has been
two levels of influence: first, strengthened by the reali
on our approach to develop zation that the women are
ment problems, and sec often the most stable element
ondly, on actual programmes in a community, since the
at the grass-root level. The men are often forced to mi
Decade has helped to re grate in search of employ
inforce an emerging aware ment elsewhere. The women IF Photo No. 527
MAGGIE MURRAY-LEe
ness of the role of women in have thus been deeply implicated in all primary sector employment, and legislation. ing industries and day-care
the development process.
) As you know, many parts of activities: agriculture, pro However, in all of these areas centres, to increase food pro
’ Africa, including our own, cessing of fish and other sea - which are inter-related - we duction, etc. In the zones
realized that in spite of where there are no health
are struggling to survive in food, handicrafts.
the face of an encroaching We have also initiated proj government efforts, not much posts, they also maintain
desert. In addition, over the ects to alleviate women’s progress was being made for pharmacy kits and provide
last 20 years, our govern workloads - for example, by socio-cultural and economic nutrition and health educa
ments, in their efforts to be establishing day-care centres, reasons. There seemed to be tion.
come more autonomous after installing shelling machines two areas for possible action: We also created 75 training
the period of colonial domi and mills. Now, after ten sensitize parents to the im centres with 293 instructors
nation, made a certain num years of research, of partici portance of educating their to train rural ‘animators’,
ber of errors in their choice pation in the planning pro daughters as well as their teach women leaders how to
of development models. Now cess, of project implemen sons; develop the informal plan and implement projects,
we realize that too much im tation, we have a fairly clear sector, which offers numer provide courses on family life
portance was given to cash idea of the approach we can ous possibilities for women. education to other trainers
crops, and our own food promote in each area. We We carried out research re and social workers, and carry
needs were underestimated. hope that even though the gion by region on the local out workshops in dyeing,
In trying to identify what Decade is over, we will be resources, women’s activities, operating small restaurants,
went wrong, we realized that able to extend the solutions their problems and possible etc.
solutions. We devised radio These programmes of course
an important oversight was we have developed.
and television programmes to are limited in coverage, and
made in the management of
both
inform the public and have served primarily as pilot
our resources: half of the M. M.-L. What have been
population - the women - some of the specific objectives make women aware of the projects to enable us to test
were left out of all decision of the Women’s Decade in the fact that through our De our approach. On the other
making, and yet they are the Ivory Coast that you feel have partment they could get in hand, the results we have
formation on their rights, seen in terms of heightened
ones who are responsible for been reached?
feeding the nation, and who A. T. First of all, to set in training and employment awareness have been remark
hold many of the answers to motion a process of consul possibilities, etc. In the rural able. It used to be that, when
tation. We created a National areas we opened some 50 de you talked about women, a lot
the present food crisis.
centres
and of people would laugh - no\v
Commission for the Ad velopment
M. M.-L. Can you give some vancement of Women, which trained some 100 young they don’t any more. Before
examples of measures that pulled together technicians women to work in the vil when we asked men, why
have been taken to better in from various departments lages, forming village com don’t you include women
tegrate women into develop and prepared a basic plat mittees and helping to orga your training programmes,”
ment plans?
form in education, training, nize small-scale food process they would often answer, “be_
,
,t know how to
cause we d° tbey are very
talk to th.e^t know how to
busy, we d° roeet with us get them t ja
fore took
Now men, who
women’s rotethat
beginning 1
isn>t necesswomen s statu
tabie.
arily n°m’t forget that, as a
One mustn t lo o
having
yOUfnginour°way in so many
tof£ that when someone
areas, a that
raises
new problem jt must
be extremely trou
®
foe decision makers This is
why we are doing our best
use’our meagre resources o
find solutions, and then
say “here are the problems
here are the solutions, give us
the means to act .
M M -L. You mentioned^re^
viously the prob!em_o£womern
headed households duejojncde.
migration. This_ap_pJies_espe^
dally to the Sahel, whidyis_the_
area you yourself come_frprm
How do you see thefuturefor
these women?
A. T. It’s an enormous prob
lem. The men are migrating
out of the area in hopes of
bringing back a little money,
but the situation is such in
the towns, that they are either
unable to find work, or are so
badly paid that nothing is left
to send. So now women from
the Sahel are also appearing
on street corners in Abidjan.
We can’t leave them out there
where they come from - to
wait for a slow death - but
without resettlement services,
all they can hope for in the
cities is abject poverty. We
need to develop new struc
tures to support these popu
lations...
M. M.-L. . Do you think it
would be worthwhile to have
another Women’s Decade?
A. T. Yes, it would, for be
tween the falling prices of
raw materials and all our
natural disasters, we no
longer have the necessary re
sources to maintain existing
programmes,
much
less
launch out into new ones.
Ihe Voluntary Fund for the
United Nations Decade for
Women helped us to do a
great many things - in fact,
half of our projects have been
?hFrpd °.Ut Wlth money from
the Fund or other UN agen
cies. Without this source of
^PPort, we may lose some of
the headway we have made
don’thSX“StSoPpye
foey faceheandliCal proble™
Xoneorthe““Spne:
Coast'
'-oast.
«oidjan,
|vory
13
\YY
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
Youth in service
to the most
disadvantaged
In one of his preparatory reports on IYY (A/36/215 of
19 June 1981), the UN Secretary-General specified that
“a strategy should be formulated to achieve maximum youth
participation in society, based on the needs and aspirations
of youth, particularly those with little or no access to oppor
tunities for education, work, welfare services, or anything
more than a subsistence existence, and who therefore have
little possibility of influencing the circumstances in which
they find themselves.”
In response to this call,
the International Movement
A.T.D. Fourth World in Sen
egal decided during IYY to
give the most disadvantaged
youth a chance for their voi
ces to be heard, to identify
and publicize local initiatives
aimed at promoting the par
ticipation of disadvantaged
youth in their country’s life,
and to support projects
reaching out to these youths.
Hundreds of testimonies
were gathered from youth in
both urban and rural areas they revealed the difficulties
faced, but also uncovered the
wealth of ideas Senegalese
youth are coming up with in
response to the needs of the
families in their communities.
Some of these initiatives are
described below.
Project ‘Discovery'
Others have brought with
them their own experiences
in various youth movements.
Some 80 children are thus
occupied for the two-month
holiday, working in groups of
8 to 10.
The youth also try to
broaden the children’s hor
izons by taking them to visit
public buildings, craft cen
tres, parks, the beach, etc. A
small fee is requested to
cover costs, but solutions are
always found for those who
are unable to pay.
Some of the activities are also
continued during the school
Year, on the Wednesday and
Saturday afternoons when
the children are out of
school.
Art with a social
aim
Each summer a dozen young An association of young art
people in Dakar collect the ists (painters, musicians, ac
children in their neighbour tors, etc.) from the poorer
hood who are wandering idle Sectors of society have de
and unsupervised in the cided to put their talents to
streets, their parents out the service of the children
struggling to make a living. around them. Sensing the
The young people are all vol
despair that was driving
unteers. Some are in vo
cational training programmes Phny of the children to
during the school year, and Juvenile delinquency, they
so have specific skills they Created a theatre group for 6can teach the children. t° 17-year-olds. The group
Provides the children with a
structure and an objective for
their lives, and a positive
outlet for self-expression.
The association is now work
ing to create a children’s li
brary, and organize remedial
and literacy classes. It also
hopes to open a centre for
unemployed youth with the
help of local artisans.
More personalized
health care
Other young people in Dakar
have been mobilized to help
out in the health centres in
the low-income areas, where
many of the poorest are often
reticent to seek medical help
out of a sense of shame for
the rags in which they are
dressed, their children’s thin
arms and legs, their unsightly
skin diseases.
The role of these young vol
unteers is to serve as extra
‘ears’ and ‘legs’, to be access
ible to the people who visit
the centres, taking the time to
listen to their problems and
ensuring that the children re
ceive all the care they need.
The young people also go out
into the neighbourhood,
visiting families who have not
come back to complete their
child’s treatment, and de
veloping relationships of
trust with those who other
wise would not dare come to
the health centres.
A village school
In a village in the Fatick re
gion, the local youth associ
ation decided that the long
trek the children had to make
to reach the school 4 km
away was a deterrent to their
pursuing their education.
They therefore met with the
village adults, and persuaded
them to request permission
from
the
Ministry
of
National Education to open a
school in their village. The
permission granted, the next
step was to provide a build
ing. The young people agreed
to make a monthly contri
bution of at least 500 CFA
apiece - this was no small
sum for them, as they were
all either students or dom
estic employees. Those vil
lagers who could afford it
added to the funds, and after
two years they finally had
enough to build a school. The
village today has two classes,
and will soon add a third.
The youth group is in ad
dition campaigning for a re
duction in the bride price,
which is so high that many
young people cannot afford
to marry, and so end up
moving out to urban areas.
Those parents who try to
scrape up enough money are
left much the poorer by their
son’s marriage.
One such project was to help
a village of ex-lepers. Because
of the terror inspired by their
disease, the ex-lepers are
isolated in a separate village,
in spite of the fact that they
have been cured. Often,
however, the disease had
taken a heavy toll before be
ing arrested - many have lost
fingers and toes. The young
people therefore spent two
weeks helping them to clear
and prepare their fields for
planting. They also estab
lished links with surrounding
‘healthy’ villages, who until
then had refused to buy any
of the ex-lepers’ produce for
fear of catching the disease.
Upon their return to town,
the young people conveyed
the village’s various needs to
the appropriate bodies, in
order for it to continue to re
ceive the assistance so badly
needed.
International Movement a.t.d. Fourth
World. Post Box 3118, Dakar, Sen
egal.
Strong arms
for a village
of ex-lepers
One school organizes projects
for its students each year
during the long holiday
period. Five to eight young
people are assigned to each
project, many of which have
been requested by rural or
disadvantaged groups.
IF Illustration No. 110
wyatt
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
Facts
and figures
Youth
MARK FELSENTHAL
IF Photo No. 528
An unwanted
burden
From the knoll on which she lives, Kanchhi Bogote can see
the gleaming white buildings of the new Maharajgunj
Teaching Hospital, symbol of Nepal’s hope for a new gener
ation of health professionals and care. As far as hope in her
own life goes, however, it might as well be a thousand miles
away, for she has been living a social nightmare that would
rival the most melodramatic Bombay film for pathos.
As she tells it, she was the
youngest of three children.
Fatherless from age two, she
was hastily married at 15 to a
man who claimed to have
money and property, and had
a neither.
f The man was more interested
in gambling and drinking
than in working, and Kanch
hi began working in her
brother’s fields to support
herself and the two children
she soon bore.
She moved into a small mud
brick house on the edge of
her brother’s property, con
tinuing to work in his fields.
Soon after the birth of the
second son a little more than
a year ago, the husband dis
appeared, leaving Kanchhi
entirely dependent on her
brother and his family. Dur
ing the heavy rains of the
past monsoon, the house col
lapsed, leaving her without
support, without a home, and
with two small children.
In Nepalese society, once a
woman marries, she is con
sidered part of her husband’s
family and most ties with her
maternal home are cut. When
Kanchhi fell ill and was un
able to work, she became an
increasingly unwanted bur
den on her brother. Neigh
bours refused to help and she
was unable to get enough for
her two children and herself.
A glimmer of hope
The glimmer of hope for
Kanchhi Bogote came when a
neighbour contacted a vol
untary social service organi
zation working in the area.
One day, two young men ar
rived to hear her story and
see what they could do. They
told her, to her surprise, that
they could provide bricks and
materials and that they and
others would help her build a
new house - provided she
would, on her part, secure the
land deed in her own name to
ensure that no one could take
the new house away from
her. They also told her that
she could get milk and en
riched flour for her children
at a weekly health clinic held
in a local school.
The organization - the Godaveri Alumni Association
(GAA) - has been working in
the underprivileged com
munity of Gangabu, just
north of Kathmandu, for
nine years now. It provides
nutritional
supplements,
drugs and health care, skills
training and services on a
small scale to the members of
the community who need
them. The GAA is composed
of graduates of two pres
tigious high schools in Kath
mandu and this social service
programme is one of the
group’s activities. Working
with volunteers who come for
one afternoon every week,
the GAA has established two
weekly clinics and a weaving
workshop, and is about to
inaugurate a water supply
system of 20 tapstands in the
community.
The designation of 1985 as
International Youth Year has
focused attention on the
ability of groups like the GAA
to perform community wel
fare services with volunteer
labour. Other groups have
been organized from within
the community itself, typi
cally with support from a
Junior Chamber of Com
merce or a Lion’s Club.
Nepal has an already estab
lished network of youth or
ganizations that have served
to inculcate the principles
of the country’s panchayat
democratic system of govern
ment.
International Youth Year
and youth groups in Nepal
have received considerable
attention and press coverage
as a result of royal patronage.
Prince Dhirendra, brother of
King Birendra Bir Bikram
Shah, is chairman of the
International Youth Year
Committee, which is com
posed of various groups con
cerned with youth or having
a youth-oriented component.
Among these, the Youth Ac
tivities Coordinating Council
is concerned with the activi
ties of youth clubs involved
in social service work.
Kanchhi Bogote still has a
hard time ahead of her, and
she is not the only Nepali
woman in such a predica
ment. But in terms of hope,
the efforts of the volunteers
of the GAA and youth groups
like it will make a lot of
difference.
By Mark Felsenthal, United Nations
Volunteer, Assistant Information Offi
cer, unicef, Kathmandu, Nepal.
□ With one and a half billion people aged
between 10 and 24, there are more young
people alive this year — as a proportion of world
population — than there may ever be again.
□ In rich and poor countries alike, death rates
are lowest for 10- to 24-year-olds. Their bodies
are at their strongest to resist diseases that kill
their younger brothers and sisters. The mortality
rate for children under 10 in Thailand and
Sweden, for example, is nearly twice that of
1 0- to 24-year-olds.
□ Accidents are the leading cause of death of
young people in the rich world, accounting for
half of these deaths in the USA. And they're a
growing threat in the developing world too,
causing one-quarter of deaths to 1 0- to 24-yearolds in Paraguay, for instance. Suicides are also
claiming an alarming number of young people
— 16% of deaths in Japan and 6% in Thailand
for example.
□ Over the last two decades secondary school
enrolment has nearly doubled in the developing
world,while in industrialized countries 84% of
1 2- to 1 7-year-olds are now in school. Progress
in some countries has been startling, with
100% of the USSR’s high-school-age
youngsters in school by 1979 compared with
just 49% in 1 960. And in that same period
Malaysia, Jordan, and Peru all trebled their
high-school enrolment rates.
■ Today, three-quarters of the world's people
live in rural areas. But by the year 2000 half
the world's people will live in cities. And many
of those migrating to cities — between 20 and
40 % in rich and poor countries alike — are
aged 1 5 to 24.__________________________
□ Unemployment and underemployment are
the most serious problems confronting young
people today. In the queues of people waiting
for jobs in many countries, it is young hands
that are left idle, with 1 5- to 24-year-olds
accounting for 70% of the unemployed in
Syria, 67% in India, and 60% in Ghana.
■ Some countries have been making valiant
efforts to harness the energy of their young
people, realizing that they are the most
productive human asset of family and society.
China, for example, has found jobs for 29
million people — that s three-quarters of the
urban employed — m the last five years. In
Shanghai alone, one million new jobs have
been created for young people since 1977
Source: who.
15
\YY
GDR
study the works of other
countries, thereby acquiring a
better understanding of other
peoples
’ customs. In music
Peace —
lessons, they are acquainted
with the music and folk songs
a deep concern
ot other nations. Foreign
of youth
language classes introduce
the pupils not only to the
In the past few years, special languages, but also to the
‘action years’ proclaimed by cultures of the countries
the United Nations General where these languages are
Assembly, such as the Inter spoken. The natural sciences
national Year of the Child ensure the acquisition of
(1979) and the International scientific knowledge on the
Year of the Handicapped complete equality of the
(1981), have had an impact races-The children are taught
on the discussion of specific that biologically there are no
problems within the scope of inferior or superior races,
education and health pro that the differences still
grammes all over the world. existing in the levels of de
This will hopefully also be velopment today are the re
true of the International sults not of biological, but of
social factors.
Youth Year (IYY).
The aims of IYY are to pro The GDR’s National Com
mote development, to ad mittee for UNICEF is also
vance the struggle to safe making available material on
guard peace, and to mobilize IYY, which provides infor
youth to take a more active mation on the plight of chil
part in their societies. IYY is dren in many parts of the
also well suited to making world.
people aware of the fact that
there is no reasonable
alternative to peaceful co By Dr. Erich Taubert, Professor,
Training College Erfurt/
existence between states with Teachers'
Muhlhausen, and member of the
different social orders.
National Committee for unicef of the
In the German Democratic German Democratic Republic.
Republic, a government
commission has been set up
to encourage and coordinate
relevant activities at a na Luxembourg
tional level. These activities
are being discussed by mem
bers of the Free German Small bint
Youth Organization and the
Emst Thalmann Pioneers’ enterprising
Organization, as well as by
other social organizations
such as the Confederation of A special IYY commission
Free German Trade Unions, has been created under the
the German Red Cross, and auspices of the Ministry of
Urania, the national society National Education and the
for the dissemination of National Youth Service. The
scientific knowledge. The many activities it has planned
IYY activities undertaken are are centred primarily around
particularly suited to make a a mobile exhibit, which in
contribution to the 1985 cludes the Third World and
World Festival of Youth and peace as one of its themes.
Students in Moscow.
This exhibit will tour the en
Education for peace and in tire Duchy, with parallel
ternational friendship and conferences, debates, etc. tak
solidarity is already en ing place at the same time.
shrined in all major laws, Information materials and
decrees, and guidelines relat teaching kits will be distrib
ing to the integrated edu uted to schools to encourage
cational system of the GDR. teachers to include Third
It is thus incorporated into World issues in a more sys
the programmes of all edu tematic way in the school
cational facilities - the kin programme, at all levels
dergartens,
the
ten-year of post-primary education.
comprehensive schools, the A Third World Day will also
vocational training insti be organized in all post-pri
tutions, the colleges and uni mary schools.
versities as well as the adult
training institutions.
The Luxembourg Committee
The history books, for for UNICEF is working close
example, are organized so as ly with this national commis
to encourage the children, by sion as well as organizing
means of comprehensive other activities of its own: a
reading material and related chamber music concert put
assignments, to develop an on by a youth club, a cham
interest in historical events ber music competition open
with an emphasis on the to groups from four coun
struggle for peace and inter tries and fund raising activi
national
friendship,
and ties ’ by th® Scouts. Other
against policies which run projects with youth organi
counter to a detente. In zations are also in prepara
literature classes, the pupils
tion.
IDEAS FORUM No 21
An IYY project
Children whose
voices have not
been heard
CHILDREN’S EXPRESS is a
newspaper column whose
major goal is to give children
an opportunity to speak for
themselves. It is carried over
the United Press Internation
al wire service to over 2,500
newspapers world-wide.
This year, in response to IYY,
CHILDREN’S EXPRESS is or
ganizing round-table discus
sions among children 9 to 13
years old on primary issues in
their lives, such as working
parents, divorce, sex educa
tion, alcoholic parents, and
disease or disability. The
tape-recorded discussions are
transcribed and edited into a
column, using the children’s
words only.
CHILDREN’S EXPRESS would
like assistance in reaching
those children whom it is not
able to reach directly, chil
dren whose voices have not
been heard: children of war,
refugee children, immigrant
children, hungry children,
orphans, children in institu
tions, children of migrant
workers, foster care children,
children in group homes,
poor children, run-aways.
It is therefore inviting those
who share its concern to
enter into the process of
oral journalism by organiz
ing round-table discussions
among groups of children
9 to 13 years old. (Occasion
ally, CHILDREN’S EXPRESS
includes an older child when
his or her experience is
unique and not otherwise
obtainable.) These tape-re
corded discussions may be
led by a teenager or an adult,
and should relate to the ex
periences and feelings of the
children involved.
Suggested guidelines for a
successful round-table have
been drawn up and can
be obtained upon request.
CHILDREN’S EXPRESS will
pay a fee of $75.00 for those
round-tables published in its
column, and to this end re
quires a typed manuscript of
the discussion (translated if
necessary) as well as an ori
ginal tape.
Experience has shown that
these special round-table dis
cussions are almost always
published and have been
some of the best articles for
United Press International.
For further information, con
tact:
CHILDREN’S EXPRESS,
20 Charles Street,
New York, N.Y. 10014, USA.
Guatemala
Attention to rural youth
For IYY, four NGOs in Gua
temala have formed a Com
mittee for the Support of
Rural Youth. They are the
Society for Guatemala Youth
of Tomorrow, the Associa
tion of Community Health
Services (ASECSA), the Al
liance for Community Youth
Development (Save the Chil
dren), and the Unitarian
Universalist Service Com-
mittee. Their objectives are to
generate
inter-institutional
support for training pro
grammes for rural youth,
to channel youth concerns
toward the development of
their communities and na
tion, and to stimulate a gen
eral reflection on the prob
lems of rural youth, which
will hopefully lead to a policy
document.
kids
Seattle, Washington, in the USA, has embarked on a plan to
make itself a better city for children. Called ‘Kids’ Place - A
Kids’ Lobby for a Vital Seattle’, the project began by asking
60,COO children what they like and don’t like about Seattle.
Their ideas are going into a address of the caller auto
kids-first urban policy and matically when someone
five-year plan for making dials ‘91T. A child calling for
Seattle, in the words of help is more likely to get aid
Mayor Charles Royer, “the fast. Pedestrian safety im
very best city in the nation in provements will be designed
which to raise a family”. Be with children in mind; lower
tween 1970 and 1980, Seattle windows will be placed in
lost 36% of its children and such public facilities as the
youth, while the overall aquarium. Park and rec
population declined 7%. “If reation facility fees will be
you have a city that’s not a lowered as well.
place where children like to The city also hopes to attract
live, it eventually becomes a more children by offering
place where adults will not bonuses to developers who
like to live”, said Robert Al include child-care centres in
drich, a paediatrician and new housing projects. City
urban planner who helped employee benefits will in
clude new leave options for
spearhead the effort.
Not surprisingly, children new fathers and adoptive
told pollers they like beauty, parents, plus sick leave for
cleanliness, and order in their parents caring for sick chil
city. They also like Seattle dren.
Center - the 1963 World “The real test”, said Arlis
Fairgrounds which has been Stewart
of
Metrocenter
turned into a park/amuse- YMCA, which is coordinating
ment centre - and as a result Kids’ Place along with the
children are involved in a City of Seattle and the Junior
current renovation and long- League, “will be whether
range plan for the park.
adults are willing to listen to
Other Kids’ Place program kids long enough to see if
mes are dealing with some of their ideas work. Can the
the things children don’t like people who’ve seen children
about the city - its noise, as clients, see them as con
filth, and danger. For one stituents?”
thing, a new emergency tele
phone system displays the By Stephen Silha.
IDEAS FORUM No. 21
Japanese
children
want
to know
IF Photo No. 531
GARRY DAVIS
"Jornadas de Lisboa' on
development education
IF Photo No. 530
Riko Nakashima remembered that when she was quite
young she dropped a coin in a unicef collection box on
Children’s Day in May. But now that she was 12 and had
seen a TV film about what UNICEF means in the daily life of
a little girl in Thailand, Riko wanted to learn more.
Travelling one and a half
hours by train from her home
in Saitama Prefecture, she
came with her teacher, Mr.
Yasu Yonezawa, and five of
her seventh-grade school
mates to Tokyo to find out
how they might help children
less fortunate than them
selves.
At the offices of the Japanese
Committee for UNICEF, they
sat down with the young staff
members, who are eager to
expand their educational
programmes beyond the
7,700 schools that already
promote projects for UNI
CEF.
“This committee represents
our school,” explained the
teacher, “and these students
wish to have some specific
examples of children’s needs
in developing countries”.
During the few hours they
spent at the office they saw
films, posters, and study ma
terials about the need for
Vitamin A to prevent blind
ness in Bangladesh, the
health care programmes in
the Philippines, and the kin
dergarten educational efforts
in China, as well as a variety
of projects concerning clean
water and sanitation in
Africa and Latin America.
The children listened with
fascination. They were also
told about the three caravans
that go out into the towns
and villages of Japan twice a
year to show films and dis
tribute UNICEF materials in
an effort to reach as many
people as possible.
Hope
for the future
Although the Committee’s
16 staff
members
stress
fundraising (and they man
age to turn over to UNICEF
90.6% of their collections,
amounting to over $ 5 million
last year), their emphasis
is not just on donations.
Rather they see development
education as necessary for
the future of the world com
munity.
In late March 1985, 10 of the
11 members of the Latin
Group of National Commit
tees for UNICEF met in Lis
bon to discuss ‘what teacher
for what programme?’
Hosted by the Portuguese
They were delighted when Committee and co-organized
after their briefings the sev with the French Committee,
enth-grade youth committee this meeting was an import
from the school in Saitama ant opportunity for com
Prefecture gave what has be mittees to discuss joint policy
come a typical response. “We issues on development edu
should show a UNICEF film cation and strengthen coop
at our yearly school festival,” eration among themselves.
said Riko, “and then have a Equally important was the
special project so that our Latin Group’s commitment
classmates have a chance to to assist the Portuguese
contribute. But our project Committee and Portuguese
should also help them to educators in establishing a
understand what it might be strong development edu
like to live and grow up cation programme in that
without enough food, clean country. The meeting was
water, books, or medicines.”
very well attended by Por
The other girls and boys with tuguese educators, and the
her nodded their agreement active participation, keen
and began discussing the interest and expressed com
ideas they would recommend mitment of other persons
to their school - perhaps a such as the First Lady of
game to show how the differ Portugal and the Secretary of
ence in the distribution of the State for Education indicate
world’s resources is one cause the potential for such a pro
of poverty or a plan to give gramme in Portugal. The
up one meal each month, event was well covered by the
with the saved money going Portuguese media and the
to UNICEF, so that each French newspaper Le Monde.
student could experience, if
only briefly, the sufferings of
a hungry child.
When children care about A new way of
other children, there is hope viewing the world
for the future.
The participants specified
By Elizabeth Bowne, unicef volunteer,
what they felt should be the
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA.
orientation and the spirit of
school programmes at all
levels, from pre-school to
secondary and beyond, and
developed a set of basic prm_
ciples governing the training
of teachers to implement
these programmes. The par
ticipants felt that to be truly
effective, development edu
cation should permeate the
entire school curriculum, and
in fact represent a new way
of viewing the world. This
means that it is far better for
development education to be
the concern of every teacher
rather than delegated to
specialized staff. Training
programmes should consist
of an initiation into Third
World issues, followed by
periodic documentation to
update teachers’ knowledge
and deepen their under
standing. The teachers should
see their role to be that of
imparting information and
conveying the various aspects
of development problems development education must
never become a soapbox for a
particular political stance.
The complete text of the res
olutions adopted on devel
opment education program
mes can be obtained from
the Development Education
Unit, UNICEF, Palais des
Nations, 1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland.
Edu.
17
AFRICA EMERGENCY
Mechimere, an important
centre in Kanem province,
has seen its population swell
from the original 1,640 to
7,818. The new villagers live
in two camps of stick and
matting huts which cling to
the slopes beneath the village.
Their only belongings are
what they could carry on
their heads. They have a few
cooking pots, a mortar and
pestle, the clothes - or rags they are wearing, no rugs, no
blankets despite the all-per
vading cold at this time of
the year.
Why the people flocked to
Mechimere is not difficult to
understand. There is a dis
pensary, a UNICEF nutrition
centre - whose clients
jumped from 260 to around
1,800 - and a school with a
canteen. It is also a centre for
the distribution of WFP dry
food rations through CareChad.
Upsetting
traditions
and
life-styles
Caught unawares
Despite such amenities, how
ever, the severity of the
drought and the upheaval it
caused caught the govern
ment - and the aid agencies unawares.
As people started converging
en masse to food distribution
points like Mechimere, sev
eral things quickly became
apparent. Firstly, as Wali
Shah Wali, UNDP Resident
Representative in N’Dja
mena said recently, “Chad
throughout its history has
had to import food, but when
there was a drought the situ
ation could be kept under
control. Now that thousands
have died of hunger, there is
a new situation and the risk
that it can get out of con
trol.”
Secondly, it became clear
that urgent measures were
necessary to discourage over
large, unmanageable concen
trations of people with their
attendant health hazards.
Thirdly, it was equally evi
dent - as proven later when
WFP scraped the bottom of
its food barrel at the end of
November - that the whole
population could not be
hand-fed in feeding centres
and that a longer-term sol
ution was required.
Wadis, a partial
solution
A partial solution to these
problems may have been
found. The Sahelian belt,
stretching from the Kanem in
the west to the Ouadda'i near
the Sudanese border, is in
terspersed with wadis, natural
depressions with oasis-like
vegetation, and is blessed
with a generally high water
table and soil made fertile by
years of frequentation by
animals.
18
IDEAS FORUM No 21
With the National Organi
zation of Rural Development
(ONDR), various NGOs such
as Care-Chad, Secadev, Africare, as well as UN agencies,
WFP and UNICEF, have
started resettling displaced
people in food production
projects in suitable wadis
throughout the region.
Care-Chad is supervising one
such project near Cheddra,
Kanem
province,
about
200 km north of N’Djamena.
Some 1,300 heads of families
- over half of them women of the 6,000 families regis
tered in four camps along
this old river bed (in the last
century canoes used to travel
up from Lake Chad) have
volunteered to take part in
the programme. Work began
in several wadis on 1 Decem
ber. By mid month, land had
been cleared, wells were be
ing dug - one for each family
plot of about 0.25 ha - and
equipped with an Egyptiantype shadoof, a water-drawing
device with a pole, bucket
and counterpoise. The plots
were divided into sub-plots
by irrigation canals. The
ground is as hard as nails. 1
The farmers’ only tools are
the traditional hand-made
dabas, or hoes, provided by
UNICEF or bought on the
market. Work progresses
surprisingly fast despite the
difficulties. As a measure of
encouragement, farmers have
been issued with their first
food-for-work rations. These
will be continued for four
to five months, until farm
ers can live off their own
produce.
Total revolution
The Chad drought
The longest and most severe drought in Chad’s living memory
reached a climax in 1984. Rainfall and harvests in the Sahelian belt
Were practically nil. Even parts of the usually self-sufficient south were
severely affected.
The result is a massive population movement such
as has never before been witnessed in the country in modern times, up
setting life-styles, traditions, and family structures, disrupting trade,
defying statistics.
The men move south or west with their herds, or
when these are dead, towards the towns in search of work.
The
women, children, and old people left behind crowd around food distri
bution centres in the main villages.
A
dynamic
24-year-old .
Chadian, Mbairo Ngoniri- '
Gos, coordinates the Ched
dra project. “Many of the
farmers are nomadic or seminomadic herd-grazers”, he
said. “This small-scale culti
vation means for them a total
revolution in traditions, life
style, and pattern of work.”
To help such farmers adjust,
the ONDR has sent two agri
cultural advisors and CareChad has trained local farm
ers as instructors to give their
new neighbours technical
advice.
Similar projects were also
started by WFP and Africare
in December in the Biteha
and Sabar wadis in Ouaddai
province. Work went so fast
that three weeks later seeds
were sprouting. So far the
projects cover 1,200 ha and
occupy about 2,500 active
people (about 1,500 families).
Altogether,
similar
pro
duction projects will involve
some 20,000 families (each
family counts
for five
people).
Even if it does not rain in
1985, Mbairo Ngoniri-Gos is
optimistic about the future.
“In the Kanem alone”, he ex year or two; otherwise, he
plained, “there are over 200 says, “it will be too late”.
wadis with about 4,000 ha The biggest question mark,
concerns
the
of cultivable land - enough however,
to feed the whole of northern weather. Climatologists clas
sify
the
Sahel
as
a
region
with
Chad.”
Luckily, the Kanem sits on a an annual rainfall of between
uniform, stable water table so 300 and 750 mm. In N’Dja
that even the drought will not mena rainfall in 1984 dropped
adversely affect water supply. to 260 mm. Says UNICEF hy
In wadis, the water is at a drogeologist, Alain Matthys,
depth of two to four metres. “What was the Sahel should
“About 90% of these wadis now be reclassified as ‘sub
were hitherto unexploited”, desert’.”
he went on. To break in more Whether it rains or not, the
wadis would, however, re government and the aid
quire considerable invest agencies will have to study
ment in capital and equip very carefully the various
ment. The scrub needs to be alternatives affecting the fu
cleared; wells need to be ture of these men, women,
made more permanent, new and children.
trees need to be planted.
Several wadis have already
Text and photos by
been buried in sand. In
Maggie Murray-Lee,
fact, according to Mbai’ro
Information Officer,
Ngoniri-Gos, to save the
UNICEF, Abidjan,
Kanem urgent dune-fixing
Ivory Coast.
and reafforestation schemes
will be necessary in the next I
AFRICA EMERGENCY
IDEAS FORUM No.21
Zimbabwe —
a food exporter
once again
Zimbabwe expects a bumper, maize harvest estimated at
three million metric tons this year. Thanks to the wide
spread rainfall which started in October 1984, the country
will have enough maize to enable it to join the ranks of food
exporters once again.
“What is encouraging”, says
the UNICEF Representative
in Harare, Saidi Shomari, “is
the fact that an estimated
50% of the harvest will come
from the small-holder farm
ing sector which, by tra
dition, will retain an esti
mated one million tons for
domestic consumption.” The
Grain Marketing Board, the
country’s sole buyer and sel
ler of grain, will receive two
million tons for export to
neighbouring countries.
Zimbabwe became an im
porter of food after three
consecutive years of severe
drought. The food deficit has
severely affected about two
million people, and in some
areas, relief supplies distrib
uted by the government were
all that people had to eat.
Struggling
to recover
been provided to ensure a
regular flow of foodstuffs.
While Zimbabwe will now
once again become self-suf
ficient in staple foods, child
malnutrition will continue to
be prevalent due to a number
of factors which require the
initiation of long-term mea
sures. These are especially im
portant, should a drought re
occur. Shomari emphasizes
that from this year onwards,
UNICEF will support the
government’s long-term ef
forts to improve the nu
tritional status, including
strengthening the nutrition
surveillance system, promot
ing communal gardens, im
proving food conservation
and storage facilities, and
providing nutrition education.
However, in drought-stricken
areas, further assistance is
required to upgrade rural
health centres (estimated to
number 160 in Matebeleland
alone) and improve water
and sanitation systems.
• staff of private and vol
untary organizations
• students, teachers, and
trainers
® health planners, man
agers, evaluators
O health service providers.
The Resource Guides sum
marize books and articles
and describe periodicals,
projects, and resource insti
tutions specializing in spe
cific areas of primary health
care, while the Issue Papers
present an in-depth look at
the issues involved in certain
aspects of primary health
care, providing flexible, undogmatic suggestions based
on experience.
For a list of the Issue Papers
and Resource Guides now
available, write to:
APHA Publication Sales
1015 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005 USA. r
The American Public Health
Association and the World
Federation of Public Health
Associations would also like
to announce that their news
letter, Salubritas, after a
year’s suspension, is back
again as an information
exchange in primary health |
care. For subscriptions, write
to International Health Pro
grams, APHA.
Dinformation
on children
H Directory
IF Photo No 538
maternal and child health
equipment, growth charts
and scales, and cooking
utensils for supplementary
feeding. Cold-chain equip
ment has also been provided
and immunizations are being
administered at clinics estab
lished in the camps. An esti
mated 100 Mozambicans
have been trained in simple
health care, including growth
monitoring and oral rehy
dration therapy.
Besides the health and nu
trition programme, formal
and informal education ac-
The nutritional status of
children has been seriously
affected, and the government
has had to establish a
national supplementary feed Drought refugees
ing programme for children from Mozambique
under five. It has also been
reported that the general The country’s drought situ
health conditions have de ation has been compounded
teriorated in the drought- by the influx of an estimated
stricken areas, with increased 30,000 displaced Mozambi
rates of diarrhoea and cans since early 1984. To Publications
date 13,000 persons have
measles, in particular.
“The emergency supplemen been accommodated in four Information
tary feeding programme will camps established by the
most probably be phased out government in Manicaland for Action:
after mid 1985, except in the and Mashonaland Central
Issue Papers
southwestern regions, where Provinces. The government
the security situation con has continued to encourage and Resource
tinues to remain unstable”, displaced Mozambicans liv
says Shomari. UNICEF, in ing in local communities to Guides
close cooperation with the move to the camps.
Swedish International De Although another large in Community participation is
velopment
Agency,
the flux of displaced Mozambi desirable, out should training
World Food Programme, and cans has not been reported be delayed until it occurs?
a number of NGOs, has been recentlyis exPected that Should community health
assisting some 10,000 sup those who are already in the workers be broadly educated
plementary feeding centres country W>1' stay throughout or trained for specific com
where 270,000 under-fives are 1985.
petencies?
being fed. Trucks and other The four camps have been The World Federation of
logistic requirements have supplied with basic drugs, Public Health Associations
HELENA GEZELIUS
tivities have been organized
in the camps. Textbooks have
been provided and the Min
istry of Education has con
ducted orientation courses
for Mozambican teachers.
Summing up the situation,
Shomari
affirmed
that,
“Although the priority will
continue to be health and
nutrition, skills-training and
income-generating activities
will need to be expanded”.
By Rebecca Katumba, Information
Officer, unicef, Kampala, Uganda.
has started an Information
for Action series to give non
experts “the information they
need to operate in the tech
nical program areas that have
been identified by govern
ments and assistance agen
cies as key to lowering mor
tality”. Initially funded by
UNICEF as in-service training
materials for its field staff,
the series, because of its prov
en value, is being made
available to the entire inter
national health community:
• staff of bilateral and
multilateral development
organizations
• ministry of health and
other government officials
UNICEF Geneva has just pub
lished a bilingual (English and
French) Directory of Centres in
Europe Providing Information
on Children. Conceived as a
working tool for those who
need information on the situa
tion and problems of children,
it provides essential descrip
tive facts (name, address,
contact person) and additional
useful data (nature of centre,
public served, products), for
200 national institutions in
Europe and regional and inter
national organizations sited in
Europe.
Address queries to: UNICEF
Reference Centre, Palais des
Nations, 1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland,
■ Compendium
Childhood Information Re
sources describes and eval
uates more than 1,1 00 key
sources of information on
children and childhood, as
sembling in one volume the
countless sources and statis
tics on children that have been
compiled over the years. Vir
tually every aspect of children
and childhood is covered. In
cluded also are special chap
ters on statistical measure
ments, tests and assessments,
and parent education.
Available for $45.00 plus
$2.45 for postage and hand
ling, from information Re
sources Press, 1700 North
Moore Street, Suite 700, Ar
lington, Virginia 22209, USA.
[Ph</to Prashant Nadkar
ear God” began the letter. “Are boys bet
ter than girls? I know you are one boy who
is, but do try to be fair.” Eight-year-olds
were asked to write to God as part of a school ex
ercise and this was one girl’s most nagging doubt.
The debate on who makes the superior sex is
one that rages in the home, at the workplace and,
perhaps most fiercely, in the playground—often
with ambiguous results. There has always been a
tendency to see boys as made for success, particu
larly in a male-dominated society like India’s.
However, for the young male population, the out
look no longer remains rosy.
The evidence of weaknesses in boys is getting
tougher than ever to overlook. Scientists are dis
covering biological differences that can make boys
more impulsive, more vulnerable to neglect and
less efficient classroom learners. And social pres
sure often compounds biological vulnerability.
Boys today are growing up with tremendous expec
tations, but without adequate emotional fuel or the
tools they need to succeed in school or sustain deep
relationships.
Eleven-year-old Kanaka and Ishan are twins,
but they are worlds apart. Kanaka is an extrovert,
who has a finger in every pie. She is keen to make
friends, likes to dress well, learns Bharatnatyam
and represents her Mumbai school at sports. Ishan
is good at studies, but is an introvert. He says he
likes games, but can hardly spare time from his
homework. Their father Dr Vinod Kadam admits
that Kanaka is the tougher of the twins. “She is as
sertive and will not take anything lying down, even
from a boy,” he says. “She is also extremely protec
tive about Ishan and plays his bodyguard in school
and in our colony.” Today’s educated girls feel
closer to their families, have higher aspirations and
boast better assertiveness skills.
Boys traditionally were thought to be better in
maths and science, but girls are storming that bas
tion too. Boys also lag behind girls of their own age
D
group in reading and writing. New research in
dicates boys’ vulnerabilities and indicates that
they can be traced back to the womb. Male
newborns are also more emotionally demon
strative than females—a fact proven in experi
ments.
Scientists have found some intriguing ana
tomical differences in brain structure making
it hard for boys to process information and
even read faces, but easier for them to excel at
gross motor skills and visualise objects in three
dimensions. Women’s brains are, on average,
11 per cent smaller than men’s. There is no
difference in IQ among males and females be
cause female brains are not simply a smaller
version of male brains. From a strictly evolu
tionary standpoint, the female brain is a bit
more finely developed.
Brains are composed of grey matter (where
information is processed), white matter (fibres
that transmit electrical impulses from brain to
body) and spinal fluid (which acts as a buffer
from the skull). The most recent research
shows that males have less grey matter and
more white matter. And in women the corpus
callosum, nerves that link the right and left
hemispheres of the brain and help the two sides
communicate, is thicker. As a result, the female
brain is more adept at verbal skills. Girls utter
their first words earlier, string together com
plete sentences first and generally surpass boys
in tests of verbal fluency.
Boys also need more time to process infor
mation and respond. Some researchers advo
cate a later start in school for boys, because they
are expected to do too much too soon but their
brains are not ready for it. The result can be a
lifelong struggle. Not all girls are precocious,
and not all boys are delayed, but more number
of child psychologists feel that later enrollment
would be far more beneficial for the male child.
BOY!
Jan 27 2002
EEEEZ33 41
By Farwa Imam Ali & Dnyanesh Jathar
I
[
Boys have a problem: girls. The
fairer sex is catching up and ex. celling in most fields they set
j their heart on, robbing boys of
/
their sense of superiority.
>. The Indian home, too, is
J seeing a change with the
girl child often stealing the
[
thunder from her male sibling.
/
Twin sisters Nehal and
Sejal Vaghiani of Chennai had
grown in big brother Santosh’s
shadow for years. But that did not
daunt them from winning their place
in the sun. While Santosh flunked the
higher secondary exam, the twins
sailed through with flying colours.
"Their father couldn’t imagine how
the boy could fail while the girls suc
ceeded,” says mother Savitha. Santosh
took to smoking to cope with the ten
sion and when his parents confronted
him, he broke down. “Santosh’s father
was dismayed at the thought of a boy
crying," says Savitha. “I knew my son
was a softie. My girls were always
tougher.”
Parents are awakening, slowly and
cautiously, to the fact that girls are
sugar balanced with spice, while boys
are struggling to cope with traditional
stereotypes of holding power. Psy
chiatrists, psychologists, and educa
tionists say the writing has been on
wall for sometime now.
The race starts at conception.
While more boys than girls are con
ceived—the speculation is that sperm
carrying the male’s Y chromosomes
swim faster than those carrying the
larger X chromosomes—this biologi
cal pole position does not last long.
Perhaps to offset the speed advantage,
when mothers experience stress, male
embryos are more likely to perish and
the male foetus is at greater risk from
almost all obstetric complications.
Also, when a baby boy is born, he is
trailing the average girl, developmen
tally, by six weeks.
“Biologically speaking, the female
sex is stronger,” says Dr Lakshmi
Vijaykumar, a psychiatrist at
Biologically speaking, the
female sex is stronger
Dr Lakshmi Vijaykumar,
Chennai psychiatrist
Mind mistresses
hey came with considerable
quizzing experience, but to
upstage the men while being the
minority is remarkable. Of four
winners of Mastermind India since
its inception in 1998, three have
been women. Dayita Bira Dutta, 43,
a Dehradun-based schoolteacher,
won in the first year, K.E.
Priyamvada, a 27-year-old publish
ing house employee, in 2000 and
Archana Garodia Gupta, a 35-yearold Delhi businesswoman, in 2001,
in the episode to be telecast in June
2002.
Quiz contests may sprout on TV
channels like weeds in a neglected
garden, but BBC’s Mastermind re
mains a class apart. While most
T
42 wih'/ctm
quiz programmes try to keep their
questions fairly simple—sometimes
absurdly so—for fear of losing viewers,
Mastermind remains resolutely high
brow, unmindful of ratings. “The
questions are tough and intentionally
so,” says Siddhartha Basu, producer
and quiz master of Mastermind India.
“Mastermind makes no concessions to
mass taste. In this show we cater to
the highest common factor, not to
lowest common denominator.”
What makes the women’s win re
markable is that only a sprinkling of
women enter the contest. In 2001 for
instance, only 12 of 64 who took the
preliminaiy written test were women,
and that was the most in the four
years since the contest started. In the
first year, when Dayita won, there
were only five women competing.
“I think women quizzees take
their task more seriously,” says
Archana. “Women take whatever
they do more seriously. Or rather
only those women who take their
work or their interests very seriously
are able to continue pursuing them.
Those not too serious easily get side
tracked towards their domestic con
cerns, of which they have many
more than men, and give up their
interests.”
Basu does not believe women
have any special talent for quizzing.
“I think all the three women who
won did so because they were excep
tional individuals,” he says. “It had
• nothing to do with their being
! women."
Debashish Mukerji
Jan 27 2002
sm< oq
Fighting shy
$
nother Mumbai home,, an
other sibling role reversal.
Dino’s mother, Shiny Davis, just
cannot persuade the H-year-old
to learn to ride a bicycle. “We
tried to teach him. But he likes
only to stay at home," she says.
Five-year-old Dincy, his sister, is
hill of beans and more mature.
When they have guests she does
the rounds introducing herself.
‘Dino is very good at studies, but
is quiet moody,” says Shiny.
A
Chennai's Voluntary Health Ser
vices. A girl has two X chromo
somes. If one develops a defect, the
other one manages to take charge.
The male, however, has an XY com
bination. If the X chromosome has
a problem, there is no alternative.
“Research has shown male babies to
be more vulnerable at birth,” says
Lakshmi. “Out of hundred babies
born, about 45 female infants will
survive as compared to 35 males.”
And this is only the beginning.
Both sexes work to fit themselves
into the slots allotted to them by par
ents, peers and society. However,
there is little congruence in the ma
cho image that boys like to project
and reality. “Many boys find it conve
nient to avoid problems while girls
look at them as opportunities to test
their problem-solving skills,” says
Shantha Joseph, counsellor at
Chennai’s SIET College.
The rejuvenation of the fairer sex
could not have come at a worse time
for the boys. Research indicates that
the ratio of children suffering from
learning disabilities, bed wetting
and stammering is loaded against
the boys in a 2:1 ratio.
an tosh would not study and was
often caught playing pranks. So
much so, the eight-year-old’s par
ents found it difficult to handle him.
“He was diagnosed with attention
deficit disorder with hyperactivity,"
says Mumbai psychiatrist Dr
Rajendra Barve. “More boys suffer
from this disorder than girls and the
reasons are purely neurological.”
S
Jan 27 2002
.Illustration/Samita Rathor
When boys get emotional, parents and other adults
often encourage them to tone it down. The result
can be isolation that plagues men into middle age
Boys are also emotionally more
vulnerable than girls says Barve.
“The instances of bed wetting, nail
biting, shyness and avoidant
behaviour are found more in boys
than girls,” he says.
Research shows that emotional
losses, tragedies and failure of any
kind hit boys harder. But while there
is evidence that boys may feel more
stress in emotional situations, they
routinely show less. When placed
within earshot of a crying baby, boys
have higher increases in heart rate
and sweatier palms than girls, but
their behaviour belies their biologi
cal reaction: their typical response is
to ignore the crying. Girls, who tend
to be more articulate and verbose,
do not internalise stress.
When boys get emotional, par
ents and other adults often encour
age them to tone it down. The result
can be emotional isolation that
starts in boyhood and plagues men
into middle age, often with emo
tional, and even physical, conse
quences. Research also suggests that
the emotional brain is “more primi
tive” in men. Women make use of an
emotional processing centre adja
cent to the speech areas ofthe brain,
which makes it easier for them to
link emotions to speech. Child psyES3SEE53 43
I-have-the-power syndrome
oys grow up believing they have a ‘rightful’ power over mothers, sis
ters and other women. Their experiences at home and in school, and
with friends or neighbours strengthen this belief.
A new school of psychiatry is trying to understand such behaviour: it
takes into account socialisation in India, feminist understanding, the idea
of masculinity, gender biases and behavioural psychology. Dr Shekhar
Seshadri, additional professor of psychiatry at the National Institute of
Mental Health and Neuro Sciences in Bangalore, is a staunch advocate of
the new school that is devising an alternative process or parallel
socialisation process aimed at asking boys, Why can’t men be more like
women?’
Seshadri points out that men want to be more powerful than not only
women but other men also. When boys grow up, their masculinity gets con
structed on the theme of sexual conquest. They underline their superiority
in bed, and boast about their sexual conquest to other men. This structures
power relations in the peer group.
In war, men first pillage cities, kill other men and rape women. The con
struction of their masculinity is centred on subjugating women and other
men, and they are bogged down by fears and anxieties which constantly pop
the question, ‘Am I man enough?’
Masculinity, Seshadri argues,
should be a natural endowment
rather than a condition defined by
power relations. “Why can’t men be
associated with tenderness and
nurturing?” he asks. “Why should it
be sexual conquests and achieve
ments that make them anxious
about lack of power?”
According to him, the form of
socialisation practised in homes
and schools is tragic because boys
lose out on the friendship ofwomen
and women lose out on the friend
ship of men. “We need to challenge
and question these stereotypes.”
Seshadri, in association with
the Save the Children Fund and
Unicef, has initiated the
Masculinities Film Project in India. The set of four films aims at under
standing how boys construct knowledge and at starting a process of dis
course with boys.
Without a culture of discourse, he notes, most children develop notions
of gender and power based on the conservative images in the cinema and
on television. The film project—a part of the teacher training syllabus in
Karnataka—offers images and symbols that motivate boys to look at hu
man beings with their own struggle for an identity'. “These are not message
films. They take a slice out of life where there is the possibility to connect
to and challenge all power structures as a start,” he says.
Seshadri passionately believes it is possible to redefine masculinity. Un
derpinning his belief is film actress Suhasini’s statement, ‘I want my son
to have the right amount of masculinity, the right amount of femininity' and
the right amount of humanity.’ He, however, adds: “There is some hope for
boys, but none for men.”
B
N. Bhanutej
44
chologists advise that it is necessary
for parents to teach their sons to
match words with feelings, to build a
vocabulary for the emotions that they
often have trouble expressing. Not all
of the old stereotypes are unfounded,
though. Toy weapons and action toys
do fire them up.
Male and female stereotypes are
very visible in society for boys and girls
to see, but girls have scored because
they now think beyond traditional
roles. There is, on the other hand, no
dramatic change in the perceptions
about a boy’s role. Earlier, women
were allowed to study after much de
bate. Today they are assertive and
think of it as their right.
The competition has shaken the
boys and they find themselves in tur
moil. Gone are the days when the
birth of a girl caused worry among the
parents. Sanjana, at 7, proved preco-
Why can’t men be
associated with tender
ness and nurturing?
Dr Shekhar Seshadri, NIMHANS
ciously helpful when her father met
with an accident in Mumbai. “She in
quired if I had informed every one and
asked about the medicines her father
had to take.” recalls her mother Annie.
She is good at studies and sports, and
is competitive. Her brother Sanjay, 13,
on the other hand, does not know how
to express himself and needs to be
pushed to study. “When he goes to the
market and does not find a particular
Jan 27 2002
c
Sanjana, 7, is good at studies and sports, and is
competitive. Her brother Sanjay, 13, on the other
hand, needs to be pushed to study
item, he will not think of an alterna
tive on his own,” says Annie.
k
Psychologist Pratima Havaldar
"says she has no data that conclu
sively indicates boys are becoming
more insecure and vulnerable. Any
pressure on themcould be due to the
social influences in their growing
years. “In our male dominated soci
ety, a boy feels he should not cry be
cause it is girlish behaviour. But is
tear formation different in boys and
girls?” she asks.
Housewife J. Farzanah believes
that much of the physical and psy
chological resilience built into the
girls generates from their religious
leanings. “Girl:, are more spiritual,”
she says. “While biological differ
ences may make boys more impul
sive, they do not seek relieffrom God
as much as girls do.”
Psychiatrist Dr Anand Nadkarni
of the Institute for Psychological
Health (IPH) in Thane feels that
girls are better focused than boys.
“They have a tremendous urge to
express and learn. In teenage years,
Jas 272002
the emotional development of girls
is much faster than the boys.” At the
IPH career conferences the response
of the girls has been qualitatively
better. “The questions girls come up
with have substance,” he says.
As a point in evolution, girls
have, over the years, learned to turn
the genetic, socio-cultural disadvan
tages into advantages. While soci
ologists agree that the boys' ego have
taken a beating, they also believe
that the boys are not provided an
insight into the condition. Clinical
psychologist, Dr R. Karthikeyan of
Gemba Consultants in Chennai
says: “Neither schools nor parents
have taken the lead. How many
schools have psychologists on their
board? How many screen the boys
for early signs of dyslexia?"
Everything seemed hunky-dory
on the outside for 16-year-old Vinod
Krishnan, so his parents were sur
prised when they noticed a drop in
his grade, coupled by smoking,
drinking and a tendency toward
drugs. At counselling he said that his
parents, both of whom were work
ing, had no time for him and his sis
ter, who was brilliant at studies,
made him feel insecure.
“Until about a decade ago more
boys achieved ranks while the girls
edged past them in the overall pass
percentage,” says Karthikeyan. “To
day, even that bastion has fallen
with more girls occupying the top
slots.”
Laila Bhatkal, founder member
of Sapling, a school for slow learners
in Mumbai, says more boys suffer
from this disorder than girls. “Sev
enty per cent of our students are
back in the mainstream,” she says.
“But the girls are able to sustain jobs
and the employers are happy with
their skills, but the boys seem to
have difficulty in settling down.”
“Boys do lack focus when it
comes to studies,” says Meghana
Londhe, supervisor at R.M. Bhat
High School in Mumbai. “They are
emotionally tougher, but not sincere
and serious like-the girls.”
Dr Anand Nadkarni says that
girls have the urge to prove them
selves because of a variety of
psychosocial reasons. Girls realise
that muscular strength is becoming
redundant because of scientific and
technological developments. “On
the other hand boys seem to be get
ting complacent,” he says. “They
shape up in a typical masculine ag
gressive way because aggression has
been the male stereotype. That is
why when they are pushed they be
have in an aggressive manner."
Thanks to the media, boys are
distracted by numerous channels
that reiterate fflmi values and fiindas.
“Films show people getting drunk to
cope with difficulty,” says L.
Venkateshwaran, an undergraduate
commerce student. “So though I
don’t particularly like the taste of
beer, I drink it for the effect." The sig
nals of rebellion boys hope to en
dorse as symbols of being strong
misuse of alcohol, rejection of tradi
tional values, increased overt expres
sion ofindependence—leads them to
being projected as the weaker sex to
day. Maybe they could follow
Rudyard Kipling's advice in the
poem //'and keep their head when all
about them are losing theirs.
EES333 45
0
V
E
R
S
T
0
R
Y
Economy
THE EXCISE DUTY HIKE IS
BEING VIEWED AS A DIS
GUISED “WAR CESS” FOR
THE TROOP DEPLOYMENT
ALONG THE BORDER (LEFT)
Finance and Policy, agrees that
the government desperately
needed to shore up the budget
but disagrees on the way that it
is being done.
Siphoning off surpluses ac
cruing to one segment of the
public sector to another will not
help the financial health of the
public sector as a whole, he
says. The surpluses accruing in
the oil pool account will be di
minished greatly.
“Is there a financial emer
Photo/N?
gency?” asks D. Raja, national
secretary, Communist Party of India.
“What is the meaning of springing an
ordinance like this on the eve of the
budget session?”
This entire exercise, according to
Raja, will deliver well-performing
public sector units to the altar of
disinvestment. “Oil companies have
been posting profits and these profits
are being diverted to plug the fiscal
excise duty this surplus is being
deficit. Later, theie oil companies will
mopped up by the finance ministry
be shown as inefficient and non-profit
instead of remaining with the oil pool
making and sold off cheaply,” he says.|
account.”
He calls this a “burdenmg of PSUs".
According to him, it is like taking
According to Raja, mere were bet
money out of the right pocket to be
ter ways of fiscal numagement like
put in the left. “The oil companies are
bringing more pepfflc into the tax net.
government-owned, so the transfer of
cash goes from the petroleum minis
“Successive governments have ig
nored the potevTtial of the niral rich as
try to the finance ministry, with no
permanent solution to the problem,”
tax-payers. NowSttbsklies on kero
sene and cooking gas tire also to be
he says.
cut. When corporate^uo not cough up
Coming just before the budget ses
their taxes, shouldXne honest be taxed
sion of Parliament in February, the
more?” he asksr
move is also being viewed as a dis
The tax departmeiRjiaybeen able
guised “war cess” for the massive troop
to tap only 23 million of the potential,
deployment after December 13. An
40 million direct tax-payers. It is not
other viewpoint is that the mounting
adequately equipped to bring more
financial deficit —a whopping Rs
people into the tax net.
79,133 crore till November 2001—ne
Come April 2002, oil prices will be
cessitates this “emergency step”.
out of government hands: under the
While finance ministry sources
WTO agreement, oil pricing systems
deny that the move has anything to do
arc to shift from the administrative
with the movement of troops—the tab
for which is nearly Rs 1,000 crore—
price mechanism to a market-driven
they admit worries about the high
one. The government's move therefore
budget deficit.
is seen as a carefully thought-out and
Dr Amaresh Bagchi, professor
executed “speculative windfall profit".
Nistula Hebbar
emeritus, National Institute of Public
Spike the hike
Raising excise duty on petro-products
will not help the economy
n January II, Indians woke
up to a surprise. Newspaper
headlines announced cuts in
petrol and diesel prices. Indians have
always been subjected to hikes in
petrol and diesel prices with the “oil
pool deficit” being the standard excuse
for the exercise. For the first time in
years petrol price came down by Rs
1.39 per litre and diesel by 8 paise.
The excise duty on them, however,
was raised steeply. On petrol it was
raised to 90 per cent from 32 per cent
and on diesel to 20 per cent from 16
per cent. Armed with a new ordinance
granting it powers to raise excise duly
to an unlimited extent, the finance
ministry indulged in an “intelligent
piece of financial juggling" which is
expected to rake in Rs 1,500 crore.
According to T.G. Keswani, con
sultant at the Punjab, Hatyana and
Delhi Chamber of Commerce and In
dustry, it is at best an “intelligent fi
nancial engineering”. “International
oil prices have come down after Sep
tember 11, and a surplus of about Rs
500 crore was accruing to the oil pool
account," he says. “By levying extra
O
46 6ES333
Jan 27 2002
SOCIETY AND TRENDS
■ HOMOSEXUALS
SEX, LIES, AGONY
AND
MATRIMONY
Over 80 per cent of the country's gays are trapped in
“normal” marriages. Counsellors are now telling the
younger lot to stay single and assert their identity.
By VIJAY JUNG TH APA and
SHEELA RAVAL
FTEN THE STILL NIGHT
would stimulate an old.
aching desire in Rakesh
Anand. “It came on
strong and could not be
ignored,” explains the
38-year-old businessman. It forced him
to ransack his brains for white lies that
allowed him to leave home—“I need a
long, relaxing walk" or “The office just
called, something's come up". His pretty
wife would look disappointed, his fiveyear-old daughter nod angelically. But
that rampant desire rationalised every
thing as he gunned his gleaming white
Tata Sumo down the road to a nearby
park. Within lay a dark, shadowy world
of homosexual love where furtive male
figures strutted their stuff, longing for
eye contact. Anand slithered into this
realm with the ease of an experienced
man—moving through the darkness
with a painted smile. An ancient mating
ritual was already in progress as he
paced up and down,
trying to attract
attention. Finally.
someone
would
walk up to him. a minute of whispered
conversation, and then both would melt
into the darkness. “A few gropes and a
quick orgasm. Then 1 felt as if I had rid
myself ofthis horrible desire and I hoped
it would never come back."
But those still nights kept coming
back. Finally, driven by spasms of guilt.
Anand went to a gay counselling centre
in February this year. To his horror, he
learnt that his sexual preference tended
more towards homosexual than hete
rosexual. He hadn't had sex with his
wife in months—but cruising the park
for sex occurred almost once a week.
His sexuality—which should have been
stark and clear to him—had been en
veloped in a haze of denial. Learn to be
comfortable with it. it is a part of you. he
was told. Today, after several coun
selling sessions. Anand realises he has
two options ahead of him. End his mar
riage. Or tell his wife. Which, in theend.
may lead to the first. He hasn't had the
courage to decide yet. “I get so angry
when I think of all the unnecessary pain
I've caused others by doing things I did
not want to but thought I had to—like
getting married." he says.
Anand is just one example of a
large section of married gays in the
country. Though there is no consoli
dated statistical study on the Indian
gay population, activists stick to the in
ternationally accepted figure of 5 per
cent homosexuals in any given male
population—taking the figure for the
country to 1.3 crore. Out of this, an
estimated 80 per cent ( that is. 1.04
crore gays) are married, point out ex
perts. Today, gay activists all across the
country have decided to take a strong
VOICES
Illustrations by JAYANTO
By getting into a heterosexual marriage, activists feel gays
aren't facing their sexuality in a responsible way.
stand against such individuals. Many
are actively counselling urban homo
sexuals against marriage. And to those
already married, the advice is to stay
faithful to the wife, and if that isn't pos
sible, then to come out into the open.
The accent is on finding one's sexual
ity and learning to live with it. Says
Ramesh Menon, who helps run gay
support group Hamsafar Trust: “We
believe that these men are not facing
their sexuality in a responsible man-
haviour and emotions. “Once we’re rea activists feel a lot of homosexuals find it
sonably sure that here is an individual comfortable and convenient to main
who is only attracted to his own sex and tain the facadeof “respectability" by get
doesn't feel anything is missing, we ad ting married. In India, homophobia is a
vise him to stand firm against getting reality and examples ofdiscrimination a
married." says Owais Khan, who runs dime a dozen. Says Khan: "Many mar
Delhi-based Hamrahi.
ried gays feel that by providing for the
Easier said. Ask Mumbai-based wife, not sexually but in every other
Rakesh Purohit. an engineer who knew sense, they have done their bit." Besides.
he was gay. Oblivious of this fact, his fam sex and love aren't theonly reasons peo
ily arranged a match and even fixed a ple get married for. Says Anjali Gopalan.
wedding date. Purohit. with much executivedirectorof.NazFoundation.an
trepidation, announced he was gay and N<:o that works on aids awareness and
that simple confession ripped the family runs a helpline for gays: "Many of them
apart. "My father beat me up. abused my feel. 1 need someone who will look after
friends and started calling me a 'she'— me when I am old and others feel the
in the end. he wore me down. I agreed to need to have a child." Naz. in fact, is one
get married."Today, his wifeSunitaisal- organisation that doesn't counsel gays
ready in denial: “I don't think about against marriage.
what he does. 1 don't ask him where he
But look at it from a homosexual's
goes." That the problem is enormous is point of view. Trauma starts from ado
indicated by the Hamsafar helpline that lescence when he starts realising he is
receives an average of 80 calls a week. 75 different from others. "H's frightening. 1
per cent of them relating to gays being felt I was the only one with such feel
pressured to get married, or married and ings. There were no role models or peo
having problems. With devastating re ple 1 could identify with." says Abhishek
sults. Keith Parera. a computer analyst. Modi, a 30-year-old executive who now
was taken first to a priest and then a doc openly Haunts his sexuality. It's so
tor to cure him of his homosexuality. Fi much easier to flow with the current
nally. he was “blackmailed" into pretending you are just like the rest. And
marriage by his mother who said a ho that kind of denial leads to strange
mosexual would mean his sisters would perversions. At Mumbai's KEM Hospi
have to go unmarried. But after two tal's sexology clinic, there are a large
years of marriage, he walked out.
number of cases where essentially ho
Trouble is, a true sense of what your mosexual men come to "learn" how to
sexuality really is can dawn upon an in function in heterosexual relationships.
dividual anytime. For
Says Dr Prakash
Narendra Sood, it hap
Kothari, the sexologist
pened at the "near el
there: "It is really a
derly" age of 56. after
dilemma.
I
have
having been married
started encouraging
“I get so angry
for 16 years with a
married
gays
to
teenaged son in tow.
achieve arousal by
when 1 think of the
"No. it wasn't as if I
fantasising they are
pain I’ve caused
woke up one morning
with men rather than
preferring
young
their wives." And then
others by doing
boys.” he says. He
there are others who
came out as gay. he
don't define them
things 1 didn’t want
reasons, because of a
selves as gay. yet in
to but thought I had dulge in acts of
lot of abusive hetero
sexual marriages that
homosexuality. Points
to—like getting
he saw around him.
out Riyad Wadia. who
married.”
made India's first gay
And worse, he felt it
happening to him—
film, Bonigay: “To
them, gay means
hating his wife be
cause she did not
someone who plays
“My father beat me
the passive part dur
arouse him in any
up, abused my
ing sex. So long as they
way. Adds Sood, who
are performing t he ac
now lives with a 36friends, called me a
year-old boyfriend: "I
tive part, whether
‘
she
’
and
wore
me
feel 1 have crystallised
with their wives or
from a bisexual to a
their male lovers, they
down. In the end. I
think their masculin
homosexual ... now 1
ity is still intact."
clearly realise mar
agreed to gel
riage was a mistake."
But what about
married."
However.
that's
the wives—how do
just one version. Many
they fare? Says Dr Ajit
ner.” He cites countless examples of
men who get married because of
tremendous societal pressure, yet often
gatecrash gay parties for sex. “Such
men are avoiding their own sexuality.
They are too scared to believe they are
gay. Yet they come to us for permission
to rationalise their gay activity."
The trouble here, of course, lies in
identifying one’s sexuality. Or more
specifically, determining a gay identity.
Unfortunately, desire cannot be divided
into black and white areas of homo and
hetero. Counsellors often apply the Kin
sey Scale, which is derived on the
premise that most people fall some
where between 0 (totally heterosexual)
and six (totally homosexual) on a sex
ual preference continuum. The ratio
nale behind the scale being that
heterosexual and homosexual are not
opposites, but two possible positions on
a continuum of sexual desire. One
might be a two on the scale ( preferring
hetero sex, but occasionally enjoying
homo sex), or a four (tending toward
homo, but really liking both). Coun
selling sessions try and help a person
map his sexuality, taking into account
variables like attractions, fantasies, be
SOCIETY AND TRENDS
B hide, a psychiatrist with Bangalore's
St Martha Hospital, who is a consul
tant to several counselling groups, "It
isn’t the homosexual who is trapped in
marriage, it is the wife." The lack of
physical gratification—in some cases
the marriage hadn't been consum
mated in two decades—leads to in
tense frustration. Rita Sen, a
Delhi-based executive in an advertis
ing agency, is one such wife. Her hus
band Patrick confessed three years
after marriage that he gets turned on
by men. She tried hard to understand.
“But I would keep picturing him hav
ing sex with men and I felt humili
ated." Three months ago, she slashed
her wrists when she saw Patrick wear
ing a dress and make-up. She sur
vived, and today Patrick has agreed to
keep their vows of monogamy. "But
I'm not sure ... because he still isn’t
having sex with me.”
N some cases, activists point out,
wives seem to accept their hus
band’s sexual preference as "des
tiny”. And the joint family
system—that great shock ab
sorber—helps them cope in strange
ways. Sudha Kerve, a 33-year-old
Mumbai housewife, found that her
husband treated her like an untouch
able. Her mother-in-law’s taunts that
she was barren led her to confess this.
Nobody believed her until the motherin-law caught her son in bed with a
I
has everything to do with
identity. He's seen it all—
though attracted to men.
he got married, is now divorced and has
lost the custody of his only child. He
considers himself a confirmed homo
sexual. though he is kind of disap
pointed. "Don’t get me wrong. The sex
is great—the way it was meant to be.
But sometimes I need a stronger emo
tional bonding—man to man—and
that isn't happening." Having walked
in and out offleeting relationships with
his male friends over the past one year.
he seems to have put a finger on why he
isn’t really satisfied. "It's because we're
all still, in a sense, inside the closet. We
haven’t gained an identity, we're still on
the fringe." ideally. Singh hankers for
everything a heterosexual wants—a
good life, a family, children who will
look after you when you grow old. Ex
cept he wants to do all that with a man
he loves. “That is all that really matters
to me. That will be my real identity."
Hard fought and hard won.
Homosexuality is more in-your-face today and wives, once
ignorant, are refusing to tolerate gay husbands.
male cousin. The taunts stopped and
the family was extra nice to her, advis
ing her not to file for divorce as it
would taint the family’s name. Her
mother-in-law even took her aside
and suggested she sleep with a parti
cular relative to produce a child so
everyone would think their rela
tionship was normal. Says Sudha: “I
have accepted this. At least the family
looks after my other needs."
But cases like Sudha's seem more a
relic of the past. Today, homosexuality
is more in-your-face, with satellite tv,
movies, media and the Net openly
flaunting it. And wives, once ignorant,
are getting wiser. 'An increasing num
ber are refusing to tolerate their hus
band's homosexuality.’’ says Dr
M. Watsa of Mumbai’s Family Plan
ning Association of India, “and a num
ber of marriages are breaking up.” In
fact, the HamsafarTrust, now plans to
68
INDIA TODAY • MAY11.19VB
form a support group for wives of
homosexual husbands. Besides mak
ing them aware that they now belong
to a high-risk group for aids, gay ac
tivists monitor cases and recommend
therapy if the situation gets out of con
trol. Says trust Chairman Ashok Row
Kavl: "If we see the wife is unhappy but
self-reliant, we advise a breaking-up."
At the bottom, though, the struggle
to keep the institution of heterosexual
marriage away from homosexuals re
ally boils down to establishing a gay
identity. The argument is that if more
and more homosexuals are going to get
married and relegate their homosexual
part into a shadowy world of squalid
sex, nothing will change. "Instead of
coming out, there will just be more un
protected. anonymous sex. more dis
ease, trauma and pain," adds Khan.
Mandeep Singh. 31. an interior
decorator, argues that his sexual desire
—with STEPHEN DAVID
(Names have been changed to protect Identity.1
lK> H - u v
Someone in the PMO then had a
brainwave—ask Karunakaran to fly
with the PM to Bihar where he was
going to campaign for a day.
Without seeking the chief minister's
consent, they scored out all the
newsmen detailed to accompany
the WIP and put in Karunakaran's
name.
But Karunakaran, who had flown
around the country with Indira and
Rajiv, politely declined the offer. In
the end, the PM flew out with just
his staff.
Some lumpsum
Tasting rain) n’ rally
WHEN it snows In Shlmla, Delhi freezes, goes the saying about the
geographical climate. Now, It seems that when It rains in Bhopal, Delhi
sneezes. That Is about the political climate.
For the last many weeks every political eye had been trained on
Bhopal, the capital of Arjun Singh's Madhya Pradesh. The Congress
high command was watching every move of Chief Minister DigvIJay
Singh and his MLAs to find out the extent of sympathy the expelled
rebel enjoyed.
Finally, when Arjun's rally took place on March 9, Congress elders
were left peering at the weather chart, literally. And they were relieved
when it poured In Bhopal that day. Even as the rally was on, the
Congress spokesman announced with a flourish that it was a literal
washout. But he added in a soft undertone, “I heard they are
reassembling after the rain.”
Anyway, within minutes It rained In Delhi.
Waying sw to PM
WHO would not like to fly with the
Prime Minister? Almost everyone
would consider it a great privilege,
but not Kerala Chief Minister K.
Karunakaran.
Karunakaran was on his n'th
trip to Delhi to persuade Narasimha
Rao to retain him as the ruler of
Kerala. Rao had summoned him,
but when Karunakaran landed, the
Prime Minister’s office could not
allot him time for an appointment.
THE golden handshake scheme was
introduced primarily to enable
public sector undertakings to trim
themselves and cut losses. Whether
that is happening or not is open to
question, but the exchequer is
certainly taking on a lean, mean and
■ positively hungry look. The govern
ment has admittedly spent Rs 1,548
1 crore of the national renewal fund
j on sending its workers on a
permanent vacation.
But it was not a holiday that
enthused the majority of the work
force. Of the five lakh workers
whom the government expected to
pack off, only 75,000 have re
sponded.
Wouldn’t that mean a spending
of Rs 20.64 crore to see the back of
each employee? A fanciful amount
that has depleted the government
coffers. However, neither are the
workers laughing all the way to the
bank! The magic of mathematics did
someone say?
27
COVER STORY ■ EDUCATION
SEX
IN THE
CLASSROOM
It worries the parents
and makes the teach
ers queasy and the
government cautious.
But educationists and
health experts assert
that only lessons on
sex can save children
from catastrophe in
the AIDS age.
£
HE place: A high school in Delhi.
Manpreet Ahuja, the biology
teacher in class 10, is waiting for
the lunch-hour bell. In the last 40
minutes or so, she had covered the
chapter on the human reproductive
system. Now she is eager to leave,
and avoid the “scandalous" questions
from the boys and the embarrassing
T
giggles of the girls. This was one
chapter Ahuja dreaded— year after
year, she had fleeted through it and
wriggled out. And for the class of
1994-95, it was no different.
Months later, Ahuja was stunned
by a headline in The Times of India:
“Virginity no longer precious for Delhi
varsity women." The report was about
a survey on sexual attitudes and
behaviour that an Indian researcher
from a Canadian university had con
ducted among 661 students from two
universities in Delhi. More than half
the girls had said casual sex outside
carriage was acceptable. ThreeBurths did not even think satisfying
sexual relationships were necessar
ily related to love.
“Zamana badalgaya, "(times have
changed), Ahuja sighed. “These stu
dents from moneyed families are
damaging the reputation of other
students as well," she thought and
turned to the next page, unaware that
more than half of 3,846 boys and girls,
aged 15-29, from various strata of
society in 13 cities considered them
selves mature enough to make deci
sions regarding their sex lives. Or
that a third of them did not know
what sexual intercourse was—results
of a survey done by the Family Plan
ning Association of India (FPA1).
Ahuja was also unaware of the
finding of the National AIDS Control
Organisation (NACO) that 40 percent
of those infected by HIV/A1DS in India
were in the age group of 15-30. Orthat
a third of 10,325 college students in
(our cities had said they did not mind
having sex even at the risk of AIDS,
according to a National Service
Scheme study. NACO estimates that
half of all new infections in the next
five years would be in the 15-30 age
In some areas in
Bombay researchers
have found even
eighi-year-oid girls
watching blue films with
grownup persons.
THE WEEK ■ MAR 19. 1«5
group. “I wish I knew earlier." sighed
Ahuja. “But then, what can I do about
it?"
The level of ignorance is astound
ing. For instance, during a Universi
ties Talk Aids (UTA) campaign of the
department of youth affairs, acollegegoer in Calcutta asked, “Why should a
guy use a condom. It is only girls who
should use it."
Yet the government seems to be
cautious. “There is no need to introducesexeducation in schools." Arjun
Singh had stated last September when
he was minister for human resource
development even as educationists
and health experts demanded sex
education to prevent a “catastrophe".
Meanwhile, the National Council of
Educational Research and Training
(NCERT), the top education policymaking body in the country, gropes
fora national consensus to introduce
sex education in the garb of "adoles
cence education".
When Procter&Gamble tried to
promote its sanitary napkins by gift
ing booklets on menstruation and re-
COVER STORY ■ EDUCATION
As Dr Kothari says,
common misconceptions
about masturbation may
compel a person to indulge
in deviant and criminal
sexual behaviour.
productive functions to high school
girls in Dhanbad, Bihar, the Bharatiya
Janata Party termed it an assault on
the country’s culture and swabbed
the issue into its “swadeshi" move
ment. Reason: the company was a
multinational. It was as if girls in
Dhanbad never menstruated and
didn’t need to be told about it. The
final product: immense confusion in
the minds of parents, teachers and
uncertainty in the minds of educa
tionists and policy-makers about the
urgency for sex education in schools.
If there is a single educational issue
that can instantly arouse emotions
and evoke varying views across the
country, it is the question of intro
ducing sex education in schools.
"All parents want to believe that
their daughters are virgins and sons
bramacharis. I call this the ’denial
syndrome’ as this is not the case,”
says Dr Bhagban Prakash, programme
adviser in the department of youth
affairs and director of the UTA
programme. Dr Raj Brahmbhatt, con
sulting sexologist and fellow at the
Kama Institute of Sexual Stud
ies, Bombay, has an explana
tion. “Decades ago, the age of
menarche (when one attains
puberty) and the age of mar
riage were almost thesame. But
today, while the age of men
arche has reduced thanks to
increased levels of nutrition and
other living habits, the age of
marriage has gone up drasti
cally because of social changes.”
As a result, the young are float
ing in a long period of height
ened sexual curiosity.
“Ideally, it is desirable that
our boys and girls restrain
themselves from sexual activ
ity till they are married. But
there is a huge gap between
what is desirable and what is
happening,"
says
Dr
Brahmbhatt. Studies by the Unit
of Family Studies, Tata Institute
of Social Sciences (T1SS),
Bombay, corroborate his views.
According to Murli Desai, head
of the unit, boys and girls in the
30
Some schools like the
Sardar Patel Vidyalaya and
Bombay International
School have already
devised their own sex
education programmes.
city's chawls and some lower income
group areas become sexually active
at 14 or even 13. Says she: “We also
found that in some areas, eight- and
nine-year-olds were watching blue
films with those aged 55 and 60. We
havechildren from all groups exposed
to such activity."
Sexuality, of course, is nothing
abnormal. Dr D. Narayana Reddy,
sexual medicine consultant at the
Dega Institute in Madras, says: “We
are not only human beings but also
sexual beings. All our roles, family
THE WEEK ■ MAR. 19. 1995
and social, depend on gender. So cu
riosity among children about sexual
ity is normal. But the question is where
do they get their answers from?
Home? Parents? Teachers? Or porno
graphic literature and blue films?”
“Sex being a taboo word in India,
most of the children rarely get an
swers from parents ridden by per
sonal
inhibitions,”
says
a
paediatrician. Or as an 18-year-old
puts it, pre-pubertal boys are left to
attain “enlightenment” on their own.
But surprisingly, even girls complain
that their mothers do not
equately inform them abc^P
their vital reproductive func
tions. Says Kavita Sharma, a
postgraduate student at Delhi
University: “My mother, a
graduate, had not told me any
thing before I had my first peri
ods at 13. And I thought I had
got cancer or some other fatal
disease, seeing all that blood.”
Kavita is yet to forgive her
mother.
The ignorance and inhibi
tion of the parents also reflect
in the widely prevalent but
little-talked-about incidents of
sexual abuse of children. Ac
cording to Dr Manju Mehta,
additional professor in the
psychiatry department at the
All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AllMS), New Delhi,
quite a few cases of pre-pubertal girls who are sexually
abused can be traced to their
not being told about sexual
behaviour. She cites the case
of an eight-year-old girl from a well-off
family who was taken advantage of by
a family friend. The poor thing did not
know what was happening and said
Mtfre uncle wanted to play with me.'
Bln the other hand, another girl could
ward off a friend of her father who
made advances towards her when
she was alone. She had been warned
about males “trying to get physical".
Sexologist Dr Prakash Kothari of
Bombay traces the causes of criminal
sexual behaviour to misconceptions
about masturbation. Says he: “If
conceptions in the minds of teenag
sexual desire becomes intense and a finger at television and cinema for ers," feels Dr Nadkarni.
partner is not available, the only adding to the ignorance of the teenag
Dr Reddy appropriately terms this
ers
and
titillating
them
at
the
same
possible release of sexual tension is
concept of laying physical emphasis
by masturbation. But rampant myths time. “Both urban and rural kids these by the media, not just in films and
days
are
exposed
to
so
much
male
about masturbation often discourage
female relations on TV and in movies. television serials but also in adver
individuals from indulging in it. At
tisements, as projecting a “body imsuch times the intensity of sexual These two media implant a lot of mis
desire outweighs moral bindings and
compels the individual to indulge in
deviant and criminal sexual
behaviour."
In the absence of avenues at home
to provide answers to children’s que
AS a follow-up of the recommendations of the national seminar held
ries, the next natural assumption
early last year, NCERT is preparing a general framework of adolescence
rnld be that schools would fill the
education. It will place the draft for discussion at the five regional
cuum. But the syllabi contain
seminars which start this month. As recommended by the national
sketchy topics that touch upon the
seminar, the framework will have the following components:
anatomy and physiology of the hu
Process of growing up
man reproductive system, and vague
Will include all critical issues relating to the growth of a child into
references to contraception, family
adulthood—physical and social aspects, sex roles and sexually transmit
planning and sexually transmitted
diseases. All of which teachers like
ted diseases.
Ahuja fleet through in an hour or two.
AIDS education
Dr Vimla Nadkarni, head of the
Content related to the causes and consequences of HIV/A1DS, preven
Unit of Medical and Psychiatric Social
tive measures and social responsibility towards persons having .AIDS.
Work, TISS, was in charge of a study
Drug abuse
to monitor and evaluate the AIDS
Will include situations in which individuals fall prey to drugs, conse
education programme in Bombay
quences. preventive measures, treatment and rehabilitation.
Municipal Corporation schools last
One of the recommendations of the national seminar is to adopt an
year. “When we conducted a pilot
integrated strategy to incorporate elements of adolescence education in
test
before
launching
the
the content and process of school education. These elements which may
programme," she says," we found out
not be incorporated in the textbooks are to be covered through cothat we were going to talk to students
curricular activities and other suitable modalities. It is suggested that the
about AIDS when they didn’t know
integrated approach be adopted upto the secondary stage. At the higher
what penis or semen was. 1 was very
secondary stage, a separate semester course may be developed.
surprised to see that the text-books
The actual process of pushing through adolescence education in
said nothing about the reproductive
volves preparation of a package by NCERT for handing over to its
system.”
counterpart
in the states, the state educational research and training
Lack of information, however, is
councils, which will introduce adolescence education in the state syllabi.
not theonly reason for the teenagers’
—YPR
confusion about their sexuality. Ex
perts unanimously point an accusing
Adolescence education
How, when, to whom and what
e
THE WEEK a MAR 19. >995
COVER STORY ■ EDUCATION
Adolescents with strong
guilt feelings about wet
dreams often suffer from
psychosomatic problems
which the doctors have
found hard to diagnose.
age”. Says he: "The emphasis here is
sexual, be it an ad for coffee powder
or underwear, and it is easily picked
up by all youngsters.” And once that
happens, says Dr Nadkarni, the
youngsters are constantly battling to
balance these new-found values with
family values. The consequences,
according to Dr Kothari: a tremen
dous amount of sexual frustration
which is often manifested in the form
of deviant sexual behaviour, increas
ing cases of promiscuity, casual sex
relationships, unwanted pregnancies,
teenage motherhood, and an alarm
ing increase in sexual crimes and
sexually transmitted diseases. Adds
he: "The situation is further aggra
vated by the rampant myths and mis
conceptions regarding sex.”
Do boys and girls think about the
same things? Is it correct to think
about the opposite sex? Why do boys
get sexually more aroused than girls?
"We regularly are asked such ques
tions by both boys and girls during
our sessions in schools,” reveals
Jayanthi Nayak, manager of the
Sense and sensitivity
i
t
i
ti
V
h
B
o
o
B
A
o
3C
EXECUTIVES from Procter&Gamble’s Calcutta of
fice visit half a dozen high schools in Dhanbad city in
the last week of November. Their sales promotion talk
to girls in classes nine and 10 is followed by gift
packets. Their contents: a 'Camay' soap, a packet of
‘Whisper’ sanitary napkins, and a booklet on reproduc
tive health. As whispers reach a Hindi newspaper, it
screams on front-page: ‘Chhatraaon ke beech ashleel
pustakon ka vitrari (obscene booklets distributed to
students). And the dusty mining city in south Bihar is
in the grip of a scandal.
Kahani Kishorawastha ki (aurkuch baatein sayanon
ki)—Teen Talk (and ot her grown up stuff)—first earned
the ire of PrabhatKhabar, Dhanbad’s largest circulated
morninger. It felt that the 12-page booklet contained
information about issues which "let alone girls, even
boys are restrained from reading openly". The news
paper took offence to the last section that talked about
pubertal changes in boys, erection and ejaculation.
Dr J.K. Sinha, principal of Indian School of Learning,
one of the schools in which the booklet was distrib
uted, objected to another paragraph in the same sec
tion. “There it said something to the effect that girls
would like it if they had boyfriends and that it helped
Parivar Seva Sanstha, a voluntary
organisation which runs the Marie ]
Stopes clinics in the country and has
a Family Life Education project. Dr
Reddy, who answers readers’ que; ) i
tions in a Telugu magazine, discloses^1
that almost all the questions young
readers ask are related to sex: Why
have 1 started developing acne? Isn’t ■
the shape/size of my penis/breasts i
peculiar? Why do 1 have an erection
at inopportune moments? Should I
neck or pet? Is masturbation harm
ful? The list is endless.
The misconceptions are so strong
that teenagers often develop com
plexes which affect their behaviour.
Dr Mehta says AIIMS regularly gets
cases where the illness has its roots ,
in sexual guilt, as in the case of an 18year-old boy who suffered from
headache, anxiety, nervousness and 1
insomnia. It was after considerable
questioning that doctors diagnosed
that the illness was psychosomatic.
The boy harboured strong guilt feel
ings and misconceptions about wet
dissolve gender differences," he told THE WEEK. “This
word ‘boyfriend’ creates a lot of contextual complica
tions when used in Hindi. The book was probably
translated from English; the translation made a lot of
difference.”
While the local media cannot escape the blame for
sensationalising the incident, the role of
Procter&Gamble raised several questions and left much
to be desired. Dr Sinha said that the executives had
wanted students from classes 6 and 7 also to be
included in the sessions, which he refused. Were these
executives competent to handle such sessions?
“We do not impart sex education,” said a
Procter&Gamble spokesperson, insisting that the
company's focus was only on the health and hygiene of
schoolgirls and that the topics discussed in the booklet
did not fall under the umbrella of sex education—an
obvious stance to avoid unfriendly publicity.
The result of a shoddy marketing strategy and
prudish media response, the Dhanbad incident ulti
mately mirrored the brittleness of public sensitivity
As Dr Sinha said, “Introducing sex education may be
easier in Delhi than in Dhanbad.” The message could
not be clearer to the experts involved in framing the
adolescence education package.
—Y.P. RAJESH In Dhanbad
COVER STORY ■ EDUCATION
One-man crusade
t
j
t
V
h.
E
o
o
E
o
"1 will give up my practice and
take up the responsibility of in
troducing and overseeing the
implementation of sex education
in the country,” says Dr Prakash
Kothari, the high priest of sexol
ogy in this part of the world.
Coming from one who charges Rs
3,000 for consultation, the decla
ration does sound dramatic. But
it springs no surprise on those
who know the missionary zeal
with which Dr Kothari pursues
his profession and research; he
sees only two patients a day and
takes a week off every month for
reading.
Dr Kothari presented a draft
proposal for a National Sexual
Health Education Programme to
President Shankar Dayai Sharma
during the third Asian Sexology
Conference in Delhi in December
1994. The draft is based on his
research and the immense expe
rience gained from treating 40,000
patients. He has also referred to
sex education models in Sweden,
Hongkong, the UK and the US.
The draft divides the curricu
lum into five parts: human sexual
development, interpersonal re
lationship, interactive abilities,
sexual behaviour and sexual
health. Though there has been
no response as yet from the gov
ernment, Dr Kothari insists that
the proposal be implemented and
sees himself as the key resource
person to coordinate the project.
The draft has drawn criticism
from Dr Mahinder Watsa of the
Family Planning Association. “It
is very unfortunate that Dr
Kothari's proposal is a unilateral
approach to the issue. Moreover,
it is sourced extensively from
models existing in western coun
tries. It would have been more
relevant if he had considered In
dian conditions and values and
got inputs from others in the
field,” Dr Watsa told THE WEEK.
"Yes, I definitely have inputs
from western sources but they
have been amalgamated with my
experience in the field here.” says
Dr Kothari. “There is no need for
me to copy from western sources
when I have disproved several
popular western theories about
sex. It is easy to criticise but dif
ficult to create."
—Y.P. RAJESH In Bombay
31
dreams and masturbation. Another
pre-college boy could not talk to girls:
he was scared he would have an erec
tion if he did.
ARE these not reasons enough
for the introduction of sex education
in schools? Don't growing children
need to be told about the physical
and emotional changes taking place
in them instead of letting them believe
that a drop of semen is equal to 100
drops of blood and losing it causes
immense weakness? Or that eating a
preparation of brinjal and bitter-gourd
cures AIDS? Educationists and health
experts invariably raise such ques
tions.
But many parents and teachers
fear that sex education, instead of
guiding teenagers, might make them
experiment with the new-found
knowledge. They say this might lead
to an even more disastrous situation.
"Sex education has existed in schools
abroad for decades, but has it curbed
sexual crimes or sexually transmitted
diseases there? Has it changed perSex education is not about
sex only. It also includes
values, interpersonal
relations, the ability to
make choices, the benefits
of monogamous marriage.
missive sexual attitudes? Instead, it
has been seen as ineffective with the
alarming growth of AIDS in the last
decade,” says an educationist in Delhi.
“By talking to children about sex,
we will be encouraging them to have
free-sex. It is no awareness
programme. By asking them to insure
themselves against AIDS you are li
censing them to go ahead and do
whatever they like,” says K.K.
Chakrabarty, 39, a chartered ac
countant in Calcutta. “We have two
daughtersagedlland 15butwehave
never felt the need to talk to them
about sex,” adds his wife, Radhika.
“Sometimes 1 think that we, the
experts who promote the cause of
sex education, are to blame for this
misconception about sex education,”
feels Dr Mahinder C. Watsa, director
of Sex Education Counselling Re
search Therapy Training (SECRT)
department of FPAI. He points out
that most people wrongly think that
sex education implies just the bio
logical processes related to sex or
that students would be taught about
THE WEEK ■ MAP. 19. 1995
sexual intercourse.
phy. The question is: Is it relevant to
“Sex education includes values, pur milieu also?" asks J.L. Pandey ,
interpersonal relations, the ability to reader in the department of social
make choices and to have the know!- sciences and humanities, NCERT, who
edge to say'no'when you have to say peads its population education
so," says Dr Watsa. Besides, sex edu- -rogramme and has been entrusted
...include
, j gender
.----->....
cation would
roles
in Ij ith the responsibility of developing
a male-female relationship, values o Jae adolescence education package
the country.
marriage and the benefits of a mo /or
j
.
______ ___
. Says
_ Dr!! Another expert involved in the
nogamous
relationship.
Kothari: “Sex education is not merely 4CERT effort reveals that a WHO sex
a discussion on how babies are born iducation package included a dembut encompasses biological, psycho- mstration of condom use with penislogical and sociological aspects of ihaped objects. “We told them that
human sexual behaviour.”
ve just could not do something like
“Those making a hue and crx ,]^ in the classroom." Obyiously,
against the introduction of sex edbX^Je who formulate a sex education
cation in school curriculum have a >ackage have to keep in mind local
western perception of sex education '.ocio-cultural values and sensitivities.
where it exists amidst sexual anarBut condoms or no condoms. Dr
Reddy is emphatic that educating
children about sexual matters does
not lead them to sexual activity. A
survey conducted in some Madras
colleges in 1982-83 had found that 40
per cent of the 1,000 respondents
were already sexually active. There
was no change in the percentage when
the survey was repeated in 1988-89
and in 1994 in the same colleges after
the introduction of a sex education
programme. Says Dr Reddy: “Sex edu
cation or no sex education, there is
this40 percent section of the students
indulging in sexual activity. The in
troduction of sex education made no
difference there, but it definitely
helped the others as the numbers did
not increase despite changing mo
res.”
A major contributing factor to the
misconceptions about sex education,
some experts feel, is the “condom
centric" AIDS-prevention campaign.
Concern has been voiced at various
levels that the campaign promotes
sexual activity by its greater empha
sis on safe sex through the use of
condoms than on monogamous rela
tionships or abstinence. Dr Reddy
warns: “The anti-AIDS programme is
committingagreat blunder by linking
safe sex to just the use of condoms—
making it condom-centric and not
person-centric. The condom concen
trates on just the physical dimension
of sex." The right definition of safe
sex, according to him. is sex that is
free from physical, emotional and
social trauma for the people involved.
ETHICAL questions apart, edu
cationists are thinking deeply about
the modalities of introducing sex
education which would be easily ac
cepted across the country. And the
first step in the direction is to call it
"adolescence education”, which they
believe will help erase ill-conceived
notions from the minds of parents
and teachers. This is to be followed
by a consensus on the syllabi, the age
of children who are to be taught, and
the staff to handle the topics. NCERT
has planned five regional seminars
this year for arriving at a consensus
before finalising the package at a na
tional seminar.
Pandey of NCERT does not think
the government will go back on its
Filling a gap
FROM the first residential conference on human sexuality and family
life education held in 1975 to the 15 Sex Education Counselling Research
Therapy Training (SECRT) centres across the country, the sex educa
tion programme of the FPAI has come a long way.
The association has been training community and youth leaders to
talk about sexual and reproductive health. SECRT's counsellors also
talk about sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, behavioural changes in
youth and problems related to them. The expert group of SECRT has
offered several guidelines to impart sex education in schools.
According to the guidelines, formal talks on family life education
should start in class VI and continue till class XII. They suggest that 40
minutes a week be devoted to the subject and that some topics be
discussed separately with boys and girls.
The syllabus
1. Human developmental stages and emotional changes.
2.
Changes during adolescence.
(a) Physical (b) Emotional (c) Social (d) Sexual (e) Hygiene (f)
Knowledge of protection against sexual abuse.
3.
Myths and misconceptions about sex
Topics include masturbation, night emissions, size of breasts, hy
men and virginity.
4. Reproduction.
(a) Love and marriage (b) Reproduction, pregnancy and birth (c)
Male and female reproductive system, ovulation and fertilisation (d)
Family planning and contraception (e) Sex roles within a family,
awareness of femaleness and maleness, relationships and responsibili
ties (f) Divorce.
5.
Venereal diseases.
Symptoms, prevention and cure of STDs/AIDS.
6. Variant sex behaviour.
Homosexuality, pornography, obscenity, promiscuity, prostitution
and rape.
_ YfsR
THE WEEK S MAR 19. 1995
COVER STORY ■ EDUCATION
statement in the Lok Sabha on Au
gust 10, 1993, that the proposal to
introduce adolescence education had
the total support of the human re
sources development ministry. An
other senior member of NCERT feels
that Arjun had not been adequately
briefed by his aides before the press
conference in September where he
stated that there was no need to in
troduce sex education in schools.
Deciding on the syllabi, etc., is
not expected to create problems as
voluntary organisations like SECRT
and PSS, and individuals like Dr
Kothari have come out with sex edu
cation packages for the Indian con
text. The tougher task is to make the
teachers handle the subject comfort
ably in the classroom. Most of the
teachers are conservative and un
comfortable with their own sexuality
and feel inhibited to take up adoles
cence education.
“When I hesitate to buy a condom
openly, how do you expect me to talk
to my students about condoms," asks
the principal of Indian School of
Learning, Dhanbad. Echoes another
principal of a much-sought-after pub
lic school there: “When 1 want to buy
a condom, I make sure the shop is not
run by a former student of mine and
that none of my students is around.
And we are expected to talk about
sex!" Dr Bhagban Prakash hits the
nail on the head: “Introduction of such
a programme requires strong aca
demic will, not political will. The ob
jection won’t come from politicians
and students but from teachers and
the education system.”
Evidently, teachers and counsel
lors, irrespective of the subjects they
regularly handle, will have to be
drafted into the adolescence educa
tion programme if they are comfort
able talking about sexual issues and
Implementing a compre
hensive sexual health
programme Is seen as a
long and arduous struggle.
It Involves a change In
Ingrained attitudes.
can handle a classroom situation?
Moreover, there is unanimity ovel
the need to train the chosen st .
comprehensively and take the par.,
ents into confidence through parenti,
teacher associations. While some
educationists and health experts de
sire that parents supplement the ado
lescence education programme by
being open to discussions at home,
the suggestion again implies the
onerous task of changing their
strongly ingrained attitudes.
Little wonder even Dr Kothari calls
the efforts for implementing a com
prehensive sexual health prograrm^
a “struggle", one which is “long
i
potentially arduous". Says he: “The
struggle..is against the pseudo-reli
gious orthodoxy of a short-sighted
social system and not culture." None
the less, he is optimistic. The dreaml
of healthy sexuality in an ideal social
environment, he is confident, is
achievable through a concentrated
and systematic effort by devoted pro
fessionals. Amen.
—Y.P. RAJESH with reports from
bureaux
COVER STORY ■ THE WEEK-MBA SURVEY
‘YES’ FOR SEX
Students and principals give a massive mandate for sex
education in schools and colleges
EX is one secret that the adults
so passionately keep under
wraps. They enjoy doing it but
do not want the kids to have anything
to do with it. They do not think twice
before stuffing their children’s text
books with funny-sounding subjects
like cybernetics, real analysis and im
munology but are not in favour of
defiling the leaves with details about
how people make love. They grudg
ingly allow that mandatory, bowd
lerized chapter on reproduction and
invoke the examples of bees and birds
and flowers but would not tolerate
anything beyond that. It is in a way a
sweet revenge for them; ‘nobody
taught us this sex-vex business’,
seems to be their stock response.
S
However, the information revolu
tion that has the world in its twirl—
the BBC recently gave a blow-by-blow
account, a real inside story, of the
sexual act by inserting a camera into
the female reproductive organ—and
the increasing awareness that in the
AIDS-age, knowledge could be life
saving have many teachers and par
ents cast away their inhibitions for
the first time.
But whether sex becomes part of
the curriculum or remains an extra
curricular activity, it is unlikely that
many educationists would deem it
to ask the children what they want"
what is good for them. Convinced of
this were the representatives of Mar
WESTERN LIFESTYLES SHOWN ON
TV INCREASE SEXUAL AWARENESS
DISAGREE COMPLETELY
5
SEX EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS
AND COLLEGES IS NECESSARY
PRINCIPALS
DISAGREE COMPLETELY
8
4
DISAGREE SOMEWHAT
6
8
(DISAGREE SOMEWHAT
8
'neither agree nor disagree
9
NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE
8
6
AGREE SOMEWHAT
29
AGREE SOMEWHAT
18
27
/AGREE COMPLETELY
45
AGREE COMPLETELY
57
53
DON’T KNOW
4
2
' DON'T KNOW
5
PARENTS
25
27
FRIENDS
65
RELATIVES
6
DOCTORS
10
BOOKS/MAGS/
NEWSPAPERS
64
TV/CINEMA
60
All figures In percentage
WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY
IS SEX EDUCATION?
(RESPONSE OF PRINCIPALS)
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
65
PARENTS
47
children THEMSELVES
12
NO RESPONSE
4
r’s
/n
keting & Business Associates (MBA),
■
a market research agency commis
sioned by THE WEEK to do a survey
on sex education amongstudents and
school principals. For, the manage
ments of 40schools in Delhi. Bombay.
Madras and Bangalore refused per
mission to interview the students.
However, when the all-important
question was finally put to 490 chil
dren of various schools in these cit
ies, they came out with a resounding
mandate in favour of sex education in
schools and colleges. Given theoption
to choose from five stock responses.
more than half the number of re
spondents (57%) unhesitatingly indi
cated that they agreed completely'
that sex education was necessary
while another 18 per cent ‘agreed
somewhat'. Eight percent, forreasons
best known to them, 'disagreed
completely' while six per cent dis
agreed somewhat. About 12 per cent
of them did not mind it either way.
The majority opinion among the
49 principals (53% agreed completely
while 27% just agreed) who partici
pated in the survey was not different
from that of their wards. But four per
cent of them just could not stand the
3
suggestion while eight per cent dis,
agreed, though not completely.
The survey, conducted among 239
boys and 251 girls in the 13-17 age .
group, was not only to find out if they ork
wanted to know about sex but also
assess their present level of awar/jcj t<>/
ness abo'u t sex-related topics and Itow
they had acquired that half-knowl
edge.
Most of the students (65%) got
theirstuff by discussing among them
selves while an equal number (64%)
depended on publication Television
and movies proved useful for many
(60".). Neither teachers (27"..) nor
FROM WHOM DID
KIDS LEARN ABOUT
SEXUALITY?
TEACHERS
ly
STUDENTS
tHE WEEK ■ MAR. 19.1995
39
COVER STORY ■ THE WEEK-MBA SURVEY
parents (25%) inspired confidence in
most of them and only a few (10%)
took the trouble of taking their doubts
to a doctor.
Fifty per cent of the respondents
complained that standard books on
sex were not readily available but 18
per cent had encountered no such
difficulty. A large percentage (31) had
nothing to say on this score, perhaps
showing that they had never felt the
need to look around for books.
Most of the children saw nothing
wrong in their being curious about
sexual matters (53%) but some,
mainly boys, did feel that it was good
to be a little coy about coitus (27%).
With nobody to tell them about
sex, it should not shock anyone to
know that a large number of students
(27%) did not consider sexual rela
tionships an important element of
human relationships. Nor that about
30 per cent of them felt that sexual
entanglements need not be emotional
relationships. Comfortingly, as many
as 54 per cent disagreed with the first
view while about 32 percent opposed
the second.
Good looks were identified by 47
per cent of the students as the factor
that made a person sexually attrac
tive. But it was not a key element for
24 per cent while a great number of
them (28%) were not sure on what
drew them like a magnet towards
members of the opposite sex.
The spirit of gender justice was
reflected in the opinion of most (52%)
when they ruled that there should be
equal freedom for girls and boys in
sexual matters. Boys (55%) were more
progressive about it than girls (48%).
Their principals too gave a mandate
for equal freedom by a 59%-32% mar
gin.
The secretive nature of adults on
matters concerning the flesh seemed
to have rubbed off on the young ones,
too. About 26 percent of the students
•id not want their parents to trouble
'm with advice on sexual matters.
■ would rather look after themerestingly, this opinion found
r with only 16 per cent of the
■'
.cipals. The streak of indepenSeQ.ce among children was most evident’in Bangalore (35 per cent) while
it was least in the country's capital
Cl7 per cent). But 56 per cent of the
undents and 74 per cent of the prinUnals wanted children to go by what
the parents told them. The problem
L" J is that parents are unusually
iconic when it comes to the three-
letter word.
There was a brute majority (72
per cent) against the theory that only
those who were on the verge of a
wedding needed to know anything
about sex. However, 16 per cent felt
comfortable about being ignorant
about the art of making love unless
their parents wanted them to tie the
knot in the near future. That the coun
try was a breeding ground of myths
AWARENESS LEVEL
MENSTRUATION
TAKES PLACE WHEN...
FERTILISATION OF OVUM
BY SPERM HAS FAILED
TO TAKE PLACE
28
DON'T KNOW
42
MASTURBATION
IS AN ACT WHICH IS...
A NORMAL PART OF
GROWTH
43
DON'T KNOW
42
A PERSON CAN AVOID
CONTRACTING AIDS BY
USING A CONDOM
77
DON'T KNOW
13
and misconceptions about sex was
also obvious to 65 per cent of them
whileabout lOpercent missed out on
that point completely.
It did not require an elaborate
analysis to see that the children had
a glaringly low level of awareness on
sexual matters. Most of them (81 per
cent) knew how long it took for a baby
to be born. But eight per cent could
not spot even that simplest of an
swers, '9-10 months'.
No surprise then that half the re
spondents did not know that mastur
bation meant manual stimulation of
sex organs or that it was a normal
part of their growth and development.
Words like coitus and orgasm did not
embarrass many. For, they had never
heard them in their little lives.
It also seemed that the parents
THE WEEK ■ MAR, 19. 1995
40
could safely leave some of these bys
and girls together; as many as 30>er
cent did not know that ‘sexual in=rcourse occurs when the male sex^rgan enters the female sex organ’, ferhaps not surprisingly, the ratio of
ignorance on this point was 33 gils:
26 boys.
Mercifully, a large number (.1)
knew that AIDS is caused by a vius
called HIV and that the disease canbe
avoided by using a condom (77 ;er
cent).
But there were a few who krew
neitherof these facts, makingall those
propaganda campaigns look like
handiwork of idiots. And some wlW
may have heard of a condom have no
use for it; they (20 per cent) failed to
see that they are meant for use by
males. Most of those who were not
privy to this vital bit of information
were girls.
These responses clearly give a
resounding ‘yes' verdict in favour of
educating the students on sex. But
who will bell the cat? A large number
of the principals (65 per cent) be
lieved that it was the responsibility of
the school educational system. Par
ents should share it too, said 47 per
cent of them while 12 per cent felt \
that the children should learn all on I
their own.
1
Opinion was divided on whether!
there should be more open discus-1
sions on sex; while 45 percent wanted I
a more open attitude, 36 per cent!
disagreed with them. Few among the '
principals felt that there was no jffcl '
to impart sex education befo^^a
person got married.
But a substantial number of them
(38 per cent) seemed to fear that
exposure to information on sex would
heighten curiosity and lead to experi
menting on the part of children. And
49 per cent of them did not find any
harm in such exposure and 12 per
cent were not sure of the conse
quences.
So, can the kids do without sex
education? Well, they might just about
manage it. But it does not take a Freud
to see that a sense of guilt born out of
ignorance and coupled with re
pressed desires can reduce many of
our kids to emotional wrecks. There
fore, what is stopping us from intro
ducing regular periods (not a bad
word, any longer) on the most inter
esting subject after sundown? Inter
course within the course could well
provide the much-needed masala to
our syllabi and send the attendance
ratings skyrocketing.
—C. SUJIT CHANDRA KUMAR
Garment Workers
Identifying Legal Issues and Strategies
Roopa M
New Trade union Initiative (NTUI), Bangalore
Paper presented at the Consultation on
‘Labour Standards in the Indian Garment Industry’, Bangalore, 29-30 September 2003
Jointly organised by Civil Initiatives for Development and Peace-India (Vividep-india), Bangalore,
Oxfam-GB, Hyderabad, the Network of Social Action Groups (NSAG-Fedina), Bangalore and the
Gender Studies Unit of the National Institute for Advaced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore.
Garment Workers
Identifying Legal Issues and Strategies
Roopa M
New Trade union Initiative (NTUI), Bangalore
Contact Cividep-lndia, Bangalore
For Copies of this document and full Report of the Consultation on
‘Labour Standards in the Indian Garment Industry', Bangalore, 29-30 September 2003
Email: cividepindia@rediffmail.com
Garment Workers: Identifying Legal Issues and
Strategies.
An unfairly dismissed garment worker would rarely resort to
the courts, let alone seek a trade union, to espouse her cause.
What does this portend? An increasing number of workers seek
no redress tor unjust dismissals for a host of reasons, be it, in
acquiescence of the growing trend of untenured work, lack of
collective process that would instigate and support a demand
>r justice, and/or, more importantly, a lack of faith in the
judicial process, per se. Several studies over the decade, on the
conditions of the Garment workers, document violations of the
protections and benefits for workers, under the various statutes.
In the light of the continued violations, and the possible increase
in pressures on the Garment industry to compete with global
markets, following the phasing out and eventual dismantling
of the quotas under the ATC (Agreement on Textiles and
Clothing) by January 2005, it is pertinent at this juncture to
take stock of the prevailing conditions, analyse and strategise,
with a view to evolving an effective legal response.
*
It must be conceded that there are several labour statutes in
India that adequately protect the rights and conditions of work
of the Garment workers. Implementation of these statutes,
however, has been tardy and entirely dependent on the strength
A A the workers to pressure and lobby the labour department
and the Government. Consequently, the legal challenges are
linked inextricably, to the workers' ability to organize and use
effectively the available protections under the various statutes.
The legal challenges need to be examined from both ends of
the spectrum - nationally through implementation of local laws
and also viewed from the angle of a 'supply chain', with the
principal employer being a transnational corporation, which
is ultimately responsible for pricing and delivery norms.
Thus, in building a legal strategy, we need to view the issues
broadly, as both local/national issues and transnational/
international concerns.
Local/National concerns: The Garment industry in India has
a large female workforce. Concerns range from particulars such
as lack of evidence of employment, per se to systemic ones
such as lack of faith in the judicial process. Identified below
are some of the legal issues that individual workers face, based
on various field studies, which document the workers plight.
These are based on the situation of the garment industry in
Bangalore, which is largely factory based, and hence do
not look at the particular legal issues pertaining to other
situations, like for example putting out systems or export
promotion zones.
Wnges: A large number of workers are paid below the
minimum wages. Workers are invariably required to clock
more hours than that provided under the statute.1 The
productivity norms are so set that overtime becomes inevitable
and workers who are not willing to work late are asked to leave.
Overtime payment is erratic and not necessarily in keeping
with the prescribed norms.2They are not paid for the overtime
(oc), as the management claims that the 'oc' is a result of the
workers not having completed the targets set for them.
’ The Factories Act provides for a regular working week of 48 hours.
2 The Minimum Wages Act provides that a worker is entitled to overtime if s/he works in an employment for
more than nine hours on any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week at the following rates:
(a) in the case of employment in agriculture, at one and a half times the ordinary rate of wages:
(b) in the case of any other scheduled employment, at double the ordinary rate of wages.
The Equal Remuneration Act prohibits discrimination between
men and women in payment of wages wherever their jobs are
identical. Article 15 of the Indian Constitution also proscribes
the State from discriminating against any citizen on grounds
only of sex. Article 16 provides equality of opportunity for all
citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to
any office under the State. No citizen on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or
any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in
respect of, any employment or office under the State. Men are
preferred in tasks involving higher skill and higher pay. Also
the line supervisors in most factories are men.
Productivity: The productivity expected from the workers is,
many a time, unreasonable, resulting in overtime, undue stress,
poor performance and related health hazards. The linking of
wages to productivity and setting up of independent
reasonable productivity norms is an issue that has not been
addressed, legally. Such a law must address the linking of
intensity of work to the duration of the work day (subject to a
maximum of eight hours); the intensity of the work to the
quantum and frequency of rest periods; and productivity
standards based on humane time and motion studies.
Lack of Statutory Benefits: Most of the pay slips of Garment
workers contain a deduction against Provident Fund3 and ESI4.
It is however, not uncommon for workers who have put in
nearly a year's work to not possess a PF or an ESI number.
However, no bonus5 or gratuity6 is currently being paid to
the Garment workers. Workers are terminated on completion
of five years and reemployed after a brief period, in a bid to
avoid the benefits due to workers under the Payment of
Gratuity Act.
Under the Maternity Benefit Act, maternity benefit is paid to
employees who have been employed for not less than 80 days .
It is observed that there is no uniform implementation of this
Act. While some factories are known to grant maternity leave,
others reportedly harass pregnant women workers into leaving
their jobs 'voluntarily'.
Lack of Other Benefits:
Leave: Under the Factories Act, every worker who has worker^
for a minimum period of 240 days shall be allowed leave with
wages for a number of days calculated at the rate of one day
for every twenty days of work performed by him/her. The
Act also provides that an employee is allowed a day of rest
every week (ordinarily Sunday), but the employer may fix any
other day of the week as the rest day for any employee or class
of employees in that scheduled employment. Garment workers
often clock overtime on Sunday-s and this is rarely voluntarily.
Workers who refuse to work overtime (either on a Sunday or
on each working day) are threatened with dismissal.
3 The Employees’ Provident Fund Act applies to workers whose wages do not exceed Rs.3,500 per monfo
in some industries and establishments The employer and the employee are required to make matctCJ
contributions of 8 33 per cent to 10 per cent of the employee’s salary to the fund.
* The Employees Provident Fund Act, 1948, provides certain benefits to workers in case of sickness, maternity
and employment injury. The scheme applies to a factory and the wage ceiling currently is 6,500/ per month.
Both the employer and the employee make contributions to the ESIC.
5 The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 requires payment of bonus to certain categories of workers whose wages
do not exceed Rs.2,500 per month. The Act ensures payment of minimum bonus of 8.33 per cent per year,
with maximum bonus not to exceed 20 per cent of salary or wage earned during the accounting year.
* Under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, retirement benefits for employees who have worked for a minimum
stipulated penod with an employer (generally 5 years and more) is provided for. It is considered as a reward
for long and faithful service. Terminal gratuity works out to 15 days salary for each year of service.
into a resignation letter, at the will of the management. The
threat of dismissal is therefore a constant one. Workers also
avoid challenging such action, as they fear being black -listed
by the employers, who share information on 'trouble makers'.
Many of the workers are terminated for minor errors/offences
and without a disciplinary proceeding. In fact, the Garment
factories would rarely contain a record of 'termination', with
all employees opting to ’resign'. These forced resignations are
rarely challenged as workers sometimes find that proof of
employment and lack of evidence, are their very first hurdles.
Faced with questions of survival, most workers, especially
migrant women from rural areas, prefer to move from one
factory to the next, rather than engage in a prolonged legal
battle.
Health and Safety: The Factories Act ensures that protection
of health and safety of the workers in all industries is
maintained. This is a statutory obligation. Both employers and
employees are required to observe the safety and protection
requirements. Non-compliance with these requirements is
liable for punitive action by the concerned Government
authority. Workers in the ironing section regularly report
injuries due to poor insulation and lack of adequate protection
^equipment at the work site. Continuous work, with heavy iron
^equipment takes a toll on women workers health and there
are reports of severe arm and back injuries.
Facilities and Conveniences: The Factories Act also provides that
the Factory shall be kept clean and arrangements for adequate
lighting, drinking water, latrines and urinals, should be
provided. Workers have complained of harassment by
supervisors, when it comes to use of toilets. It is also noted
that there are inadequate facilities in most factories. The Act
also provides that if a worker has to work in a standing position,
sitting arrangements to take short rests should be provided.
Under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, no employee in any
industrial establishment who has worked more than one year
may be retrenched without being given one month's notice in
writing indicating the reason for retrenchment. The employee
is also entitled to compensation of 25 days salary for each year
of service completed. The dismissal of workers may be
contested through a petition to the Government. The
Government has activated the National Renewal Fund (for
rehabilitation and retaining of workers displaced from sick
units) on a non-statutory basis. It is common to find en masse
dismissals, in Garment factories, during non-peak seasons.
Creche: If there are more than 30 women workers, the employer
has to provide for a creche under the Factories Act. Most
factories claim to have a room set aside for a creche but they
are not functional. Facilities being poor, women prefer to leave
their children with their families.
IWorkman's Compensation Act: According to this Act workers
and/or their dependents are provided with relief in the event
of accidents arising out of or in the course of employment,
causing death or disability.
Sexual Harrasment:
In the absence of legislation covering the issue of Sexual
Harassment at the Workplace, the Supreme Court in Vishaka
v. State of Rajasthan, has laid down the necessary guidelines
and norms86. A brief summary of the Vishaka guidelines:
Lack of Security of Tenure: On being employed, workers are
asked to sign a blank sheet of paper, which is then converted
3
Complaint procedure must be time bound.
It is the duty of the employer or other responsible persons in
work places or other institutions to prevent sexual harassment
and to provide procedures for resolution of complaints. Women
who either draw a regular salary, receive an honorarium, or
work in a voluntary capacity - in the government; private
sector or unorganized sector come under the purview of these
guidelines.
Confidentiality of the complaint procedure has to be
maintained.
Complainants or witnesses should not be victimised or
discriminated against while dealing with complaints.
1. Preventive Steps
The Committee should make an annual report to the
government department concerned of the complaints and the
action taken by them.
Must be undertaken by employers or other responsible
authorities in public or private sectors as follows:
3.
Diciplinary Action
(a) When the offence amounts to misconduct under service
rules, appropriate disciplinary' action should be initiated, (b)
When such conduct amounts to an offence under the Indian
Penal Code, the employer shall initiate action by making a
complaint with the appropriate authority, (c) The victims of
sexual harassment should have the option to seek transfer of
the perpetrator or their own transfer.
a) Express prohibition of sexual harassmentshould be notified
and circulated.
b) Prohibition of sexual harassment should be included in the
rules and regulations of government and public sector
bodies.
c) Private employers should include prohibition of sexual
harassment in the standing orders under the Industrial
Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
d) Appropriate work conditions should be provided for work,
leisure, health, and hygiene to further ensure that there is
no hostile environment towards women at workplaces and
no woman employee should have reasonable grounds to
believe that she is disadvantaged in connection with her
employment.
'It is paid at the average daily wage, calculated lor the three months preceding absence on maternity leave,
and is paid for a period of six weeks before delivery and six weeks after. However, the employee also has
the option of taking the full 12 weeks after delivery. It is prohibited to employ female employees during the
six weeks after delivery, miscarriage or termination of pregnancy Pregnant employees can request that
they not perform arduous work or work which involves long hours of standing or which is likely to interfere
with the pregnancy, the normal development of the foetus, adversely affect health or cause a miscarriage
up Io 10 weeks before the expected delivery. In addition, if the employer does not provide free facilities lo(3))
pre- and post-natal care, the employee is entitled to a medical allowance. Maternity benefit can be paid in^7*
advance for the period preceding the expected delivery, upon proof of pregnancy (Sections 4. 5,8 and 9.).
One month of leave and benefits is available lor women who are ill due to pregnancy, delivery, premature
birth, miscarriage, termination of pregnancy and lubeclomy if medical evidence is provided. This is in addition
Io the normal 12 weeks maternity leave and allowance (section 10.). Under section 11, in addition to other
2. Complaints Procedure
Must provide a Complaints Committee headed by a woman
and not less than half of its members should be women.
SC
TTeJ b'!akS: nurSiri9 b,eaks'a,e 10 be provided twice daily until the child is 15 months old. Il is
prohibited to dismiss, or issue a notice of dismissal for. an employee while they are absent on maternity
Complaints Committee should include an NGO or other
organization that is familiar with the issue of sexual
harassment
leave, or to vary her conditions of service. Dismissal of a female employee during pregnancy does not
deprive her o her right lo maternity allowance or medical bonus allowance except in cases of gross
misconduct. No deductions from wages can be made on account of maternity leave the fact that lighter
duties were performed before taking maternity leave or the taking of nursing breaks (sections 12 and 13).
4
4.
Other Provisions of the Guidelines
factories as separate companies allows them to close factories
at will and move production elsewhere. Collective bargaining,
which results from unionization and leads to higher wages
and better enforcement of statutory benefits to workers, is thus
not a norm in the Garment sector. While the managements have
been effective in crushing unionisation efforts, unions have
been slow in educating the workers and building effective
coalitions across the garment industry, and with other sections
of the organized workforce.
(a) Sexual harassment should be affirmatively discussed at
worker's meetings, employer-employees meetings and other
appropriate forums. (b)Guidelines should be prominently
notified to create awareness of the rights of female employers.
The employer should assist persons affected in cases of
(c)
sexual harassment by outsiders or third parties. (d)Central and
State governments are required to adopt measures including
legislation to ensure that private employers also observe
(Sidelines.
Under the Trade Unions Act, 1926, registration of a Trade
Union is permissible and certain protections and privileges are
accorded to safeguard the interest of the employee. This Act is
applicable to all the unions and association of workers/
employees and under the amended Act, seven or more workers
can register a union, if the union has a membership of 100
workers, or that of 10% of the workforce.
for the protection of the rights of women against sexual
harrasment at the work place. Women routinely complain of
supervisors who verbally and physically abuse, them at the
workplace. Women complain of multiple levels of abuse, both
at the production line by supervisors and masters, and at the
level of production managers and factory' managers. Sexual
Harassment Committees are not the norm in the Garment
industry, despite of a large female workforce.
Opposition to Formation of Unions:
Any attempts at forming a union in a factory', have been quelled
at the first whiff, by dismissing the active cadres. On the flip
side, it has been difficult to unionise the workers, as there is a
sizeable floating population of workers; a large women work
force which is not amenable to the traditional unionizing
^pals; and a lack of vision or a new strategy within the unions
to respond to the increased informal and lean production
methods adopted by a globalised capital. Participation in
unions is also impacted by worker perception of unions, which
stem from a fear of job loss to lack of faith in a collective process.
Unions are rarely seen as an empowering process. In the past
unionization efforts have often lead to factory closure and en
masse job loss. The practice in many business houses to register
a. A brief summary of the Vishaka guidelines:
Il is the duty of the employer or other responsible persons in work places or other institutions to prevent
sexual harassment and to provide procedures for resolution of complaints. Women who either draw a
regular salary, receive an honorarium, or work in a voluntary capacity - in the government: private sector or
unorganized sector come under the purview of these guidelines.
1. PREVENTIVE STEPS Must be undertaken by employers or other responsible authorities in public or
private sectors as follows:
a)
Express prohibition of sexual harassment should be notified and circulated.
b)
Prohibition of sexual harassment should be included in the rules and regulations of government and
public sector bodies.
c)
Private employers should include prohibition of sexual harassment in the standing orders under the
Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
d)
Appropriate work conditions should be provided for work, leisure, health, and hygiene to further ensure
that there is no hostile environment towards women at workplaces and no woman employee should have
reasonable grounds to believe that she is disadvantaged in connection with her employment.
2 COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
5
Poor Enforcement of Existing Labour Laws:
cheaper labour markets^ China and it's flexible labour laws;
are touted as a threat to the Indian Garment export industry.
In the absence of any international labour standards that are
binding on all countries, exploitation of workers are justified
and peddled, as the only 'comparative advantage' of the
developing countries. Although the ILO has identified a set of
core labour standards and there are a string of other ILO
Conventions that lay down standards for conditions of work,
the same has no teeth.
In exploring an effective national strategy, we must take into
account the realities of a changing judicial sensibility. While
the trends are more stark and apparent, at the higher level of
the judiciary as the judgements are reported, it is unclear how
this percolates down and affects the lower levels of grievance
redressal - both in the labour courts and also at the labour
department. Is there a perceptible shift? Are lawyers innovating
in response to the changing trends, and if yes, what has
worked?
How do we give teeth to the ILO Conventions and the Core
labour Standards ? Is the WTO, a possible (however, limited)
mechanism for the implementation of the ILO standards and
other human rights protections? Briefly stated, the debate on
linking trade and labour rights is that, the proponents of linking
of labour rights to the WTO argue that trade linked sanctions
will drive local governments to enforce labour rights and
standards in their countries, with respect to traded goods.
Opponents counter by stating that the linking is a protectionist
A study to examine and map the current trends in enforcement
of labour laws pertaining to the Garment Sector would be the
first step to understanding the implementation machinery and
the policy thrust of the Government. Further a mapping of the
number of cases filed for labour violations, both by the workers
and the labour department/ appropriate government
departments, in the last decade, would more fully expose, the
effectiveness or otherwise, of the existing dispute resolution
mechanisms available to redress workers grievances.
Transnational/International concerns: While a large number
of the workers' concerns can be tackled locally/nationally in
the Indian context, where there are large number of benefits
and protections, still available in the statute books, there are
many issues that are inextricably linked to globally processes,
which may need to be addressed at that level. The phasing out
of the Multi-Fibre Agreement by January 2005, present both
challenges and opportunities to the Garment industry. The
dismantling of quotas would denotes a new phase of increased
competition. Though there are no emphirical studies to show
that higher cost of labour; results in the flight of capital to
Musi provide a Complaints Committee headed by a woman and not less than half of its members should be
women.
Complaints Committee should include an NGO or other organization that is familiar with the issue of sexual
harassment.
Complaint procedure must be time bound.
Confidentiality of the complaint procedure has to be maintained.
Complainants or witnesses should not be victimised or discriminated against while dealing with complaint
The Committee should make an annual report to the government department concerned of the complai^z
and the action taken by them.
3. DISCIPLINARY ACTION (a) When the offence amounts to misconduct under service rules, appropriate
disciplinary action should be initiated. (b) When such conduct amounts to an offence under the Indian Penal
Code, the employer shall initiate action by making a complaint with the appropriate authority (c) The
victims of sexual harassment should have the option to seek transfer of the perpetrator or their own transfer.
4. OTHER PROVISIONS OF THE GUIDELINES (a)Sexual harassment should be affirmatively discussed
at worker's meetings, employer-employees meetings and other appropriate forums. (b)Guidelines should
be prominently notified to create awareness of the rights of female employers. (c)The employer should
assist persons affected in cases of sexual harassment by outsiders or third parties. (d)Cenlral and State
governments are required to adopt measures including legislation to ensure that private employers also
observe guidelines.
6
agenda being put forth by developed countries seeking to
subvert the WTO and impose restrictions on trade from
developing countries, whose comparative advantage is cheap
labour. Opponents to the WTO and its undemocratic character,
believe that the linking would further legitimize the WTO and
adversely impact national sovereignity.
violations of the social and economic nature, has not been
extensively examined. The issue of corporate wrongs and
liability of multinational corporations was the subject of a
seminar organized by Clean Clothes Campaign.
The fall out of the lack of an international body to monitor and
implement basic labour rights, has resulted in a host of
[international consumer bodies and concerned citizens seeking
Codes of Conduct: The code blends elements of existing
corporate codes into a set of standards, which contain
prohibition related to child labor, maximum workweeks,
harassment and abuse, forced labor, and other issues. Integral
to the code is definitive monitoring, including both internal
and external (i.e., independent) evaluations of compliance. The
Codes of conduct has been used with reasonable success in
large factories and in units that produce branded products.
An issue to note is that in many instances the codes do not
emphasise the right to association and collective bargaining
. as a necessary part of any enforcement.
Finally, it must be stated that tThere are three key actors in
this struggle - capital, labour and the Government State- each
with a perspective that must be taken into account in
formulating any legal strategy. While the Capital seeks to
garner more profits, its interest in protecting the labour force,
is not entirely minimal. Capital wants a legal atmosphere that
ensures a trouble free, efficient and productive labour. The
Codes of conduct methodology is an attempt at social
partnership between capital and labour. It must be
acknowledged that this has limited reach. A wider but more
effective arrangement is welfare state regulation that mediates
the interests of both labour and capital. The Government policy,
will ultimately determine the effectiveness or otherwise of the
implementation machinery. In the absence of a socially
responsible capital and a welfare state with a positive
regulatory agenda, a strong unionized workforce, is the only
tool to ensure protection and furtherance of labour's interests.
and fit can even substitute a Government lacking in the political
will to respond to the needs of labour.
Another legal angle that needs scrutiny is the liability of
transnational/multinational corporations for violations of
workers' rights. While there are precedents in the US, UK and
parts of Europe of corporations being held liable for violations
of civil and political rights, in a third country, liability for
In conclusion, it must be said that the principal challenge is
not only that of poor implementation of laws as a result of a
policy trend favouring flexible labour laws, but also one of
organizing a work force, to raise demands for basic rights and
protections.
to regulate and enforce labour standards through many
different tactics ranging from shareholder resoludons and other
ethical investment activities, codes of conduct and 'social
labeling' requirements and even consumer boycotts.
Conclusion:
Civil Initiatives for Development and Peace-India (Cividep-india)
No. 17, Shanthu Nivas, 1st Floor,
4th Cross, Kenchappa Road, Frazer Town Post,
Bangalore - 560 005
Ph: 5496949/5498004
Email: cividepindia@rediffmail.com
New Trade Union Initiative - email: workersblr@yahoo.co.in
- Media
RF_WH_11_4_SUDHA.pdf
Position: 5242 (1 views)