BY LAURA GARZA AND MAGGIE TROWE
BEIJING - More than 26,000 women from throughout the
world successfully held the largest forum ever of non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) to discuss women's rights
near this city. The forum in Huairou, China, included more
than 5,000 workshops, and ended as the United Nations Fourth
World Conference on Women in Beijing with official
government delegations was still under way. The NGO
gathering, which drew many women's rights activists, was
testimony to the fact that the fight for equal rights for
women is a part of discussions and struggles occurring
throughout the world. Most of the governments at the
official conference have felt compelled to portray
themselves as trying to advance women's status.
What came through in the myriad informal discussions and formal presentations was the fight women are forced to wage in country after country for equal legal rights, decent pay, and against exploitive working conditions. These struggles are spurred on by the greater integration of women into the workforce worldwide.
"In Japan women earn 52 percent of the wages men earn," said Michiko Hiroki. "There are many cases now of women suing big companies for discrimination. The three big national union confederations, for the most part, have not fought for these women. Forty percent of working women are in part-time, temporary, or sub-contracted jobs. Immigrant women come from Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Iran, Bangladesh, and Iraq. Many are illegal and work the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs."
Hiroki works with the Asian Women Workers Center in Tokyo, part of a network of groups in the Committee for Asian Women. The association is headquartered in Hong Kong and includes affiliates in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal.
Women in the workforce
The growth in export-oriented manufacturing in Asia and
Latin America has contributed to a rise in the number of
women working in garment and other light industries, as
bosses seek to find labor at the lowest possible cost. At
the same time many women face high unemployment. In
Venezuela, explained one delegate in a workshop on the
impact of the economic crisis in Latin America, the
reorganization of many industries has meant layoffs and a
massive rise in joblessness. Some 51 percent of the
economically active population has been forced into the
informal sector, selling items in the street or other such
work that offers no stable income and no benefits. Many
women are being pressed into taking in homework, such as
sewing, for companies that pay little for the items they
produce.
Shirji Akter, a member of an organization that supports garment workers in Bangladesh, described conditions for that country's 1.2 million garment workers. "The workday is 12-15 hours for these workers, most of whom are women," she said. "Child labor makes up 7-10 percent of the workforce. Garment exports make up more than 60 percent of the foreign exchange that comes into Bangladesh."
For many women the conference was an opportunity to bring pressure on their own governments. Ruth Manorama, a Dalit woman from India, spoke at a tribunal on human rights. She explained that Dalits are the indigenous people of India classified by the caste system as untouchable. Many are agricultural laborers. Manorama described the case of some laborers who fought for a raise; the landlord responded by burning down their huts, killing 42 women and children. Dalit women are more subject than others to abuse and rape by government functionaries and police, she said.
Expressing a common sentiment of the women at the forum, many of whom were participating in such an event for the first time, Adjoa Therese Akakpo, a member of La Colombe in Togo, said, "In getting to know the problems of women all over the world, I found many problems are similar, despite cultural differences. This was my first opportunity to meet women from Latin America and share experiences with them."
As the official UN Fourth World Conference on Women got under way there were 17,000 people in attendance, including some 4,000 NGO delegates who went into Beijing to join in discussions and express their opinions about the issues - from abortions rights to marriage and divorce laws - that are being debated as the conference drafts a platform of action.
Most of them encountered a very different atmosphere than in Huairou, as the discussion shifted from one of activists involved in fighting for women's rights, to the more muted and formal scene of government representatives discussing how to administer programs that affect women.
The picture that has emerged here too, though, reflects the economic crisis facing the world capitalist economy and the toll being taken on workers and farmers, with the heaviest burden being borne by women.
Speaking at a plenary session Diakite Fatoumata N'Diaye, Minister and Commissioner for the Promotion of Women of Mali, noted that ten years after the last such conference on women in Nairobi, Kenya, "the situation of women is still characterized by low literacy rates. The situation of women cannot be separated from the situation of the country as a whole. Our economy is burdened by debt. In these conditions there can be no prospect for the increased well-being of women. The actual structural cause of poverty is the cycle of indebtedness which holds African countries in poverty. This problem has not been addressed by refinancing the debt or any other so-called remedy. The only solution is a radical one - canceling the debt."
Burden of foreign debt
Many speakers from Africa and the Caribbean mentioned
problems of the debt and social spending cuts imposed by
international lending agencies as conditions for loans, but
few joined in calling for canceling the debt. Billie Miller,
a Deputy Prime Minister from Barbados, stated a more common
position. "Barbados has not been immune to the adverse
effects of economic stabilization and structural adjustment
programs," Miller stated. "Despite Barbados's ranking in
social development performance, it still needs new and
additional resources to maintain its record of gender
performance."
Representatives of countries from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe also painted a picture of a worsening economic situation. The representative of Belarus, Uladzimir Rusakevic, said changes in that country had resulted in "a rise in women's unemployment," and "increased infant and maternal mortality."
The transition from a centrally planned economy in Armenia has meant acute unemployment for women, who account for 64 percent of the unemployed, and who hold the lowest paying jobs when they do work, said Hranush Kakobian of the National Assembly of Armenia. Three-quarters of the World Health Organization's European budget is devoted to Eastern Europe where once non-existent diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, and typhoid are on the rise along with maternal mortality rates. The budget for that region for the WHO is to be cut by 20 percent. Dr. Assia Brandrup-Lukanow from the WHO said "The health of women, men, and children is under threat."
The proposals from many third world countries for new and additional resources have been flatly rejected by representatives of the United States and the European Union at the conference, whose stance is that governments should work on reallocating existing resources to achieve the goals of the conference.
A number of right-wing forces, in most cases under the guise of defending religious rights, have attacked the draft platform of action for failing to condemn abortion, describe women's central role as that of mother, and give greater weight to the family as a solution to women's and society's ills. Groups such as Real Women from Canada and Right to Life from the United States have been joined by representatives from the Vatican, and countries including Iran and Guatemala, in repeating these themes.
They have not succeeded, however, in pushing back the discussion on reproductive rights, or in a wholesale attack on the conference. They have had to attend, participate, and couch their attacks on women's rights in a way that portrays them as defending equality for women, while maintaining that women should have different roles than men in carrying out their responsibilities.
During the exchange of views at the plenary session Rosalyn Hazelle, of St. Kitts and Nevis, argued, "Women must have autonomy over their sexual and reproductive rights if they are to protect themselves from unwanted and unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases."
Cuba's delegation is headed by Vilma Espín Guillois, president of the Federation of Cuban Women. Speaking at the event she stated Cuba's stand in favor of a woman's right to control her body, noting abortion is safe and legal in Cuba. She continued, "The independence and sovereignty we conquered is something the United States tries to punish us for with the illegal and aggressive policy, imposed 33 years ago, of the harsh economic, financial, and commercial blockade."
Bassam S. Kuba, of Iraq, called for an end to the sanctions imposed against that country by the United Nations at the urging of Washington. "Owing to inflation," she said, "wages earned by women are not enough to pay the costs for transportation." The high prices, and lack of food and medicine have taken a harsh toll on the civilian population she stated.
Nuclear testing condemned
As the conference met, news of the protests against
French nuclear testing in the Pacific made headlines around
the world. Most of those who spoke from countries in the
Pacific raised their voices against nuclear testing,
including representatives from the Cook Islands, Kirbati,
Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Tuvalu. A few
governments, such as New Zealand, also expressed opposition
to the nuclear test China carried out recently.
"The leading cause of death for women in the Marshall Islands is cancer of the reproductive system," said Neijon R. Edwards. "We also have a high incidence of birth abnormalities, stillbirths, and miscarriages. We know the problems of environmental contamination, and we demand an end to all nuclear testing," she said to applause. "Nuclear testing is a crime against humanity which has been thrust on the Pacific region."
The resumption of nuclear testing has highlighted the growing instability in the world, contrary to the assurances from capitalist spokespeople who proclaimed an era of peace with the end of the Cold War. The war in Bosnia, and the conflicts in Africa that have created tens of thousands of refugees were also mentioned throughout the conference and served as further confirmation that the danger of war is greater, not diminished, today. In this context many women began discussing whether anything done at the conference can have an impact on advancing the fight for women's rights.
The overwhelming view of the thousands who participated in the NGO forum was that holding the massive event, with the attention of the world focused on women's rights, was a triumph. The large turnout was also proof that the battle for women's rights will continue to be central to the fight to defend the interests of workers and farmers throughout the world.