Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women, Malaysia

It started in October 1984. Five women's organizations: Federation of Women Lawyers, Women's Aid Organization, Malaysian Trade Union Congress (Women's Committee), Selangor Consumers' Association, University Women's Association met and formed the Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women. One of the aims of the Group was to organize a national workshop cum exhibition cum cultural show on Violence Against Women to celebrate International Women's Day. Many concerned individuals, mainly women, came forward to volunteer to organize for the function, which took place on the 23-24th March 1985 and was well attended by people of different class and ethnic backgrounds. This is rather a rare sight in Malaysia these days!

There were 4 areas of discussion:

• sexual harassment/wife-beating/ rape
• portrayal of women in the media
• prostitution
• legal aspects

Why did we choose these topics?

Violence against women such as rape, wife-beating and sexual harassment is on the increase in Malaysian society. Statistics from the Police Department revealed that there were 360 rape cases reported in 1981, 442 in 1982 and 460 cases in 1983. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, for every case reported there may be 10 others which go unreported.

The media has also perpetuated the existence of such violence against women. Through the mass media films, t.v., radio, magazines - women are often depicted only as sex objects and as objects that can be manipulated and beaten.

Prostitution as an institution is a testimony of a system which dehumanizes women's bodies and relations between the sexes. Principally it also treats women as objects for sexual domination.

Given the realities of the issue at hand, it is also alarming to realise that the legal system in our country is inadequate when dealing with those who commit such acts of violence against women.

At the end of the workshop, various resolutions were passed, one of which was to lobby the government to amend the Penal Code defining Rape and the enactment of a Domestic Act.

For more information contact:
Irene Fernandez
Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women
c/o Selangor Consumers' Association
5-A, Jalan 18/17.
Taman Kanagapuram 6th Mile Old Klang Road, K. Lumpur W. Malaysia

Food, Saris and Sterilization Population Control in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh today, population control is an intensely political issue, involving a full-scale attack on the urban and rural poor through a multi-pronged approach that employs a quota-system for family-planning workers and an incentive-disincentive system for the "target" groups and for recruiters. Pressured to meet sterilization targets, local officials recently unleashed another weapon on the hunger and poverty stricken population - linking food aid to population.

«One such case was a 20 year old woman, called Rohima, living in a village a few hours bus ride from the capital city of Dhaka. Rohima's husband had divorced her when she was 7 months pregnant and sent her back to her parents' home. The floods had terminated her one source of local employment in rice husking and she and her son had nothing to eat. She therefore applied to the Union Council Chairman for food rehef but was told "if you have the operation, you will get wheat". Rohima was just one of a number of destitute women in her village who were pressurised in this way. According to a voluntary agency health worker, most of the women in this village who were sterilized in the months immediately following the flood had agreed to the operation in order to get wheat from the relief programme. When asked how she could identify these women, she pointed out that local sterilization cases during that period could always be identified by the colour of their clothing, as each woman sterilized had received a particular red patterned sari.

Cases of this kind have now been reported from Barisal, Jessore, Comilla and Pabna Districts. (See Appendix 3 for more case histories.) Abuses seem to have centred particularly on the Bangladesh Government's Vulnerable Group Feeding Scheme (VGF), which is designed to reach the most vulnerable categories of the rural poor, such as the landless destitute and unsupported women. It appears that some local officials and family planning personnel used the opportunity this scheme presented to increase their sterilization figures. In some cases officials issued special cards authorising food relief to women who had been sterilized.

However, many of the sterilized women complained that they were subsequently refused the wheat to which they were entitled, or that their allowance had been cut back or stopped after a short period. Meanwhile, many widows and older women who were eligible for relief under the VGF scheme received none at all, as they were not suitable sterilization cases.

Reports suggest that side effects from this spate of operations were common, and of 85 women known to have been sterilized in one location in Pabna District, two allegedly died as a result.» 

Information from:
BIAG, PO BOX 94, LONDON N5 lUN, UNITED KINGDOM. BIAG would appreciate information from sympathisers in Bangladesh for publication in Europe and North America. The names of sources will not be published unless they wish to be known.

Third Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting

At the end of July, 67 Chileans left enthusiastically for Brasil where we were to take part in the Third Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting.

Sharing experiences with 1,000 women of different races in a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese made us feel that we were participating in and were organising a truly strong movement.

Through videos, slideshows and films brought to the meeting by the different delegations we learnt of the everyday life, the violence and the unjust conditions which our brothers and sisters of this continent must face to survive.

In workshops that discussed subjects like Institutional Power, Relationships at Work and Violence, we thought about our historical subordination. There were also workshops on Abortion, Racism, Prostitution, our Feminism, Self-Management, Self-Help, the IV Meeting, Lesbianism, Language, Rape, Theatre, etc.

Deciding which workshop to go to was very difficult because of the many activities going on at the same time.

We gave the Nicaraguan delegation a standing ovation. We shared with them the difficulties they've had to face in destroying what remains of the traditioned abuses and in constructing a more just society.

Participation in the various activities was quite different from anything we have previously experienced. Different positions were accepted and discussed with goodwill and an enthusiasm rarely seen in international meetings.

The full and demanding programme during the day did not prevent us from  continuing to develop our new found friendships by dancing the samba, drinking coffee and discussing long into the night.

The end of the meeting arrived with great sadness. We all met again in San Paolo at a noisy demonstration to show the people of the city, Brasil and the rest of the world that we are a political force and that we want to construct a more just society.

We returned to Chile with a commitment to defend and strengthen what we have already gained and to develop a collective consciousness and a cooperative action.

We are preparing a document with our impressions and conclusions of the meeting, which will be sent to all the participants so they can distribute it to other women in their countries.

It was decided that the Fourth Meeting would be held in Mexico in 1987. Let's get ready!!!

From "Cacerolas" N.l, Sept. 1985; Los Alerces 2900, Santiago, Chile. Bulletin published by poor urban women from the east side of the city.

Activities at the Third American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting

Women from at least 24 countries participated in the Meeting held in Bertioga, on the southern coast of Brasil. This was the setting for a dialogue which developed and surpassed differences of viewpoint, national boundaries and different linguistic, ethnic and educational backgrounds.

A challenge to this feeling of pluralism occured with the arrival of 23 unregistered women from the "favelas" (slums) of Rio de Janeiro. This event caused much reflection and discussion about the problems of race and class discrimination in the women's movement.

The activities of the Third Meeting took place in open and free spaces for discussion, debates, exhibitions of photographs and posters and the showing of films.

Workshops were organised by individual women and women's groups. On the first day there were workshops on "Our Feminism"; "Feminism And Violence", "Feminism, Communication and Art", "Feminism and Daily Life", and "Feminism and Racism". In these, no written or oral papers were presented. The women were free to decided what and how they wanted to discuss.

On the second day the workshops were on "Our Bodies and Our Desires"; "Our Bodies and Time"; "Our Bodies and Culture"; "Relationships Between Women".

All these workshops took place at the same time and attracted a lot of interest. In some, as many as 100 women were present, in others the attendance was smaller.

At night an open debate took place in the gym between eight and nine, although it always lasted longer. This was an opportunity for women to discuss freely, issues which interested them.

On the third day the discussions were organised around various subjects: "Lesbianism", "Autonomy, Autogestion, and Funding", "Institutional Power", "Racism", "Relationships at Work", "Communication", "Health Policies/Abortion", " Prostitution ", "Violence", and a discussion on the IV Meeting.

At the same time as the workshops were taking place, practical workshops, talking spaces (conversatorios), and showings of audiovisuals were going on.

These included:

"Self-Help", led by the Women's House of Grajau, Brasil
"Survival: Women's Cooperatives", Paulina Barberan, Chile
"Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network", Isis International.
"Women's Alternative Communication Unit", Ilet, Chile.
"Self-Help Group for Battered Women", Lucrecia Oiler "Let's Invent Our Images", Ilse Kornreich, Argentina "Women's House", Margarita Pisano, Chile
"Experiences with Pregnant Women", Claud Barcelles "Reproduction in Danger: New Reproductive and Contraceptive Technologies", Ana Regina Reos, Brasil
"Women in Middle Age: Auge y Castigo, Vicky Ferrara, Venezuela "Solidarity with Nicaragua" "Chilean Reeility" "Playing Theatre", Patricia Crispi, Chile
"Feminism and Racism/Violence" Maria Ines Lacey, USA
"Exploitation and Violence Against the Peruvian Women Miners" Discussion and Solidarity
"Lesbianism: Notes for a Feminist Discussion" Hilda Rais, Argentina.

Some Audiovisuals Shown

"I Don't Want to be the Next One", Maria Bonita Group, Brasil
"Lesbianism: interview in the Hebe Camargo program; interview with a lesbian mother", Brasil "Dreaming Women", Research Group, Canada
"Geronima: Transculturaci6n y Aniquilamiento de una Mujer Indigena" Mabel Maio, Argentina "Prendas Domesticas", Group "Mulher Da Vida", Brasil
"Video used by a group of housewifes", Colombia
"Indigenous Women", Elaine Bandeira, Brasil
"CIRM: Breaking the Silence", Center Collective, Colombia

2nd INTERNATIONAL FEMINIST BOOK FAIR

June 21 to June 27, 1986, Oslo, Norway

The Fair will be open to the general public on Monday 23, Tuesday 24and Wednesday 25 June. Sale of books from foreign publishers' stands will be permitted. On Thursday 26 June, the Fair will be closed to the general public, and a special Book Trade Day will be held. A series of special meetings and seminars will take place on this day, for women in publishing, women authors, translators, booksellers, and librarians. The Fair closes on Friday 27 June.

THE BOOK FESTIVAL: A Book Festival open to all participants (exhibitors and visitors) will be organized in Oslo in conjunction with The Second International Feminist Book Fair. A comprehensive programme of seminars, workshops, discussions, lectures and readings is planned, along with other events such as cinema, theatre, art exhibitions and concerts. Some of the smaller events will be held on campus at Blindern, while the larger events will be organized centrally in Oslo.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: We know that exhibitors at the Book Fair will come from all over the world and also that financing the visit or participation in the Book Fair will cause problems for some. The organizers of The Second International Feminist Book Fair feel a special obligation to women from developing countries. It is our hope that publishing houses and authors who would normally find participation at the larger international book events financially insurmountable, will be able to come to this Book Fair. The organizers may be able to assist exhibitors in seeking financial aid to cover travel costs and accommodation expenses. We would like once again to emphasise that this particularly concerns women from developing countries. Potential exhibitors and visitors are encouraged firstly to apply for financial support from sources in their home countries: a formal letter of invitation may be obtained from the organizers of Book Fair. Should it not be possible for exhibitors to obtain financial aid. The Second International Feminist Book Fair Foundation can try to apply for support on their behalf. In extreme cases, the Foundation itself may be able to grant support.

CATALOGUE: All exhibitors will receive a free copy of the special Second International Feminist Book Fair catalogue. The catalogue will also be on sale to visitors during the Fair.

Stand reservations and hotel bookings will be handled by:
University of Oslo Congress Service Universitets-Senteret
P.O. BOX 55 Blindern 0313 Oslo 3, Norway Tel. 47-2-45 50 55 14

For information on the Book Festival, and reservation of private accommodation:

The Second International Feminist Book Fair
Elisabet W. Middelthon and Elisabeth Bjelland
P.O. BOX 2959 Toyen 0608 Oslo 6, Norway
Tel. 47-2-27 60 60

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN OSLO NEXT JUNE AT THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL FEMINIST BOOK FAIR!

Elisabet W. Middelthon and Elisabeth Bjelland