In this paper we will discuss three subjects that are very important to women. These subjects are: Rape, Menstruation, Menopause. We will also tell something about genital mutilation.
On the basis of the Vrouwenkrant (a Dutch feminist monthly made by and for women, which produced special issues on each of the three subjects) small investigations have been made.
We tried to take stock of the actions taken by the Dutch feminist movement in connection with the three subjects. This paper is a short report, but in it we tried to give our findings as completely as possible.
Rape
The feminist group Vrouwen tegen Verkrachting (Women against Rape) exists since November 1975. In the same year they started a telephone service for medical and legal advice.
The group also makes regular investigations and during the last few months they started prevention groups. The idea behind the prevention groups is: "If more women are more able to defend themselves both physically and mentally, then fewer frightened women will be the victims of rape".
After a year the Amsterdam initiative was taken up by Utrecht (also a large Dutch city). These two groups cooperate very closely. The two groups are the only institutions in the Netherlands where women can turn to and be helped in a decent way.
Publications
One of the investigations the Amsterdam group of Vrouwen tegen Verkrachting made was an examination of the newspapers on what kind of rape was reported and then compare them with their own information.
They did this over a period of 8 months. The results were as follows:
- how many women: the papers reported 98 women in 8 months who were assaulted or raped, while 119 women phoned the telephone service during 10 months
- age of the victims: there was little difference on this point. There is a peak between the ages of 10 and 30, but with the papers the percentage was a little higher than with Vrouwen tegen Verkrachting. With them, the ages of the women who phoned were spread more evenly, up to 50 years. There is a difference for the age group of 0 - 10 years; the papers have a much higher percentage (10 per cent)
- Location: We made a distinction between inside (at home, barns, houses, doctors offices, etc), outside and cars.
| newspaper | our information | |||
| inside | 35 per cent | 57 per cent | ||
| outside | 47 " " | 22 | ||
| cars | 18 " " | 4 " " | ||
| unknown | - | 17 " " | ||
| -------------- | -------------- | |||
| 100 per cent | 100 per cent |
This proves that assault/rape happening outside, has a better chance to reach the papers: they are more spectacular. Rape inside is more hidden, the 57 per cent phoning in is considerably higher than the 35 per cent that reached the papers.
- Violence: In the papers 50 per cent of the cases involved violence: threat, beating, revolver, battering, strangling, knife, ether. With 25 per cent of the women who phoned us violence was involved: intoxication, knife, liquor, burning cigarette tips, beating, kicking, spitting, goat's eye.
Again the newspapers report more violence: it can be proved more easily and is more spectacular.
- Knowing the offender.
| newspaper | our information | |||
| known | 12 per cent | 76 per cent | ||
| unknown | 72 " " | - | ||
| vaguely known | 16 " " | - | ||
| not reported | - | 24 per cent | ||
| -------------- | ------------------ | |||
| 100 per cent | 100 per cent |
Not less than 76 per cent of the women who phoned us were raped or assaulted by people they knew, often fathers, uncles, neighbours and others. The papers however, report only 28 per cent known offenders and 16 per cent of them were only vaguely known.
Rape by someone you know is much more difficult to -report, much more difficult to tell somebody about. Especially for these women we appear to be very helpful.
Rape by someone you don't know (in the papers even 72 per cent) is less difficult to tell, more credible, you are taken more seriously.
But rape by known offenders is much more common! In the summer of 1976 a paper was published in the Netherlands on rape which became a matter of discussion in the feminist movement. In the autumn of the same year a book was published on rape by another feminist and this book got a lot of attention in the press. Because of the groups Vrouwen tegen Verkrachting, two special issues of feminist monthlies, and the two recently published books, the Dutch press and radio gave a lot of attention to this subject. As a result the public opinion was influenced more favourably.
After the Tribunal in Brussels in 1976 a number of women in the Netherlands tried to launch a campaign for the Indian woman Yvonne Wanrow. This campaign had little effect, partly because the press hardly cooperated. But when a few weeks ago (1977) in Amsterdam and The Hague hardly 100 women protested against the trial of the Italian girl Claudia Caputi, this was front-page news for every daily newspaper and none of them gave a negative report.
So we have to go on writing about rape, launching campaigns to help raped women and we should no longer conceal the fact that women are raped every day, everywhere!
Menstruation
One of the most striking features about the phenomenon of menstruation s that in western countries people pretend it does not exist.
Research
It is also very conspicuous that very little research is being made in this respect. In the Netherlands we found only one investigation of reasonable proportion during our survey. Since we were mainly concerned with the question how many women had problems during their menstruation, we will give a small part taken from this European investigation.
In 1970 P.A. van Keep investigated menstruation in a number of European countries. Questions about several aspects of menstruation were put to 5143 women. One of them was how painful their menstruation was. The results are given in the table below.
| Number of women | Germany | Europe | Italy | England | France | Belgium | |||||
| 5143 | 1000 | 1143 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | ||||||
| very painful | 21 pc | 15pc | 23pc | 17pc | 21pc | 28pc | |||||
| painful | 28" | 32 " | 36" | 27" | 22 " | 23 " | |||||
| not painful | 51 " | 52 " | 41 " | 56 " | 57 " | 49 " |
This shows that 49 per cent of all interrogated women, experience their menstruation as painful to very painful. This is almost half of all interrogated women! The implications of this very high figure are enormous!
Information on menstruation
We conducted a little investigation of our own on twelve recent traditional books giving information on sexuality.
The following aspects were examined: Does it give the right information, complete and understandable for the age group for which it was intended, which also included the use of language. What is the approach to menstruation: purely as a biological phenomenon, or also as a social phenomenon.
We were looking in particular for aspects such as pain, pre-menstrual tensions, bandages, tampons, regular cycles, heaviness of bleeding etc. In six of the twelve books no information at all was given on menstruation. Three books gave incomplete or wrong information. The three remaining books gave technically complete and right information, at least, if remarks such as "sometimes it can be a little painful" are not taken into consideration.
So we found this investigation very disappointing. We hope that the Dutch feminist movement will produce better books soon.
Therefore, we would like to ask the following question in this workshop: What are these kind of books like in other countries? There is such a lot to do in so many fields, that we feel it is unnecessary to do something our fem-soc sisters in other countries have already done.
Menstruation extraction
Menstruation extraction means removing the menstruation blood, by "sucking out" the uterus. It is done to women with painful and/or profuse menstruation or to women who have skipped their period (but no longer than 2 weeks after their period was due: i.e. no longer than 6 weeks after the beginning of the last period).
This method was developed by an American feminist and is applied in many of the Self-Help clinics in America. The Dutch feminist movement has only recently become concerned with Self-Help and menstruation extraction is still very little done.
We would very much like to know the experiences with this method of our fem-soc sisters in other European countries.
Publications
As we said before, there is very little traditional research on menstruation. In the Netherlands, the first book from a feminist point of view will be published next year.
Our intentions
While we were reading and talking about menstruation, we discovered a number of things we would like to do something about. The main thing is that we want to see menstruation accepted as a normal phenomenon.
The practical side is that we feel that more should be written about menstruation; bandages and tampons should be widely available in automatic machines; it should be possible to get one or two days off from work. This we should also like to discuss with you and we would appreciate to hear your opinions and experiences.
Menopause
When we were working on menstruation, the subject of menopause arose automatically. Menopause as a phenomenon has been investigated many times, but all the research has been done by men (mainly physicians and psychiatrists) and therefore from a male point of view. They were mostly interested in the treatment the symptoms of menopause, instead of talking to women and teaching them how to live with those symptoms. The psychologic guidance often is bad: women are treated with pills.
In this connection it is also important that we question oestrogen therapy; both from physicians and from many women we heard enthusiastic stories about treatment with oestrogens, but we could not help thinking that these hormones (pills and injections) were sometimes given a bit too casually. Little has been written about the side-effects, although they have been investigated. We might also consider the absurdity of giving people hormones without restriction. Is menopause a phenomenon of nature? Should we interfere with nature? The problem with oestrogens is, that once you start taking them, you have to go on taking them. Because if you stop, you will still get the symptoms of menopause. We wonder what is done with oestrogen therapy in other countries and whether research on the effects has been made.
Much of the research and literature on menopause is very affirmative: women should not make such a fuss about it.
We would like to make it clear that menopause, besides physical aspects, also has many other aspects.
They have to do with the environment, the role of women in general and the role of older women in particular (or rather: that older women do not have a role any more).
In the Netherlands the VIDO (Women in Menopause) was founded in 1974, on the initiative of a few women who discovered that they were much more able to cope with their feelings of isolation and superfluousness if they could talk about them with other women. Since then VIDO has grown considerably. All over the country discussion-groups have emerged. Sometimes other activities are organised, such as yoga groups, because especially in this period of life, the body plays such a vital role.
A striking feature is, that the initiative for the VIDO came from women who were not active in the feminist movement, but because of the way they are organised these groups still show strong feminist tendencies.
Also since 1974, there is a policlinic in Utrecht, especially for women with complaints on menopause symptoms: it is called Klimakterium. Here women with problems during menopause - women who form a group which is often forgotten - are given more attention. They are especially concerned with the psycho-social changes. The staff includes gynecologists, specialists for internal diseases, a social worker and a dietist. Also, a lot of private women work there, including a few feminists. The clinic is often attended by women who have been sent home with tranquilizers for years.
Rape, menstruation and menopause are very important issues for women, but in general they are hardly given any attention. If research is made, it is done by men. At present increasing attention is directed to rape by the feminist movement.
Menstruation and menopause, however, still are "neglected" subjects. We think it very important that feminists in particular concern themselves more with these issues and that research is made on these matters that are so vital to women. In the workshop we would like to talk with women from other countries in Europe to hear the situation in their country concerning women and sexuality.
Anna Aalten
Mieke Goudt
May van Sligter
Genital Mutilation
In more than 30 countries in Africa, in Australia, and in some countries of Latin America and Asia, millions of women are subjected to genital mutilation.That is to say, the custom is practiced on girls 2-10 years of age. There are several types of this mutilation:
- the mildest form is "Sunna circumcision", removal of the prepuce and tip of the clitoris.
- excision or clitoridectomy, the removal of the entire clitoris together with the adjacent parts of the labia minora and all exterior genitalia except labia majora.
- infibulation (pharaonic circumcision): removal of the whole clitoris and labia minora as well as part of the labia majora.
By using thorns or sewing with catgut the two sides of the vulva are closed over the vagina, except for a small opening to allow the passage of urine and menstrual blood. A wound created by scraping raw the labia majora is thus held together until it is healed. The child is immobilized by tying her legs together several weeks or until the wound is healed.
Consequently females who are infibulated have to be cut open to allow intercourse and again further to permit delivery of a child.
- introcision is a form which is only practiced in Australia. In this case the vagina and the perineum are cut in by a knife or by the fingers just before marriage.
The numerous consequences of these customs are very serious: severe pain, psychological trauma and commonly bad hygienic circumstances, resulting in great danger of death by bleeding and/or infection.
In some countries, for example Somalia, the operation is done in public hospitals. In those cases, of course the hygienic circumstances are good, but the other serious consequences still remain. It is impossible for these women to have any clitoral orgasm, depriving them of all or most of the possibilities of a satisfying sexual life.
This is precisely the main reason why it is done: to guarantee the chastity of women before, during and after marriage.
Fran Hosken of Women's International Network News (USA) has started an action to fight against the mutilations.
She recently attended the 5th Gynaecological Congress in the Sudan where the former Minister of Health of the Sudan said: "female circumcision does not conform with current advances in medicine and is out of rhythm with present day civilization and social progress... it is primitive, barbaric and should be done away with..."
At its last yearly Assembly in May the World Health Organisation refused to make an issue of the question, saying it is not a world problem, but a religious one in which the western world should not interfere.
Mrs. Edan Ismail, a former midwife, leader of the Somali delegation at the WHO assembly, represented 500 Somali women desiring abolition of infibulation.
The reaction at the Sudanese Congress as cited above, and other reactions of women in these countries make it clear that something really should be done.
The help of the western world is needed in cooperation with the African countries.
In the Netherlands a group of Dolle Mina's is continuing the action, started by Fran Hosken.
We want to discuss this problem with women from other countries on this occasion, to increase international action.
We want to demonstrate our solidarity with these women, understanding that the ignorance of the clitoris in the western world (Freud!) has a great similarity with the excision of the clitoris in the "third" world.
for Dolle Mina: Eva Besnyo
Tineke van Gessel