Africa

AAWORD - Association of African Women for Research and Development, c/o B.P. 11007, C.D. Annexe, Dakar, Senegal. A group of African women researchers now formed into an association in order to do women's research from an African perspective. Their first official meeting was held in Dakar in December 1977, and a report of that seminar, entitled " African Women and Development : The Decolonization of Research" will be available shortly from the above address.

The seminar dealt with women in rural development, the psychocultural aspects of women's condition, the legal status of women, women in urban development, with concrete proposals for research/areas for research.

MAURITIUS

Muvman Liberation Fam c/o Tabagie Capucines Arcades Abassakoor Guatre-Bornes, Mauritius 

Manifesto of Muvman Liberasion Fam The liberation of women means the liberation of humanity. When women struggle against their domination and exploitation, they free not only themselves but men as well, who are trapped in their own "show off" role. In this sense, women are similar to the working class which struggles for its own liberation, and which also has a historical role in freeing not only its class but also humanity. 

Muvman Liberasion Fam thinks that:

1. Every woman has the right to work. Women have the right to join the trade union. Everybody should get equal pay. If women only ask for "equal pay for equal work", the manager reclassifies the work and the salary of women will stay the same. The only way to achieve the equality of women is to struggle for a socialist society.

2. Women have the right to control their own bodies. They have the right to contraception and abortion . Women can choose to stay unmarried, or not to have children if they do not want any. A struggle against false propaganda is necessary. 

3. Women have the right to protection from any kind of violence: physical and legal protection against personal and collective violence which is inflicted on women and especially against rape and forced prostitution. 

4. Looking after children, cooking food and washing clothes must become socialized work - not individual work. Day nurseries and canteens in places of work should be available. Laundries must be available in every neighborhood. 

5. Women must have freedom to go where they want, do what they want and meet who they want. 

6. Women must struggle against the "object" role, whether it is in arranged marriages, in publicity, in beauty contests, in the streets or through fashion . It is necessary to remove all insults to women in our culture, remove all prejudice against women in school books, remove all anti-feminist curses, remove all songs which disgrace women.

7. All discriminatory laws against women must be repealed.

8. Women should have independent social identities from men. 

9. All education, especially in the technical field, must be opened to women. 

10. In the struggle for the liberation of women, women must be in the vanguard. Progressive men can help. The women in the MLF in Mauritius are working on a campaign to legalize abortion and on the revision of laws on rape, prostitution and divorce. Other areas of activity are day care centers, home for battered women, literacy course, contraception, women's bodies and health.

asia and  pacific

The Asian and Pacific Centre for Women and Development (APCWD), Box 1555, Teheran, Iran. 

The APCWD is a training and research institution of the United Nations' regional commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Set up in February 1977, its aim is to work with and for the women of the region towards a more equitable distribution of resources and of the opportunities for effective participation in the decision making process, and to take a lead in assisting the development community towards a better understanding of the effect development strategies have on women. Specifically it will provide training, technical and advisory services, and research, and will act as a clearing house for information and dissemination. All these activities will be continuously linked with women's groups and organizations, and with existing and planning projects and policies in order for the needs and desires of women to be taken into account.

The Critical Needs of Women, UN Asian and Pacific Centre for Women and Development (APCWD), Teheran, Iran, December 1977, 51 pages. 

This is part one of a report on an expert group meeting on  the identification of the basic needs of women of Asia and the Pacific and on the formulation of a programme of work. It is an extremely well -written report giving a sound basis and at times detailed analysis of women's oppression in Asia and the Pacific. Rejecting the "basic needs approach" as formulated by the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, the report identifies rather the critical needs of women, which include : provision of basic goods and services, conscientization, attitudinal change, mobilization, and structural change (i.e. political) . Goes on to analyse the cultural, social and religious factors of women's oppression, needing attitudinal change; their lack of participation in decision-making, needing mobilization; and employment structure, needing structural change. There is a special section on the Pacific sub-region, and a final part on the functions of the Centre (APCWD). Excellent paper.

ISRAEL

Israel Feminist Movement, 228 Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv (tel: 03/220420). 

The Israel Feminist Movement has opened a rape  crisis center in Tel Aviv, to deal with the immediate psychological and physical trauma after rape. The center will be housed in Movement headquarters and be staffed on a 24 hour basis by volunteers. Visiting feminists are welcomed to use the headquarters's library reading room and facilities and participate in other activities at the center.

HONG KONG

War-On-Rape Campaign R.C. Box 201 Shantin, N.T., Hong Kong 

"This is a summary of the history of the campaign which was a direct result of the workshop "Women and Violence" held during the International Woman's Year Conference in 1975. Since August 1977, rape victims can use a 24-hour hotline provided by the Samaritans and the Hong Kong Family Planning Association. The 26 centres of the FPA which are within reach of most of the population can be approached by victims even if they do not wish to report to the police; they are given a "morning-after-pill" if indicated, and tested for venereal disease. Follow-up is arranged with a team consisting of a doctor, a counsellor and nurse . An abortion can be arranged. Psychological and social problems are recognized and the method of "anticipatory counselling" has been found useful. The victims are very young, 90% of victims are in their teens, 50% of them below 16 years. Only 15% are married . The traditional emphasis on chastity in the Chinese community results in shame and fear, and a stigma on the whole family . Counsellors have found that only 25% of victims approaching them have reported to the police; their main worries are over telling their parents and boyfriends, about pregnancy and loss of virginity

The main emphasis of the campaign has been to raise the consciousness of the community to the problem of rape, which is grossly under-reported; to emphasize the violent nature of the crime. 60% of rapes occur out of the blue, the rapist being unknown, 40% are accompanied by robbery and in 50% the assault is violent, mostly a knife being used to threaten and intimidate the victim; about 10 % of rape are gang rapes. The media have been very helpful in providing the opportunity for women working on the campaign to appear on many panels, interviews and discussion programmes. Two films have been made - one by the Police "Dangerous Stranger" which is freely available to schools and other groups; one by the Government Controlled television station in a very popular series " Beneath the Lion Rock" depicting in simple story form the fate of two young girls who have been raped. The rapes occurred as is the fact in 80% of rapes in Hong Kong - indoors, in daylight hours, in tenements and public areas of housing states (lifts, stairs, rooftops). The violent nature of the crime and the serious aftermath both in psychological and social terms, and in resulting pregnancy, were emphasized.

Posters and pamphlets have been printed and widely distributed. All the medical profession has been informed of the service. A 30 second "spot" on television appears regularly to advertise the 24-hour hotline.

Most recently, the Government has gazetted legal changes in the existing rape laws, which will now be brought in line with the recently reformed rape laws in the United Kingdom, most importantly safeguarding the anonymity of the victim, and rendering her previous sexual history inadmissible in court.

The first group of about 50 young Chinese "volunteers" has now received training to accompany victims to police station, casualty hospital department and court, and to offer support. 

Soon a resource manual for counsellors will be available in both Chinese and English. 

We would be glad to liaise with any other groups particularly in this region for exchange of information and resources

Latin America

Features Service and Audio-visual Bank on Women and Population

This is a UNESCO/UNFPA (UN Fund for Population Activities) project initiated in January 1978 in Latin America. The intention is to create a network of national coordinator/ correspondents throughout Latin America who will produce some 200 articles a year regarding women's role and status in the family and society and their participation in the development process. The service is linked to Inter-Press Service (IPS) in Rome and will use their circuit for distribution of the features. IPS circuit covers Latin America, certain countries in East and Western Europe, Africa and the Arab States.

The contributions to the service will mainly come from Latin American women journalists writing about problems and developments in their own countries, but regional comparative studies will also be prepared and issued from Rome to the national coordinators. This material can also be made available to women's publications which request it and all inquiries or suggestions for exchanges or subscriptions should be 

addressed to :

Mabel ltzcovitch,

IPS, Via Panisperna 207,

Rome, Italy.

North America

CANADA

Women Against Violence Against Women - WA VAW P.O. Box 928 Station Q Toronto, Ontario Canada

Set up after the national day of women against violence against women (November 5, 1977) this action group will support any women on the issues listed in their demands.

- decriminalization of prostitution

- that rape is a crime based on hate and not on sex, and intended to confirm men's power over all women

- that police and court respond to wife and child beating as they would (or should) to any assault

- the elimination of female job ghettos and the growing wage gap between men and women

 - the right of any woman to bear and raise children in dignity and freedom from economic want, i.e. adequate support for single mothers, and no separation of children
from mothers because of their lesbianism

- the decriminalization of abortion and the provision of women-run clinics where good healthcare, birth control information and safe abortions will be available free to
all women

- dignified treatment of women in prisons and so called correctional institutions

- the right of women to express themselves sexually - no harassment or discrimination for lesbian sexual orientation

- that forced sterilization of immigrant and native women be stopped

- an end to violence against women in mental health institutions and the offices of private psychotherapists

Canadian Newsletter of Research on Women/Recherches sur la Femme - Bulletin d'lnformation Canadien,  Department of Sociology,
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

This interdisciplinary, international periodical on women and sex-roles, published three times a year, is an invaluable re source. Gives annotated listings of on-going research and publications both in Canada and internationally, special issues of periodicals, feminist publications and bibliographies. The same team also produces A Bibliography of Special Periodical Issues (ed . Jennifer Newton and Carol Zavitz), a hefty volume which covers a wide number of periodicals which have devoted special issues to women. Both highly recommended resource and reference material.

Shadd : The life and times of Mary Shadd Cary, Jim Bearden and Linda Jean Butler, NC Press, 1978. 250 pages. $ 7.95 papaerback, from : Belford Books, 78 Broadview Avenue, Toronto, Canada.

Chronicles the turbulent career of the 19th century black activist and feminist, an early lecturer on Anti-Slavery, Black Pride, and Women's Rights. A valuable resource book especially for women's studies programmes.

USA

Quest : a feminist quarterly 2000 P Street, N.W., Washington D.C. 20036, USA. 

"International feminism" is the theme of Vol. IV, No. 2 (Winter 1978) of this important and well-produced quarterly . Includes articles on Guinea-Bissau, Japan, Cuba, Brazil, France, Israel and the United Nations, and several analytical pieces on international feminism (e .g. "Can feminism be a global ideology" by Devaki Jain) . Lists feminists and women's resources and publications, and includes commentary on the Wellesley conference and the Brussels International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women.

Women and everybody, Box 26354, San Francisco, Ca. 94126, USA 

A newly formed hooker's lobby for the passage of ERA  (Equal Rights Amendment) by 1979. It is urging all "working women" intimate with anti -ERA legislators, to send in the names of these gentlemen for the SCHMUCK OF THE YEAR AWARD to Margo St. James, publisher of Coyote Howls and founder of Coyote, a prostitutes rights group based in San Francisco.

Working on Wife Abuse, Betsy Warrior, USA, 1978. US$ 3.50 from : Betsy Warrior, 46 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, Ma. 02139, USA. 

A directory of shelters, services, coalitions, task forces and individuals working to end women abuse. Covers all 50 states in the USA plus some other countries Lists publications pertinent to the issue including books, films, pamphlets, posters, research, statistical reports, etc. Section on funding. Introduction examining history and purposes of refuges. Articles on "how to" start hot lines, support groups and shelter procedures. 6th Edition - expanded and revised.

Europe

SPAIN

Feminist Vindication,  Naples 105 4 ° C, Barcelona-13, Spain. 

As well as their monthly feminist magazine (highly recommended), Vindicaci6n is now starting to publish a series of monographs, the first of which is on Abortion, published in April 1978. The monographs will appear quarterly, dedicated to a specific theme for women. 75 pesetas per copy, 240 pesetas for a set of four. In Spanish.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Women's Action Belfast Women' Collective, 52 Broadway, Belfast BT12, Northern Ireland.

The May/June issue of the Belfast collective contains articles on women's aid in Northern Ireland, a dental nurses' strike, the first sex discrimination act test in Northern Ireland, childcare, contraception and abortion, women in South Africa, the freeing of Noreen Winchester and more. Price 10 pence plus postage.

BELGIUM

ASBL Collective for battered women, Brussels, tel: 02/512 61 96.

A new refuge for battered women in Brussels has been established by a collective of women. They have published a helpful little brochure called "Sache que tu peux partir" (know you can leave).

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

Women Against Misery Violence, Frauenhaus Berlin, April 1978. DM 14.80 from: Frauenbuchvertrieb, Mehringdamm 34, 1000 Berlin 61, West Germany.

The experiences of the first year of the Berlin refuge for battered women and children (more than 900 women and 1000 children) are recounted and set into a political analysis, showing that standard psychological or biological explanation for women beating simply reinforce man brutality. Also examines the liberating process of the work within the refuge

IRELAND

Arlen House: The Women's Press, 28 Claredon Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. A feminist publishing company owned and managed by women which aims to encourage the work of new women writers as well as publishing books by established authors. Publishers source material for women's studies, biography, education, and reprints of established classics. Also, practical books, reference, and guidebooks for women, reflecting current social and legal injustices and they plan to launch a new fiction list and children's series. Titles include: - 

The Essential Guide for Women in Ireland, Janet Martin. First comprehensive reference book for women covering work, money, children's right, cancer, contraception, abortion, marriage, divorce, rape, violence, etc. Lists women's organisations. Also available in braille. 144 pages. 1.95 pound.

The Change of Life, Mollie Loyd. A self-help book on menopause. 164 pages. 1.00 pound.

Constance Markievicz, Jacqueline Van Voris. Markievicz was the first woman elected to the British Parliament. She served as first Minister for Labour in the Irish Dail and was the first woman cabinet minister in Western Europe. 144 pages. 1.65 pound.

The Female Experience, Catherine Rose. An introduction t~ the history of the women's movement in Ireland. 110 pages. 90 p.

Women in Irish Society, the historical dimension, ed. Margaret MacCurtain and Donncha 0 Corrain. Collection of studies on the posit ion of women in Irish life from the sixth century to the present.

UNITED KINGDOM

Gemma, B.M . Box 5700, London WC1V 6XX, England.

Gemma is a group for disabled homosexual women with without partners. It exists particularly to lessen the isolation of those disabled gay women who haven't access to gay publications or groups, who, for various reasons do not wish to "come out" to family. heterosexual friends or residential staff. Self-help supportive group to disabled and non-disabled alike

What should I do for Battered Women Information Kit for Agencies

What should I do for battered women ? This question is very much in the minds of many people who come into contact with women who have been mentally or physically maltreated by the men with whom they live. The National Women's Aid Federation of England, representing about one hundred women's aid groups providing refuge for battered women and children, have drawn up an Information Kit for Agencies which contains useful facts and suggestions which should help answer this question. The kit contains leaflets on : battered women and refuges; unhelpful myths and stereotypes about battered women; battered women demand control over their lives; National Women's Aid Federation - how we work. It also contains leaflets directed at various agencies : social workers, police, clergy, doctors. This kit should be useful for groups and agencies dealing with battered women . Copies of the kit are available from The National Aid Federation, 51 Chalcot Road, London NW1 , UK. Tel. 01-586-0104/5192
Price : 15 pence each .

Virago 5 Wardour Street, London W1V 3HE, England.

Entering its second year as an independent company, is now publishing a wide variety of books on all aspects of women's lives, including novels, handbooks, histories, (herstories) and biographies. Especially concentrating on reprinting modern classic works by women which have been out of print for decades. New titles include :

Bombers and Mash, the domestic front 1939-45, Raynes Minns. 3.50 pounds (May 1979) .

Old Wives Tales, their cures, remedies and spells, Mary Chamberlain. 2.50 pounds (April 1979).

Finding a Voice, Asian women in Britain, Amrit Wilson. 2.95 pounds (October 1978).

The Spirit of the Valley, Androgyn and Chinese Thought, Sukie Colegrave. 2.95 pounds (June ·1 979) .

Marie Stopes, a biography, Ruth Hall. 3.50 pounds (October 1978) .

My Own Story, Emmeline Pankhurst, new introduction by Hill Craigie. 3.50 pounds (February 1979).

A Literature of their own, British women novelists from Bronte to Lessing, Elaine Showalter. 3.50 pounds (April 1978) .

(all prices quoted are for paperback editions)

Child Poverty Action Group

1 Macklin Street,

Drury Lane London WC28 5NH,

England tel: (01) 242 3225/9149

"We are planning to hold a conference here in London on women and social security in November. This will be in cooperation with the National Council for Civil Liberties and the Women's Liberation Campaign for Legal and Financial lndependence. One of the reasons we decided to hold the conference is the draft EEC Directive on Equal Treatment for Men and Women in Matters of Social Security. This directive has got a lot of holes in it and our own Government is trying to get it watered down still further.

We would like to hear from women in other EEC countries. We would also like to hear from any women in other countries (including non-EEC countries) who are active on the issue of women and social security and who might be interested to come to speak at our conference in London. We hope to be able to pay expenses for speakers".

Women against Rape, ed. Ruth Hall , Falling Wall Press, Bristol, 1978. $1 .60 from : Falling Wall Press Ltd ., 79 Richmond Road, Bristol 6, England.

" In July 1977, hundreds of women gathered in Trafalgar Square, London, to form a Women's Court, calling to trial all those responsible for rape. The charges were rape, conspiracy to rape and perpetrate violence against women. The defendents : Judges who had set free a rapist so that he could continue his army career; the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 'enforcer of the economic crisis which increases our financial dependence on men making us vulnerable to their demands'; the Home Secretary, responsible for laws which legalise rape in marriage; the Head of the Department of Social Security, whose cohabitation ruling forces women into financial dependence on men, so encouraging rape. The prosecution, witnesses and jury : women". First-hand accounts of rape in Britain, and how to end it. Includes songs and photographs from the trial.

Other Falling Wall Press publications include:

Motherhood, Lesbianism and Child Custody, Francie Wyland, July 1977.

All Work and No Pay, Women, housework and the wages due, ed. Wendy Edmond and Suzie Fleming, September 1975.

Women, the Unions and Work, and the perspective of winning, Selma James, May 1976.

Shrew Lynn Blackmore, Some Friends Community, 128 Bethnal Green Road, London E 2, U.K.

The summer 1978 issue of Shrew is a special issue on women and nonviolence produced by a collective of women from the women's liberation movement and the nonviolent movement. They see this as an attempt to open up debate in some areas of political activity to which a feminist nonviolent analysis might be applied covering topics as varied as women and the military, street hassles, nuclear power, how boys learn their role in the cult of violence, Northern Ireland, patriarchal justice and much much more. Price : 40 pence.

INTERNATIONAL

Donna - Femme - Frau - Woman - Mujer c/o Emilia de Besi Via C. Battisti 25 Bologna, Italy

An international newsletter on repression against women, this is published every two months in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. It arose out of the international Paris meeting, preparatory to and following up the May 1977 international feminist meeting in Paris and contains information and news on campaigns such as for women political prisoners in Latin America and West Germany, oppression of women in Northern Ireland, rape and abortion .

Feminism and Nonviolence Newsletter c/o Jenny Jacobs and Lesley Merryfinch 2 Mentor Street Mancheder13,England

Published in English, French and German, six times a year, the first mimeographed issue of this newsletter appeared in May 1978 with news and addresses of feminist and
nonviolence groups in various countries; resource listings of periodicals, books and articles; articles on nuclear power etc.

Of Woman Born, Adrienne Rich, Bantam Books, USA, 1977. Also published by Virago (feminist publishers). United Kingdom, 1977.

This fine book is an examination of the experience and institution of motherhood. Drawing on an enormous wealth of history, psychology, health theories and her own experience, the author examines every aspect of what motherhood means in women's lives. "Motherhood - unmentioned in the histories of conquest and serfdom, wars and treaties, exploration and imperialism - has a history, it has an ideology, it is more fundamental than tribalism or nationalism. My individual, seemingly private pains as a mother, the individual, seemingly private pains of the mothers around me and before me, whatever our class or color, the regulation of women's reproductive power by men in every totalitarian system and every socialist revolution, the legal and technical control by men of contraception, fertility, abortion, obstetrics, gynecology, and extra uterine reproductive experiments - all are essential to the patriarcal system, as is the negative or suspect status of women who are not mothers." As the author says, this is not an attack on the family or on mothering, except as defined and restricted under patriarchy. An exciting and readable book. Highly recommended.

INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR ABORTION RIGHTS

An International Campaign for Abortion Rights is being set in motion, focusing on an international day of action in early April 1979. The idea was born at the
Paris "Women and Socialism" meeting in June 1977 (see ISIS Bulletin No.5), and a recent coordination meeting took place in London to discuss the campaign. Women from France, Great Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, USA, Switzerland, Italy and Colombia were present, and they decided that a first planning meeting for this international action would take place on 23rd September 1978 in Brussels, Belgium.

This planning meeting will be organized and coordinated by the National Abortion Campaign (NAC), Great Britain. Details of the international day of action will
be planned and discussed: the exact date, slogans, coordinated action in each country, specific actions etc. All representatives of women's groups are invited
to attend. Those who cannot attend are invited to send their ideas to the NAC. NAC will send out further information of times and place of the meeting in the
near future.

Slogans for the day were decided upon at the June meeting in London as follows:

"Contraception and Abortion are Women's Rights"

"No Forced Sterilization"

Send your suggestions and ideas, and write for more details to:

National Abortion Campaign,

30 Camden Road,

LONDON NWl

England.

CLIO, eine periodische zeitschrift zur selbsthilfe, (a journal of self-help). quarterly in German, DM 3.-- per issue or DM 11.-- per annum, from Feministischen Frauen Gesundheits Zentrum, Postfach 360 368, 1000 Berlin 36, Federal Republic of Germany.

Each issue concentrates on a specific theme :

no. 0: Women prevent closing of abortion clinic in Holland (1976)
no. 1/2 : I was on a self-help course/lesbians and self-help no. 3 : Self-help throughout the world
no. 4 : The politics of population and sterilisation abuse (1977)
no. 5 : Menopause and the myth of motherhood
no. 6 : Alternatives in treatment ( 1978)
no. 7 : Self-help worldwide

An extremely useful and clear publication. Highly recommended.

Health Packets Boston Women's Health Book Collective Box 192, West Somerville, Mass. 02144, USA.

These bi-monthly packets contain reprints of articles gathered from a wide variety of sources (feminist, medical establishment, technical and scientific journals, population control literature, newspapers etc.) on all issues having to do with women's health. This is a very important resource for those who need or want to keep up with the latest news and developments. It is especially good in providing information on contraceptive methods, research, laws, medicine, drugs and the latest articles and publications.

Our Bodies, Ourselves

Produced by the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, this is the indispensable resource on women's health by women for women. Originally written in English, it has been translated and adapted in French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Japanese. It gives extensive, clear information on contraceptive methods, pregnancy, child birth, genital infections and their cures. Highly recommended

Les racines de la sante/The seeds of Health, film by Peter Krieg, 16 mm colour, 43 minutes available in English.German, French and Spanish) . Produced by Film Oikoumene & Teldok Films, 1976. 

Tells the story of a health programme defined and carried out by the villagers themselves in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The workers on the programme are not only trained to treat certain symptoms of diseases, but also to deal with the soil, animals, plants, vegetables, etc. The approach to health is total - dealing with land, nutrition, sanitation, water. A film of people taking care of their own health. 

From: Teldok Films, Schillerstrasse 52, D-7800 Freiburg, Fed. Rep. of Germany, or Communication Department, World Council of Churches, 150 Route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva  20 Switzerland

Traditional Medicine, Ira Harrison, Garland, New York, 1976. Co-author, Sheila Cominsky.

A comprehensive annotated bibliography from different parts of the world. Includes sections on maternal and child health. Materials and studies mentioned tend to be old (1950's-1960's). but a useful reference work on this subject.

Les Carnets de l'Enfance/Assignement Children, Unicef, Palais Wilson, Case Postale 11, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland.  

This quarterly tri-lingual {English, French , Spanish) publication carries case studies and articles on specific themes. Tends to be "objective" sounding and academic in tone, but has some useful studies. No. 33 deals with alternative approaches to health care, with cases from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and Botswana. No. 35 deals with nutrition and village resources, covering projects in Upper Volta, Zaire, India, Philippines, Costa Rica and Panama. A good resource.

The use of herbal birth control among Indian women of North America, Barbara Kean, Native American Healing, USA, July 1977. 10 pages (mimeograph). 

Describes the use of herbal medicine on menstruation, pregnancy, abortion, birth control. Studies the action of some plants used by Native American women, (and compares rural African women who use cervical mucus check). Describes interests and risks of herbal birth control. Includes bibliography. This is an important work because it starts to document the way in which women, especially those living in rural areas (i.e. in touch with nature) had and kept control over their reproduction and health. We need more of these kinds of studies. (ISIS 353)

Roles for Women Health Workers in the United States and China, Carol A. Brown, in Women and Health, April 1976. 

The respective roles occupied by women workers in the health sectors in China and the United States are comparatively analyzed. Their relative decision-making capacities, responsibilities, degree of public contact and work objectives and economic systems of the two countries. Suggests ways of concentrated action by women health workers to gain control over health. (ISIS 325) 

This feminist journal is a very useful resource for in depth analysis of the issue affecting women's health such as the control of reproduction, health care systems, health workers, drugs, etc. Emphasis is on the situation in the United States. It is available from Women and Health, State University of New York, College at Old Westbury, Box 210, Old Westbury, Long Island, New York 11568, USA.

China : Revolution and Health, Marc Selden, in HEALTH/PAC Bulletin, no. 47, December 1972.

Almost the entire issue of this bulletin is given over to this long descriptive and analytic report. Tracing the state of health in China before the revolution, the author explains China's health priorities since 1949 - prevention and the mass line, the unification of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, - and the specifics since the Cultural Revolution ( 1966-68) and after; this includes barefoot doctors, reorientation of medical research, cooperative medical system, commune hospitals, and the theories behind self-reliance and decentralization. Very full and thorough.

Women's Health Care, Resources, writings, bibliographies, Belita Cowan, Anshen Publishing, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, 1977. 52 pages. 

An extremely clear and comprehensive (USA) resource guide with brief explanations and literature listings covering the following : patient's rights, gynecological self-help, sterilization abuse, women in health professions, women and drugs, women and alcoholism, childbirth, abortion, birth control, menopause, estrogen therapy, breast cancer, sexuality, psychotherapy, aging, rape. Also lists films, health groups and regular periodicals. An invaluable reference work. US $ 4.00 from Belita Cowan, 556 Second Street, Ann Arbor, Mi . 48103, USA.

Dear Sisters,

A publication is being planned which will present a women's perspective on women and health internationally . The proposed publication, to be coordinated jointly by Isis and the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, will include material from as many countries as possible, and will appear in English and Spanish. 

During the preparation period over the next five or six months, we will be working with many groups and individuals to make the finished publication as useful as possible. We are now soliciting information and suggestions from you . Our working definition of women and health includes the following topics as part of an overall relationship between women and health:between women and health:

• women as paid and unpaid health workers
• women's health and medical care issues
  •     abortion
  •     birth control
  •     childbirth
  •     menopause
  •     sexuality
  •     venereal disease
  •     sterilization
  •     unnecessary surgery
  •     women and drugs
• analyses of social , political and economic forces affecting the relationship between women and health
• organizing efforts and alternatives to improve health and medical care, as developed by women
  •     Provisional plans call for several different types of basic materials to be included in this publication, as follows :
• annotations and reviews of available books, films, periodicals, pamphlets and bibliographies.
• Essays and reports on selected aspects of the relationship between women and health, as defined above.
• A directory of information and referral resources listing all groups which wish to be so listed, by self-description .
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• a description of your group/your work for listing in the directory
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• Women's Movement
• Political Oppression
• Health Indicators
• Abortion
• Affirmative Action
• Italy
• Position on Abortion

Italian abortion law

After years of struggle a new law on abortion has been passed in Italy. It is due to the strength of the Italian Women's movement that Italy has gone from a fascist law which condemns abortion, under any circumstance, as a crime against the race to what is being called the "most liberal abortion law in Europe'~ Why, then, is much of the Italian women's movement dissatisfied with the new law? Why is it not being celebrated as a great victory for women? Because, in the course of their struggle, Italian women have come to see abortion in a larger context: woman's right to self determination, which includes not only the right to control her own body but the economic and political possibilities to decide about her own life. And because the new law may very well tum out to be inoperable and ineffective in practice.

The new abortion law reaffirms state and patriarchal control over the bodies of women. Moreover, the public health structures are inadequate to cope with the estimated one million women who have abortions in Italy every year. The hospitals are already overcrowded and the personnel already overworked. Many of the health structures and workers are under the control of the Roman Catholic Church which is doing everything in its power to render the law ineffective. At present, the Church is putting pressure on hospitals and health workers to invoke the "conscientious objection" clause in the law to refuse to perform abortions. There are indications that much of the medical establishment will use "conscientious objection" as a means to boycott the law. The reasons for this are economic. Illegal abortion has been big business in Italy and an enormous source of income for doctors. They risk losing a profitable business if abortion really becomes obtainable through the public health structures.

In spelling out the procedure to obtain an abortion, the law states that a woman may consult a community health clinic (consultorio) which has the duty to counsel the woman and try to find another solution to her "problem" other than abortion. This clause in the law has been promoted by the left as an attempt to "socialize" maternity. It is the left's answer to women's cry for self-determination and under the present circumstances can only mask the desire to maintain control over women. If the left really wants to "socialize" maternity why are they not fighting male-domination and privilege within their own ranks? Why are they not in the forefront of the battle for the socialization of housework, for child care facilities? It is a farce to talk about collective decision-making about reproduction when in fact women bear almost the full burden of child-bearing and child-raising and when men effectively control the political and economic interests and positions of power. Italian feminists have been working for years to set up women-run consultori (which, of course, are not recognized by the state) and to try to get community control over the public consultori. They have had some success here and there, but the battle is far from won. 

We are presenting here a summary of the main provisions of the abortion law and a statement by the Italian women's movement on the law.

MAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ITALIAN LAW ON ABORTION

1. Abortion is permitted within the first 90 days of pregnancy when there exists "a serious danger to the physical or psychological health of the woman" related to a) her state of health ; b) her economic, social or family condition; c) the circumstances under which conception took place (e.g. incest, or rape) ; d) the malformation of the fetus.
2. Abortion is permitted after 90 days when the life of the mother is in danger or when malformation of the fetus has been ascertained which endangers the physical or psychological health of the mother. 
3. In order to obtain an abortion, the woman must go through the following procedure (failure to follow the procedure or obtaining an abortion through other means is punishable by a fine or imprisonment) : The woman must consult a doctor of her choice or a public health clinic (consultorio) or other public health structure. The doctor has the duty to evaluate with the woman and with the father ("if the women consents") her reasons for wanting an abortion . The public health structures have the duty to counsel the woman and try to find other possible solutions to her problem in order to avoid an abortion. In case of emergency, the doctor or health structure can issue a certificate to the woman with which she may obtain an abortion immediately from those institutions authorized by the state to perform abortions. Otherwise the woman has to think about her decision for seven days. At the end of that time, if she still wants an abortion, she may obtain one from an authorized institution. 
4. Abortions may only be performed by a medical doctor in obstetrical-gynecological service in public hospital and private clinics authorized by the state.
5. Doctors and medical personnel may refuse to perform abortions because of "conscientious objection". However, they must register this objection and are obliged to perform an abortion in the event that the life of the mother is in immediate danger. Hospitals must provide the possibility for the law to be carried out. 
6. Abortions are free of charge. The cost is borne by the health insurance or the state.
7. Women under the age of 18 must have the permission of their parents or guardians for an abortion.

THE ITALIAN WOMEN'S MOVEMENT AND THE ABORTION LAW

The following statement on abortion was issued by the Italian women's movement in February 1978 when the passage of the law on abortion was imminent. 

The meaning of the abortion struggle which we, the women's movement of Italy, have been carrying out is the affirmation of women's right to decide about her own body, her own sexuality and maternity and about her own life. We feel it is necessary to reopen the debate and the struggle in every city, in every collective on the issue of abortion and sexuality in order to affirm our conception of woman as a completely autonomous person.

The main point of this struggle is to affirm the principle of self-determination of women in all fields. In regard to abortion this means that the women's movement rejects any law which establishes controls on women and on her right to decide about her own life. We affirm that abortion must be performed in all public hospitals as an emergency operation whenever it is requested by a woman. We will fight so that all the personnel in all the public health structures will have to cooperate and carry out abortions. Women will be opening the struggle in the individual cities and hospitals. The first step towards a different kind of medicine, towards a sexuality of life and not of death will be uncovering and denouncing .repressive attitudes and actions on the part of individual health workers.

We propose for ourselves and for all women to organize and struggle against the law presented by the"movement for life" which aims at affirming a conception of woman as an object for child-bearing. We also reject the law presented by the secular parties which does not include the affirmation of women's self-determination and which sanctions the control of the state over the bodies of women. We refuse to give any party the right to legislate for women and on the bodies of women, all the more so today when this has become a matter of bargaining in order to sell the contents of the women's movement in the name of a political equilibrium between the Communist Party (PCI) and the Christian Democrat Party (DC), that is patriarchal power.

We affirm the necessity to obtain immediate and full depenalization of abortion, by means of a referendum if necessary. In regard to the public "family" health clinics (consultorio): it has become evident that these have been established by the government and by the parties as a negative response to the demands of the women's movement. Therefore, our relationship with these remains a relationship of conflict, for the purpose of turning them into public health clinics for women using the practice and content of the women's movement and under the real control of women. The women-run health clinics and abortion and self help are essential elements of the movement and should be continued and expanded in all situations, not as a solution given by women to the problem of abortion , but as a phase in the struggle and in the reappropriation of knowledge for women's medicine. The correct way to pose the problem of contraception is based on profound reflection about sexuality, making clear that the fundamental objective is to separate the moment of reproduction from that of sexuality.

 In this regard, the need has emerged to organize on a national level with groups in each city to carry out study, statistics and research for a real reappropriation of all the instruments of knowledge which together with our control and with our struggle will finally lead to the development of secure, safe and reversible contraceptives for men and for women.

• Social Movements
• Women's Struggles
• Self-help Groups
• Health Indicators
• Patriarchy
• Affirmative Action
• Switzerland
• Alternative Health

Self-help is a process of taking back control over our health and over our bodies.

There is absolutely no reason why pregnancy, childbirth, contraception and sexuality - all the subjects most intimate to us - should be left to men (who in any case don't understand much about these things), to scientists who carry out their dubious experiments on our insides, or to the pharmaceutical industry which has become adept at making an enormous profit out of women - the number one consumer. 

Self-help is concerned with understanding the way our bodies work, what our vaginas and our cervixes look like, in order to keep a check on ourselves and to avoid crises. Self-help is an apprenticeship, the discovery of how to heal and look after ourselves in a way which suits each of us best, through our experimenting with each other. 

The self-help movement in the United States and Western Europe has given birth to many interesting alternatives such as new treatment of vaginal infections (e.g. garlic for trichomonas; yoghurt for yeast infection ... ), the rediscovery of home births, and especially the opening of women-run health centres. This has happened in the USA, Italy, France, Switzerland and West Germany. These alternatives are first of all an answer to our needs, but they also give us power against the medical establishment which is one of the pillars of the profit-making system. By knowing our bodies better and by going in groups to the doctor, we become stronger and more able to obtain what we want. 

At the same time, if the struggles of women workers within the medical institution go beyond demands for salary increases and reduced working hours to include questions of power and division of responsibility, they can begin to stipulate their own working conditions. 

If consumers and health workers join together in attacking the power held by the medical establishment, it will finally crack I (feminist hope).

The many self-help groups which have been set up over the past decade have frequently gone through similar stages, beginning with self-examination and continuing by opening an alternative women's health centre. 

The description of the development of one such European group is perhaps the best way to show what is meant by an approach which has two aims : to build an  alternative, and to put pressure on the medical establishment in order to get what we want.

I am conscious that this evolution is perhaps more characteristic of the developed countries, but I hope that the experience will at least give ideas to women elsewhere in the movement. 

Five years ago, we saw women practicing self-examination for the first time. There were about 250 of us in the room with the "stars" of the North American movement. It was a real demonstration. We were very impressed but the speculums we bought there stayed on our shelves gathering dust for over a year. During that year we got to know the MLAC (movement for the  liberalization of abortion and contraception) in France and we saw abortion using aspiration performed by non-medical women - something which encouraged us to continue our struggle for free abortion on demand.

The self-help clinic and the women's health movement are not just personal solutions for an individual women's health problem - though that is obviously a valid reason for their existence : they are tools for inducing collective thought and action from which radical social change can grow. 

Helen Marieskind
"Helping oneself to Health",
Social Policy, Sept/Oct. 1976

One evening we met specifically to do self-examination together. It took us hours to overcome our shyness, and finally laugh at all the excuses we had given before to avoid doing it. It was late. We gathered round the fire to undress in order to examine our breasts, our bodies, our vaginas and our clitorises. Using the speculum to examine yourself internally is only one part of the process. There was a kind of explosion in the group, which I have only experienced since with groups of women doing self-examination for the first time. 

We met several times like this before we were confronted with a new problem : after our great discovery, we didn't know how to continue . Finally, we went on more systematically to observe each day of our cycle, to examine vaginal secretions under the microscope, and later to do menstrual extraction (vacuum aspiration of periods). 

For us, this process was a long one since we were also involved in a series of public actions against the women's hospital (called "maternity" here), against the private practice of gynaecology, and against power in general (something which is perhaps characteristic of a European group).

Through actions such as occupying the hospital, or demonstrations, we have obtained:

• abortions performed with local anaesthetic (up to eight weeks) including a considerable reduction in price;
• the abolition of the commission of experts which used to decide whether or not a non-national woman was entitled to an abortion.

We have pushed for childbirth without medication, but this is a continuing struggle, except when performed at home, of course. We have also compiled a commentated address list of all the gynaecologists practicing in town, based on women's own experiences with them. 

Five years after our first self-examination, we have now opened a women's health centre, to deal with everything related to gynaecology, obstetrics and pediatrics. This is how one group, in the middle of Europe (Geneva, Switzerland) has developed. The story is told here to show the importance of self-help.

Obviously the fact of opening a health centre "for women, run by women" does not in itself guarantee a political character. The politics of alternatives becomes clear only through the way such a centre is run, and especially the way in which decisions are taken and the way money is dealt with. 

What is important today is not to prove that we can open alternative health centres but to ensure that they remain places where different working relationships can develop. They must not become imitations of already established institutions by, for instance, being seduced by profit, having a hierarchy of salaries and workers, and by practicing established medicine. 

Rina, June 1978