RESOURCES!
REQUESTS
We have received the following requests from women's groups who would like to make contact and exchange resources with other women's groups around the world.
africa
MAURITIUS
The Muvman Liberasion Fam in Mauritius is in the midst of an abortion campaign. They would like materials and advice from women in other parts of the world who have
experience in organizing around this issue. They write:"In Mauritius, women's problems are more and more in national debates. The one which arouses the most interest
is the one on the legislation of abortion... There are forums, articles, letters in the press, propaganda pamphlets everywhere. The Catholic Church and a pro-catholic
organisation Action Familiale and the Moslem religion have gone hysterical on this question.
"Muvman Liberasion Fam has already started our campaign. We have had forums, a petition circulating throughout the country. In our offensive, we are organising a workshop on abortion in which we will try to put forward a plan of action. We are trying to reply to the anti-abortion propaganda here from the Church.
"We would like very much to get hold of as much documentation on this subject, especially laws on abortion where it is already legalised, statistics on the rate of fall in
illegal abortion after legalisation of abortion, the methods of abortion at different stages of pregnancy (with information on how it is done, rates of failures, dangers etc.) and any other information you think will help us. Posters or photos with diagrams of the foetus at different stages of development will be very useful to counter the propaganda
of the Church. Any argument used by the women's movement in other countries would also be great. The big fight is just heating up here now for the first time. Help!"
We know that many of you have been through abortion campaigns in your countries and have just the sort of material and experiences our sisters in Mauritius are looking
for. Please share them with: Muvman Liberasion Fam c/o Tabagie Capucines Arcades Abassakoor Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius.
asia
INDIA
A group of women in India who did the survey on women and working class families in Bombay in the ISIS Bulletin 6 would like publications from the women's movement around the world. They write: "Some of us here are setting up a Women's Unit in a small non-profit institute called "The Institute of Social Research and Education". The Institute is set up by a number of activists who are attempting to pool together their resources to put up a good socialist library, have regular discussions, get magazines, have a centre for labour studies, and a Women's Unit (name still undecided — can you suggest any?). For the Women's Unit, we are beginning by taking up a study on "struggles of women in Bombay" — most struggles of women workers in the factories or in the homes are largely ignored and we have no information about them. The purpose of the investigation would be to understand the current nature of women's struggles, the conditions of their existence, the type of organisations women are involved in, their relationship to unions, etc. The second thing we would like to do is gather literature on the women's movement from all over the world." They are a poor group and unable to pay for subscriptions but they will make the litarature available to serve all women interested in women's questions.
We at ISIS would very much encourage other groups to send their publications to this group of women in India. We found their study on women and working class families in Bombay very interesting and we know how difficult it is to get good material about women in India from women themselves. We hope to build up more communication and exchange with our sisters struggling in this part of the world. Letters and publications should be sent to : Mira Savara 28 Altamount Road Bombay 400026, India
Europe
IRELAND
A group of women in Ireland are setting up a women's centre and have written: "We urgently seek your advice and assistance so that the first all-Ireland Women's Centre, run by women for women, may soon become a reality." They would like any comments and suggestions, based on the experience of other women in setting up and running women's centres, on the kinds of activities or services which could be provided, how to finance a centre on a day to day basis, possibilities of international financial assistance or grants (and the implications of accepting such assistance), how to run a centre on a day to day basis, what is the best way to acquire. premises.
The Steering Collective for a Women's Centre writes: " In Ireland a women's movement emerged in the early 70s and served to raise the general consciousness level about the position of women. This upsurge laid the foundation for many of the more radical women's groups which were later to surface, many of which are still here today.
"We believe that the potential exists for a strong women's movement just now from the feelings of support and enthusiasm which are being expressed — and hence the role
of the Women's Centre."
This Centre would provide a place for women to come together in groups to meet, socialise, exchange information and advice, share skills and experience, etc. It would include a resource unit providing a network of contacts and information, a library, book shop, printing and publishing services; a group on women's culture to organise theatre, art/craft exhibitions, cinema, coffee shop, poetry readings etc., self-help and skill sharing in the areas of health, law, finance, trade union activities, manual trades, media techniques, a space for discussion groups, consciousness raising groups and various action groups.
Women who have had experience in women's centres are invited to share this with: Steering Collective for a Women's Centre c/o 99 Tritonville Road Sandymount
Dublin 4, Ireland.
north america
CANADA
The Canadian Newsletter of Research on Women invites women to contribute short articles to a discussion forum on the theme of "public, private and praxis" for their March 1979 issue. Maximum suggested length is four single spaced pages, deadline is 1 December 1978. The themes for discussion are:
Politics as a Man's World This will deal with the problems of political participation by women in a politics which attempts to enlarge women's presence in the public realm with a view to reducing the privation built into the development of separated public and private spheres of human activity.
Making the Private Public This section will examine developments in which feminists have sought to politicise the traditional (biological and "natural") contents of private
life. It will comment on centering of feminist praxis around such areas as sexuality, reproduction, the economics of domestic labour, control of the body, violence against
women and children, and questions of children's rights.
Ideology Critical commentaries on the capacity of major political ideologies and associated political practice to resolve the age-old divisions of public/private, personal/political.
Contributions should be sent t o :
Mary O'Brien and Angela Miles
Canadian Newsletter of Research on Women
c/o Sociology Dept. O.I.S.E.
252 Bloor St. West
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5S 1V6
RESOURCES
asia and the pacific
INDIA
Asian Women's Institute. c/o Lucknow Publishing House 37 Cantonment Road Lucknow, India
We have received the following report from the Asian Women's Institute: The Asian Women's Institute (AWI), established in 1975, promotes growth, equality and justice
for all women in Asia through research and action projects. The projects are carried out at the local level through nine centres for women's studies in Beirut, Teheran, Lahore, Lucknow, Madras, Tokyo and Seoul, located at Christian colleges and universities for women in these cities.
The Asian Women's Institute is a project of the nine colleges. At the triennal meeting, the presidents evaluated the work of the Institute and decided to continue this project as they felt it was answering the needs of many women in Asia, especially now when more women from the upper lower classes are seeking higher education for better prospects in the job market
The consultation keynote address by Dr. Kiyoko Cho of International Christian University, Tokyo, focused on women's education in Asia in the past 100 years, surveying
in some detail the case of Japan. Dr. Cho challenged educators to liberate not only women's institutions, but all institutions, since most of these halls of learning tended to
remain within their ivory towers.
It was precisely this ivory-tower image that the nine women's colleges in AWI rejected as they developed new plans and projects for the next three years.
At the Directors Workshop, the directors felt the need of instituting women's studies courses in all the colleges either as part of the curriculum or as special courses in addition to the projects decided upon by the presidents. They also felt that viable action projects for less privileged women in both rural and urban areas must continue as this was a vital part of the outreach programme which aimed at training women in skills that would make them self-reliant and economically independent.
Specialists from Ewha Womans University, Seoul, spoke on how to design research projects and to write up projects for funding. At the workshop sessions directors discussed ways to implement career counselling services, women's studies courses, exchange programmes and research.
The Asian Women Scholars Seminar drew together about 55 women and men from Asia and USA to deliberate on the "Role of the University in the Women's Movement." The keynote by Dr. Sang Chang of Ewha Womans University interpreted women's status in the Bible from women's perspective and argued the case for the need of a women's perspective in all branches of academic studies.
The papers presented by scholars from the Philippines, Korea and India examined women's status in history, their role in voluntary work, in higher education and in the
home. The papers focused on women in developing countries where women's participation was vital to an egalitarian society.
The seminar ended with a resolution confirming the participants' commitment to women's development through whatever channels colleges and universities offered - creating new channels for this purpose, if necessary - and to raising the consciousness of all women about their own personhood and of being human in all its mplications.
Women's Resource Book Asian and Pacific Centre for Women and Development Box 1555 Tehran, Iran
Over 300 pages long, this resource book is full of useful information and addresses of organizations (governmental, non-governmental and some feminist) in Asia and the Pacific concerned with women and development. It also contains an annotated listing of publications of the Asian and Pacific Centre for Women and Development, descriptions of some women's development projects, the plan of action adopted by the United Nation's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the integration of women in development, and a resource section on funding and technical assistance including how to write a proposal, models of proposals and budgets, listing of possible funding sources and reference materials. The whole thing is presented in a very attractive and readable form (unlike many directories). We found the descriptions of vvomen's projects and the resource section on funding the most interesting and valuable. One criticism we have of the listing of organizations is that, on the whole, there is very little information to distinguish progressive and radical groups from elite ones or from conservative and reactionary ones which support the status quo in countries where governments are blatantly and/or subtly repressive. This is a problem, of course, in almost all United Nations publications which are not allowed to offend member governments. Available from the Asian and Pacific Centre for Women and Development or from the International Women's Tribune Centre, 345 East 46th St.,
New York, New York 10017.
AUSTRALIA
Womanspeak P.O.Box 103 Spit Junction NSW 2088, Australia
An Australian feminist magazine, Womanspeak has appeared at fairly regular two monthly intervals since December 1974. Womanspeak has tried to cover some subjects perhaps not usually dealt with magazines the women's movement.
It has also encouraged women, who might not otherwise find an outlet for their writings, to send in their contributions . As a result, it has been possible to publish afairly a i r wide variety of aspects of life as it relates t o their own experiences.
Contributions are sought, and have been published, on the role of Australian women writers and painters, women in the work force and in trade unions, women in politics , on such subjects as health as it relates to women, child care, counter sexist books and schools as well as on rape, prostitution , abortion and pornography.
Womanspeak also publishes film , book and music reviews from our contributors , fiction , poetry and runs a letters column in each issue.
Contributors vary from women who have some specialised knowledge of their subject to women who may never have submitted anything in writing before — it is not possible, o f course f or us to pay any writing fees. (Aust. $ 4 f o r 5 issues)
NEW ZEALAND
Women, a documentary f i lm series Available f r o m : Deirdre McCartin, F i lm Documentary Unit, Television One, Box 30945, Avalon, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
Produced and directed by a woman and made by an allfemale crew, this series of six thirty - minute documentary film s was screened on New Zealand television in 1977. They contain a strong feminist analysis of the position of women on the following topics:
When Did You Last See Yourself on TV? Women criticise the sexism of programmes, ads and t he treatment of women workers in television and film .
When the Honeymoon is Over Violence against women in marriage.
The Woman in Your Life is You Women's sexuality.
Is Marriage a Health Hazard? Depression and t h e use o f drugs in treating women, alternative approaches to women's health and wellbeing.
Who Cares About Childcare? Study of a small cooperative community based day care centre.
Maori Women in a Pakeha (White man's) World The double oppression of being a woman and Black; personal experiences of Maori women and the alternatives they themselves are creating.
BELGIUM FRANCE SPAIN
Parti Feministe Unifie Rue des Aduatiques 74 1040 Bruxelles, Belgium
The United Feminist Party of Belgium and Choisir in France have sent us t he following announcement:
Intending t o present feminist candidates at the European Parliament elections, the United Feminist Party (Belgian) and the CHOISIR Movement (France) met on May 7th
1978 in Brussels to draft and adoptation tthe platform to that end.
We believe that it is advisable and important to begin with an appeal to all European feminists desirous of making women heard other then via the male members of European Parliament, to join ranks with us with the aims of presenting feminist candidates in the Community of Nine on the basis of the election platform, which is the expression of the fundamental and universal principles of feminism.
Such a feminist political power will in dubitably render great service to WOMEN as a CLASS, for it will lead, via public opinion, t o :
the political awareness of women; the diffusion of in formation concerning and t he taking into consideration of Feminism and the claims thereof;
and at the same time will assert Feminists' determination not to leave decisions involving 150 million women and the future of Europe in the hands of men alone
For more information about the p l a t f o rm of the United Feminist Party, about the organisation of the campaign and about the presentation of candidates for election, contact the Parti Feministe Unifie.
SWEDEN
Women's History Collections Goteborg University Library Box 5096 S-402 22 Goteborg, Sweden
Through the efforts of dedicated women at the Goteborg University Library over the years, an excellent women's history collection has been built up including manuscripts
and press cuttings. They do regular indexing of books and periodical articles on women in Sweden and internationally. Since 1971, they have published a quarterly bibliography of recent literature using subject headings in Swedish and English entitled Kvinnohistoriskt Arkiv: Forteckning over Nyutkommen Litteratur (Price 4 0 Swedish crowns per year). There is also a monograph series, begun in 1958, entitled Kvinnohistoriskt Arkiv 1. This is an important source for those doing research or wanting information on the situation of women, especially in Sweden.
Spain
Cuademo Feminista - Introduccion al Self Help by Leonor Taboada Available f r om Editorial Fontanella, S.A. Escoril, 50 Barcelona 2 4 , Spain
A short, but comprehensive and clear handbook on self help in Spanish, covering self-examination, contraception, methods of abortion, exercises to relieve painful menstruation, breast examination, genital infections and alternative cures, menopause, rape.
UNITED KINGDOM
WIRES 3 2 A Parliament St. York , England t e l : 0904 35471
WIRES is the women's liberation movement newsletter in the United Kingdom and a goldmine of information on what is going on in the movement there. Every two weeks i t comes out with 30 or more pages of news, coming events, campaigns, and recent publications, pamphlets, books, magazines, newsletters. It also carries international news. An intra-women's liberation movement newsletter, it is meant for women only — a place where women can share their news and information with other women. If you are in the United Kingdom, or are planning to go there for work , study, holiday or whatever, this is the indispensible source of information on what is going n . It is exciting to read about so much activity. We find it a real morale booster and a source of lots of stimulating ideas. Unfortunately , like so many independent grassroots women's efforts, WIRES is constantly struggling just to survive financially. It would be a real loss to t he women's movement if they were not able to go on f o r lack of money. We highly recommend supporting WIRES through subscriptions and donations. Rates are £ 6 a year and £ 12 f o r groups ( two copies). You could also help by taking WIRES to sell at conferences, meetings, festivals, etc.