The Itapecirica meeting was organized by five groups whose activities are described here. With the exception of CIM (Women's Information Center), all the groups have been working in the field of women's health for at least five years. The documents from the meeting may be requested directly from the groups.
- CASA DA MULHER DO GRAJAU
(Grajau Women's House)
Rua Jose Bezerra Filho 183
04842 Sao Paulo SP, Brasil
Tel. (011) 520 2775
The Grajau Women's House was born from the Grajau Women's Association, a group that began to meet in 1979 in the Grajau district, the Southern Zone of Sao Paulo. The main objective of the Women's House is to bring awareness to women on issues of health, contraception, etc. The House has a health service that includes the following activities:
Sexuality discussion groups offer the opportunity of sharing experiences to progress in the search for identity. "The problems that come up are almost always the same, connected with difficulties in achieving sexual pleasure or with the ways of practicing sex," states Jucinete, one of the group coordinators. "Other problems that come up are related to children: should boys and girls play together, what kind of games are better for boys and which for girls, etc."
Mental health groups are intended to discuss how the situation of women in our society leads to mental problems for many of us. According to Gilda Braga, coordinator of one of the groups, "the main manifestations are psychosomatic illness, nervousness, irritation, problems with the children, with husbands or with ourselves. We work with music, dance, theater, sensitization exercises and occupational therapy. Our work is to demystify, to connect the disconnected, to avoid isolation and to promote the reorganization and integration of our inner and outer worlds."
Gynaecological consultations give attention to contraception, treatment of infections and breast and cervical examination for the prevention of cancer. "We have a microscope which allows us to analyze vaginal secretions in the woman's home and to detect infections and carry out the treatments possible with alternative techniques," says Maria Jose de Oliviera Araujo, one of the House's doctors. "The majority of the women that come to us are looking for contraceptive methods. Many of them want an IUD so as to hide the fact that they are using contraception from their husbands. If they use the pill or other methods, it is common for their husbands to find out and forbid it."
In addition to these health services, the Women's House offers other services
- Professional courses in dressmaking, typing, adult education, manicure, painting.
- Courses in body expression: gymnastics and ballet.
There is also a day nursery for children from birth to six years of age for the women who work in the House and for those engaged in some activity in the area. Attention is not limited to the members of the House (around 500 women). In 1984, for instance, the Women's House trained the staff of district Health Centers in group discussion.
The creation of legal counseling services for victims of violence against women is planned for 1985. According to Adelia Prates, the cases reported to the House are many, and so they are considering the proposal of creating a refuge for these women, providing necessary services for as long as they need.
The House also takes part in the general struggles of the district: for direct elections; for the creation of nurseries, schools, health centers, hospitals and emergency stations; for the improvement of transport; in the boycott due to the increase in the price of meat and more recently for the freezing of the price of essential items. The Grajau Women's House publishes a journal that is issued occasionally.
- CASA DE LA MULHER DE BELA VISTA
(Bela Vista Women's House)
Rua Santo Antonio 1048
01314 Sao Paulo SP, Brasil
Tel. (011) 255 5732
The Sao Paulo Women's House came into existence in February 1982, under the coordination of the Pro-Mulher (Pro-Women) group, one of the first feminist groups in Sao Paulo. The Pro-Mulher group was created in 1977 as the result of a national women's meeting held in Rio de Janeiro in 1975 to celebrate the International Women's Year established by the UN. The House works with groups of women of the middle and working classes.
The basis of the project are discussion groups, where, with the aid of films and slideshows, discussions are held on the bodies of women, the bodies of men, sex-related taboos, contraceptive methods, abortion, sex, masturbation, gynaecological examinations and menopause, and in which women may carry out their own self-examination with the help of a speculum and a mirror. Each group lasts one month on average, and meetings are held weekly. During or after meetings, women who consciously opt for a contraceptive may obtain it at the House at an accessible price.
Preventive gynaecological attention is given by two women doctors. One of them, Maria Jose de Oliveira Araujo, says, "At the beginning I was in charge of the discussion groups which were open to all the women who came. I mastered contraception theoretically, but I was scared to attempt it in practice. I went through a crisis with traditional medicine; I felt incapable of inserting an IUD; I was sure I would perforate the woman's uterus, that nothing would turn out right. My experiences with traditional medicine had always been very anxious and disappointing.
"Then I had the opportunity of taking part in the ISIS exchange programme, and I spent a few months at the Dispensaire des Femmes in Geneva. I learnt much from that experience. I realized that it is possible to practice feminist medicine, without worries and anxieties, sharing with women the power I had over their bodies and accepting that there are many things that I can't do, as I am not the owner of any medical truth.
"The cases I attend to most commonly are cases of contraception and sexuality. Two cases drew my attention: two women who for the space of three years could have no relationship with men because they thought the smell of their vagina scared them off. I was convinced their problem was not physiological but emotional, but I carried out all the tests on them anyway to calm them down. After participating in group discussions and in individual consultancy, they got over their 'drama'. It was a long process but it was interesting."
According to Maria Luisa Elluf, one of the founders of the House, "the aim of the medical care and the discussion groups is to help women who want to have children and those who don't. Only after knowing about their sexuality and the functioning of their bodies, as well as all the social factors that influence their maternity, such as the lack of day nurseries and the nonexistence of basic health services, can they make their choice." Other services are also offered by the House: legal counseling specifically for cases of violence against women and of family law, psychological attention for women, and training services for other groups that aim at the professionalization of the female workforce in fields such as graphic design, printing, dressmaking, handicrafts, etc.
- THE SAO PAULO FEMINIST SEXUALITY AND HEALTH COLLECTIVE
(provisional address)
R. Joao Moura 942 depto. 73
05412 Sao Paulo SP, Brasil
Tel. (011) 883 4662
The Sao Paulo Feminist Sexuality and Health Collective was formed in November 1983, originating from the Sexuality and Politics group which since 1981 had been working in the training of women's groups in the health area.
We formed the Collective with the aim of setting up a women's health clinic in Sao Paulo. Our group consists of journalists, sociologists, doctors, geologists, psychologists, a physicist, a self-trained doctor and a philosopher. In spite of this diversity, the majority of us have one point in common: some years of experience in work with sexuality discussion groups. Our proposal of setting up a clinic does, however, demand some months of training in the practice of primary health care.
The clinic will give attention to all women who request it, independent of social class. In addition to discussion groups and gynaecological, preventive care and self-examination, we will also be involved in other activities: massage, dancing, gymnastics and the publication of a bulletin of alternative health information.
Unfortunately we are still waiting for financial support for this project. In the meantime we are organizing self-examination groups, courses and discussions. We began self-examination within our own group. The first sessions were difficult because not all of us were prepared to take off our clothes and touch our own bodies or those of the others, even though we had known each other and met for some time. Some were afraid of hurting themselves, others of examining their breasts; others found it difficult to relax. We got used to the speculum only after looking at it and feeling it for a long time. The experience was repeated over the course of ten weeks with thirty women. After a theoretical discussion, we held two self-examination sessions with the participants, some of whom decided to join our group. Lately we are taking our experience with self-examination to other groups who request it, mainly in the outskirts of Sao Paulo.
One of the most exciting experiences we had was in a self-examination session in the Itapecirica meeting. It happened like this: twelve women got together in a small room. The first to begin was Irma Irene, from the parish of Sao Felix de Araguaira. She said, "I came here to learn as much as possible, so that I can teach it to the women of my community in the rural area of Goias. I will learn only by my own experience, taking part in all the events of the meeting."
Our experience with courses in sexuality goes back to 1981, when our group was called Sexuality and Politics. This activity, which brought together around 200 women, resulted in the formation of groups in the outskirts of Sao Paulo and in the formation of teenage groups. We have recently been invited to monitor discussion groups set up by the Social Welfare Secretariat of the Prefecture of Osasco (a municipality near Sao Paulo) with local mothers' clubs. The background material for the discussions will be the leaflets of the "Esse Sexo que e Nosso" (This Sex of Ours) series from the Carlos Chagas Foundation. We also have our own publications. Apart from "O Prazer e Revolucionario" (Pleasure is Revolutionary), a booklet published in March 1982, we edit leaflets as background for discussions.
We were also invited by the Sao Paulo State Council on the Female Condition to produce a translation of the new edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves by the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, together with other Brazilian feminist groups. We have taken part in a series of discussions on women and health organized by women's groups, district associations, radio, TV and government institutions.
- FAMILY ORIENTATION SERVICE (FOS)
Southern Unit:
R. Eng. Tomas Whately 204
04742 Sao Paulo SP, Brasil
Tel. (011) 521 9822
Eastern Unit:
R. Amadeu Gamberini 134
08000 Sao Miguel Paulista SP, Brasil
Tel. (011) 297 3834
The Family Orientation Service (FOS) was founded in 1963 by a group of Brazilian professionals. Originally their work was directed at family planning, but gradually their objectives extended to the fields of education and community health.
With two units, one in the southern and one in the eastern section of Sao Paulo, FOS concentrates its activities on working class issues. In practice we are oriented towards helping people's organizations, with an emphasis on health. We work together with other people's health movements, committees and health councils to build a liberating people's health project.
FOS has two departments: the community department, which offers help to local health committees and health councils, and the women's health department, which works in the field of family planning and sexuality through courses and gynaecological consultations. Among the study groups, the most outstanding are those on sexuality and menopause, where drama and educational leaflets are used to guide discussion. One of our proposals is that groups produce their own material, as is being done with one leaflet on menopause.
Gynaecological consultations include preventive examinations such as the Pap test, which many women learned to do for themselves in one of the FOS workshops at the Itapecirica meeting.
FOS is now organizing training courses in women's health for assistant nurses in the official network. This agreement with the Health Secretary for the State of Sao Paulo came about in view of the implementation of the Women's Health Programme for SP. It is the first time that alternative medical practices have been recognized by the state.
- CENTRO INFORMACAO MULHER - CIM
(Women's Information Center)
Caixa Postal 11 399
05499 Sao Paulo SP, Brazil
Tel. (011) 229 4818
CIM arose in 1981 from the initiative of some women, active in the feminist movement, who felt the need for an information and documentation center that would gather documents on the history of our struggles and support women's groups and movements. "The experience of CIM lies within the framework of autonomous feminism, with no organic links to institutions or political parties. We do wish to make it clear, though, that the different groups and associations that struggle in their different ways for the liberation of women are an important step forward and in this sense should all be promoted.
"From the creation of CIM, during its gestation period and since the center opened its doors to people and groups interested in the problems of women, we have tried to put out aims into practice: gathering, organizing and disseminating information about women, and at the same time creating files and documents of facts and events to help preserve our memory, making CIM an instrument for the recovery of our history."
The center began its work in 1982 by organizing an exhibition of posters under the name of "Women, a Living Document," which lasted fifteen days and was very successful. The center is open to everyone interested and it already has some audiovisual documents as well as an archive of documents gathered at different women's meetings: an index card register, photographs and drawings. There is a 2,500 volume library and fifty feminist magazines, and a roster of national and international women's groups. A catalogue of all the documentation in the center will be published in 1985. A small bulletin has been published since July 1983. So far we have produced three issues, the last one in December 1984.
In terms of financial resources, we had only our own for the first three years. In the middle of 1984 we obtained financial support that would guarantee our work until the middle of 1985. In the meantime we have continued to look to institutions for support. We have received contributions from many women and groups that have become associated with our initiative and who have given fundamental support at the level of solidarity, keeping us enthusiastic about our work.
