AIDWA : perspectives, interventions and struggles, 1998-2001.

Citation preview

AIDWA Perspectives, Interventions and Struggles (1998-2001)

Ail India DemociaticWomen’s Association

March 2002 Price : Rs 15 Published by AIDWA 121, VBP House Rafi Marg, New Delhi - 110001 Phone .*3710476 Printed at Progressive Printers A-21, Jhilmil Industrial Area] G.T. Road, Shahdara, Delhi-95

Contents Introduction Developments which impacted on Women’s Status Twenty Years of AIDWA International Developments Women Against War and Against an Unjust World Order 1. The US “New* War 2. The “Old” War and Continuing Threats to Peace 3. Globalisation and the tyranny of finance capital 4. Increased globalised resistance 5. Globalisation strengthens patriarchy 6. Increase in sex tourism and trafficking 7. Fundamentalist attacks on human rights 8. South Asia 9. Socialist Countries

5

11 13 15 17 19 21 23

Conclusion

24

5 6 9

Women’s Status in India 1998-2001 Empowerment? For Whom? 1. Political Developments 2. Fundamentalist Trends and Communal Agendas

25 26 39

3. Economic and Social Security Policies, Women’s Work and Income 4. Cultural and Social Trends 5. Legal Reform and Law Implementation National Commission for Women Conclusion

47 67 73 77 77

Issues, Interventions, Struggles Women’s Movements AIDWA’s Work On Economic Issues Issues of Rural Workers and Peasants Peasant Women Working Women’s Struggle Health and Population Policy Issues . Communalism, Hindutva and Women’s Rights Defending Muslim Women’s Rights Dalit Women’s Rights Northeast Women’s Issues Media Monitoring Work Anti-imperialist Struggle Other Issues Our Task

79 83 89 95 101 104 113 116 124 127 132 141 147 148 149

INTRODUCTION The contents of this publication are extracts from the re­ ports discussed and finalised at the sixth national conference of the All India Democratic Women’s Association. This confer­ ence, which also marked twenty years since the formation of AIDWA in 1981, was held in Visakhapatnam from 24 -27 No­ vember 2001. The conference was attended by 896 delegates elected at state conferences by delegates who had in turn been elected in conferences starting from the village and local level units of our organization. It is a basic principle and has been the practice of our organization to encourage and organize the widest possible participation of our members and activists in the formulation of the organisation's approach to macro devel­ opments in the political, economic and social sphere as well as in setting our agendas and priorities. This publication is a re­ flection of some of those discussions that took place over the last three years. We have also included the reports on struggles initiated by AIDWA units in different parts of India. Each of these struggles merits a much more detailed account. The discussions at the conference indicated the wealth of experience of work among various sections of women as well as the difference these struggles have made at different levels arid degrees in the lives of women. While it has not been possible to include the details of the dis­ cussions, the account, does give an idea of the tremendous range of activities in which our organization has been involved. The section also self-critically examines and indicates the organization’s weaknesses and strengths. This was an impor­ tant part of the discussions at our conference and forms a basis for our future work.

2 Commentators on women’s movements in India often re­ strict their analyses to the issues raised and methods of mobili­ zation of selected women’s groups, either through lack of in­ formation or because of their own political biases. The struggles and work done by left oriented mass organisations like AIDWA are dismissed as being that of “the women’s wing of a political party”, as though such a category, even if accurate, puts such struggles outside the so-called “real issues”, the “core” issues or the “strategic” issues of women’s movements and concerns. AIDWA’s understanding of the myriad issues that concern women in India and its multidimensional work around these issues carried out by thousands of selfless activists, without the finances of foreign funding agencies or state patronage, chal­ lenges the narrow, biased and sectarian understanding of these theorists of women’s movements in India. It also challenges the concept of “grass root” women, a new category of women, introduced in the dictionaries of donor agencies and used by many women’s groups. The term “grass root” can be a description of levels of work or experience. It is not however a social category. In recent history “grassroots” means anyone, whether worker, peasant or landlord, who in their appearance and language are distanced from the stereo­ typed image of the urban educated feminist. Such incorrect so­ cial categorization blunts understanding of different classes among women and weakens strategies, which address those dif­ ferences. For AIDWA the dichotomy between “grassroots’ and ‘non-grassroots” does not arise at all. The organization itself is rooted in the lives, the issues and concerns of the mass of women in India reflected in its membership. Its leaders at various levels have also emerged from work at the “grassroot.” As far as social composition is concerned, the credentials report of the confer­ ence showed that over fifty per cent of the approximately 900 delegates were urban and rural workers or from labouring families, with a fair number from oppressed castes and communities.

3 AIDWA with a membership of several million women be­ longing to different regions, speaking different languages and of different social groups has worked out its own organizational structures. The democratic processes institutionalized in AIDWA are very different from the “democratic consultations” based on a homogeneous group with access to telephones and internet. Its experience repudiates the refashioned panchayat model of committee-less functioning advocated by many NGOs in the name of "non-hierarchical”, “non-bureaucratic” function­ ing, where in fact decision-making comes to be vested in a few articulate individuals, with little accountability except in some cases to funding agencies. Although not specifically discussed in this publication, it is the organizational structure of AIDWA with elected commit­ tees of women from the village or urban locality level to the national, which enables the widest participation in struggles and in decision- making processes. These include identification of issues, as well as the mode of struggle. In AIDWA’s experience, the accountability of .elected committees to its membership is an important component of democratic functioning. For ex­ ample, the All-India Conference report was translated into eight languages and discussed widely within the organization. After the discussions among elected delegates, which were continu­ ously translated into as many languages during the conference, it was finally adopted at the sixth national conference as both a review of the years since the last conference and as direction till the next. In its commitment to the women of India and the world, AIDWA is constantly striving to improve and strengthen pro­ cesses enabling the widest internal participation in its activities and decisions. We hope this publication will help both our friends and our critics to have a better understanding of AIDWA and its work.

Brinda Karat (General Secretary)

Developments Which Impacted on Women’s Status TWenty years of AIDWA This sixth conference has an added significance as it marks twenty years of the formation of AIDWA in March 1981 when our first conference was held in Chennai. From a membership of approximately eight lakhs in as many States, we have grown to over 59 lakh members in twenty two states. While this is an impressive achievement, the sixth conference provides us an opportunity to review our work, to identify our weaknesses so that we can develop a stronger movement of women for equality and fundamen­ tal social change. This report is in three sections. In the first section we deal with the major international and national develop­ ments which impact on our struggles. In the second sec­ tion we make a self-critical review of our efforts and struggles to defend and advance women’s rights and in the third section we assess our organisational position, (third section is an internal document not part of this publica­ tion)

International Developments Women Against War and Against An Unjust World Order The major developments which have impacted on women’s struggles in the international arena are (1) the “new” US led war

6 against terrorism and the threats to world peace (2) the offen­ sive of imperialism through globalisation processes as well as the increasing resistance to it (3) a consequent growth of pov­ erty and violence against women including the trafficking of women and children (4) continuing assaults on basic human rights of women by fundamentalist forces 1. The U S. "New” War

The September 11 terrorist bombings of the World Trade Centre in New York by a group of terrorists spawned, in this case, by a virulent form of Islamicist fundamentalism, has rightly evoked widespread condemnation and anger throughout the world. Such barbaric acts, which target innocent people, have nothing in common with the epic struggles of peoples against colonialism and imperialism. Terrorist politics, more so when it is combined with ideologies associated with religious funda­ mentalism of any hue, is anathema to democracy and equality. Women have always been the targets of such combinations. The example of the terrible plight of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime will remain one of the most tragic and hor­ rific experiences of the last years of the twentieth century. Al£)WA had strongly condemned the attacks and the actions of the terrorists as barbaric and inhuman. However, the US has exploited the global condemnation to bypass international legal procedures and the United N a­ tions, and to arrogate to itself the right to decide who are ter­ rorists, which Governments are harbouring them and what ac­ tion, including the option of war, is to be used against them.lt has threatened Iraq, Libya, Somalia. This is not only a gross violation of the national sovereignty of the countries and peoples concerned, it places the US in the self-appointed role of gen­ darme of the world. The condemnable threat made by the U S President that the world is either with the US or with the

7 rorists is symbolic of imperialist arrogance supported by its current closest ally, the Blair Government in Britain. In addition, in its current campaign projected by the dominant international media, the US in particular has posed its war against Afghanistan and Islamic fundamentalism as being repre­ sentative of a clash of civilizations. This is rooted in the percep­ tion that it is the advanced capitalist world, which represents the civilized world whereas others are still living in the age of mediaeval barbarism. The history of the world bears out the opposite truth of how colonial countries and their present suc­ cessors have represented the worst forms of uncivilized loot and plunder for hundreds of years. In any case such insensitiv­ ity only adds to the anger of peoples in third world countries against US dictates. Its latest “civilized wmission is to carpet bomb one of the poorest countries in the world. In its war of attrition against Afghanistan for refusing to give up Osama Bin Laden, its prime suspect, it has used the most sophisticated weapons, thousands of bombs, missiles lined up warships, submarines, soldiers, ma­ rines to show it means business. Hundreds if not thousands of innocent civilians have been killed. Millions have been made refugees. The horrible suffering of women and children who had already faced the wrath of the Taliban is unimaginable. While we denounce international terrorism and its sup­ porters and the Taliban, we strongly oppose the US war against Afghanistan. We demand that it cease immediately. Even though it is true that the UN itself has been compromised it is still the only forum, which represents the world and therefore can take decisions about the entire issue and take appropriate measures. The double standards of the US can be seen in its own support to State terrorist attacks by Israel on the Palestinian people. Communist parties and progressive forces were deci­ mated by US backed policies implemented by pliant regimes in

8 many of the Muslim dominated countries in West Asia and Africa. The Taliban, terrorists like Bin Laden and many of the Islamicist groups had been funded and trained by the CIA and the ISI in Pakistan with the aim of fighting the pro-Soviet com­ munist Government in Kabul in the late seventies. Even today the US fully backs the ISI and has not a word to say against the terrorist camps in Pakistan that are used for attacks in Kashmir. This is because it is not terrorism the US is fighting, but it is using the September 11 attacks to push forward its own foreign policy agendas to strengthen the US presence in this region. On the one hand Central Asia is oil rich and is therefore of eco­ nomic importance to the US, on the other hand, the sub conti­ nent is strategically crucial in the US plan to contain China. The US war and its approach of revenge at any cost only beget more terrorism. The US refuses to recognize leave alone address even a single of the political problems caused by its im­ perialist policies whether in Palestine or Iraq or Yugoslavia. There are more and more voices for peace and huge rallies being organised throughout the world and in India. Every war situation leads to tremendous suffering for all people targeted but more particularly for women and children. Today those who have already suffered ten years of terrible repression at the hands of the Taliban fundamentalists are being further victim­ ized and traumatized by the US. It is an intolerable situation. We join hands with the anti-imperialist and anti-fundamentalist-terrorist struggles, which are growing throughout the world in solidarity with the poor people of Afghanistan and women and children in particular and demand an end to the war. We recognize that in the current post September 11 situa­ tion, the US has exploited the situation to consolidate its su­ premacy and to bulldoze all opposition both within and out­ side its borders. The anti-democratic and authoritarian laws which have been adopted both within the US and the EU coun-

9 tries and Britain indicate a further strengthening of repressive laws ostensibly against terrorists but which will eventually be used against the working people in those countries and anyone who dares to question imperialist policies. This will also have repercussions on the economic front, with the US using its po­ litical advantage to push through even more harsh measures and burdens on working people and third world countries, to gain for itself and its MNCs super profits. Thus the new phase of imperialist hegemony, requires the widest mobilization of all sections of the people for national sovereignty, democracy and freedom. 2. The "Old” War and Continuing Threats to peace The so-called cold war was not replaced by peace but by an increase in armed aggression, war threats and increased arms expenditures. Even while half the world’s population of 6.6 bil­ lion people live in poverty, the world’s Governments spend 700 billion dollars a year on military budgets while only 20 billion are spent on the essentials of life. Resources of third world countries get diverted to arms manufacturers of the first world. In the most dangerous and ominous decision, the Bush administration is putting in place a new version of star wars, nuclearising space, through the NMD or the National Missile Defence system. Far from the abolition of nuclear weapons, today there are approximately 30,000 nuclear weapons in the world. The world peace movement, which subsided in the nine­ ties, is again on the march, demanding the complete abolition of nuclear weapons. The big mobilizations on August 6, the day that the first atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima, show the growing popular anger against the dangers to the world by these nuclear arsenals In the last three years the world has witnessed the most^ barbaric US led war against Iraq, against Yugoslavia and the

10 Zionist aggression against the people of Palestine. For over half a century the people of Palestine have been deprived of their homeland by Zionist regimes in Israel backed by the United States. In the recent offensive over 700 Palestinians have been killed, many of them children, by the barbaric bombing of resi­ dential areas and shoot to kill policy of the Israeli army. The main issues are the refusal of Israel to withdraw from Palestin­ ian territories including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and on the contrary building Israeli settlements in the occupied territo­ ries and the refusal to allow the return of the over 2 million Palestinian refugees to their own land. Israel also occupies Syr­ ian and Lebanese territory. The peace processes initiated by the United States have all favoured Israel leading to severe disillu­ sionment. The women of Palestine have shown exemplary cour­ age in this long drawn out battle against the Zionists. They have the solidarity o f women’s movements all over the world in­ cluding India. Both Yugoslavia and Iraq were bombed because their Gov­ ernments refused to kowtow to the US dictates. In the 79 days of constant bombing of Yugoslavia by the NATO forces of the 2000 civilians killed, 30 per cent were children and of the 6000 wounded 40 per cent were children. 200 town and villages were bombed, deliberately destroying the country’s infrastructure, its factories, hospitals, schools and homes. The total damage was estimated at 100 billion dollars. Now in a most macabre display of power, the US has forced the Yugoslavian Govern­ ment on threat of withdrawal of all aid, to hand over Milosovic, the earlier Prime Minister to be tried for war crimes. But who will try the United States for its crimes ?. Iraq continues to suffer from the crippling sanctions im­ posed on it. Sanctions have actually meant genocide. The war killed 2 lakh Iraqis but the ban on the import of essential com­ modities, including medicines has cost 2 million lives a large

11 number of them women and children. In the last year a number of countries have broken the blockade but the situation remains serious. The U.S. has again threatened to bomb Iraq in the wake of the September 11 incidents. Anti-imperialist mobilizations against war must link up with the growing resistance against the policies of globalisation. 3. Globalisation and the tyranny offinance capital Globlisation is imperialism by another name as its main aim is to capture world markets to make super profits Country after country has been forced to accept the policies of structural adjustment with negative consequences for the people both in the developed as well as developing worlds. The international regime of the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF, is functioning as a supra Government dictating terms to developing and poor countries. This has deeply eroded national sovereignty of the debtor countries and the democratic rights of their peoples as decisions having wide reaching impli­ cations on their lives are decided not within their own coun­ tries but in distant capitals where the leaders of funding agen­ cies hold court.

Cancel Third World debt Latest figures show that more than 50 countries are now poorer than they were a decade ago. These include 33 of the world’s poorest countries which undertook structural adjust­ ment policies. Not a single one of these countries has succeeded in getting out of the vicious circle of the debt trap. Similar to rapacious money lenders in Indian villages, for every dollar given in loans for development to poor countries, the developed world receives three dollars in return. Every year more than 200 bil­ lion dollars is paid back as interest to the rich countries. Ac­ cording to the figures released in 2000 by the World Bank, in

12 1998 41 heavily indebted countries transferred 1680 million dollars MORE than they received to creditors in the North. No wonder global inequalities have grown. The income of the richest countries is 59 times higher than that of the poorest. Thus one of the important demands of the international move­ ment is for cancellation of all debts.

Fair Trade Not Free Trade Another slogan of globalised resistance movements is “Fair trade not free trade”. This reflects the shameful reality that the terms of trade blatantly favour the developed countries. The recent UNDP report reveals that even while insisting on free access to all the markets of the third world, developed countries continue to maintain barriers through quota systems and high import duties on agricultural and industrial goods like steel and textiles that cost poor countries billions of dollars in lost rev­ enue every year. While developing countries like India are forced by the troika to cut down subsidies the developed countries give huge subsidies to their farmers. The US alone in 1998 gave a subsidy of the equivalent of 4.3 lakh crores rupees to its farm­ ers. The scheduled negotiations in the WTO scheduled in Doha want to further disadvantage third world countries by bringing extraneous non-trade related factors like labour standards and environmental issues. The hypocrisy can be seen in the fact that it is the United States, which is the biggest polluter, and yet with the advent of the Bush administration it has unilaterally rejected its commitment to the Kyoto protocol on environmental issues. Even its allies have criticized this. As far as labour stan­ dards are concerned, the US record as far as its own immigrant workers, or workers employed by US multinational companies is dismal. For example the US MNC Nike employs 70,000 work­ ers, 70 per cent of whom are women between the ages of 17 and 21 in third world countries at a pittance. It is estimated that a

13 woman employed in Indonesia by Nike would for instance have to work 1500 years to earn the equivalent of what an executive working in the US would earn! Controls and tax on looters Yet another important slogan of the struggles is to demand controls on the movement of finance capital and to levy a tax on transactions. This is an extremely relevant demand, as one of the most disastrous aspects of the current order is the huge growth and power of finance capital, which is used for making quick profits through speculation in stock markets. Whereas in an entire year (1995) the global trade in goods and services amounted to 4300 billion dollars, speculative transactions per day are around 1300 billion dollars. The WTO regime dictates that there can be no national barriers or control over this capi­ tal, which moves from country to country in search of higher profits. In a fraction of a second it is possible to withdraw hun­ dreds of billions of dollars from a country, to empty its central bank to put its economy in peril and provoke serious social crisis. It happened in several countries thatwere pushed to the brink of bankruptcy like South east Asia, Mexico, Brazil, Rus­ sia. The tyranny of finance capital is such that most countries follow policies to appease foreign capital so to prevent it fleeing the country. Such a situation demands more united action by Govern­ ments of third world countries. Unfortunately many of these Governments, like the present Indian Government have sold out the interests of their countries to international funding agencies and MNCs. Yet if they work together they could force changes. 4. Increased globalised resistance One of the most noteworthy developments in the last three

14 years has been the increased global resistance to globalisation policies. This is a reaction to its increased reach. Although many in the current broad alliance against globalisation may limit their opposition to this or that particular manifestation of globalisation policies, anti imperialist movement for social change which had suffered a severe setback in the face of the pro-capitalist offen­ sive of the nineties, are clearly in a phase of rejuvenation and revival. The seeming invincibility of the troika of the WTOWorld Bank-IMF the representatives of the advanced capitalist countries, has been shaken by the outburst of popular anger. There have been huge international demonstrations, of differ­ ent sections of people wherever the troika's meetings were be­ ing held facing police repression as in Seattle, Prague, Barcelona, Genoa. Different countries have seen a recent upsurge of struggles such as the historic three-day strike of workers in South Africa or the militant struggles for land in Brazil and other countries of Latin America. Columbia has recently witnessed a militant struggle against the privatisation of water supplies in which thou­ sands of women have participated. Parallel anti-globalisation world conferences have been or­ ganized. The Beijing+5 women’s conference also saw a strong criticism by most delegates of the utter failure of the Govern­ ments to implement the Beijing Plan of Action. As part of global resistance movements, the World Women’s March in 2000, initiated by Canadian women’s groups is a milestone in international women’s movements. Indeed it symbolizes the spread of women’s struggles even as its critics and opponents were claiming the demise of women’s movements. More than 6000 women’s organisations and groups represent­ ing different trends in women’s movements in 159 countries marched together against structural adjustment policies, identi­ fying the World Bank and the IMF as barriers to human devel­ opment and human rights. The campaign was based on a forth­

15 right rejection of capitalism. The agreed document stated cat­ egorically “In recent history the structural causes of poverty are policies of neo-liberal capitalism.” From March 8 International Women’s Day 2000 to October 17 anti-poverty day, millions of women throughout the world participated in campaigns and agitations against poverty and violence. An international del­ egation of women, including a representative from AIDWA met the representatives of the United Nations in New York and presented millions of signatures from all corners of the globe against the globalisation of poverty and violence. This successful global campaign of which AIDWA is proud to have been a pan, also signifies the strengthening of the theo­ retical understanding that women’s oppression has to be under­ stood in the wider context of macro-policies and socio-economic frameworks. It provides a contrast to that section of the so far dominant international NGO movement, often officially spon­ sored and funded, which functions within a framework of com­ promise with globalisation policies and which seeks to replace mass struggle with micro-project local work without reference to the wider context of that work. 5. Globalisation strengthens patriarchy There is ample evidence that the so-called decade of reform has witnessed an unprecedented increase in violence against women both in the public and private spheres. Worldwide, the number of women victims of violence would be comparable to the numbers of those killed or maimed in wars fought between nations. The women’s global campaign brought together the commonalities in the numerous ways that women in different countries are victimized by violence. The other crucial aspect highlighted was the power of the communication industries and the global electronic media to influence social approaches to­ wards women by their negative portrayal of women. With the

16 domination of Western media magnates, local cultures get oblit­ erated in the blitzkrieg of the lifestyles of the Western elite and the creation of blind consumerist cultures. The campaign also succeeded in providing concrete evidence that within the framework of increased class inequalities inten­ sified by globalisation, patriarchy and the exploitation of women and their economic and social subordination has also increased even while their work becomes more crucial for family sur­ vival. In that sense globalisation is not gender neutral. It has been estimated that women and children make up seventy per cent of the world’s very poor. Two thirds of all those deprived of literacy are women and two thirds of children who do not go to school are girls. Women and children provide 66 per cent of hours worked but receive only 10 per cent of the revenue and own only one per cent of property. Poor women all over the capitalist world have been the hardest hit with loss of jobs, wages and social benefits because of structural adjustment poli­ cies. Under pressure from MNCs many countries have set up free trade zones where wages and working conditions closely resemble slavery. In the former socialist countries a recent survey by UNICEF estimated that of the 25 million jobs loss in the last decade, 14 million, more than half were held by women. Today the US economy is in it worst crises with unem­ ployment soaring to a high of five per cent. An American women’s organisation reports that whereas three out of four working American families depend on women’s earnings, the gap between male and female wages in increasing. The average woman now earns 25 per cent less than a man in similar work. Women get half the pension benefits as men. Jobs available for women are mainly in the service sector as part time workers. The crisis is hitting this sector also. Japan is also hit by recession. Over four lakh workers have

17 been retrenched. There has been a sharp fall in the standards of living of its working people reflected in a drastic fill in con­ sumption expenditures. The official white paper on labour ad­ mits that women, who are forced to take part time jobs, mainly in the service sector to ensure family survival, are meeting the gap. The wages in these jobs are less than half of what of what a regular worker would get. In the globalised era, women are subsidizing national eco­ nomics through both waged work at rates lower than legal standards and through an increase in unpaid work. The concept of flexi time is capitalism’s latest contribution to extend subsidies given by women to enhance company profits and to justify the state’s refusal to take any responsibility for provision of childcare services. Women work from their homes bearing all infrastructural costs and get paid one third of what they would earn in a regular job for the same work while at the same time they bear the burden of domestic responsibilities. Economic independence, the right to work with equal wages, or in the case of the self- employed with a minimum income with is a crucial component of women’s advance. The provision of social security services including accessible educa­ tion, health facilities old age security and so on are equally im­ portant. But globalisation policies affect both aspects, thus in­ creasing women’s subordination. The message is loud and clear: imperialist driven globalisation strengthens patriarchy. 6. Increase in sex tourism and trafficking One of the most serious fall-outs of the increased poverty worldwide has been an increase in women going into prostitu­ tion. There is a very strong international lobby, which demands that prostitution be legalized There is a division among women’s organizations on this issue with several women’s groups, mainly

18 from the developed capitalist countries supporting the legalisation of the trade. Women in prostitution have also formed their own organizations. A fairly large network is being established. We support the right of women in prostitution to organize themselves on issues of concern to them including police harass­ ment, unequal laws which only punish the women and not the client etc. However many international NGOs working on this issue ignore the issue of poverty as the crucial determinant in the increasing numbers of women in prostitution. On the con­ trary, it is being described by some as an assertion by women of their right to choose. A parallel development of deep concern is the growth of an international trafficking mafia, which operates with impu­ nity across borders. It is estimated that trafficking of women and children is one of the most flourishing industries today with an annual turnover of several billion dollars. According to one estimate over 2 million children are trafficked globally ev­ ery year. Now even trafficking is sought to be legalized with some sections of NGOs raising the issue of women’s consent to being trafficked. Even UN agencies seem to have developed an ambiguous approach to the issue and appear to be concerned only with the trafficking of children not adult women. The second world conference against the commercial sexual exploi­ tation of children is to be held in December in Yokahoma, Ja­ pan. The proposed action plan is only against traffic in chil­ dren. While there is need for a special protocol for children, the issue of trafficked women should not be ignored or neglected. Many countries including in developed countries have used economic vulnerability also to promote sex tourism. Earlier such centres sprung up near and around foreign military bases such as the US base in Thailand during the US aggression on Viet­ nam. Now commercial sex is promoted as an added attraction for tourists. Another centre is in Amsterdam. A recent survey

19 of prostituted women in the “body shops” of Amsterdam showed that 80 per cent of the women are foreigners. 70 per cent have no valid papers suggesting that they were trafficked. Most are migrants from third world countries like the Dominion Re­ public, Columbia, Venezuela, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Serbia. These are precisely the countries, which have witnessed the worst economic and social crises following structural adjustment policies. There can hardly be any doubt that in such situations it is the crisis not free choice, which has brought these women to the body shops of Amsterdam. Yet the Dutch Government in 1999 permitted the opening of brothels anywhere in the country. The Government of Mexico, another country, which also has a developing sex tourism industry, had also legalized the trade in October 1999. This directly benefits the criminal lobby of traffickers. Many countries are eager to develop tourism as a revenue spinner, but unfortunately sex tourism is also increasing sometimes with the covert connivance of Governments. One of the symbols of the globalised world is the fast growing sex tourist industry and the trafficking of women and children. 7. Fundamentalist attacks on human rights One of the first steps taken by the Bush administration on its assumption of office was to support the campaign of the Christian fundamentalists against abortion rights of women by ending all financial aid to family planning programmes which include abortion facilities. US women’s groups have strongly condemned this step. They have been fighting the fundamental­ ist campaign, which has often been violent. In the last few years 250 abortion clinics in the US were bombed or attacked. Three doctors were killed and several were injured. The Vatican has also continued its campaign against the right to abortion. At the Beijing+5 conference in New York, representatives of the

20 Vatican prevented any mention of the right to abortion and indeed even opposed mention of reproductive rights. Worldwide, there has been a growing demand from women of the church for equal rights. There has been some improve­ ment in some countries but clearly Christian fundamentalism has the backing of important countries like the United States of America. Islamic fundamentalism continues its offensive in many countries ruled by Islamic regimes. The starkest example of fun­ damentalist insanity have been the assaults on women in Taliban ruled Afghanistan. The world watched helplessly as Afghan women were deprived of very basic human rights. It is well known that the large numbers of war widows heading families in Kabul were facing destitution and death be­ cause they had been banned from working. Professional women with PHDs, lawyers, doctors, teachers were allowed to work only among girls and women. No woman could go to a public place unless a male relative accompanied her. The frenzy worked up by the Taliban had led to public stoning on the streets of women who did not strictly follow the Taliban edicts concern­ ing covering themselves from head to foot. A fallout has been the increase in suicides and deep depression faced by many women particularly families where there are no adult males. Who can forget that it was the United States of America, which initially supported the Taliban to fulfill its aim of elimi­ nating progressive forces in Afghanistan. It is significant that even recently when it put out its list of so-called rogue States before the September 11 attacks, the Bush administration did not include the Taliban ruled country indicating its double stan­ dards. In Iran the elections resulted in the sweeping victory of Khatami known as an opponent of the fundamentalist regime. Benefits to women of this victory are yet to materialize. Ear­ lier, women had faced a series of attacks in the name of the

21 Sharia. Of the 17 people stoned to death last year, 11 were women. 8. South Asia Women in South Asia, particularly India have confronted the many forms of fundemantalism. They have also struggled against different forms of violence, many of which are common to all countries in the region. There has been a general militarisation of the region and an increase in arms smuggling. There is a strong criminal mafia operating in drugs and traffick­ ing of women and children. There is an increased nuclear threat. This necessitates a much stronger united movement of women in the region. At the same time, the processes of globalisation have also hit women in the region. This provides further com­ mon ground for united struggles. While the experience of India is dealt with in the national section of this report, women in Pakistan and Bangladesh have been extremely active in their struggles against fundamentalism. In Pakistan the Nawaz Sharif Government had threatened to bring in the 15th constitutional amendment, which would have meant strict control over women’s lives in the name of imple­ menting the shariat. There were numerous mobilizations against it from women’s groups. Women said it would mean the imple­ mentation of a dress code, control on mobility, non-segregation, employment or engagement in any public activity. The Government fell before the constitutional amendment could be implemented. However the threat still remains. The establish­ ment of a military regime led by President Musharraf has dealt a blow to democracy in Pakistan. But ironically, it is under the military regime that one-third seats in all the union councils (somewhat similar to the panchayat system) of local governance were reserved for women. There was an unprecedented partici­ pation of women in the recent panchayat elections. In elections

22 for about 2450 councils as many as 22,000 nominations from women candidates were filed. The coverage in women’s reserved seats in these elections was around 85-90 per cent which is a remarkable record for a first such reserved seat election. In the recently held elections in Bangladesh parties com­ mitted to a fundamentalist programme have been elected. For the first time a party that has called for stria implementation of the sharia, as in Pakistan has joined the Government.* This may have very serious repercussions for women in Bangladesh. In the earlier elections held to local bodies where there are reserved seats for women as many as 45,000 women took part. 13,000 women won establishing a record of sorts. In Sri Lanka, the Tamil problem and the LTTE terrorist attacks have dominated public life. The problem of Tamils in Sri Lanka is acute leading to a continuous exodus of Tamils from that country. The plight of the refugees particularly women and children, thousands of them in Tamil camps in India, is tragic. Dangerously, the camps can also provide breeding grounds for training more terrorists. The peace initiative by the Norwegian Government has not born fruit and the situa­ tion has in fact deteriorated. Women in Sri Lanka have been ahead of their sisters in other countries of South Asia in regard to important indicators of advance such as literacy rates, health benefits and other social services although of late, structural adjustment policies undertaken by successive Governments are undermining these gains, However, unlike their counterparts elsewhere, religious fundamentalism is not a major threat for women’s movements here. In Nepal, the horrific liquidation of the King and mem­ bers of his family shocked the world although it led to wide speculation about the forces behind the dastardly act, ultimately it was* accepted that his own son committed it. The tragic event also led to I renewed demands for the abolition o f the system

23 of monarchy. The Left in Nepal has been demanding a republi­ can system of Government. Women in Nepal have been in mili­ tant struggle for their rights. One of the crucial Issues they have been taking tip is that of the trafficking, of women, estimated at two lakhs to other parts of South Asia, mainly India. On the positive side, contacts between women’s groups and organizations in South Asia have grown in this period. This must be further developed and strengthened. 9. Socialist Countries Since the demise of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of Socialist States in East Europe, the naked strength of US imperialism and its efforts to construct a unipolar world has put the forces of socialism on the defensive. Globalisation has forced even Socialist countries to discover new strategies for economic survival and development. It is by such new strategies that China has made phenomenal advances in the standards of living of vast sections of its people. China has recorded a 7.9 per cent growth in the last year. However the downside of many of the current open door policies being pursued have been recog­ nized by the Government and women’s organizations particu­ larly in the sphere of growing inequalities. It is a matter of deep concern and we can only hope that women’s organizations in China can ensure a reversal of the negative impact of the policies. The most inspiring examples for the developing world, are the developments in Cuba. The heroic struggle of the Cuban people for self-determination and defence of national sovereignty against the continued assaults of the US were symbolized by the saga of the child Elian. Elian was a hostage in the ongoing war against Cuba. The pressure of world opinion and the cour­ age of the child and his immediate family forced the US admin­ istration to return him to his family and his country. Even while

24 Cuba continues to maintain its outstanding social benefit programmes for its people the U.S. blockade has cost it dearly. In a recent report to the UN General Assembly Cuba demanded a lifting of the merciless economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States with the sole aim of subverting the socialist economy of Cuba. Cuba has calculated that the blockade has cost the country 121 billion dollars. The Bush administration has further hardened its anti-Cuba stand publicly stating that it would seek to make its actions against Cuba more punitive. Yet in spite of all these difficulties the spirit and courage of the Cuban people under the revolution­ ary leadership of Fidel Castro is inspiring the world and strength­ ening the peoples will to fight US imperialism. Conclusion Women’s movements worldwide are faced with challenges quite different from those in previous years. Powerful forms of capitalism developed to capture world markets are designed equally to capture minds. Patriarchy gets reinvented in a myriad ways. The present unjust world order strengthens inequalities between nations, between classes and between men and women. Politically and socially, this period has also seen a strengthening of religious fundamentalism in various forms and once more the direct sufferers are women. Violence against women has also increased. Women in different countries are resisting these onslaughts on their lives and livelihood. A beginning towards an interna­ tional coalition against globalisation and violence between women’s organizations and groups has been made with the Glo­ bal Women’s March in 2000. This network needs to be strength­ ened as well as expanded to include the important mobilization of women against war. We express our solidarity with the struggles of women worldwide for progress, peace and equality.

25

Women’s Status in India 1998— 2001

Empowerment? For Whom? Even as the latest census confirmed the horrible reality of mass female foeticide and infanticide reflected in plummeting infant sex ratios, the Government of India declared the year 2001 as Women’s Empowerment year. International funding agencies and Governments have vigorously promoted the phrase “empowerment”, almost as an alternative to the concept of equal­ ity, women’s rights or entitlements. “Empowerment” could also be interpreted to denote dependence on an external force to empower. We must use the term with caution. As far as the substance of “ women’s empowerment” is concerned it would be measured by how far women have advanced in the spheres of economic independence and equality, in political assertion, in being able to live a violence free life and in being able to break cultural and social barriers which keep them in subordinate positions. This section deals with some of the developments in different spheres that determine women’s status. These include (1) political developments (2) economic policies and women’s work and income (3) fundamentalist trends and communal agen­ das (4) cultural and social trends (5) Legal reform and above all women’s own struggles.

26

1.Political developments (1.1) Formation of Central Government and other elections (1.2) Women’s political participation (1.3) War and peace (1.4) Divisive trends and terror­ ism (1.5) Casteist politics and caste structures (1.6) Political corruption and criminalisation

(1.1) Women’s movements in India which challenge the status quo as being unequal and in need of fundamental social change, are political in character. The term political is used here not in the sense of being party-affiliated, but in the sense of situating the problem o f women’s unequal status in the wider political context of macro policies and developments. Women thus have high stakes in elections and the formation of Govern­ ments. The stakes are higher today with the danger of politics being based on communal platforms on the one hand, and on the other, a set of economic policies that are entirely market driven. There were two general elections in the last three years with little difference in the results. The BJP having cobbled together an alliance with powerful regional partners could form Government in 1999 even with just 23 per cent of the popular vote. Dangerously its assumption of office provided its father organization the fascistic RSS access to the levers of power thus enhancing the communal danger to India’s polity. Under the rule of the NDA, policies of structural adjustment have been followed with a vengeance, increasing inequalities. There have also been 16 elections to different States and union territories in this period. Here the alliance has fared badly winning only three States reflecting the changing mood of the people. The most spectacular results were those registered by the Left Front in West Bengal which established a world record of sorts by its sixth consecutive win based on its implementation

27 of alternative policies which brought some relief to the people. The defeat of the Left and Democratic alliance in Kerala could mean a setback for policies like the Peoples Planning pro­ cess which had helped women, started by the previous Left led government. On the whole the political scenario in India does not lend itself to much hope of officially inspired policies for women’s advance. At present the Central ruling alliance benefits from the lack of any cohesive political alternative formation. The eco­ nomic policies of the Congress party in those States where it is in Government, are j i o different from those of the NDA part­ ners. Indeed in this respect there is little to choose between them. To win public support a credible political platform would have to project alternative policies to bring relief to the people and have a strong social reform component.

(1.2) Women's Political Participation and representation Even though the Women’s Bill has not been passed, there can be little doubt that the sustained campaign for the Bill involving large numbers of women has had a most positive impact on increasing women’s political participation in campaigns and struggles, awareness of their political rights and in focusing on the issue of women in politics. The electoral campaign is an important platform to take women’s issues to-the people and as before women’s organiza­ tions made this attempt by independent and united campaigns during the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to highlight women’s issues. It is partly because of the constant efforts of women’s organizations that political parties have had to respond, at least in their public positions on gender related issues. Most party manifestos in 1999 reflected the demands of women in­ cluding the women’s reservation Bill. In the Lok Sabha elec­ tions, the NDA alliance campaign degenerated into a personal­

28 ized one against the President of the Congress party and the electorate was bombarded with sexist and in some cases retro­ grade slogans. The outrageous campaign that a vote for a widow would bring bad luck strengthens retrograde thinking about widows and single women. On the other hand the Congress campaign was also based on projection of the loyal daughter-inlaw image thus undermining efforts by women’s movements for an independent woman’s identity in politics. Such campaigns go beyond elections or support/ opposition to a particular party, as they strengthen stereotypes or retrograde thinking about women. Bourgeois parties in at least two States successfully made a bid for the women’s vote raising at least some issues of concern to women. The Telegu Desam (TDP) based its campaign strat­ egy almost wholly on promising programmes for women. In particular the DWCRA groups played an important role in the TDP’s victory. It is another matter that the Government has betrayed the promises it made to the women. The process of disillusionment has begun with the TDP losing out on its sup­ port among women to an extent in the panchayat elections. Since the anti-liquor campaigns in Andhra Pradesh, women have played an important part in the formation of Governments. J.Jayalalitha also had to face vicious personalised attacks during the elections in Tamilnadu. She however made full use of it, appealing to women’s sentiments and sympathy, which she received in ample measure and which contributed to her victory. Subsequent to the Supreme Court judgement she has had to resign because of her conviction in corruption cases. In West Bengal it was a woman leader Mamata Bannerjee who not only used abusive language against her opponents, but also unleashed violence using armed anti-social elements. Women of the Left in Bengal had to face terrible violence before and after elections particularly in the district of

29 Midnapore. Yet they faced the situation with tremendous cour­ age. In Tripura also women defied terrorist dictates and partici­ pated in the elections, sometimes at the cost of their own lives or the lives of the family members. This experience also shows that as far as taking women’s issues forward it is ideology and not necessarily biology, which counts. As far as numbers of women in elected bodies is concerned there has been a slight increase in Parliament with 47 women being elected in 1999 as compared to 42 in the previous Lok Sabha. The Government has totally betrayed women on the issue of passage of the Women’s Bill. The main reason is the opposi­ tion from within the ruling party and also its allies. The shame­ ful role of the Samajwadi party on this issue has provided an easy excuse for the ruling alliance to conceal its own responsi­ bility. The