International Reports
International Womens' Day 2007

Collected articles from Socialist World

8 March is an important date in the calendar of the international working class movement. It commemorates the struggles of women workers worldwide against low pay and exploitation.

It was in the USA in the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century that women workers, mainly engaged in the clothing and textile industries, staged strikes and protests against their working and living conditions under capitalism.

In 1910 an international women's conference was hosted by the Socialist International (the 'Second International') which agreed to mark international women's day on 8 March.

On 8 March 1917 thousands of women textile workers in St Petersburg, Russia, walked out of their factories exasperated by the severe shortages of bread. These women marched to other factories and called on workers to join them on strike.

As Leon Trotsky comments in his History of the Russian Revolution: "The slogan 'Bread!' is crowded out or obscured by louder slogans: 'Down with autocracy!' 'Down with the war!' " - the Russian revolution of 1917 had begun

To celebrate the struggles of women world-wide and to commemorate 90 years of the February revolution in Russia, started by the women workers of Petrograd, we are carrying on our site a number of different articles written by women members of its groups and parties in different countries.

The first two are from Sweden. One deals with the way the new, right wing Swedish government is giving tax incentives for a return to the archaic and super-exploitative maid system and the need for a socialist campaign against it. The second deals with a Europe-wide report on violence against women. The statistics are gruesome and the fight to change the situation also demands a fight against capitalism and its values.

The second two articles deal with the horrors of violence against women - in Brazil and in India. They show that politicians talk hypocritically about the problems of women. Under the conditions of capitalism, totally inadequate provision is made to protect the millions of women who suffer violent attacks against them. As well as violent oppression, harassment, sexism and discrimination – at work and in society – are endemic in class society.

The article from Pakistan shows how new laws put a very thin gloss on the age-old feudal habits and right-wing political Islam which still determine the brutal treatment of women in that country. The next one from Australia, shows how international solidarity on 8 March arose from working women’s struggles in America. It shows how important the struggle for equal pay still is. In spite of legislation, bosses get away with paying low wages to women and young workers and this in turn undermines the wages of others.

The position of women in Nigeria is graphically spelt out in the next article and, in one from a Kurdish asylum-seeker in Cyprus, the problems of women in minority communities comes across clearly. The final articles in this series are from Britain on low pay, maternity services and trade union struggles.

These articles show the vital importance of women struggling to change their conditions but also of struggling to change society along socialist lines. It is as essential for working and poor women to fight against the capitalist system as it is for the struggle for socialism to fully involve working and poor women. In fact there will be no victory without them.

Forward to the emancipation of the working class and of women from the double oppression of class society! Socialism opens a vista of a new society where equal opportunities exist for all - regardless of sex, race or nationality - to develop their talents and abilities to the full. Only through public ownership, democratic planning and mutual cooperation – across all national and social boundaries - can a new, socialist world be built.

International Women's Day 2007 - Sweden
No to the right wing government's maid system

Karin Wallmark, Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna

Since last Autumn, a new government composed of four traditional capitalist parties rules Sweden. They have jump-started their period in office with several general attacks aimed against the working class – big cuts in unemployment benefits, anti-trade union measures and large-scale privatisations. The common link is that women are the worst affected. The government clearly aims to strengthen the role of the nuclear family as a pillar for its power. This article is about one of their measures - the new maid system they are introducing.

The proposal of the government is that an individual can deduct 50,000 SEK (5,500 euro) from taxes for so called domestic-related services. It will mean low-paid women cleaning and taking care of children in rich families’ homes. The system is to start from 1 July.

The right-wing government would like to go back to the system of a hundred years ago, when the rich had servants who were more slaves than workers with rights. The maids lived in the employer’s house and the working day was never shorter than 10 hours. They didn’t have any free time or holidays. The wage was minimal and sometimes non-existent - just food, a room and maybe some old clothes. Domestic work was the most common job for women in Europe at that time.

The situation for maids today is not the same, but has similar features. Since last Autumn there has been a large increase of applicants to the Scandinavian ‘au-pair’ centre. The reason many give is that they are afraid of losing unemployment benefit and therefore apply for these jobs. The wage is 3,500 SEK (400 euros) a month plus room and food.

A reporter, Kerstin Fredholm, worked as a cleaning worker in the informal economy for a few months and wrote about her experience in the book ‘Fint hemma’ (‘Nice at home’).

She was the highest on the payroll with 75-125 SEK (8-13 euros) an hour. The ‘Polish’, as the employer named them, had around 70 SEK and asylum seekers and those without papers got 25-30 SEK (3,5 euro). When negotiating her wage she is alone and therefore can’t demand much. Almost no one of the 20 employers paid any taxes. Two men tried to convince her to sell them sex.

Who are buying these services? The reporter thought she would be working in stressed families with small children and sick pensioners, but instead most were wealthy, in good health, without children in the home, and all could afford to pay taxes if they wanted. She had to adapt to all their impulses and patronising treatment, for example when an employer shouted at her when peeling potatoes or cleaning the rugs. They expected her to gladly accept old clothes as part of her wages.

Immigrants

Cleaning workers in the informal economy today are mostly immigrant women. In an investigation from the university in Linköping the employers described Swedish maids as troublesome because they are more concerned about the rules and more often dare to speak out. They thought immigrants were more docile and not questioning. But being docile of course depends on a vulnerable social position. The women themselves described a daily life with low income, unpaid working hours and a frustration stemming from always having to please others.

Official work as a maid is also insecure. The employer can always terminate the employment without giving any reason, so if the cleaning worker protests against wrong treatment the employer can sack her easily. That is against the law, but it is hard to prove why she was sacked.

If you do cleaning work alone in a private home you do not have the collective strength of a normal workplace. When workers and women have won rights it has been the result of collective strength and struggle.

Struggle

The first big wave of women’s struggle in the beginning of the 1900s, when the right to vote was won, was the result of women working in industry. The second wave in the 1970s followed the mass entrance of women into the labour market. Both these periods of struggle were the result of women no longer being alone with their problems.

With domestic jobs the right wing government wants to weaken that strength and go back to a situation where women are alone in a situation where they are oppressed. They want to re-establish that it is alright not to do your own cleaning at home. Another strong reason for the government proposing this is the creation of a new low-wage labour market, which will put downward pressure on all wages.

The right wing politicians argue that they are making illegal labour legal. Most employers with informal economy domestic help, however, can already afford to pay taxes but have chosen not to. With or without tax benefits there will still be an informal market that is cheaper, where the employers have stronger control.

Finland has already implemented a similar reduction in taxes. Only five per cent of Finnish households used the system in 2003. Most of those were upper middle class, according to ‘LO-Tidningen’ (the Swedish TUC newspaper). Only between 2,700 and 3,400 full time jobs were created, to the cost of 90 million euros. In Sweden, that sum would create jobs for 3,200 health workers in the public sector.

Socialist programme

Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna has stood for many years for a rebuilding of the women’s movement. Today, there is an ongoing backlash against women’s position in society and it is more important than ever that women activists come together and raise their voices on 8 March.

Our alternative to the maid tax rebate system is a highly improved provision of childcare and care of the elderly. We want increased public resources to increase the number of jobs for educated staff that work with the old and sick, where there is real need. We want men to take on more unpaid household work. This can be made possible through a reduced working day to six hours for everyone without loss of pay and with women’s wages increased to the same level as men.

International Women's Day 2007 - Europe
Men's violence against women

Katja Raetz, Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna

Almost one in every two women in Europe (about 45%) will, during their lifetime, be subjected to some form of violence.

Between one fifth and one quarter are subjected to physical violence at least once in their lives. More than a tenth of all women have experienced sexual violence that includes force. This has been made clear in a report by the European Union published on 27 November, 2006, as part of an EU campaign meant to stop violence against women.

In spite of the fact that violence against women has recently attracted attention and condemnation in several reports and in the press as well as in various campaigns, it is still commonplace in all European countries.

Unlike the physical violence that is directed against men, the majority of the violence directed against women comes from men in their immediate social environment, most of the time from their present or ex-partners. The study also shows that society can only to a very small extent protect women in violent relationships or after finishing such a relationship.

In many European countries it is possible to issue a prohibition on a man visiting the woman, but it is often both expensive and difficult to get such an order. In Britain, for instance, it costs over 2,000 euros if you need assistance from a lawyer. In Germany and Austria, studies show that the police become less willing to issue a prohibition after having been called a second time to the same household – even though that actually indicates a greater level of violence. In many countries there is no police procedure to make sure that the issued prohibition is observed.

The violence experienced by women at the hands of men means much more serious and long-term problems for them than “just” the immediate physical wounds. Common health problems include psychosomatic disorders like chronic pains, eating problems, post-traumatic stress, phobias, depression and anxiety. Women who experience violence run a bigger risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, alcohol and psychopharmacological drugs. They need physiological help four or five times more often than normal. They are five times more likely than others to try to take their own lives. These are just some examples of a long list of consequences.

Violence against women has costs too, both in human suffering and economic costs to society. In several countries different attempts have been made to estimate the costs based on the expenses for the police, the judiciary, health service, social services and other costs. The figures vary between 2.4 billion euros in Spain and 34 billion euros in Britain.

The report stresses that violence against women is a problem for society. It is a step forward compared to earlier assumptions that violence within the family or partnership is a private matter. The strength of the study is that it shows how widespread men’s violence against women is - that it is very common and of the same character in all European countries.

The campaign in the European Union that will continue until 2008, will first and foremost seek better legislation. We can also hope that the campaign contributes to (once again) publicising men’s violence against women. The weakness is that there is no explanation as to why there is violence and how to fight it.

We can find the reason for violence in the idea of the social superiority of man compared with woman in class-divided society. We can see it in pay differences, the fact that women on average do a greater part of the unpaid work at home, that men play a bigger role in public life and in the power structure of society. The violence from men is connected with the idea of the role of the man being to take and keep control and dominance over the woman and her life.

The oppression of women is a part of the oppression inherent in class society. It helps maintain a system where a small minority take control of the labour of the great majority, men and women alike. A struggle against women’s double oppression is needed in order to abolish the violence. It is because of this that the struggle for higher pay and the building of a bigger and more effective public sector is connected with the struggle against the violence against women. A completely different society is needed, a society that is not based on impoverishment and oppression – a socialist society.

International Women's Day 2007 - Brazil
Violence towards women a public issue at last!

Jane Barros, Socialismo Revolucionario

It is quite common to hear authorities, public figures, or even some less conscious activists say that sexist violence, the violence suffered by women, “is a private issue”. It is because that opinion in Brazilian society that only in 2006 (506 years after the ‘discovery’ of Brazil!) was a law passed characterising aggression against women as a crime that leads to public trial and prison: the ‘Maria da Penha Law’.

This law was approved in the second half of 2006 and was the fruit of years of feminist battles and struggles. But the necessary funding to carry out the law is not there! The Lula government, after the endorsement of the law, cut 30% of the funding designated to the fight against violence against women for 2007. This is a situation that, at the very least, should have provoked huge resentment, but, unfortunately, it was widely expected.

From the outset of Lula's first mandate, the money that should have been used to implement public projects was re-allocated to assure a "primary budget surplus", that is the payments of the public debt. All this is done through fiscal adjustments. For those who still had any doubts about the priorities of the second Workers’ Party (PT) government, this measure makes it completely clear the Lula government will maintain neo-liberal policies through cuts in social expenditure.

The number of indictments for violence against women in Brazil is frightening. According to United Nations statistics, domestic violence is the main cause of injuries suffered among women from 15 to 44 years. In Brazil, one out of four women have suffered domestic violence (if we include all kinds of violence this figure is even higher). According to the non-government organisation, Pagu, out of every 100 killings of Brazilian women, 70 are happening within domestic relationships, carried out by fathers, husbands, uncles etc.

According to studies, only 10% of victims make a report to the police. Women who are subjected to this kind of violence feel uneasy about having to prove in a police station that they were assaulted. In addition to the suffering they have already undergone, it means having to go through the distressing experience of giving the details to prove they have been victims of violence. There is no assistance for women in that situation. Few police stations have special facilities for women, and in the few that have, because of a lack of funding, there are no resources for qualified staff to deal with this kind of situation.

In the first half of 2006, the number of cases registered in police stations of non-lethal violence against women, was 24,176 (the numbers registered are much smaller than the actual occurrences). In the second half of the year, there were several cases that were carried on the national media.

There were two cases in the city of Rio de Janeiro of women assaulted by ex-partners. One of them was Cristina Ribeiro who was kidnapped and assaulted by her ex-husband on a bus. The ex-husband held 55 passengers hostage in the vehicle while he beat her. She had made several complaints to the special police station for women but no action was taken. Some of those complaints she withdrew, as she was afraid to return home and suffer new aggression. When the police finally managed to negotiate an end to the kidnapping, Cristina Ribeiro was taken to hospital by ambulance, seriously wounded. The aggressor is at liberty during the juridical process.

No refuges

One aggravating factor in these cases is the financial dependence of women, as they do not have anywhere to go after they suffer attacks and aggression. There is no coherent public policy, not even some palliative measures which are capable of assuring shelter - "safe houses" for the victims and their children. Many cases illustrate this depressing and gruesome situation involving women victims of violence.

In the beginning of 2007, another case got national attention. A prisoner in São Paulo, on Christmas leave, held his ex-wife in captivity in her house for 48 hours. Not very far away, in Brasília, two other prisoners, also on Christmas leave, raped two adult women and two children. We must make clear that we are not against the possibility of having leave from prison. But it is important that we differentiate between the thousands of prisoners who are simply victims of the capitalist system from those who are heads of criminal gangs, and violent aggressors and rapists.

Apart from these recent cases, there was the infamous case of an ex-editor of the newspaper, ‘Estado de São Paulo’, Pimenta Neves, who killed his ex-girl friend, the journalist, Sandra Gomide, in 2000. Neves is still at liberty, even after getting a prison sentence of 19 years. This is an example of how people in the upper layers of society manage to escape the punitive system. The legal system in Brazil only applies fully to poor people.

The negligence of the state towards the barbarities suffered by the women victims of violence is absurd. During election campaigns, politicians make high-sounding promises, declaring their opposition to violence against women. In the general election, last year, the majority of the candidates spoke in favour of women’s rights. Such are the levels of social barbarity in society, and the fact that women suffer most, all election candidates felt compelled to speak in favour of women’s rights. The right wing and the false ‘left’ used the same opportunistic speeches, while thousands of women continue to be assaulted, beaten and killed daily.

It is important that we consider the situation facing women. Violence against women is neither unusual nor a novelty in Brazil and the rest of the world. Capitalism foments this situation. We are familiar with and angry about the way capitalism exploits female labour, pays ever lower wages, and the way the female body is exploited as if it is merchandise. However, the situation of economic and social crisis, unemployment and misery has reached such levels that human degradation becomes widespread.

Women, due to their social role, which was shaped through history, are the biggest victims of capitalist barbarism. The oppression of women is a part of the foundations of the capitalist system. The bigger the crisis, the bigger the concentration of capital in fewer hands, the bigger the degeneration of society, the worse the situation confronting the exploited class and, above all, oppressed women.

Against this general background, the Brazilian section of the CWI believe it is important we have a vigorous campaign for refuges that provide safe haven for women victims of violence, to escape from the aggression until more long-term solutions can be found.

Such a campaign is a way to put pressure on the authorities to guarantee the funding necessary to implement the new law promulgated last year – the ‘Maria da Penha Law’. We condemn the Lula Government for using this issue to obtain support, while, at the same time, as making cuts which mean the application of the law becomes unviable.

This campaign will allow socialists to discuss, starting from the concrete demand for safe havens, the situation facing women in capitalist society. The only way to end the barbarities of capitalism is to collectively build the struggle for socialism - for a world where this kind of violence is no longer a fundamental part of upholding an inequitable social system.

International Women's Day 2007 - India
Women bear brunt of widening wealth gap

Nirmala Shetty, New Socialist Alternative

The fundamental emancipation of women lies in the achievement of a classless society. In the recent period India is attracting attention for its high growth. Economic analysts roll out development figures unabated. But the objective reality is that India has a back-log in terms of unfulfilled ‘democratic’ social tasks. A cursory glance of how the women in India live gives ample evidence that all is not well in the so-called booming country.

On August 2002, 17-year-old Shruthi was on her daily routine of going to her school. As she was getting down from her school bus, Shruthi’s acquaintance, Rajesh, suddenly attacked her with a splash of acid on her head. Because of this attack one of Shruthi’s eyes and half of her body are charred beyond recognition. Shruthi has not seen school since that day. With about 20 surgical treatments she is still in an unrecovered state. Such ghastly experiences not only physically shake you, but could even kill your spirit to struggle to survive.

The crime of acid attacks against women in India is becoming more and more common. In the last decade, the state of Karnataka alone has seen 37 such cases; many more have gone unreported. Many a time it is the threat to life made by the attackers that means these cases are suppressed. An acid attack speaks volumes of the injustice and inequality meted out against women in India. Such cruelty depicts the criminal mind at work, which not only wants the victim to suffer the grievous possible harm but also forces her not to enjoy her life in the future. Acid attacks hold a mirror as to how the capitalist and the landlordist system treats women in society.

In the aftermath of the attack even the judiciary treats the victim as a culprit and is judgemental on the character and conduct of the victim herself.

In such crimes against women it is always the case that these incidents are either localised or individualised. But it must be noted, it is the pathetic status of women that is perpetuated by the system that is responsible for such evils. In India, like in most countries, women are treated as second class citizens and are never given the opportunity to assert themselves by refusing the so-called love proposals and advances. Tacit submission is the only course that is open to her.

Though superficially this problem of acid throwing looks as if it is simply hostility between two non-consenting adults, in actual fact it is deep-rooted gender inequality which is the problem. The responsibility for such attacks in a broader sense must be borne by the capitalist system. Such an attack, when viewed from a class angle, speaks about the lop-sided politics of inequality that is practiced by the system.

In 1999, 20 year-old Hasina Hussein of Bangalore was viciously attacked by acid throwing which resulted in the complete loss of her eyesight, a permanent hole in the head and a deformed face. After 5 years, Hasina has spent 600,000 rupees and got 18 surgical treatments done. But she has to live the rest of her life as a blind person. The case became famous and a court finally decided in Hasina’s favour for compensation. But the irony is, by the time the judgement was given, the culprit who did the attack had already served his sentence (5 years 3 months) and was free. And even though the expense for Hasina’s treatement was 6 lakhs (10,000), she was only awarded 3 lakhs compensation, and was left with a huge debt.

Capitalist 'values'

This case proves that the bourgeois courts are inadequate to provide justice in such cases – either by administrative measures or by financial compensation. Under capitalism, such ghastly crimes cannot be eradicated.

In a system where the prime motive is profit, the judicial parameters and all the facilities awarded in the constitution are guided by and within the greedy capitalist system which looks on women as second class citizens. It is impossible to get real justice and create an exploitation-free society under capitalism. Yes, the culprit must be punished severely. But such crimes and oppression cannot be viewed in terms of just winning one legal case. It is only when such cases lead to mass struggle that any tangible results can be gained.

It is the attitude and the practice of the ruling system that creates such a despicable existence for women in society. Her status in the family, the financial development of the family, private property, personal relationships and sexuality - all these factors ‘commodify’ women.

It is the attitude that the control of women is the prerogative right of men-folk in all spheres that creates such situations and leads to visible and invisible crimes against women. Even in this modern world today, all the contradictions created by capitalism, such as class inequality and power structures, manifest themselves in a more blatant way in inter-personal relations and family units.

In India today, a girl child is still seen as a bad omen, a burden and an unwanted commodity. This leads to foeticide or killings of new-born female babies. According to the UNICEF report, of the 32 states in India, in 27 states the practice of killing girl children is still widely prevalent. This has lead to an alarming reduction of the population ratio between women and men. By the time of the 2001 census there were only 927 women for every 1,000 men.

Crimes against women

According to another report in India, there is one instance of sexual harassment every 7 minutes, rape every 56 minutes and a dowry killing every 90 minutes. The list of crimes against women is an unending saga, and is astark reminder of the blood-chilling realities of this unequal, class dominated system.

Crimes such as acid throwing on women puts them in an extremely vulnerable situation on a day today basis. Society, for the fear of such attacks, will put pressure on women to stay indoors. It is already the case that the families have instructed young girls and women to return home early in the evening. Many families, whose wards have been attacked, have taken to extreme measures such as suicide.

In a situation like that in India where religion plays a dominant role, such crimes drive women into a deeper abyss of religious practices. In fact the Burkha (the full, face-covering veil), amongst Muslim women, has got a new impetus because of acid attacks.

Growth in economy creates further inequalities

The prime reason for such attacks on women is the failure of the capitalist system to develop society. So many ‘advances’ that accompanied the transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe – referred to by Trotsky and others as the ‘democratic tasks’ – are pressing for completion. Even to-day, human resources have by no means been fully utilised.

Governments have not utilised young people and their talents. There are crores (millions) of unemployed who are wandering around without jobs. Because of globalisation, the gap between rich and poor has increased. Living costs for a few have decreased but for the vast armies of poor and unemployed, they have gone up.

Multinational corporations (MNCs), with their neo-liberal approach, are treating women as commodities. They have redefined the concept of beauty. Obscene and near-pornographic advertisements are stereotyping women in society. The media is propagating the idea that women are objects for sexual satisfaction. The entertainment industry is cashing in on backwardness and medieval social behaviour by bringing in ‘dialogs’ which are obscene wall posters with porn photos. These irresponsible acts lead young people to think in a perverted way about women, love and sex.

Without oppression-free society, no end to women’s oppression

Economic empowerment and educational advancement alone cannot create equality for women. It certainly will not bring down oppression and violence. As long as the greedy capitalist system, and the laws, culture, religion and caste system perpetuated by it, seeks to keep women in the frame-work of private property, as long as this outlook continues, women, however economically advanced, will face inequality in society.

The fundamental emancipation of women lies in the achievement of a classless society. Only when women participate in leading the class struggle can they eradicate male domination and write the prelude for an equal and oppression-free future. Women will have to get to the forefront of the fight for socialism; only in such a struggle can they achieve a fundamental change in society.

The fight for emancipation of women should become an integral part of the class struggle itself. To prepare such ground inside existing organisations of workers, youth and poor, class fighters must support these points:

- Discussion and debate on the issues of sexual harassment, crimes against women and domestic violence must be on the regular agenda of the trade unions.

- In places where women are a minority, the trade union and its leadership must be pro-active in increasing the self-assurance of women to come forward in the struggle.

- Acid attack victims must get lifelong and full compensation including surgical and medical expenses. This should be borne by both the government and the perpetrator of the crime.

- To rehabilitate acid attack victims completely, all the most modern surgical and medical treatment must be made available to all the victims. The governments, which are indirectly responsible for these crimes, should bear all the expenses.

- An end to all direct and indirect sexual harassment.

- Trade unions must consciously set about including women workers in leading the fight against the bosses and the capitalist system. Without them, the fight cannot be won!

International Women's Day 2007 - Nigeria
Women's burdens demand socialist action

Titi Salaam-Ogunniran, Democratic Socialist Movement

The United Nations Human Development Report of 2006 places Nigeria at 151 out of 177 nation-states rated basically in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment, income, seats in parliament held by women, female professional and technical workers, ratio of estimated female to male earned income, female economic activities rate, population without sustainable access to improved water source and total fertility rate, etc.

Taking into consideration the country’s huge human and material resources, it is a scandal that Nigeria is not among the nations moving up on the rungs of the human development ladder. Most of the efforts by development organisations and non-governmental organisations to alleviate poverty have failed because of the entrenched capitalist patriarchal structure, which places Nigerian resources in the hands of the few rich men and women.

The social and economic development of any society in our modern but crisis-ridden world requires the contribution of women. Lenin, the leader of the 1917 Russian revolution stated, “The building of socialism will begin only when we have achieved the complete equality of women”. This emphasises the vital role of women in building an egalitarian society. For any meaningful development to take place in society, women’s involvement must not be reduced to tokenism - just reserving some percentage of seats for women in parliament. What is most important is for women to a play dynamic role in the social transformations of society.

Education

Education is a key factor in civilisation and development for both men and women in any society. Statistics in Nigeria have shown that 58% of teenage girls have no education at all compared with 21% who have primary education and 5% with some secondary education. Females’ education has been seen as a secondary factor compared to that of males until very recently when the issue of discrimination against the female sex became an issue. Education for girls has been developed in ways that in many cases have disadvantaged girls by excluding them from some professional courses.

Universal access to free basic education is a key element of child rights, embodied in Article 28 of the Child Rights Convention (CRC), which prescribes, “The child has a right to education and the state duty is to ensure that primary education is free and compulsory” . The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in Article 10 upholds the right of equal access to education and abhors any form of discrimination against women. But all this is just a mirage for the Nigerian civil servants whose monthly income is N18, 000 ($140) for state workers and federal civil servants who earn about N30, 000 ($231) as a university graduate on level 8. In most cases these workers have the choice of sending their children to public schools or not sending them at all to any school, instead exposing girls to petty trading on the street.

A woman’s level of education is a determining factor for her time of marriage, reproductive health rights and her role in decision-making. It will also have a tremendous impact on the health and nourishment of her children. Education is a key means to social improvement as women’s position within the family is integrally linked to progress in other areas. As women’s situation and status at home improves, the family should become a place where lessons of repression and compliance are replaced by those of partnership and equality - the ‘democratic’ family. But this is not happening in Africa.

Despite the importance of formal education, there has been a virtual deprivation of education for the girl child in Nigeria. Girls going long distances to fetch water, dropping out of school to help provide for the family through hawking of goods, lack of the necessary infrastructure and outright poverty are some of the reasons that have affected female education.

Economy

Nigerian capitalist economy is detrimental to Nigerian women. The government’s efforts to implement the international financial institutions’ (IFIs) demands for harsh economic measures and the dreadful search for cut-throat profit by business operators to survive the harsh economic situation, have suffocated the Nigerian economy, increased unemployment and widened the gap between women and men, rich and poor. While men have continued to wander in public in search of daily needs, women languish at home in line with the division of roles along lines of gender.

Increasing poverty since the end of the oil boom in the late 1970s has driven millions of women into jobs that are very exploitative, hazardous and detrimental to their welfare and development. The economic liberalisation measures advocated by the World Bank and the IMF have been accompanied by a significant redefinition in policy priorities: a decrease in state control over the economy, extended access to private enterprise and foreign investment and an emphasis on export-led development.

Neo-liberal economic policies have imposed widespread privatisation, deregulation of the oil sector, the removal of subsidies on basic goods, the downsizing of the labour force and the opening up of the Nigerian market to foreign goods. This has led to the collapse of many industries and to widespread unemployment in Nigeria, resulting in many female-headed household. The cities are full of gangs of frustrated unemployed youths. Angry and hungry women are prone to violence. Exploited women are deprived of any chance to develop their potential and enjoy basic freedoms. Sex workers in the presence of AIDS are among the poorest and most downtrodden members of society in the country.

Political participation

The past eight years under the Obasanjo government have seen some increase in the number of women holding public positions, both elected and appointed. Women constitute about 40% of the appointed officers serving in the Obasanjo administration. This is more than the celebrated ‘affirmative action benchmark’ of 30%. However it has demonstrated that having women in government does not automatically translate into improvements in the living conditions of the average woman. The conditions of poor women and men have got worse under Obasanjo. This is why the agitation for increased participation of women in politics should be linked with the struggle against anti-poor, neo-liberal policies.

An increase in political participation has also not meant that the obstacles in the way of women have been dismantled. There are still some states in the northern part of the country where there are no women in government, to the extent that even the ministry of women’s affairs is headed by a man! The Sun newspaper of Sunday, March 4 reported that Iyabo Anisulowo, a former minister, says she lost the backing of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for re-election to the senate because she refused to “succumb to sexual advances of a particular national leader of the party”.

Health

Women’s access to health facilities in Nigeria is very poor due to poverty, the environment, water, supply, sanitation, educational levels, cultural attitudes and gender relations. The 1999 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) reported that only 53% of the population lives within one kilometer of a health centre, clinic or hospital. One third of the rural communities are accessible by seasonal roads only. Timely access to secondary and tertiary health facilities is particularly problematical for the Niger Delta women who have to travel by boat to bigger towns within the region for medical attention. NDHS statistics show that 21% of the Niger Delta households have no access to health facilities. The figure of one doctor per 82,000 people in the Delta is more than three times the national average.

With the patriarchal traditional culture that lays a lot of emphasis on bearing children and if possible, male children, Nigerian women can go to great lengths to fulfill expectations often to the detriment of their own health. Early child birth tends to leave women and their babies with permanent forms of disability. Many women suffer from avoidable or preventable problems during pregnancy and childbirth. Numerous women with disabling conditions due to pregnancy end up being divorced or abandoned by their husbands and are socially ostracized. Women’s health is greatly affected by the decaying Nigerian health system.

Last year I experienced what many women go through in Nigeria. I gave birth to my first child - a baby girl – prematurely. I saw and heard her crying. Seven hours later I was told she was dead. I found out there was no permanent pediatrician in the hospital and the drug they ought to give a premature baby cannot be found in Nigeria.

Water and Sanitation

The majority of under-five deaths in Nigeria result from diseases related to unsafe water, inadequate sanitary facilities, poor housing conditions or lack of hygiene. Malnutrition – a major cause of child deaths - is closely related to diarrhea caused by poor water quality and sanitation facilities. Inadequate drainage leads to accumulated waste water and provides breeding grounds for mosquitoes and flies. This leads to the spread of malaria which is the single most important cause of death in the country.

The use of a single water source such as a local well, stream, pond or river, for multiple purposes, including bathing, washing etc. results in the contamination of water and has contributed to the high incidence of water borne disease. The indigenous people of the oil producing communities, where the nation’s wealth is obtained, do not have access even to the basic amenities of life, such as clean drinking water, good health facilities and electricity. Meanwhile, the oil companies drilling and exploring oil and gas on their land have these amenities for their staff, in the same environment.

The fetching of water inflicts a heavy burden on women and girls in Nigeria. They have to walk very long distances to the few sources of clean water and queue for a long time to fill their buckets. Carrying water on their head and walking long distances has a lot of consequence on the health of women and girls. In most cases, the water containers they carry have a capacity for 20 litres of water. Carrying such a heavy weight on the head has a severe health implication for the back and hips of women and girls who experience back-ache and joint pains.

Women and the Niger Delta conflict

The exploitation of oil resources in the Niger Delta has resulted in particular economic and environmental conflicts. Oil provides over 90% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings, yet the people of the Niger Delta are among the poorest in Nigeria. In the upland areas where agricultural activities are high, crop yields have greatly declined. Farmlands have been taken away from women, who are the main farmers, for laying oil pipelines which criss-cross the land and contaminate it. Food shortage within the region has led to importation from other parts of the country leading to high costs of food and higher poverty levels. To make matters worse, Nigerian women do not have access to the technology or information to improve agricultural production.

Women suffer great hardships in times of conflict. The women of the Niger Delta are no exception. During the conflicts with oil companies and the Nigerian government, women are subjected to all kinds of violence – sexual violence such as rape, physical violence such as beatings, maiming and murder, and destruction of properties. Niger Delta women suffer unimaginable human rights abuses for which redress is unattainable because the agents of government who perpetrate the abuses “cannot” be subjected to the rule of law. Husbands, fathers and sons have been killed or maimed in the conflict and women have had to assume burdensome responsibilities as the heads of households.

With all this suffering, women have found their capacity to fight. They are no longer passive in issues affecting their communities. The massive non-violent protest by women from several communities in the Niger Delta in 2002 serves as a reference point. The women demanded the cleaning up of oil spills, environmental protection, jobs, education and health services and economic investment in their communities. The tactics and determination of the women forced the Chevron Oil Company to send their senior executives to negotiate with them. The parties agreed to a deal that meant Chevron-Texaco was supposed to employ local people, fund schools, electricity provision and other infrastructure projects and also assist women in setting up poultry and fish farms.

Unfortunately for the women, the Chevron Oil Company did not implement their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Instead the company chose to use divide and rule tactics to destabilise the women. The success of their protest against the Chevron Texaco did not elevate their political status in society nor has it given them more participation in community development decision-making. The reality of the situation in the Niger Delta shows that women gaining political power is considered a threat to the male-dominated political structure.

Although poverty and exploitation affect men and women, elders and youth, women’s subordination and lack of opportunities as well as their exclusion from decision-making, make them more vulnerable to poverty. In addition women in the region do not have access to jobs and social services. This situation has created a large commercial sex market in the region with all the associated health and social problems. It is the Niger Delta region that is the worst affected by Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS burden. The presence of affluent oil workers in the midst of such poverty in the region has led to high rates of prostitution.

Socialist Alternative

To improve the situation of women, we have to agitate for equal opportunities, free health care and education, provision of useful employment, etc. The temporary gains that can be achieved under capitalism, as a result of mass struggles of the oppressed masses, can only be made permanent through the socialist reconstruction of society which would end the oppression of women in general.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, we of the Democratic Socialist Movement dedicate ourselves to building a powerful socialist alternative, which will emancipate poor working class women along with all other exploited sections of society.

International Women's Day 2007 - Pakistan
Women suffer untold misery and new law gives no protection

Rukhsana Manzoor, Socialist Movement Pakistan

The killing of a female Punjab provincial minister on 20 February, 2007, has sent shock waves throughout the country. The minister was shot dead by a religious extremist when she was speaking to the local people in her home town, Gujaranwala.

When the killer was arrested he said to the police that the motive behind the killing was religious. The minister was not a good Muslim and had violated the teachings of Islam, which forbids women to take part in politics. He revealed that he had killed many women and in 1994 had even tried to kill Pakistani People’s Party chairperson, Benazir Bhutto.

According to the killer, no Muslim female should become a political leader or minister. His views are shared by many in this Muslim society. Religious parties and clerics openly campaign against women’s rights. For them, every woman raising her voice about women’s rights and equality is ‘Westernised’ and ‘immoral’ and needs to be harshly punished, up to and including by killing.

This murder, of someone belonging to the ruling party, has exposed the high-sounding claims of the government that women are safer in Pakistan than ever before. But according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, every two hours one woman in the country is raped and one woman is gang raped every eight hours. This, say the rights groups, is probably an under-estimate since so many rapes are still not reported.

There has been a marked increase in the number of incidents of violence against women. The national and regional media is always full every day of these horrific crimes and violence against women.

When parliament passed the ‘Women’s Protection Bill, 2006’ in November of last year, the government made claims that this bill would protect women in Pakistan and it would also enhance their status in society. The government spokesmen and officials gave the impression that this law would bring revolutionary change for women and that violence against them would decrease.

Contrary experience

But experience has shown contrary results in the last few months. This is because the ‘Women Protection Bill, 2006’ simply sanctions the violence of the notorious ‘Hudood Ordinance’. It gives it a cosmetic ‘make-over’ with the aim of making it more palatable to the public at large. The changes include a reduction in the sentence for the crime of ‘lewd behaviour’ - from a death sentence down to five years imprisonment and a fine of $200.

But women can still be accused and harshly punished for adultery. The judges are now left free to decide how to proceed with rape cases. Previously, under the Hudood Ordinance, a woman had to provide four male witnesses to confirm that a rape had taken place. Now those four good Muslim men are no longer required as witnesses!

The new women’s bill still does nothing to ensure the safety of rape victims nor does it do away with the fact that a woman can be prosecuted for engaging in consensual sexual relations. It is best described as ‘Hudood Ordinance - the Remix’!

Prior to the implementation of the Hudood laws in 1979, by the barbaric military dictator Zia ul-Haq, Pakistan’s penal code did not label sex outside marriage as a crime. Adultery and pre-marital sex were considered personal ‘sins’, not matters for the state. According to the Hudood laws, marital rape is not a crime. This allowed husbands to rape their wives without punishment. Yet, these same laws make adultery, sex between unmarried couples and prostitution liable to extremely severe punishments. The ordinance stipulated that a person could be found guilty with or without the consent of the other party. This meant that women were more likely to be convicted than men because there would be medical evidence.

As already mentioned, if a woman wanted to prove she had been raped, she had to provide four male witnesses to the crime, all of whom had to be good Muslims!

This Hudood Ordinance has brought unbearable misery, discrimination and horrible conditions for women, especially poor rural women. The police, feudal lords and influential rich people used these laws to cover up their rape and violence against women. Many domestic workers in the cities and female agricultural workers in the rural areas were raped and tortured. Then, when they complained to the police about these crimes, they themselves would be prosecuted under these laws. Police sided with rapists and arrested their victims on charges of adultery.

General Musharaf himself has admitted that these laws have been widely misused and needed to be reviewed. But after months of debate in parliament and the media, the government only came out with a few minor amendments to these laws. These amendments will not make a huge difference, as events have proved.

Nothing changed

This new law has changed nothing as far as poor, rural women living in feudal and tribal areas are concerned. On 27 January, 2007, a shameful act took place in the town of Abaro in interior Sindh. Eleven men gang raped a 16 year old girl and than forced her to walk around the village naked. Her only ‘crime’ was that she is the cousin of a young man who dared to marry a girl of an influential family without the consent of the family. The male members of the family felt insulted about this marriage and they decided to take revenge. They stormed the house of the man’s cousin and kidnapped her. Then the 11 men gang raped and severely tortured the poor teenage girl. They were allegedly taking revenge and ‘restoring the honour’ of the family who, they felt, had been defamed by a so-called ‘love marriage’. After the gang rape and torture, she was forced to parade naked in the village. This is how ‘honour’ is restored in this feudal society!

When the family of the victim complained to the police, they refused to register a case and even pressurised a doctor not to issue a medical report of this gang rape. When the news of this horrendous crime was reported in the media, the government and the Supreme Court intervened and ordered the local authorities to register a rape case. This is not the only case highlighted in the media. Four more gang rape cases were reported last month, including one in a police station!

All the Islamic fundamentalist parties, groups and clerics oppose even the weak new amendments to the law. They have organised protests, public rallies and demonstrations against the Women’s Protection Bill. They insist it will turn Pakistan into a free sex zone and will also protect prostitution!

Fundamentalism

The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the country and the introduction of the Hudood laws in 1979 have actually given a significant boost to crimes against women. Because these laws protect men and allow women to be easily prosecuted, there has been a significant increase in prostitution, rapes, gang rapes, forced ‘naked parades’, domestic and other violence against women and sexual harassment at work and in society as a whole.

Women were safer before the introduction of these hateful Hudood laws. Pakistan was not a ‘free sex zone’ before. In fact, there were fewer women involved in prostitution before these laws were introduced. History since 1979 shows that they urgently need to be repealed in order to begin to improve the status of the women in society.

So women in Pakistan are celebrating another International Women’s Day under extremely difficult conditions. In the 21st Century, women in Pakistan are still suffering under the customs and traditions of the middle ages in many areas of the country. Demanding women’s rights, let alone exercising them, is still seen as a crime. Even animals are treated better than female human beings in some parts of the country.

Socialist revolution

The conditions of poor working class women cannot be changed or improved significantly under capitalism. Feudalism, tribalism and capitalism co- exist in Pakistan, which has created terrible conditions for working class and poor rural women. Crimes, violence, and anti-women practices and traditions cannot be stopped only through laws. The main root causes of the problems faced by women also need to be addressed. Feudal and tribal traditions will only end when reactionary feudalism and tribalism are abolished.

The capitalist class has failed to do away with them and complete the tasks of transforming Pakistan into a modern developed society. In neo-colonial countries like Pakistan, only the working class will complete this task through a socialist revolution. The capitalist class is not capable of abolishing feudalism and tribalism and establishing a modern capitalist state. The ‘stages theory’ promoted by Stalinism, which says that workers and youth have to struggle first for a democratic capitalist society, builds the illusion that this would bring a solution. Such ideas offer no way forward for the working class.

To abolish the pernicious and deep-rooted elements of feudalism and tribalism in our society, it is necessary to abolish the capitalist system which has strengthened and protected them. The working class is the only class capable of overthrowing this rotten and reactionary system.

A fighting programme based on the theory of ‘permanent revolution’, linking the abolition of feudalism with the struggle for socialism, will enable the working masses to overcome the evils of both feudal and capitalist barbarism. This would free women from the brutal repression, discrimination, exploitation and violence that they suffer in class-ridden society.

Socialism will guarantee genuine freedom and equality to women. A united struggle of the working class including male workers as well as women, youth and poor peasants is necessary to overthrow the present rotten and reactionary system. The issue of women’s rights and equality is one of the key issues faced by the working class movement. No struggle for social change can succeed with one half of the population left out of the movement. The task of the socialists in Pakistan and world-wide: to organise women in the struggle for social, economic and political justice – for socialist change on an international scale.

International Women's Day 2007 - Australia
The fight for equal pay continues!

Kylie McGregor, UNITE President and Socialist Party in Australia

In the 1920s women workers were only paid about half of what male workers earned. In some workplaces they earned even less: between 30- 40 % of men’s wages. It was through organising women in unions that the struggle for equal pay rights was won. Today a similar struggle for equal pay is going on with young workers who often receive between 40% and 60 % of adult rates. This is helping employers to make massive amounts of profits.

The first Women’s Day was celebrated in the United States, arising out of struggles of women workers in the second half of the 19th Century. It evolved into an international event as women in industrially developing countries began organising to fight against the appalling wages and conditions faced by female workers in industries such as manufacturing, textiles and domestic services.

On 8 March 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay, voting rights and an end to child labour. They adopted the slogan "Bread and Roses", with bread symbolising economic security and roses a better quality of life.

After a massive strike of garment workers in 1909, it was proposed at a conference of the Socialist International in 1910 that Women’s Day become an international event. This proposal was premised on the understanding that the exploitation of workers can only be tackled through international solidarity.

The Struggle for Equal Pay

In Australia union leader Muriel Heagney realised the importance of women fighting for equal pay and led the Council of Action for Equal Pay (CAEP). The CAEP organised trade unions and women’s organisations. It was the first conscious movement for equal pay in Australia. Their campaign of ‘the rate for the job’ successfully achieved the first benchmark in 1942 - when the female rate of pay was set at 75% of the male rate in the Commonwealth Basic Wage Case.

This was followed by further struggles for equality in the workplace, which led to the ‘Equal pay for equal work’ act of 1972, the right to maternity leave in 1979 and finally the Sex Discrimination Act, 1984 making it illegal to discriminate against women on the basis of sex, marital status and pregnancy.

The existence of ‘youth wages’, just like the meagre half pay for women in the 1920s, allows employers today to make massive profits. Fast food and the retail trade rely on young people. No other industries have workforces so dominated by young workers. By hiring a large number of inexpensive workers and sending them home when things are slow, these outlets are able to keep their labour costs low. Paying youth wages and employing most of their staff on a casual basis is the key to their massive profit margins.

Women today still fighting for equal pay

Despite legislation, women today still earn considerably less than men. For instance women in retail and hospitality (hotels and catering) have been hit hardest by prime minister Howard’s new work laws. Real wages have fallen dramatically since the new legislation. The impact was particularly harsh for women, whose real ordinary-time earnings fell by 2 per cent in the first six months. In retail and hospitality women represent 60 per cent of the work-force.

Between 2000 and 2004, the ordinary-time earnings of full-time female workers were about 85 per cent of the male average. They are now 83.6 per cent - the lowest proportion since late 1998. Men who work full-time receive about $9,500 a year more on average than full-time women workers.

Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) hit women and young people hardest

Many young people and women are being forced onto AWAs under Howard’s new work laws. Most AWAs cut entitlements, especially penalty rates, overtime payments and allowances. National figures showed the number of Australian Workplace Agreements in retail and hospitality has surged in the past year.

UNITE – the union for low-paid young workers - is campaigning to organise the sectors of fast food and retail. We stand against the introduction of wage cutting AWAs. We are also one of the only organisations actively campaigning against youth wages, casualisation and low pay.

UNITE celebrates the struggles of women workers, particularly in the fight for equal pay. Yet the struggle for equal pay must continue. Women need pay equity in the industries in which they work. We also need a broader campaign to combat youth rates which allow for the discrimination and super-exploitation of young workers. Women and youth need to get organised in their workplaces and fight discrimination.

International Women's Day 2007 - Syria
Kurdish women have a hard fight

Guleperi Biro, Kurdish asylum-seeker in Cyprus

Kurdish women, who are oppressed inside their community in Syria, are facing two kinds of oppression. The first one is their political suffering, together with men, from the authorities just for being Kurdish. Neither of them are considered to be Syrian citizens in the constitution but are considered to be part of a second-class nation in the country. They do not have the right to speak their mother language nor to work in public departments and institutions.

There are also many Kurdish people stripped of their civil rights and their Syrian nationality. For that reason they are not allowed to work especially in teaching positions or to travel out of the country.

The second oppression for Kurdish women comes from the man himself. He uses his ‘eastern’ backward attitudes to control her economically and socially. In the past women used to work inside the house and in farming and in animal breeding. They themselves were regarded as machines for making babies without any acknowledgement of their sacrifices from the man. The man was in control of everything, owned all the money and he gave the orders about everything. Women never had the right to have their own personal property. Even socially, the community considered women as second class human beings. The man was always on top as he was seen as having all the competence.

Changes last century

Women in Syria saw and tolerated all these unfair things. They could not debate or renounce their obligations because they aspired to keep and save their family, namely the children. They were very afraid to get divorced because it is regarded as a matter of shame in her underdeveloped country. That was the situation until the middle of the last century. Women were under the shadow of the backward-thinking man.

As time went by, science and technique developed and political parties spread in the country; the situation started to get better. Little by little, men became more conscious and the way opened to the Kurdish women too, to rise up against their hard conditions and take their place in the community. They started getting education in schools and they started to become politically active in the Kurdish political parties. They became doctors, teachers, workers and started to have some kind of economic independence.

Kurdish women’s activity strengthened after the uprising in the 12th of March, 2004. In this demonstration they fought together, side by side with the men. They had the chance to chant slogans against the injustice and unfairness of the authoritarian system in which they are oppressed. Some of them became heroes and many times got imprisoned.

They faced beating and insults but all that did not break them down. Instead their morale rose and they got more motivation for fighting. From that point, women’s organisations and humanitarian associations got bigger and more active. These included the ‘Future Stream Committee in Syria, the Kurdish Women’s Association and the Kurdistan Women’s Union

Through these organisations, women participate in special campaigns to fight for their emancipation. They start to come to terms with their political, economic and social position and lift their scientific standards, taking their place among the women of the rest of the world.

Women are mothers, sisters, wives, daughters but also workers. They are a big proportion in the human community and they must achieve their rightful place in the world. We strive for Kurdish women, and all working and poor women of national minorities world-wide, to be fully self-confident in their abilities and to be more and more conscious of their own national and social rights inside and outside of the country.

International Women's Day 2007 - Britain
Fighting low pay decades after the Equal Pay Act

Sarah Mayo, Socialist Party in England & Wales

For the first time ever, British women now make up the majority of the workforce (51%). Apparently, we are breaking through the 'glass ceiling' with more female politicians, newspaper editors and judges, etc, than before. We live in a 'post-feminist' world. Or do we?

High profile 'career women', like New Labour politicians, are praised by the media because they can 'juggle it all' - career, family, love life, etc. What is hidden are the (mainly female) paid cooks, nannies and cleaners that allow this new found 'equality' by doing the 'dirty work'.

A small layer of professional women may have broken through but the reality for the majority of working-class women is that over 30 years after the Equal Pay Act of 1974 the pay gap between women and men is increasing.

In fact, even the breakthroughs for upper and middle class women 'at the top' are limited. Women are still vastly under-represented in parliament, as newspaper editors, company directors and judges etc. For example, only 26% of the most senior civil service managers are women. Yet the overwhelming majority in civil service clerical grades are women.

However, the other side to this is that female trade unionists in public sector unions like PCS and UNISON are increasingly important to the developing class struggles in Britain.

Low pay is a major issue for everyone but women are most vulnerable as they tend to be concentrated in low paid, often part-time and 'gender segregated jobs' like catering, cleaning and caring. Society devalues these jobs as they are still seen as 'women's work' and reflect women's 'traditional' role in the household.

Social surveys show that most people now agree that men and women should share childcare and cleaning chores equally. However, this is often not what happens in practice. Women still tend to take on most caring responsibilities (so are worst affected by NHS and social services cuts). This is why so many women prefer to work part-time while at the same time there are very limited opportunities for men who want to take paternity leave, etc.

Changes in the British economy over the last 30 years mean that more women work than ever before. The decimation of manufacturing has seen the erosion of well-paid industry jobs in traditionally male dominated industries. One-fifth of full-time workers are now low paid despite the introduction of the minimum wage. The greed and short-sightedness of British capitalism has meant that it is no longer possible for most families to survive on only one wage.

Meanwhile the part-time pay gaps remain high at 38% while the EOC (Equal Opportunities Commission) shows that four out of five part-time workers (many of whom are women) are working in jobs below their potential. The EOC concludes that this is at least partly due to the lack of flexible, high skill senior roles.

Ethnic minority women are even more disadvantaged due to the racism of employers. The EOC reveals for example that 6% of Pakistani women and 9% of Black Caribbean women work as managers or senior officials compared to 11% of white women.

In both the public and private sector, the lack of career progression for women is a big issue due to both direct and indirect discrimination. Research has also shown that having a university degree is no guarantee against unequal pay. One survey showed that even when they have the same degree, male graduates earn more than their female counterparts.

Within the civil service unequal pay remains a big issue as elsewhere. Recently the civil service gender pay gap decreased but here is the catch: it was the result of thousands of low paid female civil service workers losing their jobs as a result of the government's job cuts programme!

This picture is depressing but there are reasons to be optimistic. Female workers can be the most oppressed but this gives them all the more reason to fight back. Recent industrial disputes like Gate Gourmet and care staff in Southampton and Yorkshire, which involved mainly women workers, give a glimpse of that potential.

Meanwhile, in the civil service trade union, PCS, thousands upon thousands of female workers are linking up with their male colleagues and taking part in a national campaign to defend jobs, pay and services. PCS has a fighting left-wing national leadership that is prepared to mobilise its members and stand up to a government that has no answers for workers, regardless of gender.

And although at this stage most trade union leaders are not prepared to lead a struggle, socialists can play an important role in the struggle to transform the unions into campaigning unions.

However, an integral part of this task is to ensure that socialists and trade unionists understand women's oppression and why it's vital to counter it in order to strengthen class unity in the face of the bosses' attacks.

International Women's Day 2007 - Britain
Struggle, solidarity, socialism

Vicky Perrin, Socialist Party in England & Wales

This year, the 90th anniversary of the Russian revolution, on international women's day, we can celebrate the critical and courageous role that women activists have played internationally in the fight to liberate not just themselves but the working class as a whole, a fight that continues today.

In more recent times - during the Miners' strike of 1984/85 in Britain - women fought to defend jobs and their communities, not only standing alongside the men on picket lines but organising and speaking at the rallies and meetings which kept the strike going.

The summer of 2005 saw the brutal sacking of 670 airport catering workers, (many low-paid women) at Gate Gourmet. They were sacked by a megaphone announcement and then contained in a room as 'prisoners', as management brought in unorganised migrant labour to do their jobs.

The workers' willingness to fightback was shown in the magnificent solidarity action by British Airways baggage handlers who walked out the next day but they were disgracefully betrayed by a cowardly trade union leadership that bowed down to anti-trade union laws.

On 23 March last year over one million local government UNISON members, the majority low-paid women, showed their industrial strength by taking strike action in defence of their pensions. Public services were brought to a standstill only for the union leadership to call off further strike action in favour of talks.

A full year later and the union has shown it is not prepared to stand up to New Labour and union members are expected to accept what can be salvaged from a mishandled dispute that they could have won.

The left-led civil service trade union PCS union has called strike action on a number of occasions in the last year to defend jobs, terms and conditions and has shown itself to be brave enough to confront the government.

Currently, careworkers - members of UNISON - are showing that low paid women workers are not prepared to be the silent victims of cuts, privatisation, bullying and harassment and are bravely fighting back.

In Southampton, the council sent letters to over 200 careworkers over Christmas with the ultimatum that they could either sign new contracts on lower pay or find other jobs.

There have now been four days of strike action and Southampton UNISON is balloting for council-wide strike action against pay cuts and privatisation.

In Huddersfield, 16 women careworkers employed by Unique Care have been sacked after walking out in protest at the bullying and harassment which they refused to tolerate any longer.

They are entering the ninth week of their dispute, demanding that Kirklees council take them back 'in house' and end the contract with the profiteering private company and its 19th century employment practices. Thy are still strong and united in their fight for justice.

As socialists, we send greetings of solidarity to women in every country where they are struggling against capitalism, the system that oppresses women and the whole of the working class.

International Women's Day 2007 - Britain
Growing crisis in maternity provision

Eleanor Donne, Socialist Party in England & Wales

Imagine you are in labour, contractions coming every three minutes. You arrive at hospital panting and trying to remember your birth plan, pay £2 to park, make your way to the right floor - to be told that the maternity ward is shut due to staff shortages and you will have to go to another hospital.

It sounds like a bad comedy - but it is not so far-fetched as maternity units, particularly in London and eastern England, were shut temporarily for a total of 4,000 hours (the equivalent of 165 days) last year.

Maybe the government could train more taxi drivers to deliver babies as women attempt to get to their next nearest hospital, several miles away, through heavy traffic!

Thousands of women each year in the UK rely on the NHS during pregnancy and childbirth but it seems they are being badly let down. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) concluded, after conducting a survey of UK midwifery services in December, that they are becoming the 'Cinderellas' of the NHS, with more babies being born against a backdrop of cuts, job freezes, midwifery shortages and financial crises.

The government claims there has been a 44% increase in students entering midwifery. So what has caused the current shortage? Money - or lack of it. NHS Trusts, desperate to balance their books have frozen vacancies in maternity units, cut staff and taken on cheaper maternity support workers.

The government denies that their current 'reconfiguration' of maternity services is driven by the need to cut costs. They say that the proposal to centralise services into fewer regional specialised hospitals and close many smaller maternity units across the country will improve services for mothers and babies.

They say it will allow them to offer choice and continuity of care throughout pregnancy. The trouble is, nobody believes them!

The RCM's response was that there is 'no hope of this unless midwifery services are expanded'. There are currently 25,000 midwives in the UK and the RCM estimates that a further 10,000 are needed, but the government are silent on this.

The response from the public and health service staff has been angry demonstrations against cuts and closure of maternity wards. Clearly they are not convinced by the 'clinical case for change' which the government's Children and Maternity Tsar, Dr Sheila Shribman, published last week to justify the cuts.

Labour MPs in constituencies where cuts are most drastic are obviously feeling the heat. Never mind Tory MPs hi-jacking anti-cuts demos, these days you could be rubbing shoulders with a Cabinet minister!

But the main parties are responsible for the current crisis in the NHS and maternity services in particular, and it is pure hypocrisy for them to pretend otherwise. Whilst some of the protesters, health workers and community activists opposing cuts still welcome support from 'rebel' MPs, others have a healthy disrespect for all the establishment parties, and some of these are starting to draw the conclusion that they need an independent political voice.

This could be an opportunity not only to build the campaign for a new workers' party but to widen the debate from simply opposing cuts to what we really need and want from NHS maternity services and how we can get this.

Dr Shribman's report is cloaked in progressive language about giving women 'choice' - more home births, midwife-based birthing centres, reducing unnecessary caesarean operations. Her words are a little ironic given that last year a quarter of existing birthing centres in England alone closed or were under constant threat of closure due to funding crises and a shortage of midwives (Guardian online).

'Choice' is meaningless in the hands of this government, whether in relation to schools, housing or the NHS. Private maternity services are a growth industry as those who can afford to, pay £4,000 or more for the one-to-one care and environment during childbirth that should be available to all.

To give women genuine choice, to provide services which are in the best interests of the mother and her baby would, as a start, require the 40% increase in midwives which the RCM refers to. But in addition we need to campaign for a massive increase in resources into an NHS that is genuinely accountable to its users and the local community.