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ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 10

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3 April, 2006April 2006

Contents

1. Afghanistan - Violence against Women Goes Unpunished
2. Australia - Women Shrink the Pay Gap
3. Belgium - Equal Pay Day
4. Brazil - Women Demonstrate Against Aracruz Celulose 
5. **Carol Fraser on Canada**
6. Iran - Women Take to the Streets on 8 March
7. Iraq - Women are Victims of Anarchy
8. Japan – RENGO Marches on 8 March
9. Netherlands – Booklet on Pregnancy and Maternity
10. Pakistan – Working Women Organisation Demonstrates on 8 March
11. United Kingdom - Women Are More Likely to Join Unions
12. USA - The Retirement Gap
13. Inter-Parliamentary Union - More Women Elected to Office
14. Resources

1. Afghanistan - Violence against Women Goes Unpunished

Women in Afghanistan continued to suffer from official neglect and social restrictions in 2005, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) reported. The commission said it has documented 154 cases of self-immolation (setting oneself on fire) by women in the western zone over the course of the year, while as many as 144 forced marriages and 25 money-for-opium marriages were reported in the South.

The Afghanistan government’s attempts to curb the cultivation of opium have had unexpected fallout on women. Desperate farmers, with their poppy fields razed by the government, were forced to turn to a traditional practice, in which a family pays off debts by handing over a daughter to a relative of the creditor. Usually, there is a marriage ceremony for the sake of propriety, but the woman is treated as property.

Also, investigations by the authorities into complaints of violent attacks on women are neither routine nor systematic, and few result in prosecutions, stated Amnesty International in its 2005 report.

2. Australia - Women Shrink the Pay Gap

In a comparison of gender-pay ratios among developed nations, Australia ranks second. Women make 91 cents to the man’s dollar in Australia. The reason lies partly with the high number of Australians whose wages are determined by collective bargaining, or are set by the government. However, major changes to labour laws go into effect soon, which could endanger some of the strides made by working women over recent decades, say rights activists and labour leaders.

Under the current system, government panels set industry-specific wages and benefits for many workers. This baseline pay is generally high in comparison to minimum wages in other developed nations. Some workers then strike still better deals through union negotiations with their employers.

Labour experts contend that the pay gap between men and women has narrowed under this system for a couple of reasons. One is that it has kept many women from having to negotiate their own salaries (research shows women tend not to bargain as hard as men). Another reason is that feminists have been able to mount legal challenges against the traditional undervaluing of predominantly female professions like nursing and teaching.

It needs to be pointed out, though, that the 91-cent figure only applies to non-managerial, full-time workers, excluding overtime pay. Once all earnings and part-time labour is included, the ratio falls to 66 cents to the dollar.

The problem is that the state board will be scrapped under the new system, and that its federal counterpart will have many of its powers placed into a new entity, called the Fair Pay Commission (FPC). The FPC is expected to be more focused on Australia’s international competitiveness and on expanding employment – suggesting it will hold a tougher line on wage increases. The legislation also encourages more individual bargaining for wages.

3. Belgium - Equal Pay Day

31 March was Equal Pay Day in Belgium, organised jointly by the Belgian trade union federation FGTB and the country’s Socialist Party.

The date of 31 March is significant: women, on average, have to work one year and three months (until 31 March) to earn the same wages as a man in one year.

More information is available on www.equalpayday.be. 

4. Brazil - Women Demonstrate Against Aracruz Celulose

Via Campesina, which represents peasant organisations in 56 countries, staged a demonstration on 8 March in Brazil. About 2000 women invaded the Barba Negra eucalyptus-growing estate, owned by Aracruz Celulose, in Barra do Ribeiro, in the Rio Grande do Sul state. Aracruz Celulose was targeted because it is one of the largest paper and cellulose firms in Latin America with huge eucalyptus and pine plantations.

The campaign points were as follows:

  • Protest against the invasion of the native forest with single-crop plantations;
  • Draw attention to the fact that pollution by cellulose firms is not confined to the headline-grabbing case of Uruguay’s projects on its border with Argentina;
  • And highlight the fact that large enterprises, such as these, boosted by public financing, generate only one job per 185 hectares planted, whereas smaller properties generate one per hectare.

The demonstration was also a solidarity action with the indigenous people in the state of Espiritu Santo, another state where Aracruz Celulosa invaded lands. This January, indigenous families were expelled by the Federal Police there, with police using the company’s own vehicles to displace them.

 

5. Carol Fraser, CEP Canada, writes:

Canada: The Battle over National Child Care
Thank goodness for Canada's women. They won 16 medals in Turin…
Now we're counting on women to save our national bacon in the political arena, too.
In particular, Canadian women -- individually and collectively -- will be the key players in the first major legislative contest facing Stephen Harper's minority government: the battle over national child care.
http://www.buildchildcare.ca

6. Iran - Women Take to the Streets on 8 March

The total number of arrests, which followed a gathering of hundreds of women’s rights defenders in Tehran, remains uncertain, as is the fate of those arrested by the security forces, which reportedly used harsh tactics to disperse the peaceful demonstration. According to Human Rights Watch, police dumped cans of garbage on the heads of women that were sitting down, before charging into the group and beating them with batons to compel them to leave.

Mehri Amiri of the Society for Defence of Women’s Rights in Iran reported that three women from her organisation had been released, but that four others remained in the Evin Prison in Tehran. She said that many others are still being held, but that her group cannot get in contact with any of them since the phone lines are being controlled by the government.

On the eve of International Women’s Day, the Women Rights Association of Iran had prepared a resolution calling for an end to gender discrimination, demanding social and legal rights for all Iranian women. Many of the women who handed out the resolution were arrested.

Since 1981, over 120,000 political opponents have been executed in Iran. A report compiled by Iranian human rights activists in commemoration of International Women’s Day says that four women were executed this year, all under the age of 30. Another 1,372 women have been arrested since the start of 2006, the group says. And, according to Human Rights Watch, security forces have repeatedly resorted to violence to suppress peaceful gatherings.

7. Iraq - Women are Victims of Anarchy

The situation in Iraq is going from bad to worse, say NGOs and women’s organisations such as MADRE, an international women’s rights group, and Women’s Will. Most women feel that they will only be better off once the occupation is over.

As the crisis in Iraq intensifies, the group says women and their families need security urgently, as well as a functional government and the provision of basic services within a human rights framework. Rape, abduction and abuse in prisons by prison guards and the killing of women is widespread, say the women. MADRE is calling for the deployment of a UN-led peacekeeping force and an immediate end to the occupation.

8. Japan – RENGO Marches on 8 March

On 8 March, Japanese trade union women distributed leaflets on the streets in major Japanese cities and called for “Solidarity for Women.” In Tokyo, the action was the start of the Women’s Conference, attended by 800 union women. The conference was organised to demand the inclusion of provisions to eliminate indirect discrimination into the law of equal employment for men and women. The participants pledged their commitments to pursue the campaign at their workplaces.

9. Netherlands – Booklet on Pregnancy and Maternity

Jeannette Van Dongen of FNV Bondgenoten has sent us a booklet on pregnancy and maternity called “Work and Pregnancy: From Month to Month”. The brochure explains what pregnancy and maternity means for working women and working new mothers, providing practical advice. To receive a copy of the booklet, please ask [email protected]. Thanks to Jeannette and Bondgenoten, Netherlands.

The brochure is also available on the ICEM web-site here:
http://www.icem.org/index.php?id=71&la=EN&doc=1719 

10. Pakistan – Working Women Organisation Demonstrates on 8 March

Pakistan’s Working Women Organization demonstrated in Lahore, on the occasion of 8 March, with the demand to narrow the gender gap, improve women’s status and improve the economy. Women can play an effective role in income generation activities as well as in the sustainable development of countries and societies. However, this will only happen when women are perceived as subjects, not objects of development.

Large numbers of children and trade union activists also participated with great enthusiasm. Women and children were chanting slogans, such as “we want peace,” “stop violence against women and harassment at workplace,” “no gender discrimination,” “women want equal rights,” and “long live international women solidarity.”

11. United Kingdom - Women Are More Likely to Join Unions

Government figures show that women workers in the UK in 2005 were more likely to belong to a trade union than men. The data show that 29.9 precent of women workers were union members last year, versus 28.2 percent for men.

Members’ average pay was 11.98 pounds an hour – 17.6 percent higher than for their non-union colleagues, who averaged 10.19 pounds.

Low paid women are the main winners from the 30 pence minimum wage increase announced by the government. Low paid women benefit from minimum wages more than any other group in the economy, with part-time workers benefiting most of all.

12. United States of America: The Retirement Gap

A lifetime of hard work should bring economic security -- income sufficient to raise a family, and resources to enjoy a retirement earned over many working years. It is troubling that as far off as this goal seems to millions of American men, it is even further off for America's working women, especially in the area of retirement security.
For more: http://www.steelworkers-usw.org/usw/program/content/2592.php

13. Inter-Parliamentary Union - More Women Elected to Office

As reported by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the ratio of women elected to public office increased in 28 of the 39 countries that held parliamentary elections in 2005. By the end of 2005, 16.3 percent of upper and lower house members were women, sustaining the progress made since 1995, when the proportion of women in parliaments was only 11.3 percent. Several African nations now have a third of their parliaments comprised of women – Rwanda, Mozambique, South Africa, Burundi and Tanzania.

14. Resources