^ JUNE 1994 Special Collection TAXING CHILD SUPPORT...PAGE 3 CMPA$2.25 RICA Inside KINESIS #301-1720 Grant Street Vancouver, BC V5L 2Y6 Tel: (604)255-5499 Fax: (604)255-5511 Kinesis welcomes volunteers to work on til aspects of the paper. Our next Writers' Meeting is Jun 7 for the Jul/ Aug issue and Aug 2 for the Sep issue, at 7 pm at Kinesis. All women welcome even if you don't have experience. Kinesis is published ten times a year by the Vancouver Status of Women. Its objectives are to be a non-sectarian feminist voice for women and to work actively for social change, specifically combatting sexism, racism.classism, homophobia, ableism, and imperialism. Views expressed in Kinesis are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect VSW policy. All unsigned material is the responsibility of the Kinesis Editorial Board. EDITORIAL BOARD Shannon e. Ash, Lissa Geller, Agnes Huang, Fatima Jaffer, Faith Jones PRODUCTION THIS ISSUE Shannon e. Ash, Fatima Jaffer, Tanya de Haan, Robyn Hall, Leslie Virtue, Winnifred Tovey, Faith Jones, Wendy Frost, wendy lee kenward, Teresa McCarthy, Marsha Arbour, Lael Sleep, Riun Driscoll, Lydia Masemola, Larissa Lai, Karen Bachman, Anne Jew Advertising: Cynthia Low Circulation:Cat L'Hirondelle, Jennifer Johnstone, Christine Cosby Distribution: Cynthia Low Production Co-ordinator: Agnes Huang Typesetter: Sur Mehat FRONT COVER Rural women in Moutse Photo by Fatima Jaffer PRESS DATE June 28. 1994 SUBSCRIPTIONS lndividual:$20 per year (+$1.40 GST) or what you can afford Institutions/Groups: $45 per year (+$3.15 GST) VSW Membership (includes 1 year Kinesis subscription): $30 per year (+$1.40 GST) SUBMISSIONS Women and girls are welcome to make submissions. We reserve the right to edit and submission does not guarantee publication. If possible, submissions should be typed, double spaced and must be signed and include an address, telephone number and SASE. Kinesis does not accept poetry or fiction. Editorial guidelines are available upon request. DEADLINES All submissions must be received in the month preceding publication. Note: Jul/ Aug and Dec/Jan are double issues. Features and reviews: 10th News: 15th Letters and Bulletin Board: 18th Display advertising (camera ready): 18th (design required): 16th Kinesis is produced on a Warner Doppler PC using Wordperfect 5.1, PageMaker 4.0 and an NEC laser printer. Camera work by the Peak. Printing by Horizon Publications. Kinesis is indexed in the Canadian Women's Periodicals Index, the Alternative Press Index and is a member of the Canadian Magazine PublishersAssociation. ISSN 0317-9695 Publications mail registration #6426 KjN¬ßsr* 1974-1994 News Taxing child support payments 3 by Agnes Huang SFU janitors targetted in cutbacks 5 by wendy lee kenward and Teresa McCarthy Features Community policing in BC . by Bonnie Agnew South Africa Report Chronology of the struggle 9 compiled by Fatima Jaffer Interview with Brigitte Mabandla, ANC 10 as told to Fatima Jaffer Interview with Mum'Lydia Kompe, Rural Women's Movement 11 as told to Fatima Jaffer Report from South Africa: Interview with Fatima Jaffer 14 as told to L. Muthoni Wanyeki Commentary Speaking out against the backlash at UVic 17 South Africa supplement.. by Cheryl Harrison 20 years in review: feminist journalism and Kinesis 18 by Esther Shannon Regulars As Kinesis Goes to Press 2 Inside Kinesis 2 What's News 4 by Lissa Geller and Agnes Huang Movement Matters 6 by Shannon e. Ash Bulletin Board 20 compiled by Leslie Virtue and Robyn Hall The next writers' meetings are on June 7 & August 2 @ 7 pm at VSW #301-1720 Grant St m^ s '' ' ' ^r t ' ISltiWfci — 3^ S *TQo news would be* JHil m* o p r e s g O e women in South Africa. Next month's special will include excerpts of interviews with: Mmatshilo Motsei,a violenceagainstwomen advocate and worker in Alexandria Township; Rosalee Telela, a founding member of the Johannesburg Lesbian Forum; Nise Malange, who sits on the board of Agenda and Speak, two South African feminist publications; and Maganthrie Pillay, director of Contours, the first theatrical piece on black lesbians in the country. We only hope you get a chance to read it all! We usually throw in the last-minute notices we recieve as Kinesis goes to press, Who said it's the age of apathy? Last month at Kinesis was one of those months when we dammit came close to that ideal woman-supporting culture we are trying so hard to build. We pulled together this issue in less than two weeks, thanks to the work and commitment of many many volunteers and friends. This has left us reeling...but, yeah, proud. And no, we're not saying this so you'll excuse the typos in the following, even if it is minutes to deadline. Looks like Audrey MacLaughlin will step down as leader of the NDP at the next convention. This is stale news by now, but we forgot to mention that last month, this means there are no political parties with women leaders in Canada...unless NAC decides to throw politics to the wind and run next elections. But, as we know, it's not the party that makes the system, but the system...etc. A bit of news: We've heard that the musical Miss Saigon is not coming to Vancouver after all because its promoters have decided it's not economically worth it. Some of you may remember Kinesis' coverage last summer of the protests against the racist and sexist representations of Asian women in Miss Saigon [see Kinesis, Jul/Aug 93]. Well, we're glad the play won't be coming down. In fact, for once, women in BC are glad to be left out of the "action." While we're on this regional thing, and for those feminists who insist on watching hockey, (we weren't watching, we were working on the paper, honest, but we heard the hoorahs out there)~Vancouver beat Toronto in the Western conference hockey final! Ha, ha, ha! We're going to the Stanley Cup!!...not that we really care about hockey. But, now if we could only harness some of that energy we saw around Vancouver to start a social, economic, political revolution...! We suppose we're in revolution mode because an errant Kinesisite just returned from South Africa and is causing all kinds of a fuss around here. Read our special 8-page supplement this issue for more on women and South Africa. This is only part oneof our two-part special. We decided to go for a two-parter because: it's not often we have international reports like this; we wish to celebrate the current victory of South Africans and of the anti-apartheid liberation movements; and we've got lots more great interviews with ^Thanks Our thanks to Vancouver Status of Women members who support us year 'round with memberships and donations. Our appreciation to the following supporters who became members, renewed their memberships or donated to VSW in May: Janet Berry * The Blue Ewe * Kate Braid * Eleanor Brockenshire * Annabelle Cameron * Donna Clark * Cathie Cookson * Inez Curl * Barbara Curran * Ann Doyle * Nancy Duff * Joanna Dunaway * Mary Frey * Arlene Gladstone * Katherine Heinrich * Cheryl Heinzl * B. Karmazyn * Karen Kilbride * Barbara Kuhne * Barbara Lebrasseur * Kara Middleton * Anne Miles * Adrienne Montani * Michele Pujol * Ronalea Richards * Rosemarie Rupps * Jeanne Shaw * Sandy Shreve * Ann Staley * Joanne Taylor * Pat Tracy * Frances Wasserlein We would also like to thank the following new members of our Recommending Women Club: Members ($250 - $499): L'Hirondelle Financial Services This month we would like to say a very special thank you to the following supporters who have responded so generously to our annual spring fundraising appeal which we mailed in May. The ongoing support of VSW donors, as well as the support of many new donors, is crucial to the expansion of VSW's vital services and programs in the face of continued government cuts to our funding. We are very thankful to: Leslie Alexander * Cathy Bannink * Lorna Brown * Janet Calder * Karen Clark * Todd Copan * Jill Davidson * Marlene Duerksen * Karen Egger * Cynthia Flood * Dennis Foon * Anita Fortney * Janet Fraser * Leona Gom * Ellen Hamer * Judith Harper * Rosalie Hawrylko * Alison Hopwood * Shayna Hornstein * Naomi Katz * Bonnie Klein * Sarah Knoebber * M.K. Louis * Carolynne Maguire * Catherine Malone * Sandra Mayo * Jane McCartney * Chris McDowell * Josef e McGregor * Arlene McLaren * Eha Onno * M.V. Ostrowski * Lafern Page * Susan Penfold * Joanne Quirk * Adrianne Ross * Susanna Ruebsaat * Jane Rule * Patricia Russell * M. Schendlinger * Marilyn Schwabe * Bonnie Sheldon * Colleen & Ken Smith * Susan Soule * Verna Splane * Nora Sterling * Virginia Stikeman * Coro Strandberg * Sheryl Ty * Helen Walter * Mary Watt * Susan Wendell * Phyllis Wilson A very big thank you to the volunteers who helped stuff all of the envelopes: Heather * Lael * Robin * Agnes * Miche * Carol * Tory Finally, we would also like to thank all those who contributed to and volunteered at our highly successful 4th Annual Single Mothers' Day in the Park with food, fun, games and prizes: ABC Novelties * Norman's Fruit & Salad Market * Que Pasa Mexican Foods * Purdy's Chocla tes * McDonalds Restaurants * Starbucks Coffee * Uprising Bakery * East End Food Co-Op and our volunteers: Sylvi Murphy * Kari Brown * Agnes Huang * Claire Robillard * Sally & Billie White * Jenny Falk * Rachel Falk * Raynee Taylor * Margaret Alber CORRECTION In last month's review of Indigeni: Native Women: Politics (page 19), we incorrectly listed Renae Morriseau as the producer of the video. Morriseau was the production assistant; Richard Helsey produced the video. Our apologies. 3, we forgot to credit Canadian Di- n, January-February 1994 for the funny cartoon about tax loopholes and that we used on our table of contents page. Thanks for the laugh. but this month, due to our unusual production schedule, we managed to include them all in our large (four pages) Bulletin Board section at the end of the paper. There's lots going on, all over the country...the world and we hope you get a chance to do some of it. Especially try to come to our 20th anniversary celebration on Friday, June 24. Check out our ad below, in Inside Kinesis, and the back page for details! It will be fun...we promise. And remember, this isn't really the age of apathy. There's hope yet! Our most exciting news this month is that editor Fatima Jaffer got back from South Africa with interviews, photos, and lots of new ideas. She was there as part of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women's team observing the elections. Fatima was based at the feminist magazine Speak while she was there, and met with a variety of women's groups, including the brand-new Johannesburg Lesbian Forum. You'll find Fatima's interviews with two South African women, as well as a description of her own experiences, in the special eight-page South Africa supplement, part 1, in this issue, starting on page 9. Fatima also got a lot of ideas about making Kinesis more accessible from the women at Speak. For example, a larger type size would be better for vision-impaired, low-literacy, and second-language readers, and probably for all women. We're planning to implement this change in the near future. Another thing they do at Speak is reply to letters which criticize or question the content of the magazine. It seemed to us that readers deserve to know the reasons why we write about things in a certain way. We'll be trying out editor's replies in the next few months. We also thought our content could use some changes. While Kinesis tries to provide analysis of current affairs, we don't always provide simple information which could help women in day-to-day terms. Speak always includes a page of pracical information on, for example health topics. We are thinking of having a regular column which would focus on a different area each month, such as a legal topic or what rape crisis centres do. Watch for these changes in future issues, and most of all, let us know what you think of them. We had a number of new voices this issue: Cheryl Harrison, wrote about the Chilly Climate in the political science department at the University of Victoria (page 17); wendy lee kenward and Teresa McCarthy who wrote on the situtation of janitors up at SFU {page 5); and of course, Bridget Mabandla, Rosalee Telela and Lydia Kompe, from South Africa, who are interviewed in the eight page South Africa coverage. For those of you interested in writing, our next writers' meeting is Tuesday, June 7 at 7pm at Kinesis. On the production side, welcome to newproduction volunteers Lydia Masemola, Leslie Virtue, Lael Sleep, and Riun Driscoll. If you are interested in volunteering next production, call Agnes at 255-5499. Production for the July/ August issue is from June 22-29. We also want to thank our neighbour and friend, Vancouver Photo, where Kinesis gets its photo supplies and services. It seems Joanne and Nick, who own the place, got tired of lending us their flash every time we needed one (especially since we brought it back broken once)...so they gave it to us. Thanks, Vancouver Photo, it was just what we needed, how did you know? You can't ask for better community support. Finally, there's the exciting Kinesis Benefit to look forward to. It will be on June 24 at the WISE Hall (see back cover for details). VSW's Miche Hill will MC a program that includes Sawagi Taiko. There will also be a kid's room with a childcare worker present, food, a raffle with lots of great prizes, and door prizes. The WISE Hall is wheelchair accessible from the alley and there will be attendants to assist with the marginally-accessible washrooms. As always, this will be a women-only, smoke-free event. Even if you can't come to the event, you can buy those great raffle tickets with those great raffle prizes by calling Kinesis at 255- 5499. Also give us a call if you can volunteer for the Benefit. Hope to see you there! Come to our Benefit We're Broke! Join Kinesis at our 20th anniversary celebration *oVt Friday, June 24,1994 \o«* *tfYt? *UtS f*«*« *<** ctfV**** w; 1882 WISE Hall 12 Adanac tut**1 ,\»*^ flltfi M&* St. tAoo*P* \V& Music & Performances Lots of Fun For everyone! Women & Children only For more information or for raffle tickets, call 255-5499 JUNE 1994 News Federal Court of Appeal decision in Thibaudeau: Taxing child support by Agnes Huang The federal government has announced it will appeal the federal court of appeal (FCA) ruling that taxing child support payments was discriminatory. In its decision, concerning an appeal by Suzanne Thibaudeau, the federal court of appeal ruled the section of the Income Tax Act, section 56(l)(b), requiring Thibaudeau to pay tax on child support payments discriminated against her as a "single, custodial parent receiving maintenance payments for her children." Another section of the Act allows her ex- husband to deduct the child support amount from his taxable income. The system is known as the inclusion/deduction system. In 1989, Thibaudeau, a Quebec woman with custody of her two children, filed a claim in the Tax Court of Canada to stop the government from taxing the child support she received (see Kinesis, October 92). Although tax implications were taken into account when child support was set, she argued that including the payments inher taxable income pushed her into a higher tax bracket and left her owing $1000 more in taxes than accounted for when the support order was determined. The tax court rejected Thibaudeau's claim saying that it was the responsibility of the family court system to account for the tax implications of child support payments, and that the remedy for Thibaudeau was to apply to the family court system for an increase (a variance) in child support. Under the current tax law system, the burden of paying taxes on child support is shifted fom the income earner to the custodial parent, 98 percent of whom are women. Women pay $330 million a year in taxes on child support payments, while men save $660 million in taxes. The net loss in revenue to the federal government of $330 million, which the government considers a 'subsidy' to divorced couples. The government says the purpose of the inclusion/deduction system is to provide a net 'subsidy' to divorced couples, which is supposed to benefit children, and to provide an incentive to men to make child support payments and to encourage, through favourable tax treatment, higher payments. In its decision, the federal court of appeal said thai the inclusion/deduction system does not lead to a distribution of the subsidy to women and their children. In writing for the majority, Justice James Hugessen said, "...the inclusion/deduction system frequently fails to give any benefit at all to those whom it is allegedly designed to assist almost always benefits those who do not need assistance, and contains no corrective or control mechanisms designed to remedy the problem." Hugessen added that, "...the non-custodial parent is virtually always a winner by reason of having his taxable income reduced." "Right now the government is subsidizing "separated families' to the tune of $330 million, says Judy Poulin, president and founder of SCOPE. "This $330 million...on paper look is like it is going to children, but it isn't." SCOPE, (Support and Custody Orders for Priority Enforcement), an Ontario-based organization, intervened in the Thibaudeau case at the federal court of appeal. A report of the Federal/Provincial /Territorial Family Law Committee released in May 1992, referred to by the federal court of appeal, confirmed that "the tax subsidy is often not passed on to the custodial parent for the children." In overturning the lower court's decision, the federal court of appeal also acknowledged that tax implications are often not considered in child support orders, and that the family court system is not an effective tool for remedying any adverse tax effects of the inclusion/deduction system. "Income tax seeks to be precise, virtually to the last penny, and income tax liability is established by a code of rules whose detail and complexity is legendary, " Hugessen wrote. "The awarding of child support on the other hand, somewhat like the evaluation of damages, is notoriously imprecise." While the court agreed that the law violates Thibaudeau's guarantees for equality under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, section 15, the court rejected that the tax law is discriminatory on the basis of sex, an argument presented by SCOPE. Rather, Justice Women pay $330 million a year in taxes on child support payments, while men save $660 million in taxes. Hugessen wrote that the ground of discrimination is 'family status'. In rejecting the challenge to the tax la w on the grounds that it discriminated on the basis of sex, Huggessen reasoned that, "since, however, the legislation must also impact in exactly the same way on custodial fathers, although in very much smaller numbers, I do not see how it can be said to differentiate or discriminate on the basis of sex." Lawyer Katherine Hardie says that by rejecting sex equality arguments, the court is not recognizing the reality of who is adversely affected by the taxing of child support. "Even though separated cutodial parents are 98% women, the Court said that that is not enough [for the inclusion/deduction system] to be discriminatory [on the basis of sex]," says Hardie. "If we cannot say [a law] affects a particular group disproportionately [and therefore is discriminatory], then this creates a barrier for equality rights." Hardie is representing a coalition of anti- poverty groups-the Charter Committee on Poverty Issues and FAPG (Federated Anti- Poverty Groups)~intervening in the case of Brenda Schaff, a North Vancouver woman, who has a similar case as Thibaudeau's before the Federal Court of Appeal (see Kinesis, Sept 93). Schaff's appeal is scheduled to be heard on May 30, but that may be onhold. Katherine Hardie says she has been told by a ministry of justice official that they have been advised to seek an adjournment in the Scha ff appea 1 until the Supreme Court of Canada rules on Thibaudeau's case. Minister of Justice Allan Rock says the government is appealing the Thibaudeau decision because the decision could hurt those it was intended to help. Rock says that without the tax incentive, men could seek to have their payments reduced, or not make payments at all. Currently, 75% of men across the country are in default of their child support payments. Jane Friesen, an economics professor at Simon Fraser University, argues that it is unlikely that men will want to go back to court. "Men won't go back to court to seek variances because for most of them their financial situations have improved and they might be or dered to pay more in child support," says Friesen, who is a witness for Brenda Schaff in her appeal case. Nothing short of a change in the current system taxing child support payments would benefit women. "The current law is totally ineffective, inefficient, and inequitable," says Claire Young, a tax law professor at the University of British Columbia. "The bottom line is that to tax women on child support payments is inequitable." Most studies show that lawyers and judges don't take into account tax implications were determining the level of child support. "Many of these orders are old and tax implications had not been taken into account [when they were set]," says Brenda Schaff. "Tax laws are extremely complicated; you need accountants to figure it out." Judy Poulin of SCOPE adds that many child support settlements are determined out of court, resulting in lower amounts insufficient to meet the needs of children let alone cover the tax implications on those amounts. Poulin says that 87 percent of child support orders are determined through an out of court settlement. Under the current tax law system, changes in their econonic situation, such as an increase in income, or changes in external factors, such as an increase in daycare costs or a decrease in child tax benefits, may have significant tax consequences for women. "It is almost impossible to assess tax liability when child support amount is set, except at the immediate time," says Young. In order to even maintain the level of child support they receive every time their economic situations improve or the tax law changes resulting in an increase in the amount of tax they have to pay on the support, women would have to go back to family court to seek a variance in child support payments they receive. Even if tax implications are taken in to account, there is no guarantee that the child support increase will be adequate. In 1992, Schaff had an accountant work out a tax table and went back to court seeking a variance to her child support for $1200 per month. She had been receiving $300 a month. She received $800 a month, but this increase left her worse off than before she received the variance. Schaff saw her GST credits disappear, her family allowance reduced, and her contribution to the coop housing she lives in increase by 25 percent. Overall, this left her $132 a month worse off than before the variance. Improving their economic situations may leave women and their children in worse financial positions after taxes, says Jane Friesen. "When a woman goes back to school, gets a higher paying job it moves moves her into a higher tax bracket, and she ends up having to pay more tax on her child support payments," says Friesen. Claire Young says that the amount of tax women are required to pay on the child support they receive may increase as their income increases, while under the inclusion/deduction system deductions to men increase as their income increases. Men in higher tax brackets are able to deduct a higher percentage of the child support payments than men in lower tax brackets. "The tax deduction is worth more to those making more money," says Young. "As women become more financially independent, they lose; while men benefit as their income increases," says Friesen. "We're rewarding men for improving their circumstances and penalizing women." Brenda Schaff also thinks it's ludicrous that the government would even consider providing a subsidy for men to encourage them to pay their court-ordered support payments. "Men shouldn't need an incentive to pay for their children, says Schaff. And considering that 75% of men across the country are in default of their child support payments, Schaff says the system is "not an incentive at all." Judy Poulin says providing an incentive to pay child support is a social policy ma tter and should not dea It with in the tax system. Poulin and SCOPE argue for better enforcement mechanisms such as better coordination between provinces, so that fathers who leave the province do not leave behind their obligation to pay child support. On the day it announced its appeal, the federal government also announced that it will send Sheila Finestone, secretary of state responsible for women, across the country in June to hold consultations on the child support issue. Women are demanding that the government stop taxing women on child support payments they receive. Unless the law is changed, even if the Supreme Court of Canada upholds the decision in Thibaudeau, women will either still have to pay taxes on child support or launch their own court challenge against the government. sassa SPEAK is a South African magazine (hat puis women's liberation on the agenda of the South African liberation struggle. Through interviews, photographs, poetry, and stories, South African women speak out about their oppression as women, and how they are fighting to change it. Articles focus on black working class women's lives in the townships and in the factories. They talk about their struggles to challenge tradition in the home, and their exploitation in the factories. They talk about the fight to be recognised as equals by their comrades in community organisations and in unions. They talk about a new non-racist, non-sexist, democratic South Africa where women are no longer beaten and where women take up their rightful place as leaders alongside men. Are you interested in keeping up to dale with all of this? And supporting this non-profit-making magazine? Then subscribe to SPEAK! Send US $20 to: SPEAK, P.O. Box 45213, Mayfair, 2018, Johannesburg, South Africa. JUNE 1994 What's News by Lissa Geller Submitting to sex not consent Women's groups, including the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), say the overturning of a Nova Scotia ruling by tine Supreme Court of Canada is a step in the right direction towards defining the concept of consent in cases of sexual assault. The Supreme Court found that the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal had erred when it ruled that, because a young girl had not shown resistance to sexual assault by her step-father, she had in fact consented. The Nova Scotia ruling argued that, "the complainant must be shown to have offered some minimal word or gesture of objection, otherwise submission or lack of resistance must be equated with consent." The overturning of that decision by the highest court in Canada "is an amazing opportunity to use this case for future definitions of what consent is in criminal law," says LEAF spokesperson Mary Teresa Devlin. "Had the Supreme Court upheld the [Nova Scotia] ruling, it would have reinforced the presumption that women are sexually available until they resist." LEAF intervened in the case because of the case's constitutional ramifications for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and how they relate to women's equality rights. LEAF argued that, given that the vast majority of sexual assault victims are women and the vast majority of offenders are men, the case should be evaluated by recognizing that those least likely to be able to resist, including immigrant women, women of colour, the extremely young and the extremely old, are those most in need of protection from the court. LEAF lawyer Chantel Tie notes that "to allow a standard that disadvantages [women] in a more fundamental way is to take away their equality and to leave the most vulnerable the least protected." Child brides in Canada A recent ruling in Montreal has left women's and immigrant's groups angry over the racist and sexist treatment by the courts of child brides in Canada. A judge in Montreal has acquitted a 50- year-old man, accused of assaulting his 13- year-old wife. The 13-year-old woman was sponsored for immigration from the Dominican Republic by the man earlier this year. The girl, who fled the abusive relationship soon after arriving in Canada, was sheltered at the Secours aux Femmes, a shelter for immigrant women who are victims of abuse. She was the youngest resident at the shelter. The courtacquittal came in part because the judge questioned the girl's motives for marrying the man in the first place. Judge Joel Guberman agreed with lawyers for the accused who argued that the marriage was a ticket out of the Dominican Republic for the girl, which puts her "credibility" into serious question. A spokesperson for the Secours aux Femmes shelter, Marcia Aiquel, says shelter workers and residents are horrified at the judge's decision. This means that "as a woman, the onus remains on you as the victim to prove that you didn't ask to be abused," she says. ShelterworkerOmairaFalconadds,"...it is true that she married him in order to come to this country, [but] does that give him the right to rape...and to sodomize her?" Women's groups are also concerned that this ruling will encourage more men to seek child brides from the developing world in return for imigration to Canada. In most cases, the girls come from poor families with few choices, and the girls are often left physicially and financially at the mercy of their husbands. Many of them speak little or no English or French and know nothing of their rights in Canada. Of the 78 women who stayed at Secours Aux Femmes in 1993, more than half were immigrants sponsored by their husbands. Sex Misconduct The British Columbia government has finally responded to repeated requests from women's groups to allow the public to participate in the reviews of physicians accused of sexual misconduct. An amendment to the BC Medical Practitioners Act will create a new review committee structure that will include representation from the public and create a new position within the College of Physician's and Surgeon's, with the mandate to specifically investigate complaints of sexual misconduct. The amendments also make it mandatory for the College to cancel or suspend a physician's license if they are found guilty of sexual misconduct. In keeping with the amended legislation, the new committee must draw at least one-third of its members from the general population. The committee will also be responsible for establishing a new, special process for investigating sexual misconduct, reviewing the results of the investigations and recommending whether the complaints should proceed to a hearing. The law also stipulates that all members of the College will now be required to report any suspected sexual misconduct by another physician. It is not yet clear how this will be enforced. The amendments follow an internal report from the College recommending the changes as well as numerous calls from women's groups across the province. Tamoxifen tests show serious side effects The director of the National Women's Health Network in the United States has demanded that a US Senate panel move to stop the testing of the drug tamoxifen on healthy women who are at risk of breast cancer. "We believe this trial is too risky for healthy women," Cynthia Pearson told a Senate panel on cancer in May. "The tests should be stopped and anexpert panel should evaluate the whole $68 million project." Pearson pointed to studies that show tamoxifen has serious side effects including blood clots, increased gastrointestinal cancers, depression and eye and liver damage. A representative of the American Public Health Association, Dr. Joanne Lukomnik, has also said that tamoxifen is "a potentially dangerous drug" that should not be administered to healthy women. The project currently involves 11,000 women and will involve as many as 16,000 women when it is completed next year. Tests on tamoxifen are one of two breast cancer studies that have recently been shown to contain falsified data. The National Cancer Institute, which is administering and conducting the study, has suspended recruitment for the tamoxifen study after determining that officials were slow to act against the research fraud. Ontario Gay Rights Ontario's Attorney General Marion Boyd has announced wide-sweeping legislative changes which would guarantee the rights of same-sex couples in a variety of circumstances. Calling the legislation the "jewel in her crown," Boyd said the legislation would end legal discrimination against lesbians and gay men by allowing them the same rights and privileges as straight people. Tom Warner of the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario says the changes "represent a victory for the voices of equality and human rights, and a defeat for OCTOPUS BOOKS 1146 Commercial Dr. Vancouver, B.C. 253-0913 An alternative bookstore in the east end for new and used books by local and international women authors as well as a large selection of cards and feminist magazines. those promoting or pandering to discrimination and intolerance." However, the government's response to the motion has been to call for a free vote on this issue, meaning it will allow its caucus members to vote according to their "conscience," and not along party lines. It is unclear how many NDP caucus members support the changes. The Liberal Party is divided on the changes and the Progressive Conservative Party is expected to be solidly opposed to the legislation. The new changes will affect up to 79 statutes that currently restrict access to everything from adopting children to employee benefits to straight couples only. The government expects that debate on the changes will begin as Kinesis goes to press. Similar legislation is being developed in British Columbia but it is unclear what form it will take and how long it will be before the government introduces the changes. Human rights in Kanesetake The Quebec Native Women's Association, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC), and the Civil Liberties Union have joined forces to condemn human rights abuses on the Mohawk reserve of Kanesetake. Acts of intimidation, violence and threats were first brought to the public's attention in January, when these three groups, along with other public agencies and federal departments, documented violations on the reserve. The violations involve at least one member of the Band Council on the reserve, apparently with the full knowledge of the continued on page 7 The Port Coquitlam Area Women's Centre 2nd Annual Women's Street Dance Happy 19lhBH1idcv Saturday June 18 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm Women Only Tickets: sliding scale $6 - $10 limited subsidized tickets ft SueMcQowan Sharon CosteUo Carol Weaver Sylvi - folkjazz that rocks the "norm" displays, dancing, food, dancing and much, much more ... did we mention tfifjON&l11 Volunteers are needed call 941-6311. 2420 Maryhlll Rd. Port Coquitlam Tickets available Vancouver Status Of Women 255-5511 Pt. Coq. Area Women's Centre 941-6311 JUNE 1994 News Women on the picket line: SFU lays off janitors by Teresa McCarthy and wendy lee kenward More than 50 janitors at Simon Fraser University (SFU) lost their jobs when the university recently awarded its cleaning contract to the Marriott Corporation of Canada, a Canadian subsidiary of an American-based company. The workers, most of whom are women, people of colour, and older people, were laid off, enabling Marriott to hire new janitors at a lower rate. In April, the the SFU board of governors (BOG), the university's decision-making body, accepted a bid from Marriott for its janitorial contract. BOG's only stipulation was that the company's employees be represented by a certified union. Once this stipulation was met, the contract went to the company with the lowest bid. BOG's decision to accept Marriott's proposal for the janitorial contract was based on projected savings of approximately $300,000 over a three-year period, amounting to an estimated savings of one percent of SFU's annual budget. According to some students, the same savings could be achieved if the university's faculty and administration took a fifty cent decrease in their monthly wages. "We want the university to implement a fair wage policy," says Jennifer Whiteside of the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS). Whiteside is also president of one of SFU's campus union locals. SFU administrators "have been given livable wages—these folks [janitors] have been given the shaft—we don't think that's right." According to a leaflet published by the outgoing janitors' union, Construction and General Workers Union, Local 602, wages which were in the range of $9.49 per hour to $11.01 per hour, plus medical and dental benefits, have been reduced to $7.50 per hour across the board, with no medical and dental benefits. Members of BOG have admitted there was a possibility that thenew company would hire new workers at lower wages, but this wasn'ta concern, thus their decision to award the cleaning contract to Marriott seemed to be made without consideration for the impact it would have on janitorial workers. "The people who are expendable are those who do not have access to decision making," says Donna Lee, an SFU student. "None of [the janitors] are in BOG, and those in BOG are making the decisions." Once Marriotthad secured the contractalljanitorial employees were laid off. Only "five out of 60 employees were rehired by Marriott and one of those has since quit (as a result of working conditions)," states Ann Beil, Business Representative for Local 602. Jass Pablo worked as a janitor for SFU for ten years before she was laid off. Pablo supported her family of four, working for an average of $1000 per month cleaning at SFU. Pablo re-applied for her job, but Marriott did not hire her. She is trying to get her job back but says, "they are not giving us anything— IMIIIIMIIIIMI San gam Grant R.P.C. REGISTERED PROFFESSIOMAL COUNSELLOR Private Practitioner, Workshop + Group Therapist phone (604) 253-5007 when the music changes se does the dance... Picketing: Jass Pablo (right) and friend everything [is] for the University, nothing for the janitors. And we are working so hard for them!" Missing a day of high school, Manjoo Pablo joined the picket line in support of her mother and all the people who lost their jobs. She says SFU's treatment of these people was "pitiful". "We blame the University", says Delphina Girardi, who has worked at SFU as a janitor for 17 years. She has experienced three contract changeovers, none of which resulted in layoffs. Girardi was being paid $9.49 an hour under the most recent contract. Had she been re-hired under Marriott, her wage would have dropped to $7.50 per hour, a decrease of $1.99 per hour. Now, after laying her off, Marriott has suggested she go back to school, ignoring Girardi's desire to continue working until retirement. "I want to work seven more years and get my pension," says Girardi. Once workers realized they were not going to be rehired, they initiated a job action, beginning with an information campaign of leaflettingand letter writing. Lackof response from SFU led to workers forming an information picket line and holding a rally on May 3rd and 4th. "We are really happy about the number of union locals that turned out to support this," says Darlene Gage of Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SF PIRG). DR. PAULETTE ROSCOE NA TUROPA THIC PHYSICIAN HOMEOPATHY COUNSELLING DETOXIFICATION HYCROFT MEDICAL CENTER 108-3195 GRANVILLE ST. VANCOUVER, B.C. V6H 3K2 731-4183 In support of the janitors, members of campus union locals and some students joined in or refused to cross the picket line on May 3rd and 4th. However, says Gage, "there were an unusually highnumberof faculty, students, and business people who crossed this line." Catherine Snowden, an SFU student, adds, "There were hordes of people crossing the picket lines, such as unionized Pub employees." In reaction to the picket line, SFU applied for a court injunction at the Labour Relations Board (LRB). The LRB ruling that the picket was illegal came through on Wed May 4th but by that time the picketers were already holding a rally on campus. Marriott met the union requirement by striking an agreement with the Service Workers Union of British Columbia. There is uncertainty over whether the Service Workers Union is certified to represent Marriott's new workers, as the union seems to have been in place before the new workers were hired. In her response to a letter from John Stubbs, president of SFU, Local 602's Beil writes, "We wonder how you can claim that the tender requirements have been met when, as of the date of writing of your letter, the facts show that those requirements had not and still have not been met. "Indeed, there are currently two (2) Applications for Certification before the Labour Relations Board, but filed by two (2) different Unions, [the Service Workers and British Columbia Government Employees Union(BCGEU)],both of whomclaim to represent [Marriott's] employees. Neither of those Unions are certified for these employees." Strikers and supporters are describing the Service Workers Union as a "rat union," which in this context is a union which undermines the existing union by coming into place when a new corporation takes over a workplace and cuts wages and benefits. Since it is not apparent whether the Service Workers Union is certified to represent Marriott's workers, another union, BCGEU, attempted to sign up Marriott's new workers. The attempts to represent Marriott's employees by both the Service Workers Union and BCGEU undermine the position of the existing union, Local 602. Local 602 has since filed unfair labour practice charges against both the Service Workers Union and the BCGEU. Whatever the LRBdecides,itwon'tchange the fact that almost 60 people have lost their jobs or that those hired to replace them face lower wages and no benefits. Some activists say lay offs and concurrent replacement of workers by lower-paid workers, such as in the case of SFU, leads to the levelling of wages of all Canadian workers and is an indirect effect of the North American Free Trade Agreement. "This reflects an international trend. Policies such as this are typical in the era of Free Trade," says SFU student Leah Vosko. Workingconditions and wage levels of the most disadvantaged workers in our society, largely women of colour and immigrant women, are indicative of the Canadian state's attempts to level wages and make Canadian capital internationally competitive, says Nandita Sharma. Sharma, an SFU student and activist, says "what has happened at SFU will happen to all other workers in Canada to make Canada competitive on a global scale." As Girardi puts it, echoing the practicality of the janitors' demands: "All we want..is our jobs back..at the same wages!" As Kinesis goes to press, no decision has been reached by the Labour Relations Board regarding the charges made by both sides. Teresa McCarthy is an employee of Simon Fraser Student Society and is just beginning to contemplate life off the hill, wendy lee kenward has recently completed her Bachelor of Arts at SFU and is currently working as an Early Childhood Educator in Vancouver. INA DENNEKAMP Piano Service MUNRO • PARFITT LAWYE R S quality legal services in a woman friendly atmosphere labour/employment, human rights, criminal law and public interest advocacy. 401-825 granvilie street, Vancouver, b.c. v6z 1 k9 689-7778(ph) 689-5572 (fax) JUNE 1994 Movement Matters listings information Movement Matters is designed to be s network of news, updates and information of special interest to the women's movement. Submissions to Movement Matters| should be no more than 500 words, typed, double spaced and may bel edited for length. Deadline is the 18th] of the month preceding publication by Shannon e. Ash Broomstick shuts down Broomstick, the only feminist publication for, by and about "Midlife and long- living women" in North America has ceased publication due to lack of money. Billed as "A Quarterly National Magazine by, for and about Women Over Forty," the feminist journal was in its 15th year of bringing "the observations of mid-life and long-living feminists toa limited but thoughtful audience." Broomstick has thousands of back issues of the publication in stock and is requesting women to purchase as many back issues as possible. Themes of back issues include: The "New Older Women's Movement" (Dec 78); "Disability" (Apr 79); "A Divorced Older Woman" (Jun 79); "The Myths of Menopause" (Dec 80); "Aging Relatives" (May/ Jun 82); "Employment" (Sep 83); "We Cannot Accept Racism" (May/Jun 84); "Ageism in the Women's Movement" (Mar/Apr 86); and "Religion and Feminism Update" (Jul/ Aug 88). Costs will cover shipping and handling only and are $3 for $15 worth of back issues, which is also the minimum order requirement. Send cheques to Broomstick, 354318th Street, No. 3, San Francisco, C A 94110, USA. Lesbian Mag in Brazil Lesbertaria is a new Portugese-language lesbian newsletter in Brazil. For a sample copy send an international money order in the amount of US $3 to: Caixa Postal, 01495- 970 Sao Paolo, SP Brazil. Aid to Fight Kemano 2 The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council's fight to stop Alcan's Kemano 2 project—a massive water diversion project in the northern coast of British Columbia—is being led by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation. The Cheslatta Carrier Nation is requesting financial assistance to continue the fight against the Alcan project. Alcan is one of Canada's largest corporations. The Nation is currently facing a deficit of $100,000 from this fight. To date, $235,000 has been spent on phone bills, faxing, postage, travel, legal fees, research, and salaries. Although the federal and provincial governments have offered a total of $150,000 for participation in the BC Utilities Commission review, the Carrier Nation has not accepted the money as they do not consider the review credible. "We simply have to raise more money to continue this fight for survival, a fight which is benefiting Canadians and Americans, Native and non-Native," says Chief Marvin Charlie. He also thanks those who have already helped. If you can help financially, please make your cheque or money order payable to: The Cheslatta Kemano Defence Fund and mail your contribution to: The Kemano 2 Defence Fund, c/o Cheslatta Nation, PO Box 909, Burns Lake, BC, Canada, V0J1E0. Contribu tions can also be made at any branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. (Acct. #: 500249-8; Burns Lake branch.) If you do make a direct deposit, please let the Cheslatta Nation know. Adoption Consultations A three-person team has been a ppointed to recommend a range of options to improve adoption policies and practices in British Columbia. The team's mandate is to review the many comments and submissions on adoption issues received over the last year by BC's Ministry of Social Services, follow up on outstanding questions, and seek the views of all affected, including those people who have been under-represented in the review process, suchas birth parents, adult adoptees, and Aboriginal peoples. All aspects of adoption legislation in BC are under review, including: access to records; international adoptions; equity issues such as the age or marital status of adoptive parents; protection for children, birth and adoptive parents; and the adoption of Aboriginal children. The team is composed of: Margaret Lord, the Comox Valley MLA; Lizabeth Hall, of the Nuxalkmc Nation from Bella Coola, who has been working for the United Native Nations'FamilyReunificationProgram;and Larry Gilbert, Algonquin Nation, himself adopted at age five, now practicing law in Victoria. The review team is expected to deliver recommendations by June 30. Anyone with comments, submissions or requiring further information should contact: Margaret Lord, MLA, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, BC, V8V1X4. Tel: 387-1789, or 1-800-663-1251. Hall and Gilbert are seeking input on the adoption of Aboriginal children. Anyone with comments or submissions should contact Lizabeth Hall, 4th Floor, 411 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver, BC, V6B 1X4. Tel: 660-2233, Fax: 660-2383. Open Door Lending Library The Open Door, a newsletter for rural feminists and lesbians, is setting up The Open Door library, coordinated by Susan Armstrong, so rural women can enjoy access to a wide diversity of feminist and lesbian writings. Women who become borrowers will be mailed a list of catalogued personal libraries, which will be updated throughout the year. They can then write or phone the appropriate lender to request books. Books can be borrowed for four weeks maximum, unless other arrangements are made with the lender. All books lent be replaced if lost or damaged, returned on time, and the lender must be refunded the cost of shipping the books to you upon their return. Lenders are requested to mail the coordinator a catalogue of your feminist/lesbian books, videos, and journals that you are willing to lend out. Please include fullbiblio- graphic information (author, title, date, publisher) for each title accompanied by a brief description. Lenders should have their name and address on the catalogue; providing your phone number is optional. Lenders are requested to keep a record of books borrowed and dates due. Problems should be reported to the library coordinator. Borrowing guidelines will be printed and mailed to lenders so they can include them with books lent out. The suggested donation for women who are able to lend books is $5.00; suggested donation for women who are borrowing only is $10.00. Please mail this annual fee and the requested information to: Susan Armstrong (cheque made out to this name), RR #2, Site 5, Comp 31, Lumby, BC, V0E 2G0. Phone: (604)547-6991. Black Lesbians in Britain Lesbians Talk: Making Black Waves is the first book by Black lesbians to document the lives and history of Black lesbians in Britain. (In Britain, the term Black encompasses those whose heritage includes Africa, the Caribbean, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East.) Making Black Waves is by Valerie Mason-John and Ann Khambatta and was published by the UK's Scarlet Press last year. In 64 pages, the book highlights some of the 500-year-old history of Black lesbians in Britain itself and around the world. There are interviews with Black lesbians about their lives, political debates, and issues today. Making Black Waves can be ordered from the feminist bookshop Silver Moon at 64-68 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H OBB, UK or by calling 011-44-71-836-7906. Women in Recovery SharingOur Strengths is a practical guide for women interested in directing their own recovery within a group. It is being sponsored by Women in Active Recovery, a group for women in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, and the Pictou County Women's Centre. The guide is aimed at reducing the barriers to women recovering from dependence on alcohol or drugs, and is written in clear language by women, for women. It will provide an example of what women can accomplish in an all-women's recovery group. Publication is scheduled for June, 1994. For more information, contact: Women in Active Recovery, PO Box 964, New Glasgow, NS B2H 5K7 Tel: (902) 755-4647. Spanish Feminist Radio in Toronto Tejiendo Rebeldias is a feminist collective producing a radio program in Spanish on CKLN-88.1FM, Toronto, on the first Sunday of every month at 10:30 am. The collective, form edby La tin American heterosexual women and lesbians, creates a space with their program for information and discussion about women's struggles. One objective is to spread information about lesbianism and break down stereotypes. P®s new and gently used books 1 1 lllfefl Feminist Philosophy - Poetry 1 Native - General fn9 1 L v-ll no GST Open daily 11am-7pm 1 Coffee Bar 1 miiWw MM W 1020 Commercial Drive 1 Vancouver BC V5L 3W9 1 (604) 253-1099 Bonnie Murray Cynthia Brooke The collective invites others to contact them to give ideas and information. "It is important that our audience knows about theexistence of groups and activi ties inLa tin America." The collective can be reached at: CKLN- FM, 380 Victoria St, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5B 1W7 or by calling (416) 595-1477, or faxing (416) 595-0226. Books 2 Prisoners Books 2 Prisoners is a community based group whose purpose is to broaden the range of reading materials available to prisoners throughout Canada. Its mandate is to provide reading material to prisoners by request. All books and magazines are donated by publishing houses and the group covers the price of postage, so there is no cost to the prisoner. Prisoners can have access to books on a wide range of subjects including: health, history, women's issues, Aboriginal issues, politics, and sexuality plus an array of novels. Books 2 Prisoners will accept requests by subject matter or author. Prisoners who wish to request books, or those seeking more information, can write to: Books 2 Prisoners, 315 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 2N4. Lesbians in Croatia The Croatian lesbian and gay group LIGMA celebrated a victory recently when it was allowed to register as an official nongovernmental organization. LIGMA lost its office with the Transnational Radical Party and can be reached at PP 488, HR - 41001, Zagreb, Croatia, until it finds a new home. Climb to new heights! Climbing courses for beginners taught bu women, for women June 11 - 12 Aug. 27 - 28 ($150.00 + gst - incl. equipment) CANADA WEST MOUNTAIN SCHOOL | 336 -1367 W. Broadway, Van. 737 - 3053 specialists in mountain safety for over 12 years What's News continued from page 4 band chief Jerry Peltier. These human rights violations have been particularly directed against women and children who regained their status in accordance with Bill C31. "It is utterly unacceptable that these Native people have to struggle against exclusion from their own community and that they are victims of discrimination on the part of their fellow citizens" says a joint press relase issued in May. Chief Peltier has repeatedly refused to meet with the Civil Liberties Union and the Quebec Native Women's Association, despite assurances in April that the community intends to "take full responsibility and restore security and order in the community." The groups involved have serious reservations that the community has not been consulted and that the band's actions may only serve to open the door to further violations. Following the refusal of the band to meet with these groups to discuss how to guarantee the full rights and participation of all members of the Kanesetake community, the groups are calling on the Canadian Solicitor General and the Ministers of Indian Affairs, Justice and Public Security as well as Quebec's Minister of Cultural Affairs to meet with them and, if necessary, intervene on behalf of the women and children on the reserve. RU486 Pressure from anti-choice groups is making the makers of the RU-486 abortion pill uninterested in selling the drug in Canada. The drug, which some pro-choice groups have cautiously endorsed as a safe alternative to surgical abortions, has been in use in Europe and was later approved for use in France. RU 486 works by blocking development of hormones necessary for fetal implantation. The body expells the embryo approximately two days after the pill is taken and is said to be 97 percent effective. Roussel Uclaf will not be applying for a license to sell RU-496 in Canada until invited to do so by the Canadian government because the company does not want to be involved in the distribution of the drug in countries where "there is conflict about abortion," says spokesperson Dr. Catherine Euvard with the French company. "Pro-life groups...threaten Roussel Uclaf with horrible things, with boycotts, and call us criminals," said Euvard in an interview with the Canadian Press, In response, Health Minister Diane Marleau says federal officials will not be inviting Roussel Uclaf into Canada. "They're going to wait a long time before they're invited," she "It [drug licensing] doesn't work that way." Meanwhile in the US, drug testing of RU-486 is set to begin on 2,000 American women over the next 17 months after the US president invited Roussel Uclaf to apply for a patent in the US for the drug. The drug will be adminstered by doctors, and women's health will be monitored to determine side effects and problems. RU-486 is also be used to treat some forms of breast cancer, uterine fibroids and brain tumours. If the testing is successful, the drug may be available to American women as early as the fall of 1995. Child protection law British Columbia's child protection laws will be amended following the beating T-SHIRTS AND SWEATSHIRTS HEAVYWEIGHT 100% COTTON T-SHIRTS 100% COTTON SWEATSHIRTS AVAILABLE IN THESE COLOURS NATURAL, BLUE, BLACK BUTTERSCOTCH & THESE SIZES L, XL T-SHIRT $26.00 SWEATSHIRT $40.00 vo6° ^ € ^s#-^ T-SHIRT SQ L □ [_□ XLQ SWEAT SQ L □ LQ XLQ OR SEND A CHEQUE OR MONEY ORDER TO: EDGEWISE ENTERPRISES LTD. 636 BLACKFOREST PLACE WATERLOO, ONT., CANADA N2V 1R4 ALLOW 2-3 WEEKS death of a seven-year-old boy by his mother in 1992. The 14-year-old law, which has been considered badly outdated and inadequate for many years now by children's advocates, will be amended to include a number of changes. These include: •the protection of children who are "likely to be" abused and a broader definition of abuse, including physical, sexual, emotionaland psychological forms of abuse; •the creation of a Child and Family Review Board that will appointed by the Minister but be external to the ministry. The board will be responsible for reviewing and remedying complaints regarding the breach of the rights of children in care; •court orders will be made more flexible to give judges a wider range of choices for placing at risk children with extended family members or others; •greater emphasis to be placed on family conferences and mediation and developing wider ranges of family support services. As well, the Ministry has tabled a new bill which creates a child, youth and family advocate who will be independent of the legislatire and appointed by an all-party committee. Healthcare reforms in BC Women's groups in the Lower Mainland met in May to discuss concerns about the government's proposed health care re- formsand their impacton women. Approximately 55 women came together to discuss the proposals and make recommendations to the government on how women can be better served in the health care system. "Women are the main users of health care systems and primarily responsible for the family's health" noted Laura Sterling of the Vancouver Women's Health Collective. Despite this, she added, the system is often very inaccessible to them since it is overly bureaucratic and paternalistic. "It's the idea that you don't need to know, that you can't or won't understand, and that you should not be challenging authority," that prevents women from being empowered in the current health care system, Sterling said. Major areas that the 13 focus groups at the meeting were concerned about included; access to and availability of services, consumer education about the system, care provider education, the provision of basic needs and public health care, preventative care, and addressing the social causes of poor health such as poverty and family violence. As well, the meeting brought foward concern that the "Closer To Home" initiative of the BC government, where families are encouraged to care for loved ones at home rather than putting them in hospital care, undervalues and exploits women's labour. is delighted to announce thac she is now practising I; with the law firm of Smith and Hughes 321-1525 RobsonSt. phone 683-4176 Smith and Hughes offer a full range of legal sendees to the lesbian, gay and bisexual communities of Vancouver. Initial consultations are without charge. Closer to Home fails to adequately address and redress the fact that the existing system works because it is supported by women's under-paid or unpaid labour, and it simply continues the existing unfairness and could likely result in more of the burden falling 'closer to home' for women, says health activists. Women's groups are calling on the government and other stakeholders in the reform to designate specific dollar amounts to preventative care, and to create health advocates to provide support and education to consumers on how to access the system and how to negotiate within it. by Agnes Huang Guidelines on disclosure In an unanimous decision released May 16, the BC Court of Appeal ruled that the privacy rights of sexual assault victims should not be violated in allowing the disclosure of their records kept by therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, or counsellors ("medical records"). The Court was responding to the appeal of the stay of proceedings in the trial of Bishop Hubert O'Connor. A stay of proceedings means thata new trial cannotbe held unless the stay is overturned. In 1991, O'Connor was charged with rape and indecentassaultof four Aboriginal women. Thecharges stem fromincidentsthathappened in the mid-1960s at a residential school in Williams Lake. In 1992, the trial was stopped in part because the judge did not have confidence that the defence had received all the information about the complainants to which it was entitled. In its decision released in two parts, the BC Court Court of Appeal said that it is necessary to balance the privacy rights of women laying sexual assault charges and the rights of the accused to make "full answer and defence" to the charges when deciding on whether or not disclose medical records. A coalition of four women's groups—the Aboriginal Women's Council, the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres, DisAbled Women's Network Canada, and the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund- had intervened at the BC Court of Appeal to argue that disclosure of complainants' records never relevant in sexual assault cases. While the court said that a request for access to medical records should notamount to a "fishing expedition" by the accused to dig up information that could be damaging in a trial, it held that in some instances, this information may be admitted as evidence. The judgment set out specific guidelines for requesting medical records to "balance the rights between the accused and the victim." The guidelines set up a two-step process for determining whether or not medical records should be disclosed to the accused. In the first step, the accused must prove that the medical recordsare likely to be relevant either to an issue in the trial, or with respect to the competence of the victim as a witness. The second step requires the court to review the documents and release them only if the court determines that they would add to the accused's ability to make full answer and defense to the charges. In the first part of its ruling released on March 30, the BC Court of Appeal set aside the stay of proceedings and ordered a new trial for O'Connor. However, Bishop O'Connor will not stand trial for a while, if at all. Because the trial ended in a stay, O'Connor has the automatic right to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. The four women still have to wait for the Supreme Court's decision before they know if O'Connor will ever stand trial. Feature Community Policing in BC: Not solving the problem by Bonnie Agnew The following submission on Community Based Policing was originally presented to the Oppal Commission on Policing in BC last year. The Oppal Commission's report is due to be released this month. The concept of community policing is being promoted and implemented at breakneck speed in this country. An investigation of its origins, whose interests it serves, and why the swift and widespread marketing, seems urgent. Current changes in "police service delivery" are being championed by the federal Solicitor General and his provincial counterparts, police chiefs organizations, police associations, criminologists, big city mayors, and some citizen groups. Yet none of these groups are advocates for the equality of Canadian women. Indeed, many are responsible for interfering with the advancement of equality. For example, although the Police Services Department of the BC Attorney General's Office admits that "a number of groups have been marginalized by existing policing services, including youth, senior citizens, visible minorities, women, disabled people," their 15-member Advisory Committee on Police Services did not include women's equality representatives. Yet a working definition of Community-Based Policing has been developed by women's groups. They say the police's predominant focus can no longer be on law enforcement to the exclusion of other means of dealing with crime problems, and that the emphasis must be shifted to "crime problem solving." According to BC's Community Policing Advisory Committee Report of March, 1993 (the 1993 Horner Report), the objectives of community policing initiatives are to reflect "ongoing commitment by the police and the community to work in partnership to increase safety in the community, and to enhance the quality of life, with the corollary that community policing places emphasis on the ongoing police-community partnership in problem solving." Over 150 years ago, the Metropolitan London police provided the first model for modern urban, community policing. The first of the recent experiments in Community Policing in BC were conducted in 1976 at a storefront venue in the Cedar Cottage neighbourhood at 4065 Victoria Drive in Vancouver. The basic idea was to provide services not supplied at the time by police operations. The storefront established itself as partoftheCedarCottage Neighbourhood House complex "affording itself ready access to any of the estimated 5,000 people attending the house during a one-month period." But, in nine months, the station was only contacted 317 times. These were mostly for immediate assistance, not for the other kinds of services being promoted, such as crime prevention or problem solving. "The success of the storefront," an evaluation of the project for the Solicitor General's Office tells us, "relied on this traffic as it facilitated one of the goals of the storefront, which was information collection about residents' activities." But it is the Victoria, BC Community Police (CP) Stations which have served as a model from which much of the current definition and data is being derived. These were initiated in several Victoria neighbourhoods in 1988, continuing into 1992. One of the objectives of this program was to reduce the occurrence of crime. An evaluation of the CP Stations reveals that of the 13 offence categories represented, there was a decline from 1987 to 1990 in five specific categories: break and enter of businesses, of residences, motor vehicle theft, total theft and bicycle theft. These are all property crimes. The CP Stations did not, however, expend a lot of effort on crimes against people, and against women in particular. Meanwhile, homicides went up from one to six; assaults from 916 to 1,338; and sex offenses from 77 to 143. We do not want nor need community police stations where even more attention gets paid to crimes against property and even less to crimes against women. Another objective of the CP Stations was to reduce fear of crime. According to the evaluation, four neighbourhoods showed a very small increase in the number who felt safe after dark. This improvement does not enough on law enforcement. When we call police, we want their focus to be on enforcing the laws against those sexually assaulting us, watching and besetting us, battering us, and so on. We are calling 911 for swift response and law enforcement and, at that moment, for no other means of dealing with the crime. The Community Policing Advisory Committee Report informs us that "quick call response (911) is difficult and decisions have been to limit services by not responding to some calls for service. Because life- threatening events make up a small percentage of the calls for police service, basing the organization of police services around rapid response may not be appropriate." Many of these life-threatening events are calls made by women. What we need are improvements in responses to our calls to We do not want nor need community police stations where even more attention gets paid to crimes against property and even less to crimes against women. appear to have any direct relationship to the presence of the police, particularly when one takes into consideration the fact that the stations were either not open or only had limited hours of evening operations. The last objective was to increase the reporting of intelligence information, as at the Cedar Cottage storefront project. "It was anticipated by upper management personnel that the police program would stimulate the public to report notonly criminal activity but also activities of a suspicious nature. The latter was considered of pro-active value and was seen as helpful by the police in their crime prevention efforts." In fact, public use of the station was m inimal. The number of calls to report crimes or suspicious activities had gone down. People reported disorderly behaviour and calls continued to come in for immediate assistance, though they were not answered at night nor given high priority during the day. For "Charter-driven" policing And so to the present. There is no doubt there is significant tension in the justice and police service delivery systems caused by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I believe this tension must be broken only in ways that transform the system in favour of women's equality. I do not support an alternate delivery system as a way out of the tension. Any new delivery system must also be "charter driven". Emphasis on law enforcement It is not most women's experience that when crimes are committed against us, that the police's predominant focus is on law enforcement. Many women's equality seeking groups presenting to the 1993 Oppal Commission on Policing across BC made it quite clear that, for women victims of sexual and physical assaults, the police do not focus WOMEN IN PRINT BOOKS & OTHER MEDIA Discounts for book clubs 3566 West 4th Avenue ^ Vancouver BC Special orders Voice 604 732-4128 welcome Fax 604 732-4129 10-6 Daily ♦ 12-5 Sunday 911, improvements in both immediacy and effectiveness. The move to decentralization of services, with even less emphasis on rapid response, can only.increase police response time and undermine the importance of our calls for assistance. This can only be more dangerous for women. Against individual crime solving Feminists have long taken the view that wife battering is a public problem of women's unequal status, not of private, individual relationship dysfunctions or malfunctions. Any attempt at individual "crime problem solving" between the police and the batter- inghusband and thewomen will make things worse than they are now. We want what we called police for: immediate response, immediate relief from the violence, and an immediate and competent investigation and application of procedure. The Victoria Community Police Stations evaluation calls for "follow-up with every citizen victimized in the area, with a view to assisting them in developing personal crime prevention strategies." Again we say this is a return to the notion that every individual woman can prevent wife beating, sexual as sault, or a father's incestuous assaulting crimes. We already know that this crime problem can not be solved on an individual basis and cannot be solved without extensive improvements to the status of women in the whole country and indeed in the whole world. We need the removal of the barriers to our inequality and, in this case, the police would be even more of a barrier to the equal power relations we are fighting for. According to the 1993 Horner Report, "crime problem solving" includes "crime prevention programs." These community crime prevention programs are to be led by police and community agencies. For 20 years, we have objected to the police's individualistic, woman-blaming programs known as 'Lady Beware' and 'Woman Alone.' The recent Surrey Police response to the "Surrey Rapist" is a good example. The police contribution was to deal with the rapes as a property crime, and to recommend to women the hardware to use that might prevent a break and enter. These are all regressive moves for women. They blame women victims, as well as falsely reassure us that we can prevent all male violence against us. These recommendations also undermine the work done by feminist centres and groups to which women turn for help in far greater numbers than they do to police. Police methods focus on "adjusting" the woman so that she adapts to the reality of our inequality, while they demand no adjustment, let alone transformation, of the systems that contribute to our inequality. There must be public accountability of the police to the citizenry. The Horner Reportalso recommends the establishment of citizen consultative or advisory committees. We know this means, as it did in the Victoria experiment, that "the citizen volunteer is to play a supportive role under the directional leadership of the police," not a co-productive partnership role. Nowhere is there any description of or recommendation for what we have continued to call for, and that is formal structures and meaningful accountability of the police to the citizenry. Bonnie Agnew works at Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter. EastsicIe DataGrapIhcs 1460 Commercial DmvE teI: 255*9559 Fax: 255 5075 • Acnylics • WatercoLours • Oil pAiivr • STRETchEd Canvas /4*t 4ufflUie& conveniently H f|KPlj facetted i*t et&ovi neiyAfowi/uwd! |lfl^ OfficE SuppliES Art Suppliss •^^■•UNioN Shop REcycUd pApER pRoduas (J^ Women in South Africa Parti Table of Contents Chronology of the struggle: pages 9,12-13 Interview with Brigitte Mabandla, ANC: pages 10,16 Interview with Mum'Lydia Kompe, Rural Women's Movement: pagesll,16 Report from South Africa: pages 14-15 Kinesis would like-to thank: D. Lydia Masemola, L. Muthoni Wanyeki, Faith Jones, Amal Hassan-keyd, Cynthia Low, Sur Mehat, WendyFrostand Agnes Huang for their help with transcribing, editing and layout. All photographs are by Fatima Jaffer, except p. 14-15 by Fatima Mussa. Also, thanks to the following people in South Africa who helped make this report possible: Juno Walker, Themba Ndaba, Khadija Jaffer Dawood, Rosalee Telela, Doreen Zimbizi, Zaidi Harneker, Marie-Helene, Mmatshilo Motsei, Badu Pule, the women at Speak, the women in the Johannesburg Lesbian Forum, and many many many more. border graphic courtesy of Sister Namibia; adapted by Sur Mehat The first "free" elections in South Africa took place in April this year, after almost 400 years of struggle against white colonization. Kinesis celebrates the victory of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and abroad with two 8-page supplements. Parti will appear in our next issue. In the last 50 years, colonization in South Africa took the form of apartheid, which mean "separate development" in Afrikaans, which relied on race classifications as the basis for its attempt to "divide and rule" the land and its people. Anti-apartheid liberation movements subverted apartheid by forging alliances across race lines, and with all peoples of colour in South Africa in the form of united black movements of resistance. Given this con text and for our Sou th Africa coverage, Kinesis uses the term (upper-cased B) "Black" to denote people of African origin, and the term (lower-cased b) "black" when referring to all peoples of colour. In the South African context, the term "Indian" is also sometimes used to denote people of South Asian origin. According to the latest estimates, there are more than 32 million people in South Africa, of which 75 percent are Black, 14percent arewhite; eight percent are "coloured" (mixed race); and three percent are East and South Asian. The folloiving is a brief chronology of the history of colonization of South Africa, and of the struggle leading up to the recent elections in South Africa. (Due to space limitations, we are unable to truly represent the breadth and scope of the struggle of the various liberation movements—in particular, the contributions of the country's labour moi'ements. Our chronology focuses, as mucli as possible, on the contribution of women in the liberation of the country.) 1652: The Dutch East India company sets up a food and fuel station at the Cape, refusing to recognise Khoikhoi and Sans title to the land. These African peoples had inhabited the land since 8,000 BC. Over the next two centuries, Dutch settlers are joined by Huguenots (French protestants) and the British, and the three colonizing powers wage war on the different African peoples throughout "South Africa," and on each other in their efforts to conquer the land. 1860: The first indentured Indian labourers arrive in Natal. About 35 years later, legislation to limit Indian immigration is passed. 1899-1902: The Anglo-Boer war divides thecountry, laying waste to towns and farms, and killing thousands of people. 1910: The Union of South Africa is established and South Africa is divided into four colonies: Cape Province; Natal; Orange Free Trade; and the Transvaal. In addition, South Africa's government maintains control over Namibia. From 1910, the white minority government governed by following a policy of racial segregation (unofficial apartheid). Blacks are excluded from the vote everywhere but in the Cape Province, and the right of Blacks to be represented directly in Parliament is withdrawn. Chinese labourers are repatriated. 1911: It is made an offence for blacks to break a labour contract. 1912: The South African Native Na- tionalCouncil (SANNC) is launched. Eleven years later, it changes its name to the African National Congress (ANC). The SANNC pro- tests against passes (identity documents) and land losses, and demandsbetter treatment of Africans. 1913: The Natives' Land Act bans Blacks from purchasing land in most of the country (about 13 percent of the land is allocated for Blacks). This leaves thousands of Blacks landless, forcing many to move onto the government-controlled reserves (called bantustans or "homelands" by the South African government) called Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Ciskei and Venda (TBVC). The only Blacks allowed in white areas are labourers. 1924: The Communist Party of South Africa parades during the Rand miners' strike, calling for workers of the world to "uniteand fight fora white South Africa." A few years later, it changes its policy to multiculturalism, and develops a program for African majority rule with one person, one vote. 1927: The ANC organizes opposition to government attempts at removing the vote of blacks in the Cape and "redefining" the vote of coloureds. 1936: Blacks are removed from the Cape voters' rolls. 1943: The ANC Women's League is formed. As well, Indian women join the struggle as members of the South African Indian Congress (SAIC). 1946-7: Indian women play key role in the SAIC's Passive Resistance Campaign protesting legislation that restricted the freedom of movement of the Indian people. Over two thousand Indian activists are arrested and jailed for crossing the border from Natal into the Transvaal. 1947: On March 8, women of all races participate in anlnternational Women's Day march in Johannesburg. 1948: The white National Party is voted into power and apartheid becomes the official state policy of South Africa. Women in government: A new phase of struggle by Brigitte Mabandla, as told to Fatima Jaffer The following is an interview with Brigitte Mabandla, who was elected into the new South African government last April. Kinesis spoke with Mabandla in Johannesburg before the elections when Mabandla was a senior legal researcher and gender project coordinator at the Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape; and a member of the African National Congress (ANC) Women's League and of the National Women's Coalition. Fatima Jaffer: You're currently 66th on the ANC's national election list so it's likely you will soon be sitting in the National Assembly. Do you see yourself as being able to continue to represent women and women's interests when you're in government? Brigitte Mabandla: The ANC hasn't as yet set up its structure for government so I don't really know [in what capacity] I will be [serving]. But I know that we are a team, as women, who have a strategizing unit for the ANC. We also have an emancipation committee in the ANC which looks at issues of women and development, of rights, and even of structures for negotiation. We are all committed to pushing gender [issues] and we have made actual plans on how to go about it. So though I don't know exactly what my task will be in the national assembly, rest assured, I will be representing women and I will be pushing on gender issues. Jaffer: One of the issues I've heard women talk about is the dangers of women in positions of political office losing touch with women on the ground, "selling out," living in big houses, getting caught up in the system. There is a concern that women who were part of the liberation movements are not going to remember where they came from once they're in office. Mabandla: I think we will have a lot of that kind of thing coming, not from women themselves but more from those "monitoring" us, who have no good will. The media for example, might pick on certain women and try to play up certain weaknesses. We anticipate and are anxious about that. But at a practical level, I think we have the trust of women on the ground. But you're also right, it depends how we perform. Only then will the gulf [between women] go. There will be difference [between women]. I don't think we can deny difference on the basis of colour. Now ethnicity is cropping in because of the very strong Zulu lobby during the negotiations process, and we're going to have that coming out more and more. Then there's difference in terms of where we are situated, whether rural or urban, literate or illiterate; difference on the class question, the degree of means. The awareness of differences is important in terms of strategies, development, growth and the general well being of women. We need to recognize we are different and that, in fact, by being in parliament, you do change, in the sense that you earn more, you are the first crop of African women who find themselves in positions of power where that didn't exist before, and I can't deny that I come from that core of people. But I still think that the woman on the ground will appreciate us if we can deliver the goods'. It's like where a revolutionary movement is led by an intellectual like a Nelson Mandela, the ordinary man on the street will respect Mandela provided Mandela is still the Mandela who consults, who can be taken to task. These are the expectations of the people. We have a code of conduct in the ANC for parliamentarians or people going into government which is quite strict. The challenge is whether we will be able to adhere to that. Yesterday I was talking to Mavivi [Manzini,] who's my colleague and is on the [ANC list for] legislature. We've been working hard together. We did congratulate ourselves as South Africans for struggling and actually attaining our goal. But then we were looking at ourselves in terms of the future and, I can tell you, there was so much commitment. I was very relaxed and talking about how we are determined to in fact make a difference for our people, and how we'll work hard. You know, we come from a tradition of struggle so there is that bonding [that comes from struggle]. So I don't think we'll be corrupted immediately, if there is such a thing, as inevitably people get corrupted. I'm not sure about that, but I know that we're getting in (into parliament/elected positions) determined to make a difference and to regard the new [parliamentary] office as a new struggle. I think that makes a difference. Jaffer: When I saw you in the line-up for voting yesterday [April 27], you said you didn't care how long you had to stand in line, that after all the years of struggle and exile. How did you feel when you finally got to vote? Mabandla: Very excited. I tell you...it was something else. Jaffer: Was it everything you thought it would be? Mabandla: Oh yes. Yes. Jaffer: Many government organizations working to address the problems faced by women were disbanded in face of the larger movement. For example many grassroots organizations working to address the problems faced by women, for example, women in squatter camps, folded after the liberation movements were unbanned in 1990 to make way for political organizations like the ANC. The impression I have is that women from these organizations were encouraged to work within the liberation and political movements and, because they didn't want to be perceived as being in competition with these movements, in fact disbanded these organizations. Mabandla: We [women in the ANC] were part of the globaleffort of advancing the goals [of the ANC]. So, in 1985, while we were in exile, we decided to do something concrete. [The women] made attempts at forming organs of civil society, such as women's organizations. In certain areas, the idea was to resuscitate the old Federation of South African Women. At that time, we had a problem with the mass democratic movement [the United Democratic Front (UDF)]. There was still the old idea of saying, "we struggle first, and we'll address gender later." So we had to do something about that. We [the Women's League] used our own ways, adapted the product for each region, and set up different forms [of women's structures]. When we [returned from exile,] we had to deal with the question of whether we should let these [women's organizations] continue, or have the [ANC] Women's League in their place. We felt we should have the Women's League. But there were dissenting voices within the ANC who objected to the dismantling of the structures. They argued that the [existing organizations] had done very good work, that they have people who are not necessarily ANC but are working on gender issues, and that if we form the Women's League we are forcing them out forcing a political agenda in. But we wanted a linkage, we wanted the issue of gender to be linked to the powerful struggle for national liberation. We thought this was very important strategically. And since we assumed, correctly in fact, that the majority of people in the UDF and women's groups were ANC, we didn't see any problem in folding them. But, when [we folded the women's organizations], the ANC Women's League also set itself the goal of setting up the National Women's Coalition [in 1992, made up of over 90 groups], which then appealed deliberately across political lines to bring together women to begin to communicate and campaign for a clear goal, such as the Charter for Women's Rights. So that's how we destroyed the other organizations. Sometimes I too have felt it was a blunder. Yet, when I reflect back, I think it was the best thing to do because otherwise, women would be dividing [their time and energy] between too many organizations, and we don't have that kind of time. Also, the chances of conflict would be greater. Then again, we had on our agenda the idea of starting a powerful women's movement. When we dismantled the National Women's Coalition again [in February, 1994], people were very upset. Some women felt that the coalition was a springboard for starting up a women's movement. But there were very serious problems at the grassroots level, with the poorer regions and rural areas having very weak structures or none at all. Also, there was a feeling that, while the white women had a smaller constituency or were not even linked into other [women's] projects, they were more vocal and more visible. The ordinary women, for whom this Coalition was set up, were in fact left out. Folding [the Coalition] is still a debatable strategy. But while there were lots of gains from the formation of the Coalition, I think it's good to fold it up now. There are programs on the ground, in the form of NGOs or community groups, from which we can, again, reconstitute ourselves and form a national body [of women]. Jaffer: From what I've heard, many of the grassroots women in the National Women's Coalition also feel that, with its mandate fulfilled, the Coalition should fold and something new and better should take its place. Another thing I've been hearing is the debate over who has the power to speak, who pushes the agenda, and so on. Women have expressed a need for the issue of black consciousness or anti- racism to be on the agenda.. But the ANC, and in fact, the South African line, has been for a non-racist as opposed to anti-racist politics. Mabandla: You're right. In South Africa, and in the ANC for example, in our quest for a society ideally non-racial and non-sexist, we subsumed difference. This topic is beginning to be addressed now. We are openly saying, "we shouldn't deny difference." We have subsumed difference to a degree because it is a strategy of the ANC, but we are likely to have problems as a result. We have already had problems, for example, during the campaigns, when we were attacked on the idea of affirmative action—already [white people] are beginning to interpret affirmative action as a form of racism. Had we, in fact, emphasized difference we wouldn't [have the same problems now.] You must appreciate also that the [membership of] the ANC is not ideologically homogeneous. It's a mixed pot and, one hopes that with an open society, we will have ideologically based organizations that deal with specifics. There is an anti-racist movement that is beginning to grow, some of them are ANC members, some are South African Communist Party members. They are a small group at the moment but, as we deal with the issues of difference and as the ethnic debate develops and grows, we will come back to these issues [in the ANC]. Jaffer: I'd like to ask you about solidarity and the future relationship of South Africa with progressive communities and liberation struggles globally. Given that the ANC already has established strong bases in many places in the Continued on page 16 Rural women organizing: Mobilizing and ready by Mum'Lydia Kompe, as told to Fatima Jaffer Lydia Kompe has spent 20 years of her life organizing, first in trade unions, and presently amongrural women. Shewasakey founder of the Rural Women's Movement, and is a long-time fieldworker and founding member of the Transvaal Rural Action Committee (TRAC). Kompe is also the first representative of rural women to sit in parliament. Kinesis spoke with her in Johannesburg in April. Fatima Jaffer: Can you tell us a little bit about the Transvaal Rural Action Committee, and how the Rural Women's Movement began. Lydia Kompe: The Rural Women's Movement began in 1986. Before that, I used to go and stay in the various [rural] areas, and talk with women. I had to convince the men that, "it's okay, we're not doing anything against you but we are trying to form structures which will support you, and for the resistance movement," so they could appreciate what we were doing. We started to bring these groups together in 1986 and to organize the women. They began to share their problems with each other. They had similar grave problems—it was either the forced removals [from land, to make way for white settlements], detentions of their children, beatings, and so on. I used union strategies because I was a unionist before. It was like bringing shop stewards together. At first there were nine groups and I said, every group should send five women. Women were sharing tears, they were still emotional [about] being threatened with forced removals, while others had been forcibly moved already. There was no time to talk about women's own problems, they were actually just addressing the general problems. That's why men accepted the whole thing. As time went on, we started to discuss, how best we could get involved in the [liberation] structures, so that we could strongly participate and also take decisions, because it's women who are all involved and affected. We started to make these women's groups very strong and, in 1990, we lodged it... Jaffer: ...at the rural government level? Kompe: That's right. We elected an executive, the executive elected the office-bearers, and then the women started to organize. The first removals after 1980 were done very quietly so there was not a lot of rush to organize women around the crisis. There was therefore more demand on development and women's empowerment. We started to work strongly on empowering women, creating leadership, challenging patriarchy, and also addressing the day-to-day problems in the rural areas. There was no water to drink, let alone for income-generating projects, like green vegetable gardens. Health problems are also a real threat to women in the rural area. There are no health facilities at all. If there is hospital, like Moutse [an area withalmost 50 villages], which has a population of about 300,000 at the moment. But Philadelphia hospital also has to facilitate the [population of] Kwandebele, because Kwandebele has no hospital, so if they're sick they have to go to Philadelphia Hospital. That means about half a million people [to one hospital]. It's about 60 kilometres to the hospital for some people. It would be closer to go to [the hospital in the townof ] Marble Hall from there. But because [the Marble Hall hospital] is racist, people cannot go there. It's not true that resources have been opened up for everyone here in South Africa. The small towns, which are completely dominated by the [rightwing organization] Afrikaner*Weerstands Bewiging (AWB) are still closing their doors. Jaffer: Are there lots of towns like Marble Hall in the rural areas? Kompe: Yes, very small ones, not too far from Johannesburg, but people have no access to them. You know we used to buy through the windows in these towns, while only whites could go inside. And we'd be sold old fish and chips, the rotten ones. But you can't argue. If you open your mouth, you get a sambok. So we decided not to buy these things. But they would come to us and say, "come and buy, they're cheap," and make us get in a queue at the window. One bank, I think it's in Marble Hall, still has separate queues. Whites cannot see themselves standing behind a Black person [in a line-up]. In fact, they want us to stand outside in the sun and [be served by cashiers] through a little window. I don't talk [with them] about the law because they don't care about it, they take the law into their own hands, and the [former, white] government has given them that privilege. There are still many places like that, but they [established political parties] would deny it, saying "No, no, no. Apartheid is gone." I took some South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reporters with me to my home in a rural area [in March]. I didn't think they would be comfortable in my home because we have no resources there, my house has no bathroom, so I said, "you should stay in a hotel, and I'll go home." But they wanted to interview me and stay at the hotel. So we got to that one little hotel, I said to them, "I don't think this hotel is multiracial. Maybe I should stand outside." But they just didn't believe it. When we entered, I made them go first to the counter. I saw the [white] owners, an older man and woman. And the older woman took me, very finely by the a rm—and that's the sign to us, we know that—so I told them, "Oh, I'm with those people there, and you know who they are? They're SABC." But the old man never allowed me to go in. We had to go sit outside in the courtyard. The [SABC] cameraman was furious. The guy from the hotel said to the SABC, "It's not personal, it's what these [Black] people want. They don't want to mix." I didn't take it personally because I know that if he allowed me in, and those [rightwing Afrikaner] guys find me there, they'd either kill me or close his hotel. I said [to the SABC crew], "it's nice that you go out and see these things." Oh, I wish I had been with [former president] de Klerk [laughter]. Jaffer. But surely de Klerk knows what's going on. Kompe: Very well. He can't do anything about it. Jaffer: Do you think he wants to? Kompe: He could stop it if he wants to. He could close that [hotel] if they do not obey the laws. But he wants them to keep those little privileges. We are in the centre of racism. That will never go away. If you talk to the Boers [farmers, or term for Afrikaners], they will tell you, "No, no, we're a different culture. We'll never mix [with you]." [Black] People are not buying houses in those little [Afrikaner] towns because they know there will be a lot of sabotage, particularly after the vote. When Mandela takes over after the elections, these [rightwing Afrikaner] people will go mad. They could just destroy everything. I don't think I want to move where I am not wanted. I'll stay at my house in the rural area. I'm very nervous about them. I think they a re the most cruel people these days. If they feel they are being defeated, they have said they will fight until they're left to the white person. I was telling you about the resources. When the women started to focus on pressuring the present government to make them deliver the goods, they actually made demands. They prioritized their dilemmas. Women have no water, no education, schools for their children, land, which is the most important one, health facilities, electricity, better roads, creation of jobs, skills to develop themselves, and training to be able to tend the vegetable gardens. Women also need to be trained to look after their little children because, right now, every little village has got a creche [daycare centre], since most of the women work for the fascist people we're talking about. They have no choice but to go work in their fields. Jaffer: You're talking about women farmworkers? Kompe: Yes. The farmers pick them up in the morning at about 5 o'clock and the women come back 6 o'clock in the evening, so they hardly see their children. For about five days, they don't see their children at all because these trucks come very early. They get seven Rand (about $3) a day, which is 140 Rand ($60) a month. After very hard labour, those who stay in the farms, even the little children water the fields before they go to school. Most of the farms don't even have a school to send them to. If there is a so-called progressive or sympathetic Boer, he may have a school that only goes up to Standard Two (Grade) so that the boys will know how to count bags of crops. They're not putting up these schools because they want them to get educated, but because they want more production. They think we don't see this. These children walk a minimum of 10 kilometres to get to these schools, and it's more or less compulsory, because the farmerwants these young boys to be better than their fathers. If they can read and write, they can tend the cows, [but also] count the cows and sheep. [The farmer] wants them to look after his wealth properly. Jaffer: When the National Women's Coalition was formed in 1992, and began to put together The Women's Charter, theRural Women's Movement presented their demands in that. I haven't read the charter. Were the demands of rural women included in the charter? Kompe: When the initial women's coalition was formed, in 1992,1 was sitting on the steering committee. The Rural Women's Movement had the same old demands. We said we need equal rights, particularly regarding the land—that women should have the right to land, whether they're married or not married. We demanded full participation in the existing traditional [African] structures. We also need to be able to take up positions in the family, where women have equal status around decisionmaking. Rural women have really been treated badly. For example, men don't get paid much money here so they go to Johannesburg to get jobs, stay in the men-only hostels, and it takes them time to send money home. Meanwhile, there are a lot of demands at home, children need to go to school, need food, and the women haven't got the money. They wait for their husbands to send them money, and out of that, you have to see to it that the children get money to go to school. Mum'Lydia Kompe, surrounded by women of the Women's Movement Rural Continued on page 16 Continued from page 9 1949: The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act is passed, the first in a series of official apartheid policies. Around this time, African women form grassroots campaigns which include bus boycotts to protest increases in bus fares, and demonstrationsagainst increases in food prices or rent increases. 1950: The Suppression of Communism Act (on the basis of which, the Communist Party of South Africa is banned and the government can now ban or place a person under house arrest under suspicion of being a communist) is passed. The Immorality Act (to stop sex between people of different races), and the Separate Representation of Voters Act are also passed. As well, with the Population Registration Act, people are divided into four race groups: "white"—mostly descendants and immigrants from European countries, particularly Britain and the Netherlands; "coloured"—people of mixed race; "Asians"- descendants of immigrants from East and South Asia; and "Bantu" or "Black,"—all indigenous Africans. These groups are not allowed to interact, and their rights, privileges and amenities are disbursed according to the white state. With this Act, every person over the age of 16 is required to carry a racial identity card that must be produced on request. The Separate Amenities Act requires the everything, from elevators and washrooms to park benches, be restricted for different race groups. Under the Group Areas and Urban Areas Acts, individuals are, on the grounds of race, restricted to owning private or business property in specific state-demarcated areas of a town and excluded from all others. In almost all cases, this means blacks have to move to make way for whites. In the following years, the government carries out numerous "forced removals." The Bantu Education Act creates a separate (limited) system of education for Blacks. At the same time, separate departments of education were created for whites, Indians and coloureds. 1952: The ANC and the SAIC launch the Defiance Campaign and declare June 26 South Africa Freedom Day. Their program of action includes protests, boycotts, stay- aways, strikes, and civil disobedience. More than 9,000 "defiers" were imprisoned for peaceful opposition to apartheid. The Abolition of Passes Act is passed, which introduces the dompas or reference books, without which blacks do not officially "exist," and which becomes the key to the administration of apartheid and labour control. 1954: The ANC, the SAIC, the Coloured People's Congress, and the Congress of Democrats form the Congress Alliance. The Congress of South African Trade Unions joins the alliance two years later. The alliance uses a policy of passive resistance to mount its many campaigns. The Federation of South African Women (FSAW) is formed by women from all over the country and mainly from those in the ANC's Women's Section and trade unions. Membership includes AlbertinaSisulu, Lilian Ngoyi, Rahima Moosa, Fatima Meer, Ida Mtwana, Helen Joseph, Elizabeth Maf eking, Annie Silinga, and Hetty McLeod. Women lead protests and campaigns. Annie Silinga becomes the first Black woman to sit in a "whites-only" waiting room at a station. 1955: At a two-day Congress of the People, sponsored by a range of liberation organizations including the ANC, the SAIC and Congress of Democrats, the Freedom Charter, calling for equal rights for all people, is developed and adopted. The South African government extends the pass laws to include women. FSAW adopts The Women's Charter, which is later incorporated into the Freedom Charter. In the first march of its kind, 2,000 women, organized by FSAW, march on the government in Pretoria to demand the pass laws be repealed. Anti-pass meetings are held around the country. Black Sash is formed. It is first known as the Women's Defence of the Constitution League, a lobby of six white women against the Senate Bill to remove coloureds from the voters' rolls. Black Sash protests continue through the 1970s and 1980s and, in particular, it leads the campaign to expose and stop the forced removals of blacks. Black Sash is still active on issues resulting from the policy of apartheid: land reform, detention without trial, pension inequalities, gender discrimination, hunger relief, and treatment of domestic workers. The government passes the "Western Areas Removals Scheme" by which Sophia town, a black area, is to be cleared for white development. Residents vow to die rather than move. After many protests, led by, among others, Ruth Mamphati, Sophiatown is bulldozed and cleared of blacks. The white suburb of Triomf (Triumph) is built in its place. 1956: On August 9, over 20,000 women from across South Africa gather again in Pretoria to demand the passlawbe repealed. Among other protest songs, the women sing the now famous: "Strijdom, you have tampered with the women, you have struck a rock, you have unleashed a boulder, you will die." August 9 has since been declared "Women's Day." Coloureds are removed from the voters' rolls. In December, 156 anti-apartheid leaders are arrested and charged with treason. Twenty of those arrested are women, including Helen Joseph, Lillian Ngoyi and Annie Silinga. The Treason Trial drags on for almost five years, during which women gather to protest outside the court. Only 30 are officially charged, but the government is unable to prove its case and eventually all are freed. 1958: The ANC mounts a women's campaign against pass laws. Many demonstrations are held. Two thousand women are arrested after a massive demonstration against pass laws in Fordsburg, near Johannesburg. 1959: The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) is formed by leader Robert Sobukwe as a breakaway from the ANC in rejection of what is seen as the growing influence of whites in the ANC and the Communist Party of South Africa, and Indians in the movement. The PAC's stated purpose is not merely to struggle against apartheid, but for a return of lands and self- determination for the indigenous African peoples. 1960: On March 21,69 peaceful demonstrators are killed by police in Sharpeville, Transvaal. In protest, a one-day nationwide strike is organized by the PAC and ANC, during which thousands of Africans burn their passes. The government arrests over 20,000 people and bans the ANC and PAC. Both organizations go underground. A State of Emergency is declared, under which thousands of people are detained without trial. 1961: The ANC adopts the policy of armed struggle against the white government. 1962: Winnie Mandela is banned for the first time under the Suppression of Communism Act. She is arrested several times for contravening her banning, charged frequently with "terrorism," held in detention, placed under house arrest, the banning order against her is repeatedly renewed, and she is finally freed in 1986. Throughout, she is often the only voice within the country openly supporting the ANC. 1963: After seven years of anti-pass protests, the reference book system is installed and African women, in order to get jobs or qualify for pensions, are forced to carry passbooks. The books determine where one can work and live and restrict movement to areas not specified in the passbook. Women without passbooks become non-persons. White, coloured and Indian women are also required to carry passbooks, but only as a means of identification, not as a means of controlling the movement of people. Shortly after, the FSAW disbands as many of the women are banned, placed under house arrest, held in detention, or go into exile. Nelson Mandela, WalterSisulu and others are sentenced to lifeimprisonment. Then ANC president Oliver Tambo leads the organization into exile and, over the years, establishes the ANC as the primary voice in the liberation struggle, encouraging pro- gressivecommunities internationally tofight for international sanctions against South Africa. 1969: The South African Students' Organization (SASO) is formed, with Steve Biko as its most well-known figure, marking the beginning of the black consciousness movement. After SASO is banned in 1977, activists regroup in 1979 to form the Azanian Peoples' Organization (AZAPO). 1972:Theblack-consciousness-oriented Black People's Convention is formed. 1975: The Black Women's Federation (BWF) is formed, consisting of over 41 organizations united in rejectionof Bantu Education and in support of Soweto student protests. The BWF is banned in 1977. 1976: On June 16, school children in the Black township of Soweto refuse to attend classes and take to the streets to protest the imposition of Afrikaans instead of English as a medium of instruction in their schools. About 1,000 children are killed, and thousands more are maimed during the uprising. A new era of anti-apartheid protests begins, where women organize to support protests by children, who lead the struggle within the country in the 70s and 80s. 1977: Black consciousness leader Steve Biko dies in detention. Two newspapers and 17 organizations, many of them black- consciousness-oriented, are banned. Biko's wife, Ntiski Biko, continues the struggle. 1980: The Women'sFederationof South Africa is formed. Members are opposed to rent increases and Bantu Education. 1983: In a huge referendum turnout, two-thirds of South African white voters approve the establishment of a tricameral parliament which will include separate and limited coloured and Indian houses of parliament but exclude Blacks. The white parliament still control most matters of state and all policies. The United Democratic Front (UDF) is launched. Made up of about 600 groups, most of which are essentially ANC front organizations, they lead a new campaign of defiance and civil disobedience within the country. The UDF's stated claim is to create a true democracy in which all South Africans can participate. The UDF also sets up street or people's committees to deal with issues of community interest. 1986: Pass laws and the Mixed Marriages Act are abolished. A countrywide State of Emergency is declared. It is renewed annually until 1990. A NationalParty representative holds secret meetings with Mandela, serving a life sentence on Robben Island, to discuss the possibility of the ANC joining the political process. 1988: The activities of the UDF, 16 other political organizations, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) are restricted. 1989: In the Harare Declaration, the ANC sets out the terms under which it will negotiate with the government. The Harare "Women are demanding" (the back reads "Women's empowerment now) Woman at rally, Orlando East Stadium in Soweto. Declaration is adopted by most international bodies as the blueprint for the upcoming negotiations. A new Defiance Campaign begins. The first anti-apartheid marches are allowed to take place. The Pan-Africanist Movement is launched, forging the way for the resurgence of the PAC inside the country. Political detainees go on hunger strikes to force authorities to charge or release them. ANC's Walter Sisulu and other long-term political prisoners are released. 1990: In February, the ANC, the PAC, theSouth African Communist Party (SACP), and the Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO) are unbanned. Restrictions are removed on the UDF and Cosatu. Nelson Mandela is released on February 11, after 27 years in prison. In April, the first of the exiled ANC leaders arrive in South Africa, and join in talks with the government. The agreement reached includes facilitation of the release of political prisoners, the return of exiles, and the amending of security legislation. Hospital apartheid is abolished. In June, The State of Emergency is lifted everywhere in the country, except Natal. In August, The Pretoria Minute is signed in which the ANC renounces its armed struggle. Hundreds of people are killed in a wave of ANC-Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) violence in East Rand townships. In October, the State of Emergency in Natal is lifted. Also in October, the first South African gay and lesbian pride march takes place in Johannesburg. It is also the first African pride march. Shortly after, a campaign to collect submissions for a Gay and Lesbian Charter is put into action. 1991: In January, ANC and IFP leaders Mandela and Mangosuthu Buthelezi sign an agreement to stop violence between followers of the two organizations. In February, prosecutions under the Group Areas Act are suspended. Some political prisoners are released. In April, the ANC accuses the government of being party to ongoing political violence and threatens to withdraw from negotiations unless the government acts in good faith. The agreed date for the release of political prisoners and return of political exiles passes with neither of these processes being complete. Political prisoners stage a hunger strike in protest. The ANC suspends negotiations and announces a campaign of mass action. In May, the ANC Women's League is reestablished within the country and Gertrude Shope is elected the first president, with Albertina Sisulu as vice-president. Winnie Mandela is found guilty of kidnapping and of being an accessory to assault in a case involving the death of a young activist. In 1992, Mandela gets elected president of the ANC Women's League. By 1993, her conviction on kidnapping charges is upheld on appeal, but that of being an accessory to assault is overturned. Her appeal of the outstanding charges is currently underway. In June, the 1913 and 1936 Land Acts, the Black Communities Act, and hundreds of other racist restrictions in laws are repealed, leaving the constitution as the only major piece of apartheid legislation in place. In July, government funding of Inkatha is exposed. In September, the National Peace Accord is signed by all major political players except the white right wing. In December, most of the major political pa rties assemble at the World Trade Centre near Kempton Park to launch the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa). Eighteen organizations participate including the government, the National Party, the ANC, the 10 homeland administrations, the Transvaal and Natal Indian Congresses, and the SACP. Staying away are theP AC, the Conservative Party, AZAPO, and the right wing. 1992: In February, a Patriotic Front of liberation organizations is formed, marking the entry of the PAC into negotiations. It includes the ANC, PAC, Cosatu, the coloured Labour Party, and some homeland leaders. In December, the government suspends talks with the PAC until the Azanian People's Army (Apia) attacks on white civilians cease. By the following June, the PAC confirms its refusal to abandon the armed struggle. In April, the National Women's Coalition is formed, consisting of about 60-90 national and regional organizations. Women participate across party lines to write a Women's Charter and to demand inclusion in the Codesa negotiations. They also lobby for women to hold 30 percent of the seats in government and during negotiations, and succeed in winning the battle against customary law, where the rightsof Black women have been overridden by some traditions. In May, IFP leader Buthelezi refuses to attend the second plenary session of Codesa (II), because Zulu King Goodwill Zwelethini is refused full status as a negotiator. The negotiating session ends in a deadlock after the working group on a constitution-making body fails to reach agreement. In June, 40 people are killed in a middle- of-the-night-attack on shacks in Boipatong, an informal settlement on the East Rand, sparking an international outcry. Among the dead are 23 women. The attackers are alleged to be IFP supporters, and the police are accused of complicity. The ANC suspends negotiations with the government and initiates a "rolling mass action" campaign with the SACP and Cosatu. In September, the ANC and the government sign a Record of Understanding (RoU) in terms of which 150 political prisoners convicted of murder will be released, the Codesa II deadlock is resolved, certain hostels will be fenced, and the carrying of tradi tional weapons will be banned. The signing of the bilateral RoU marks the beginning of closed-door negotiations between the government and the ANC. Buthelezi points out that since decisions affecting the IFP are being made without consulting it, neither it nor KwaZulu authorities will be bound by these agreements. In October, the IFP, white rightwing political organizations, and the "homeland" leaders of Ciskei, kwaZulu and BophuthatswanajoinforcesastheConcerned South Africans Group to oppose the talks. By 1993, this group is known as the Freedom Alliance. In October, President de Klerk conditionally apologizes for apartheid. In November, the ANC becomes the leaderof the Tripartite Alliance, with Cosatu, the SACP and (later) the South African National Civic Organization (SANCO). The ANC lists for political office in the upcoming election include members of all four organizations. 1993: In February, the government and ANC propose power-sharing and a five- year interim government of national unity after an election. In March and April, a multi-party negotiations planning conference is attended by 26 parties, including the kwaZulu government, the PAC, the Afrikaner Volksunie (white rightwing group), and delegations of traditional leaders. In April, SACP general secretary Chris Hani is assassinated by a white rightwinger, sparking protest all over the country. In May, 18 right-wing groups are brought together as the Afrikaner Volksfront to demand Afrikaner self-determination in a federal state. Azapo confirms it will not participate in negotiations. June: Negotiators use thenotion of "sufficient consensus" to announce that the country's first elections will be held on April 27, 1994. The Freedom Alliance walks out of the talks. Armed rightwingers attack the site of negotiations, and assault some of the participants. A peace meeting is held between the ANC and IFP leaders. In July, The date for the first "non- racial" election in South Africa is set for April 27,1994. In September, The negotiating council accepts the draft Bill for the Transitional Executive Council (TEC) which, with its seven subcouncils, is responsible for creating a peacekeeping force and "levelling the playing field" in the run-up to the elections. In October, the UN lifts sanctions against South Africa, with the exception of the arms and oil embargoes. It is announced that Mandela and de Klerk have jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize. In November, there is agreement on some constitutional issues, to be in effect until April 1999. South Africa will be divided into nine provinces. The transitional con stitution makes provision for a non-racial, multi-party democracy, three tiers of government and a Bill of Rights applicable in a unitary South Africa, including the homelands. There will be a system of proportional representation (the party with the most votes gets the most seats), and Parliament will double as a constitution-writing body. This is passed into law by a special session of Parliament. In December, The multi-party TEC is installed as a neutral body to prepare for the elections and to create a climate for free political activity in the run-up to the elections four months away. The TEC has seven sub-councils, including the Sub-Council on the Status of Women, composed of six women from each of the leading political parties. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is also set up, with the primary task of arranging the country's first democratic elections. 1994: In January, Voter Education projects are launched. The country prepares for the elections. In February, political campaigns are launched. In April, about a week before the elections, the IFP says it will participate in the elections. The elections take place on April 26,27, 28, and in some regions, on April 29. Almost 20 million voters participate. In May, the confirmed election results find the ANC with 62.6 percent of the total; the NP with 20.4; the IFP with 10.5 percent; the Freedom Front with 2.2 percent; the Democratic Party with 1.7 percent; and the PAC with 1.2 percent. On May 10, Mandela becomes the first Black president of South Africa since white colonization began over 350 years ago. Meanwhile in Natal, ANC leaders boycott seatings of the IFP-dominated provincial legislature after reports of multiple attacks on ANC supporters by IFP supporters are received. Also in May, a health plan is released by the ANC that would legalize abortion on demand and provide free medical care to children, the elderly, people with disabilities and pregnant women. In June, the National Women's Coalition will fulfill its mandate when they present the final version of the South African Women's Charter to the new government for its consideration and action. In August, the first seating of the National Assembly takes place. Chronology compiled by Fatima Jaffer. Sources: The Weekly Mail and Guardian's A-Z of South African Politics, 1994; Peter Magubane's Women of South Africa: Their Fight for Freedom, 1994; various news clippings and conversations with women; and Kinesis, March 1986. New regional map of South Africa On building solidarity By Fatima Jaffer as told to L. Muthoni Wanyeki Fatima Jaffer recently returnedfrom a five- week trip to South Africa, as part of the election observer team of the National Action Committee on the Status ofWomen (NAC). The mandate for the NAC team was: to meet with a wide range of women's groups; to observe women's participation in the election process; and to build long- term links with women working in grassroots and non-governmen t organizations. Jaffer is the editor qfKinesis, the national feminist newspaper of the Vancouver Status of Women. In the following interview, Jaffer gives her impressions of women's participation in the election process and lesbian organizing. L. Muthoni Wanyeki: Could you tell us where you were in South Africa and why you were in that particular location? Jfljffer.TwasinJohannesburg.Iwasbased at [one of] South Africa's feminist magazines, Speak. As well, I spent a few days in Durban, Natal, where I visited the offices of another feminist publication, Agenda, as well as other groups. Wanyeki: One of the things I hear consistently in the Western mainstream media is that apartheid is over. Yet paradoxically, the same media will insist that the expectations of the South African people must not get "too high." What's your take on that? Jaffer: Apartheid is not over—some apartheid policies are. Ending apartheid is going to take a long time. We're not just looking at 50 years of official apartheid policies, we're talking about almost 400 years of white colonization. The very fact that the new government represents the people of South Africa means that they're already doing better than the last one. The legacy of apartheid is the biggest problem the new government has to deal with. Apartheid brought about high unemployment, low literacy levels, internalized racism, housing shortages, overcrowding, lack of electricity and water, hunger, and poverty. As well, the white-sponsored violence has left large numbers of women and children in refugee and squatter camps. A lot of the resources of South Africa have been sold off, and whites have gotten richer. The money has been paid to the old government, but many of these resources haven't been delivered yet. So, though the new government is not going to get this revenue, South Africans will now be working to deliver the goods. The women I talked to in the townships and in the rural areas are not dreaming about a different South Africa overnight— they said it might actually take 1 Oor 20 years. Some women said, "Not even in my lifetime." They had won a struggle, there was joy about that, but they did see the work up ahead. Wanyeki: What was women's involvement in the pre-election work? Jaffer: Before the elections, when the Codesa talks were on, women played a big role in ensuring women's voices were heard at every stage. One of the big debates was around customary law. The Congress of Traditional Leaders were fighting for customary law to have precedence over the Constitution—pa triarchal customary law because under customary law, women don't have rights to land. Rural women's organizations insisted the Constitution take precedence over customary law, in specific areas like the land issue, polygamy, and lobola. They won, except the Constitution will take precedence over customary law across the board, which could present problems in the future. It isn't custom that's a problem, it's patriarchy and the way that customary laws are interpreted to control women. Women were at the forefront of voter education and elections work. They were very busy. A lot of women had been drawn away from NGOs into working for the elections. Voter education was very uneven—for example, among rural women, in areas where the Afrikaaners controlled women farmworkers, farmers would turn away voter educators saying that a unit came by last week. It was hard to reach domestic workers, women in squatter areas, women refugees. One of the groups said to be the least likely to vote were South Asian women. This was said to be because the men often represented themselves as the voice of the family and they would vote for their wives; or Wanyeki: One thing that disturbed me about the Western mainstream media coverage of the elections was its divide-and-rule approach to people of colour in South Africa . There were many stories about coloureds [people of mixed-race] voting for de Klerk's NationalParty, because they "don't see themselves as being Black." South Asians were dealt with in the same way. Here in Canada, I think those of us using the term "of colour" have really worked at addressing internalized racism and racialism between us by reference-to the historical context and setups of colonialism. And I believe the term "Black" in South Africa functions in much the same way as "of colour" here. What's your opinion on that? Black women in South Africa are...organized, have been at the forefront of the struggle and are highly politicized. South Asian womenfeltoutsideof the political discourse and had not been empowered to take the step to vote. But on elections day, there was a very large turnout of Indian women. The concept of having voice was an issue. This is what I meant [by saying] apartheid was the biggest obstacle to free and fair elections, [to] women's participation in the democratic process. You had to empower women [to believe] it was their right to vote and it would mean something to their lives. [The Women's Development Foundation] was doing amazing work with no resources-producing tapes and videos on why women should vote, trying to [ensure] it wouldn't be seen as a threat by men. There were lots of slogans, suchas "Each one, teach a thousand." A lot of voter education was geared at training women to pass on that information. [That was] the way the struggle had worked, that's how voters' education worked. Wanyeki: Where did women stand in terms of the various parties? Jaffer: Women were in all parties, [the] ANC, the NP, the PAC, Azapo, although Azapo did not participate in the election. Most of the voter education was apolitical or multi-political. The [thrust] was on how women should ask where the parties stood on women's issues, like abortion, like polygamy, housing, education, violence, reproductive rights. The ANC fared the best; the PAC was better off on rural women's issues, and so was the IFP. A lot of faith has been put on the ANC to address these issues. Some of them have been addressed in the ANC's reconstruction and development plan (RDP), the strongest document that exists in South Africa around reform. [The] PAC tended to focus on land reform and black consciousness. Both of these were under-addressed by the ANC. In the debates on women's issues, the PAC did not have a position on abortion, [and also said] homosexuality is un-African, but did raise issues of affirmative action, child abuse and battering. Azapo decided not to participate and said they would disrupt the elections. But we didn't actually hear much from Azapo in the media [during the elections]. The women's parties were KISS (Keep it Straight and Simple), a largely white, quite conservative women's party; and the Women's Rights Peace Party, which seemed a little better than KISS, but not by much. There were 27 parties on the ballot paper by the end but most of them were really very small. Women were active in all the parties. Jaffer: The function of apartheid was to divide and rule. Under apartheid laws, people were split into four racial groups: whites, Blacks, Asians, and coloureds. Apartheid worked differently on different groups of people. The more white blood you had, the better you were treated but also, the more you were pressured to strive for "whiteness." The Western Cape, which has a large number of mixed-race people, voted National Party. But in the PWV region, which is where I was, a lot of mixed race people and South Asians fought with Blacks for the liberation of South Africa. Many of them openly supported the ANC. I met lots of progressive mixed-race people and South Asians. I don't want to generalize about the issue. From my own experience, I can understand what internalized racism does to you. Apartheid was defeated overall in the country. The struggle is continuing and internalized oppression is being worked on. The black consciousness movement seems to be one of peoples of colour. I loved the way that worked in South Africa. Blacks there had been separated by apartheid, yet they identified, from the beginning, the need to resist this and organize together. They came together in a real act of revolution. It did not seem to be an alliance solely around a common enemy—it went deeper, had more to do with a basic understanding of how they got to be on that land together. When you carry that historical understanding, you can really work together. People considered themselves African, whether they were Black, Indian or coloured, because they hadnegotiatedthat.lt was only the whites who had never negotiated that term, who couldn't truly find ground on which to truly share. On TV, I heard Black news commentators use the term "people of colour," which is another term being considered for use to replace "Black." There's a real effort to change the language and terms. Everything is in turmoil. Whites don't know how to deal with the legacy of apartheid, and Blacks have to start breaking down that legacy. Wanyeki: What were general impression of the elections as they were happening? Jaffer: The build-up [and] the spirit of reconciliation were incredible. The mood was very high—people were saying, "I want this to last forever, I've waited all my life for this, I never thought it would happen in my lifetime." There was so much joy. [I began to comprehend] what bell hooks said, "In or der to feel true joy, you have to have felt pain". The line-ups were [also] very hard on people, no matter how much joy they were feeling. They were extremely long, there was no water... Wanyeki: There was a special day of voting for seniors, people with disabilities, and pregnant women. How did that go? Jaffer: What other country has a special day for people with disabilities, for women who are pregnant, for the elderly, for people in hospitals? [But] it was a difficult day, because it was the first day of voting. It was a trial, a lot of things went wrong—ballot papers weren't delivered, people stood in line for five hours just waiting for supplies to arrive before the line-ups started moving, there wasn'tenough information [on] whatpollingstations would be open on special voting day. Other obstacles to women's participation [were the lack of] childcare and transportation. There wasn't enough donearound intimidation, especially intimidation of domestic workers by their employers, or farmworkers on the Afrikaaner farms. Yet despite that, the turnout was fantastic. Women worked extremely hard with little or no resources to ensure that women were able to participate, and that work was largely successful. At most of the polling stations, women made up at least 50 percent of the voters. Wanyeki: What were your general impressions of women's organizing in South Africa? Jaffer: Black women in South Africa are not the victims they are portrayed as in the mainstream media. Blackwomenareorgan- ized, have been at the forefront of the struggle, and are highly politicized. There are numerous organizations in the country. The infrastructure of such organizations is really impressive. There [are also] numerous rural women's organizations. The range of issues women are dealing with cover everything from reproductive rights to growing your own food and making your own clothes, to violence against women, to women's health, lobola [bride price], polygamy and the economy. The one thing most women identified as lacking was a national structure for women's groups to come together under. They were impressed withourdescriptionof NAC, that it is a coalition of hundreds of women's groups across Canada, and has a strong national presence. In 1992, the ANC Women's League got together to create such a national body with a goal-oriented mandate. It included women from across party lines with the purpose of producing a Women's Charter of demands, to be presented to the new government. They were also instrumental in lobbying for inclusion of women at all stages of the negotiation process between the political parties. The mandate of the Women's Coalition ended this year, partly because there were problems in the translation of the demands of rural women into the Charter. A final version of that Charter will be presented to the new government in June. Many of the women's groups were focusing on voter education, producing voter education material and holding workshops. There were also women's desks set up at different organizations, dealing with voter's education. We also met with the Transitional Executive Council (TEC) Sub-Council on the Status of Women. The TEC had been set up to create a climate conducive to democracy in the country prior to the elections. The Sub- Council on the Status of Women was made up of six women from different political parties and some support staff, to e equal and full participation of women in'the democratic process. Wanyeki: The new South Africa will be the first country in the world to incorporate lesbian and gay equality rights into its constitution, which says something about the level of lesbian and gay organizing in the country. Was there a strong connection between the lesbian and gay movement, the women's movement and party politics? Jaffer: Lesbians and gay men have always been part of the liberation movements. There were a lot of lesbians and gays involved in the United Democratic Front (UDF), the 1980s grassroots movement that kept the ANC alive within the country when the ANC was banned. When the negotiations were on and there was talk about a new constitution, lesbians and gays, like every other oppressed sector, spoke up, organized, and began to push for their rights. They went to the meetings, pushed from within the ANC, lobbied, and won the right to have the constitution enshrine their rights. At the same time, the laws in South Africa contradict the constitutional protection. This raises a lot of questions: are lesbians and gays going to have to fight for their rights [in the courts]? Or are these laws going to be changed because they are contradicting the constitution? Wanyeki: There are still a lot of apartheid laws on the books and I'd assume not every Black person is going to have to go into the courts to fight for equality rights. Jaffer: Well, that was the question. I believe lesbians and gay men are going to have to keep the pressure on. Lesbians and gays who belong to a wide range of political parties. The Gay and Les- bianOrganization of Witwatersrand (GLOW) officially endorsed the ANC. They looked at the positions of the different political parties [on lesbian and gay rights] because their membership is not all ANC, but cuts across political lines. The party that best represented lesbian and gay interests was the ANC. While it may be homophobic, and have made some very homophobic comments during the campaign, it was questioned on each [comment], and apologized in several cases. The PAC, on the other hand, openly says lesbianism and homosexuality is un-African, and that they do not consider rights for lesbians and gays necessary. Wanyeki: What's the response to that from African lesbians and gays? Are there people doing work place homosexuality in traditional terms? Jaffer: Yes, there's a lot of awareness around that. One lesbian I talked with, whose sympathies were split between the ANC and PAC, was outraged by the PAC comment. There are words for gays and lesbians in Sotho and Zulu, and where do these words come from if [homosexuality] is not African? She talked about the homophobia created by Western gay and lesbian organizing, how white gays and lesbians have set the parameters for the debate on gay and lesbian issues, and how the negative response from African communities has been more a response to Western [framing of the] debate around gays and lesbians. I was talking to another woman who was organizing around women's issues with rural women. She was a woman-loving- woman if ever I've met one. And yet she didn't use the term "lesbian," didn't want to talk to me about sleeping with women, [but] talked about marriages between women. Women have to be "Mrs..." to be respected, so women could marry women, and take the name of the wealthier or the older woman in the relationship. Women work together, live together, sleep together, but nobody talks about them having sex together. There isn't enough being done by the women's movement to recognize the lesbian and gay movement. Wanyeki: What were your impressions of lesbian organizing in South Africa? Jaffer: Organizing, especially for lesbians of colour, Black lesbians and gays, is growing. Whites have dominated most of the or ganizations [and] most of the organizing has been done as gays and lesbians. They haven't separated along gender lines. [But] more lesbians are coming out now that protection for gays and lesbians is in the constitution, especially Black lesbians. They're coming out politically, wanting to meet and organize together with other lesbians. The Black women .who had been involved with the lesbian forum of GLOW formed their [own] organization called the Johannesburg Lesbian Forum. It's the only lesbian-only organization in the country. It's quite radical and a foretelling of what's to come. It's made up of mostly Black lesbi- ment structures which will be working with the provincial and national governments to ensure changes are made according to the demands of each area. There will be local elections in October. Wanyeki:l'm curious about the relationship of the new South Africa to the rest of Africa. From the women you spoke with, what's your opinion on that? Jaffer: The ANC's platform on foreign policy is to change the way whites did trade with Africa. It isn't about cornering the African market, but more about mutual development with other African countries. Black South Africans have had a close relationship with other southern African Fatima Jaffer, Juno Walker and Themba Ndaba at a rally in Soweto. ans [and] there were about 35 members when I was there. Wanyeki: From what you were able to observe, what's in store for the future? What do you think the impact of the vote and the new government will be on women's lives? What do you think the participation of women will be in the new political structures? Jaffer: The work is just beginning. There is an enormous amount of rebuilding and healing to be done. The spirit of reconciliation ended the violence, got people working together for this election and laid the foundation for the rebuilding of South Africa. But it can also be taken too far. Whites are afraid they're going to lose everything but [they] still control a lot. Women are faced with the major challenge, post-election, of ensuring that their voices are not silenced, that they continue to be at the forefront, not in terms of doing the work, but in terms of actually reaping the benefits of what they've done so far. One woman said to me, "Women cooked the stew that men are now eating." That's true of a lot of liberation struggles. But women are incredibly organized, and they will ensure they too get to eat the stew. It remains to be seen what the new government will do to address women's demands in the Women's Charter. It's great that they came across party lines to present the government with this Charter, so they [should be able to] realise many of them. There is an ongoing debate on how women are going to be best represented in the new political set-up, to ensure that the impact of policy changes are felt on the ground, in the most remote areas. There are questions [as to] whether a women's ministry is the best way to go, or whether there should be women's departments in each ministry. Another step ahead is to see how women are represented in local govern- countiies, and have learned a lot from the experiences of these countries as well as those of other countries on the continent. Wanyeki: As a Kenyan, I feel a great joy that the last colonial regime in Africa has fallen. On the other hand, I'm frightened because I see the West amassing on [the South African] border to take over the South African economy and I worry about the future relationship of South Africa to the rest of Africa. Jaffer: There is concern about that happening, but there's also a sense that South Africans will be able to deal with it, when the time comes. The women I talked with [were] concerned they will no longer have the progressive support they have had while they were fighting official apartheid, which leaves the door open to more reactionary funding bodies, international corporations and the multinationals. On the other hand, some women felt it was time to change the relationship between those Western aid agencies and the South African NGOs, to facilitate the move to self-sufficiency. The ANC has applied for funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to finance parts of its Reconstruction and Development Program, which lays out their plans with regard to education, health, land, and other issues. They are aware of the dangers of foreign, Western lending, having seen the impact of IMF policies on other "third world" countries. But they believe they have no choice, and also seemed confident they could withstand the negative impacts on their country because of this awareness. They're perhaps not paying enough attention to the fact that investment itself carries a form of apartheid. There is an awareness of what the West is trying to do. [However], I don't know the strategies. Wanyeki: In terms of solidarity work and making ongoing links amongst femi nists here and there, what are your opinions? Was the NAC delegation a success? Jaffer. The NAC delegation made a beginning. It was the first time NAC has ever organized a delegation like this—participating in this kind of process [and] sending women of colour. The biggest failure of the trip is that the NAC team did not include any First Nations women. It really was a shortcoming in terms of critical expertise on the NAC team. The women I met who had been to Canada, usually on NGO-sponsored delegations, were aware of the similarity of the issues faced by First Nations peoples here and South African indigenous peoples. Then again, a lot of people had no idea what was happening in Canada. That was one of our successes—we were able to subvert the wonderful PR job that the Canadian government seems to have done in South Africa in terms of what it's really like here for us as women and people of colour. That was often the starting point for most conversations—they didn't believe there were any people of colour in Canada. They were shocked when we told them there was racism in Canada! Many did not know that apartheid was based on the reserve system in Canada. People were horrified when they made the connections between the indigenous struggles here and there. Welearntitisinvaluabletohavewomen of colour making the links with people of colour movements in other countries. It was the beginning of a new relationship with South African women, because it was the kind of solidarity work they wanted. I heard this consistently—they were tired of foreigners, meaning white foreigners, because that's mostly the kind they've had. I heard frequently how sick everyone is of anti- apartheid activists, mostly white, visiting South Africa, coming back, claiming to be "experts," and getting rich and famous for writing books on South Africa. Another concrete success was the follow up to [NAC president] Sunera Thobani's trip to South Africa last November. Based on her findings, NAC drew up a women'scheck- list to measure South African women's participation in the democratic process. We faxed a copy of the guidelines to the IEC headquarters in Johannesburg, and also showed the checklist to women involved in voter education work. They found it thorough and useful. After much wrangling, the NAC women's checklist was included in the IEC's kits for all observers. Wanyeki: What did you learn in terms of activism as a woman of colour in Canada— particularly beingSouth Asian from Kenya? Jaffer: South Africa's an incredible place to be as an activist, a woman of colour, a feminist, a lesbian. Everyone seems to have a basic level of politicization. In some way, everyone was a part of the struggle for basic human rights, even if they didn't consider themselves "political." [There's] less apathy. In Tshiavelo, a township in Soweto, the woman whose flat I was in told me she had been paying about 200 Rand ($80) rent for the flat. The municipal authorities raised it to $300 Rand. All the occupants got together, protested the increase and decided they'd pay only what seemed reasonable. As a result, the woman is paying 60 Rand per month, and there isn't a thing the municipality can do because everyone has refused to pay high rents. That's the level of organization and the kind of action I hope we can develop in Canada. The best thing was being in a country where the majority of people are of colour, or Black. Being there brought all the pieces of myself together—being from Kenya, what it means to be "Indian" or South Asian in Africa, as well as what it means to be a South Asian from Africa working in the woman of colour movement here. The struggle here is different. Our strength is being eroded. We haven't just had this big success, but we have little victories. We've got to learn to say, "Hey, we won!" get strength from that [and] move on to the next struggle. Interview with Brigitte Mabandla Continued from page 10 world, that there is a strong, global, anti-apartheid movement, some of that support may change now there's this perception that apartheid is over, the ANC is in power, that the struggle is over. How do you see the ANC keeping those lines of solidarity with progressive communities in other countries and being accountable to that struggle? Mabandla: It depends a lot on the kinds of staffing we ha vein each area. The directive from the ANC is that we keep linked to our friends because we think that the struggle continues and is going to be very difficult. This is where the test... Jaffer: ...in the next five years? Mabandla: ...in the next 20 years, where the test is really going to be. At the present moment, there are pronouncements and good will [from the political parties], but whether there is political will to change the country is another issue. There is a very strong move for the privatization of apartheid. In the ANC, there is a real awareness that, in fact, part of the call for changing a unitary state into a federal state was to weaken the power of the ANC [when in government]. The worrying thing is the reactionary ethnic lobby of Afrikaners seeking a Volkstadt [separate state for whites] everywhere, and trying to keep pockets of privilege in local government structures. It's a real issue. When you hear an organization, like Frances Kendall's [leader of the] Federal Party, which is in fact lauded in Europe, talking about federalism and empowering the people, it's the usual rhetoric. She knows we're talking about people who are completely invisible at local and remote areas, and that a central government, a majority government voted in at this time in history by ordinary people, must really be able to make a difference at the local level. They're trying to stop this. The Democratic Party is of the same mind. To me, this is a worrying thing and I would like you to highlight it because that's the critical area of struggle coming up. I have been on the ground working and I know how disempowered people are. Even in the ANC, some of the service organizations led by our people who are white are not even aware of the problems of racism. They are doing it [out of] good will, but the truth is they are doing things/or people, not with people. I am anticipating those kinds of problems so, when you talk about what can be done, anti- apartheid people, many of whom are well nurtured in the culture of rights, can in fact keep linked with our com munities. It would be better to have progressive people linked to communities, helping communities. Weneed to have those organizations in your countries strengthen our NGOs in South Africa, and ward off those reactionary elements that are going to come in under religious flags, and so on, when in fact they are disguising apartheid and racism. There is a role to be played but we need to structure it. We must talk about philanthropy in South Africa and about aid direction. There's great potential [for these debates] within South Africa too but I believe South Africa is strengthened if we reap well from our struggles. It will impact positively on Africa generally. The joke is that white business in South Africa sees this [country] as the "powerhouse," as if they still have terrains to conquer, to create a hegemony here and establish monopolies in Africa. We don't view things that way. We say it in our foreign policy~we would instead like to cooperate more with Africa and strengthen Africa. Jaffer: That raises another issue. The relationship between South Africa and the rest of Africa has been pretty rocky throughout this period of apartheid. But recently, it was a Kenyan diplomat who helped bring the Inkatha Freedom Party into the elections at the last moment when all the Western leaders had failed to break the deadlock. From the way the African media covered that, I felt it was symbolic in that it said, "yes, we can work together as Africans, we don't need the Western powers." Mabandla: Yes, it was very symbolic. Jaffer: Also, we have strong anti-racist, anti- sexist communities and structures growing, in the West, incountries like Canada and the United States, that are putting forward an anti-racist ,enda in those countries... Mabandla: There is great scope for [a relationship with] organizations like that in South Africa. Like I say, the test will come with interpretation of the new South African constitution, and all sorts of reactionary things that will happen. We are going to have to address the question of racism and link up with anti-racist activists. Interview with Mum'Lydia Kompe Continued from page 11 Then there are sheep, cattle and goats that you don't have power to do anything about. The men expect the child to leave school and to go and look after those goats instead of look after his life because, before the husband gives the go- ahead, you have no right as a woman to go near the goats. You can get milk [from the animal] but you can't slaughter or sell it until the husband says you can do it. But women are saying we need those kind of powers because we are looking after those animals. The children also keep looking after the animals and they're getting tired of it. They don't want to look after the animals because they don't benefit from them. The animals don't pay their school fees, don't buy them clothes. The only thing you control as a woman in the home is the chicken. Women are allowed to kill chickens, but women have told me that some of the men even control the chickens, particularly the men who stay at home. Jaffer: It's the same premise as in Canada.- Men keep women economically poor so that they have no power, feel no power, feel they have no control of anything... Kompe: Yes, women always feel they are owned by this male. That's what we've turned into. It's done deliberately so that the men should actually feel they benefit from this oppression. That's what we've been challenging. Wherever the Rural Women's Movement is operating, women are very clear. Wake them in the middle of the night and say, "What is it that you want in South Africa?" [The answer] is like a recitation. We have been discussing these things from 1986 but we didn'thaveany way we could [voice] this so that everybody would listen. When the National Women's Coalition was formed, we thought this would be a solution. The women really loved it. It's very upsetting to us as women, because it's just when we started to feel the warmth and the support of the Coalition that we as rural women can stand in front and talk our own language and get a translator. Because this has been done in English so far and isolated us. But all the time we feel this is the place for us where we can really mix with urban women. So we're just getting near to our dream, where we actually spelt out that we want to narrow the gap between urban and rural. The apartheid system has caused this breach. And we as women rea lize that it's our duty to try and narrow the gap. The Coalition was one of the forums which really made room for women to meet and mix, and share ideas and learn from one another. Because none of the rural women know much about what's happening in the urban areas, except that urban women are taking their husbands [away from them]. And it creates a lot of tension, particularly when they speak in English because we can't understand what they are saying. Now the tensions are starting to be resolved. I remember one time they were saying to me, do you think we'll ever, ever mix with the urban women? You can only do that if you talk. They speak their own language, because they think we're not important. When we ask about translation they say, it's wasting time. But now I think the urban women are starting to realize that translatio is important if we want to work as a H majority. Jaffer: So before urban women were working a lot with white women, and now they're beginning to say, "enough"? Kompe: Because they can see that they have left a lot of their people behind. And now they see they should go to the rural areas and meet with the people and talk to these women. But now, the Coalition is winding up, and I don't know if we're going back to square one, where we will never have the forum that brings us together. Jaffer: Maybe there's room for something new to come together. Kompe: We're waiting to see what women could come up with. The rural women were thinking maybe we should have a South African women's movement, where we could really get together. And I think if women could really get together in this country, it would be great. Women here are so mobilized, are so ready, they just need a platform where they can exercise their abilities and their power. Here we are, only women, but we are not invisible like people thought we are, particularly Black urban women and rural women. Jaffer: Have the elections been a big issue in the rural areas? Kompe: People in the rural areas, in particular, are looking forward to voting. For the first time in our lives, we have this privilege of getting into a democratic non-racist, non-sexist election. But we don't know what is going to be the outcome of the elections because of the crisis of violence. In our area, the most threat is the AWB. We don't know even what measures they'll come up with. They can do some damage. We hope the South African Police and the peace keeping forces enable people to actually exercise their right to vote. Last time I was in Moutse, there were white men...in the middle of the street...When they saw us, they just started shooting in the air. That made the older women scared and nowwehavetogobackandtrytogetbacktheirconfidence...to come out and go in to the voting booths. And Motsei isn't even that close to the AWB areas. I think in more remote areas, we are going to need a lot more protection from the white rightwing. Jaffer: You're on the provincial election list for the ANC. Why did you decide to run? Kompe: I don't actually know how I got nominated. The people who approached me after I was nominated came from the regional ANC. I was part of the formation of the Yeoville branch [known as the "bohemian," area of Johannesburg]. I discovered a lot of secrets [about the area]. We would climb up to the top of [apartment buildings] and I realized most of those flats on the top [of the buildings], which is where the maids live, don't have electricity, and some of them don't even have running water. I was shocked because that's the liberal area. It [taught] me a lot. I learnt that liberals can really delay your liberation. They have already delayed us. They'd keep on saying, "This awful apartheid," and yet they expect these people [maids] to come and work, through all their pain and suffering. When I came to this so-called "gray" area [an all-races area], I was very confident [it would be easy], but then I found these maids' flats, and I said, "I'd rather go stay with my own people in an area where I am exposed, where everybody knows I'm living in an area with bad conditions, and not [someplace] where [you're] keeping somebody [a maid] upstairs, hidden and invisible. And yet they would say, "Oh, she's like part of my family!" I hate that. That's when I started to hate liberals. And we were with some of these same white people in the same executive. The black people in the branch were saying, "Why don't we expose it? Why don't we picket?" But because they're liberals, they said they just don't think it's necessary. We wanted to picket in front of the recreation centre in Yeoville, because Tony Leon [Democratic Party leader and then Yeoville Member of Parliament] refused to let us use the recreation centre for our meetings. We used to move from one place to another, never having a permanent place to have meetings. The Yeoville branch office still can't use it. We don't have a rightful place to hold meetings. Even our [ANC] members could be challenging this, could expose it. Tony Leon goes around saying how beautiful he is, he's got no blood on his hands. Yet he's too busy secretly putting his foot on people's throats. They say these issues are petty but they can change people's lives basically and fundamentally. Tony Leon himself cannot survive one hour without electricity but he expects me to do it. Why? Because I'm Black, I've got no brains, I've never had electricity before, so what does it matter? I think it's terribly undermining. Even if apartheid is done away with in South Africa on the books, hatred and racism will be felt for a long time. The only person who will see apartheid and racism as something in his history will be my great grandchild. My grandchild, when he is as old as I, will still feel it. Fatima Jaffer's report (see p. 14 & 15) is based on factual and analytical information from numerous women in South Africa. Due to the fact that she does not speak the various languages of South Africa, most of her observations are based on conversations with English-speaking South Africans. Because of space limitations her interview had to be heavily edited down. It may not be clear that she speaks as a woman of colour activist from Canada. She does not purport to have the definitive story on South African women. Commentary Women Speak Out against UVic Ice Capades: Against the Victoria chill by Cheryl Harrison On March 11,100 women and a few men gathered at the University of Victoria (UVic) to share experiences, information and analysis about the climate of harassment that exists for women at Canadian universities. The day long speak-out was organized generally as a forum for accumulating an historical understanding of the technology of silence being developed at lofty educational institutions, and specifically as a strategy session for the women gathered there. Currently at UVic, feminism is being maligned as "sexist fundamentalism," and women demanding an end to harassment and sexism are being lashed back into silence. Ten scheduled speakers, along with many women who spoke at the open mike, offered analysisonhow sexual harassment functions at campuses in BC, how the backlash against women speaking out functions, and how the backlash can be subverted. Catherine Snowdon, from the Women's Centre at Simon Fraser University, outlined difficulties women face as students at institutions: where date rape, sexual assault and harassment are daily occurences. Janine Watson, from the UVic Faculty of Law, presented her research on the gap that exists between "the policy of law and the reality of what the law provides" in the way of protection for women from harassment. According to Watson, claims based on harassment resulting from hostile environments do not find easy recourse under the law, which prefers to view harassment in terms of sexual misconduct, rather than sexual behavior. Sandra Hoenle described threatening letters sent to women in the Counseling Psychology department of the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, and the unwillingness of the administration to investigate, let alone curb, sexist violence. The lack of legislation addressing sexism, Watson says, underpins the consistent tolerance of misogyny at Canadian universities. At the Speak Out in March, Constance Backhouse, (Professor of Law from the University of Western Ontario) described the clamour that followed the release of the Climate Report as typical of the response of universities across Canada to calls for the elimination of systemic discrimination. Backhouse asserted that each time women attempt to intiate change, resistanceand backlash follow a consistent and specific pattern. Backhouse described how characteristically cautious reports, focussing on institutional sexism (not individual acts of harassment), like the one written by the women at UVic, are ironically responded to by "howls of outrage from those who deem themselves falsely accused." These reports are then labelled libelous. The names of the women whose experiences are described therein— and to which confidentiality was guaranteed by the researchers—are demanded. And, as atUVic, male academics then simultaneously perform usual patriarchal reversals, that is, by representing themselves as the real victims of sexual harassment. Backhouse says, when university administrations realize that the matter will not simply blow over, they formulate a public response, framed in terms of diffusing the situation rather than addressing the issue of systemic discrimination. They don the guise of neutrality and commission so-called 'objective' reviews. Here Backhouse paused, saying that the Berger/Bilson Review commissioned by UVic president David Strong, deserves careful scrutiny because it moves beyong the typical call for "mutual respect and civilized discourse," and "seeks to set up a framework for future discussion of climate issues," a frameworkthatcondemns women to another eternity of skating on thin ice. Berger and Bilson warn of the 'dangers' inherent to such terms as "sexism," "racism," and "harassment." They say women should be allowed to describe their experiences collectively "so long as individual character and reputation are not thereby compromised." Damning complaints, they say, "should be made through a complaint procedure with procedural safeguards for both the complaintant and the person against whom the complaint is directed." Such a procedure does not exist at UVic. At the close of the Speak Out, a surprise, melodic visit by the Raging Grannies kicked off a march. Sixty pissed-off, placard-carrying women flooded the halls outside the Uvic president's boardroom. (Strong's term is ending and the Search for the President Committee was meeting to review his conduct and renegotiate his contract.) The women on the march offered an oral submission to the Search for President Committee (through the loudhailer), reiterating demands from UVic Faculty Women's Caucus, Student's Society, and Graduate Women's Caucus for the termination of Strong's reign. Since then, four of the eight tenured male faculty members at UVic's Political Science Department have filed a libel suit in the BC Supreme Court against the CBC for radio broadcast interviews with Constance Backhouse and Somer Brodribb recorded during the March 11th Speak Out. During the Speak Out, Sylvia Bardon (a Political Science graduate student and member of the Climate Committee) had made what I thought was the observation of the day: "what sexist men fear the most, is being redundant." If there is one thing which characterizes the angry memos, vicious articles, ineffectual reviews and trumped up law suits following the release of UVic's Climate Report, it is redundancy. "Put up and shut up" is the message being sent. The women at UVic and other BC campuses are doing neither. Cheryl Harrison recently graduated from the University of Victoria with a Women's Studies degree. r« WOMENBWORK SCREEN .PRINT Making a Postive impression for Our Community Since 1984! (604) 980-4235 •Women Owned & Open KARATE for WOMEN fftWJW:U=in=i=nna Mon., Tues., Thurs. 7 pm Fitness, self confidence, self defense ASK ABOUT BEGINNER EH3 734-98I6 The Chilly Climate at UVic ^ Women from UVic's Political Science Department have been on the backlash rack ever since the Committee to Make the Department More Supportive to Women (known as the Climate Committee) produced its preliminary report last March [see Kinesis, June/93]. The short report described a plethora of barriers that women face in that department, ranging from sexist jokes and innuendo to the erasure of works by and about women in the classroom. The report also recommended a variety of educational and structural steps to stop inappropriate behaviour, including the use of representative amounts of women's theory and research in all courses. Upon presenting the Report, Chilly Climate Committee members were met with immediate hostility. Somer Brodribb, the faculty representative on the Committee, was threatened with a libel suit by eight tenured male faculty members of the department, who felt that the Chilly Climate Report had harmed their reputations. The five other Climate Committee members (Nadia Kyba, Denise McCabe, Theresa Newhouse, Sylvia Bardon and Phylilis Foden: all students) were targetted and harassed both in and outside the classrooms. All the women have been repeatedly attacked on myriad levels in the flurry of documents produced in reponse to their work. The media have described the goings on at UVic in terms of a 'gender war'—sex and violence, academic style. Some UVic campus "radicals" have been personally targetted. Pressure has been placed on other women to denounce the report and the women involved in its production. In one document, entitled "Response from the Tenured Faculty to the Report of the Climate Committee," the eight tenured male faculty members (the eight) claim that the section of the Report describing "Sexual Harassment and Everday Hostility" defames every member of the faculty, including the untenured and sesssional instructors." Ignoring the Report's emphasis on systemic sexism and racism, the eight demanded that the women (upon whose oral and written submissions the Climate Report had been based) file formal and individual complaints through the Administration's own equity Office—a lengthy, arduous and often ineffective process. Further, arguing that "academic freedom" includes the right to harass, the eight maintain that the "most worrying of the Committee's recommendations are the ones that would establish a system of policing to ensure that professors were held to certain standards of 'anti-racist and anti-sexist' conduct." The men also condemn the report as methodologically unsound, claiming that it presented an"oddly distorted view of departmental life." The wrath of the eight was so mammoth, it awoke UVic President, David Strong. Following a mountain of memos in support of the eight from both Strong and Vice President—Sam Scully, an internal review of the situation in the department was commissioned. The findings of the two-person review committee (which includes recommendations that the Climate Committee continue their work and be provided with resources sufficient to do so) were booed and hissed by the eight and summarily dismissed by the Administration. In a last ditch attempt, Dave Strong spent $160,000 commissioning Beth Bilson, a law professor at the University of Saskatchewan and Thomas R. Berger, the former Supreme Court Justice, to perform a second review of the situation. David Strong, who appears pleased with the findings of the Berger/Bilson Review Committee, has said that his office is taking action on all ten of its recommendations. Meanwhile, it's been business as usual in the Department of Political Silence. The new chair, the one that Berger and Bilson recommended be female and sought from outside the Department, has been selected. His name is Rob Walker and he is one of the eight. The Climate Committee has filed five Human Rights complaints against the University of Victoria. Donations for the Chilly Climate Legal Defense Fund are being collected by the Victoria Status of Women Action Group at #213-620 View St Victoria, BC, V8w 1J4. V. J 1 Ita inking a lb ©mi wn£ing l©r IKinesis i © 1 Itneire s a p e n J. n g j u n < running thro KAZUE MIZUSHIMA Japanese composer Kazue Mizushima presents Eve of the Future, a combination of visually stunning art installation and radical sound performance on Jul 2 at 8pm at the Western Front, 303 E 8th Ave. Tickets $5-$7. For more info call 876-9343. BINGO FOR GAY PRIDE Lesbo Bingo is back at Josephines on Sat Jun 4 as a benefit for the Gay Pride Parade at Josephine's, 1716 Charles St. $3-$10 plus percardfee. 8-11:30 pm, door opens at 7:30. For more info call 253-3142. KARLENE FAITH Press Gang Publishers will launch Karlene Faith's new book, Unruly Women: The Politics of Confinement & Resistance on Wed Jun 8. Karlene will speak on her work and sign books from 5-7pm at Josephine's, 1716 Charles St. Admission is free. For more info call Delia at 876-7787. FAREWELL BASH Josephine's Farewell Bash Concert and Fundraiser will be held Fri Jun 10with entertainers Sue McGowan, with Sharon Costello and Carol Weaver, Louise n'ha Ruby, Sylvi, Inclognito Women Cloggers, and more. Concert 8 pm, Door: 7:30. Advance tickets $5- $15. At Josephine's, 1716 Charles St. VANCOUVER FOLK FEST The 17th annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival will run Jul 15-17 at Jericho Beach.Performers include Ani DiFranco, Veda Hille and Quartette featuring Sylvia Tyson, Cindy Church, Caitlin Hanford, and Colleen Peterson, just to name a few! For more info call 879-2931. THE PEOPLE'S LAW SCHOOL The People's Law School is giving free law classes on Immigration Law, Wed Jun 7,7- 9pm at Sexsmith Community School 7455 Ontario St, and Welfare Rights & Gain, Tues Jun 21,7-9 atthe Sunset Community Center, 404 E. 51st Ave. To pre-register call 325- 1202. MONICA SJOO Monica Sjoo, author of The Great Cosmic Mother, presents a slide show and talk on Wed Jun 1 at 8:30pm at Josephine's, 1716 Charles St. Door opens at 7:45pm. Tickets $5-10. PERSEPHONE...UNPLUGGED Persephone ... unplugged, Sun Jun 12, at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, 1856 Venables. Come see some of Vancouver's most giftedf emale musicians: Veda Hille, Mo Field, Judy Atkin, Me and Another Woman, and Yvette. Show starts at 8:30pm. Tickets are available at the VECC, the Book Mantel, and Little Sisters $9-$12. For more info call 623-9361. TIT-A-LATION A nasty little soiree for women and their friends, Jun 4,10pm at the New York Theatre, 639 Commercial Dr. Tickets available at the Book Mantel and Little Sisters. For more info call 623-9361. GRRRL PRIDE PARTY Girls only Pride Party, Sat Jul 30, 10pm at the New York Theatre, 639 Commercial Dr. Tickets available at the Book Mantel and Little Sisters. For more info 623-9361. POLESTAR PRESS Polestar Press is celebrating the release of four new books by female authors on Mon Jun 13 at 7:30 pm: Brenda Brooks' Blue Light In the Dash, Florence McNeil's Breathing Each Other's Air, Rita Moir's Survival Gear and Vi Plotnikoff's Head Cook at Weddings and Funerals and Other Stories ofDoukhobor Life. At the Firehall Theatre, 280 E Cordova. For more info call 251-9718. YEAR OF THE FAMILY: CHILDREN'S RIGHTS The University of Victoria will be the site of Stronger Children, Stronger Families: the 1994 Year of the Family Invitational Conference on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child from Jun 20-23. The five day event will highlight national and international child, youth and family-serving organizations. For more info call 660-1366. FEMINIST BOOK FAIR The 6th International Feminist Book Fair takes place in Melbourne, Australia from Jul 27-31. The theme of the Book Fair is Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Writing and Publishing. The first two days are trade only and the last three days are open to the public. GAY AND LESBIAN PRIDE The Gay and Lesbian Pride Week rally, parade and BBQ in Calgary starts at 5pm, Sun Jun 26, at City Hall Plaza. Everyone is encouraged to attend and support equal rights for lesbians, bisexuals and gay men. For info call (403)266-5318. LESBIAN STRENGTH The Hackney Lesbian Strength and Gay Pride Festival is being held in England, Aug 6-7. For more info call 071 -241-4071 or write to Box 9, 136-138 Kingsland High St. E8 2NS, England. SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES Sharing Sustainable Alternatives for Development North and South, a gathering of people from Aboriginal communities and environmental groups will be held Jun 11-12 at the La Ronge Kikinahk Friendship Centre in Saskatoon. The hope is to bring together both First Nations and non-Aboriginal people from northern and southern communities. No cost for registration or meals. Billeting, hostel and camping space available. Phone (306) 933-4141 or (306) 665-1915 for more info. GROUPS VANCOUVER LESBIAN CONNECTION Groups currently running are Suns 7-9 pm Youth Group; Mons 7-9 pm Ki Connections; Weds 7-9 pm ACOA; 1st and 3rd Fri 7:30- 9:30 pm Over 30's Social Group; 1 st and 3rd Sat 6-9 pm Writers' Group. EAST-SIDE LESBIAN YOUTH The East-Side Youth Drop-in for lesbian, gay and bisexual youth and their friends will be held at Britannia. This is a safe, confidential, non-threatening environment to discuss issues, build support and meet people. If you are between 15 and 25, want to get involved 2l" Bulletin Board GROUPS or get more info, call Jason at Britannia Community Services, Mon or Wed, or leave a message at 253-4391. DAWN BC The Disabled Women's Network of Vancouver is holding monthly meetings for all disabled women interested in meeting other disabled women for support and information sharing. Meetings are held on the second Sun of the month from 2-4 at the Vancouver Housing Registry, 501 E Broadway. For info call 253-6620. MATURE LESBIANS If you are starting or continuing the coming out process and want to meet other mature lesbians for friendship and support call Geri at 278-8497. HIV POSITIVE WOMEN The Oak Tree Clinic, a new care centre for HlVposftive women andchildren has opened its doors and is accepting new clients. It's focus is the care of women and children who are HlVposftive. To make an appointmentto see a doctor or counsellor call 875-2212. MOSAIC ACTION GROUP MOSAIC has started a Multicultural Women's Community Action Group, for immigrant women active in the community and wishing to get further involved. Enhance knowledge of issues, acquire practical skills, become resource persons for multicultural organizations and community projects. Meetings will be heldtwice a month at MOSAIC, 2nd Floor, 1720 Grant St. For more info, call Nikki Nijhowne at 254-9626, voice mail #305. REPROTECH COALITION Vancouver Women's Reproductive Technologies Coalition brings together women with common concerns about the social, ethical, political and health implications of new reproductive and genetic technologies. Women who are interested or want to learn more welcome. Meetings held at 6 pm the first Wed of every month at the Vancouver Women's Health Collective, #219-1675 W.8th Ave. Next meeting Wed, Jun 1. for info, call 879-0779. MAPLE RIDGE CONTACTS The Lesbians and Gays of Maple Ridge Social Group hold monthly potlucks, brunches, games etc. New to the commu- nity? You are welcomed here. Call 467-9566. NAMES PROJECT The Vancouver Affiliate of The Names Project- Canada (the group which manages the Canadian AIDS Memorial Quilt) is holding monthly Panel-Making Workshops for people wanting to create a panel for the Quilt in memory of someone who has died of AIDS. 3rd Sat of every month at the Vancouver Cultural Alliance, 938 Howe St, 11am-3pm. No charge to attend. Need donations of sewing materials, equipment, supplies. For info, call Michel Arsenault, co-ordinator, 685- 9194. For general info call the Names Project office, 669-2425. LESBIAN SOCIAL GROUP A Bunch Of Lesbians (ABOL) social evening every Wed 7:30 pm at the Gay and Lesbian Centre, 1170 Bute St. Open to all lesbians. Guest speakers, discussions, videos, special events. GROUPS women who would like to get involved in the causes, but don't want to lose their confidentiality, there is the option of phone conferencing. For more information, please contact Carla at the PWN, 893-2200. WOODS (WOMEN OUT OF DOORS) This newly formed group is for women who want to enjoy the beautiful out of doors with other likeminded women. All Welcome! For info call Cindy at 251-6347. VALLEY MEN & WOMYN If you would like to meet other lesbians, gays or bi's and you live in the Abbotsford area, you are invited to call Friends in the Valley at 853-7184 or write to Box 8000-591, Abbotsford V2S6H1. TAKE BACK THE NIGHT The Calgary '94 Take Back the Night Committee meets every fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:30 in the Old Y, 223-12 Ave SW. For more info call 283-7650. MENOPAUSE SUPPORT A Menopause Support Group in Edmonton meets every third Wed of the month at 7:30pm at the Royal Alexandra Hospital- Womens Center in the Out Patient Diabetic Clinic. For info call 939-3699. SUBMISSIONS SUBMISSIONS SUBMISSIONS topics include memories, how to cope and protect yourself today, disclosing and parenting as a survivor. For info on safety precautions and howto submit material write to Jeanne Marie Lorena, RA SPEAK OUT, 4104 24th St, No 127, San Francisco, California 04114. Deadline: Jun 30. WOMEN, WAR AND PEACE Women, War and Peace: The Vision and the Strategies—an international conference of Women in Black and women's peace movements—will be held in Jerusalemf rom Dec29- 31. Women from women's peace movements throughout the world are invited to share their experience in an activist conference that will include discussions, workshops, a mass vigil and march through Jerusalem. Both activists and scholars are invited. Those interested in presenting, please indicate your subject and preferred format (workshop, panel, etc.) and contact Erella Shadmi, 4/11 Dresner St, Jerusalem, Israel 93814, Tel: (2) 718-597; fax (2) 259-626. POSITIVE WOMEN The Positive Women's Network in Vancouver has formed a Women's HIV Caucus to provide a time and place for HIV positive women to discuss advocacy issues. For WOMEN OF COLOUR Sister Vision Press is inviting women of colour under 30 to submit poetry, stories or journal entries on experiences of incest and sexual abuse for a new anthology. Deadline: Aug 31. Please send hard copy or work on IBM disk with SASE to Sister Vision Press, PO Box 217 Stn E, Toronto, ON, M6H 4E2. LESBIAN MOTHERHOOD There is a call for papers for a book on lesbian motherhood/parenthood to be published byGynergy Books in the spring of 1995. Articles by native lesbians and two-spirited women, lesbians of colour and disabled lesbians are especially encouraged. Articles should be no longer than 20 pages and can be on a variety of topics. Please send proposals to Professor Katherine Arnup, School of Canadian Studies, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6. LESBIAN LAND ANTHOLOGY There is a call for material for a Lesbian Land Culture Anthology, edited by Nett Hart and Jean Mountaingrove and published by Word Weavers. Work is sought that reflects the innovations and adaptations lesbians make in their relation with the land. Both lesbians who have never published and who frequently publish are encouraged to make submissions. SASE for guidelines. Deadline is Oct 1. Word Weavers, PO Box 8742, Minneapolis MN 55408. A FRIEND INDEED AWARD $5,000(US) will be awarded to the person(s) who demonstrate(s) innovation in studies about or services to women in menopause. NominationsshouldbesenttoJanineO'Leary Cobb, A Friend Indeed Publications Inc, 3575 boul St. Laurent, Suite 402, Montreal, PQ, H2X2T7byJul31. RITUAL ABUSE STORIES First person stories of ritual abuse are wanted for an anthology of life stories. A wide range of experiences and authors of both genders, different sexual orientations, ages and racial heritages will be included. Submissions should be under 20 pages and possible VISUAL ARTISTS Vancouver Women's Bookstore is currently seeking submissions for the window display of visual art and literature initiated by women. Works in painting, photography, and mixed media, as well as previously exhibited work are all requested for entry. Submissions are accepted throughout the year. Contact: Remick Ho at 684-0523. BLACK GIRL TALK We are young Black women, age 14 to 30 years, who want to talk, to write, to hear each other. Here's your chance to join us and publish your thoughts. We want: poetry, stories, journal entries, photographs, drawings. Themes: family, relationships, friends, sex, love, racism, religion, sexuality, politics. Dealine: Aug 31. Send your work to: Black Girl Talk, Sister Vision Press, PO Box 217, Stn E, Toronto, Ont, M6H 4E2. For more info, call (416) 533-2184. CRIAW AWARDS The Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW) invites nominations for the Marion Porter Prize, for the most significant feminist research article from a journal or an anthology; and the Robertine Barry Prize, for the best feminist article or column in the popular print media. All articles considered must have been published between Jul 1993 and Aug 1994. CRIAW also invites nominations forthe Muriel Duckworth Award, to a feminist (or feminist group) that has contributed to the advancement of women within Canada through action-research in the field of social justice, including peace. Nominations for all three awards, including three orfour sentences on why you are making this nomination, must be received by Aug 31 at the CRIAW office, #408-151 Slater St, Ottawa, Ont, K1P 5H3. LESBIAN CONTRADICTION Lesbian Contradiction: A Journal of Irreverent Feminism is looking for submissions of non-fiction accounts and reflections from women who have had experiencestruggling against efforts by the Far Right to take power by making lesbians, gays, and women pawns in their hate campaigns. This feature is ongoing in 1994 and 1995. Send submissions to Les Con, #365-584 Castro St, San Francisco, CA, 94114. CARIBBEAN WOMEN'S ANTHOLOGY Biographical stories and interviews from lesbians of all ages born in the Caribbean or culturally identified with the Caribbean are being sought by a collective of Caribbean women for this anthology. What was it like growing up in the Caribbean knowing you really preferred girls to boys? What were the messages you received about homosexuality? Sendyoursubmissionstothe Caribbean Women's Anthology c/o Women's Press, 233-517 College Street, Toronto, ON M6G 4A2. Deadline is Jun 30. LESBIAN SEX ANTHOLOGY Women's Press is looking for poems, stories, fantasies, and realities from lesbians of diverse backgrounds for this anthology, exploring the whole range of lesbian sex. Submissions must be no longer than 5,000 words, and should include a one paragraph bio and a business sized SASE. Send submissions to Lesbian SexAnthologyc/oW'omen's Press, #233-517 College St, Toronto, ON, M6G 4A2. Deadline is Aug 31. CRIAW GRANTS The Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women offers annual grants of $2,500 for projects that promote the advancement of women. The project must make a significant contribution tofeminist research and be non-sexist in methodology and language. Priority will be given to emerging independent researchers, women's groups, and projects with Canadian content. Candidates should send four copies of their application, and submissions must be postmarked no later than Aug 31, and sent to CRIAW, 151 Slater St, Ottawa, ON, K1P 5H3. SISTER VISION ANTHOLOGY A call for submissions to the First International Anthology of Lesbian and Gay People of African Descent. Sister Vision Press is seeking testimonies, short stories, essays, photographs, recipes, illustrations, interviews, and poetry crossing boundaries of culture, language, geography, history, identity and gender. Deadline is Nov 30. Send submissions to Sister Vision, PO Box 217, Stn E, Toronto, ON, M6H 4E2. EYE WUZ HERE eye wuz here will be a collection of short stories thematically linked to any area of the adolescent girl/young woman's experience. These stories are to be written by young Canadian women (aged 30 or younger), and the anthology will reflect Canada's regions and multicultural make-up. Experimental and traditional forms welcome. Send to: eye wuz here, c/o Shannon Cooley, Casson Film School, Devonshire Rd, Victoria, BC, V9A 5T9. Deadline is Jun 30. ASIAN-CANADIAN WRITERS Variasians, an Asian-Canadian journal of commentary, criticism, and culture, is calling for writing and visual based work for Check Your Transmission, a feature issue on "the politics of media representation." Send submissions to Varasians, c/o 2-572 Spadina Ave, Toronto ON, M5S 2H2. Include bio and SASE. Deadline: Jun 15. FAT-POSITIVE WRITINGS Writing and art sought for inclusion in big, fat anthology which will give visibility and voice to the wide diversity of life experience and stories of fat lesbians. Preference will be given to non-fiction and personal reflective writings. Contributions from fat dyke social or organizing groups are also encouraged. Mev Miller, P.O. Box 300151, Minneapolis, MN, 55403. Deadline: Nov 1. FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL The St. John's Women's Film & Video Festival is committed to searching out, presenting and promoting films and videos made by women, to providing the public and film/ videomakers from Canada and abroad an opportunity to discuss these works, and to supporting and stimulating regional produc- 22 JUNE 1994 Bulletin Board SUBMISSIONS CLASSIFIEDS tion. So whether you are an emerging or establishedfilm/videomakersendusyourfilm or video. Inquiries to: St. John's Women's Film & Video Festival, PO Box 984, St. John's, Nfld, A1C 6C2. Tel, (709) 772-0358; fax 772- 4808. Entries must be shipped pre-paid to: St. John's Women's Film & Video Festival, c/o Noreen Golfman, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1C 5S7. Deadline for submissions is Jul 15th. SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN Diva The Quarterly Journal of South Asian Women calls for contributions for the Aug issue. The theme is Sex, Sexuality and Desire. A journey into our concepts and experiences. Erotica, sexual identities, poetry, profiles, fiction, reviews and artwork. Deadline is Jun 30. Send to 427 Bloor St W Toronto, ON M5S 1X7. Tel (416) 921-7004. LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN The Federation of British Columbia Writers presents Literary Writes VIII, a literature for children competition. Max 1200 words for fiction and non-fiction and 36 lines for poetry. Writing must be for readers aged 9-14. The competition is open to Canadian writers and residents of any age. Competition closes Aug 15. Mail your entry to The Federation of BC Writers, 4th floor, 905 W.Pender Van BCV6C IDENTITY Acall for submissions for the anthology, ...But where are you really from: Writings on Identity and Assimilation in Canada. Essays, personal narratives, articles, commentaries and poetry are wanted which willexamine issues around identity and assimilation in Canadian society. Submit in duplicate with a SASE to Hazelle Palmer c/o Sister Vision Press, 19- 1666 Queen St. E., Toronto, Ont., M4L 1G3. Tel: (416) 691-5749. CLASSIFIEDS THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE Counselling and therapy using an integrative and eclectic approach in order to explore the individual's conflict and distress within the social context in which this occurs, such as adoption and fostering; racism and anti- semitism; heterosexim, etc. For an appointment, please call Sangam Grant at 253-5007. GENERAL PRACTITIONER Joan Robillard, MD, General Practitioner for all kinds of families is located at 308-2902 W. Broadway, Vancouver, V6K2G8, phone 736- 3582. CARIBBEAN GUESTHOUSE Villa de Hermanas in the beautiful Dominican Republic is going to be open for you this summer. Delicious temperatures at great rates: $290 single; $390 double per week. Magnificant, unspoiled beach, beautiful tropical gardens and pool, large attractive, private questrooms, sumptuous meals and massages. Call Susan: (416) 463-6138. LOOKING FOR A HOME Basement Suite in Commercial Drive neighbourhood. 1 1/2 Bedrooms, laundry, secured windows, parking, garden. $560/mo includes utilities. Available June 15. Non-smoker. Also, part-time housemate wanted to share house with lesbian feminist. Ideal for woman with weekend home elsewhere. Rent negotiable. Available Jun 30. Call 999-4609 (Judy). SAPPHO LESBIAN WITCHCAMP July 3-8 $250-$400. Magical retreat, vegetarian cuisine, market area...wimmin! Fiona Morgan: ritualist, author, astrologer, tarot creatrix; Jena Hamilton: "Writing the Healer" and Lesbian Erotica workshops, Gitta Ridder: martial arts—Womon as Spirtual Warrior, and more. Brochure, call 253-7189 or write to Box 21510,1850 Commercial Dr, Van BC V5N 4A0 GARDENING & LANDSCAPE CARE Hard-working gardener seeks to continue her horticultural apprenticeship. If you need an extra hand with your maintenance and gardening projects, call: The Harbinger of Horticulture at 251-3765. CABIN-RAISING Cabin Raising at Spinstervale in Coombs July 1st long weekend. Women invited. Bring your tents, music, tools, stories, enthusiasm. Good work, refreshments, new friends, dip in the crick, laughter. For more info contact us at 248-8809. ROOM TO RENT Room to rent in East End house. Clean, quiet, SM accepting woman only. Garden space and p/t fireplace. Available Jun 1 (pref) or Jul 1. $400. Call 254-5824. DARKROOM TO RENT Darkroom and work space available. Completely equipped with 4/5 enlarger and en- larger with colour head. $100 per month. 254-5824. CALL FOR WORK Line drawings, graphic art and writings by women wanted for an anthology that tells our experiences about brother-sister incest. Pseudonyms can be used. Deadline Jun 30,1994. Send contributions, brief bio, and SASE to: Risa Shaw, P.O. Box 5723, Takoman Park, MD, 20913-0723, USA. SHIATSU WITH A DIFFERENCE For pain relief, stress management or as a compliment to therapy, Astarte's focus on body-awareness will help you gain insight and tools to further your healing process. Call Astarte Sands 251 -5409. EARTHLY PLEASURES Earthly Pleasures, a visual arts exhibit of works by East and South-East Asian womer I opens June 14 at the grunt gallery, 209 E. 6th Ave., Vancouver. Earthly Pleasures is a show about childhood, memory, food, sex, and longing. The exhibit curated by Larissa Lai (pictured above), features the work of Vancouver artists: Lorraine I Chan, Marilou Esguerra, Cynthia Low, Sarinah Haba, Laiwan, Jin-me Yoon, Ana Chang Karlyn Koh, Effie Pow, and Karen Tee. The opening night reception is Tuesday, June 14 at 8:00pm. The show runs until July 9 For more information and gallery hours, call the grunt at 875-9516. CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS LAND-MATE WANTED Short-term rental and/or long-term partnership on beautiful varied acreage north of Duncan, $325.00 per month, negotiable. N.S., N.D., you need transport. Eco-femi- nist values. Please call collect, 748-6879 after 6pm for an interview. WORK FOR RENT Eco-feminist offering renovations, repairs, landscaping & misc. labour in return for reduced rent (willing to pay up to $350 cash additionally, per month) forclean, quiet self- contained accommodation in rural or urban BC. Message 736-6399. WRITING THRU RACE The Writing Thru Race conference, a conference for First Nations writers and writers of colour, is looking for volunteers for the conference to be held Jun 30-Jul 2. If interested, call or fax Lucinda Pik, 874- 1611. ALBERTA ADVISORY COUNCIL The Alberta Advisory Council on Women's Issues has moved. Our new address is: #1630,10405 Jasper Ave, Edmonton, Alta, T5J 4R7. Phone: (403)422-0668. Fax: 422- 9111. FIRST NATIONS COMMUNITY HEALING CENTRE The Professional Native Women's Association is looking for First Nations volunteers and resource people to share their abilities and gifts through the First Nations Community Healing Centre. PNWA encourages elders, traditional healers, medicine people, facilitators, speakers, holistic practitioners and resource people to contact Pat Forrest at 873-1833 (Fax: 872-1845). NATIVE CRISIS LINE Women of Native heritage are needed to volunteer on the Professional Native Women's Association's 24 hour crisis/counselling line. Acertif icate of completion willbeawarded upon completion of training. Contact: Patti Pettigrew at PNWA 873-1833 (Fax: 872- 1845). FREE LEGAL ADVICE UBC law student are again offering free legal advice to those who cannot afford a lawyer. There will be 20 neighbourhood clinics throughout the Lower Mainland, including specialized clinics for women, First Nations people, seniors, persons with AIDS and Cantonese speaking people. For info contact Nikos Harris at 822-5791. SUMMER LEGAL CLINIC Battered Women's Support Services and UBC Law Students Legal Advice Program are co-sponsoringf ree legal clinics for women to be held Weds, 2-8pm beginning May 18 and ending Aug 17. For more info orto make an appointment call Battered Women's Support Services at 687-1867. PRIDE PARADE The Vancouver Pride Society is looking for a summer student to assist it to produce special fundraising events during June and July. The job will last 9 weeks on a Challenge 94 grant. If you want to aquire PR skills, are creative and outgoing and will be returning to school in the fall leave or mail a resume to Box 300-1195 Davie St, Van, V6E1N3 orfax to 681-4812. PRIDE CALENDAR You can advertise your events to be held in Jun/Jul in the Pride Calendar, produced by the Vancouver Pride Society (the group that holds that Pride Parade on Aug 1). The calendar will appear in the IVesf End Times and Xtra West. Deadline is Jun 15 for July events. Write to Box 300 - 1195 Davie St, Van, V6E 1N2. Call 684-2633, Fax 681- 4812. STONEWALL FESTIVAL You can rent a booth at the Stonewall Festival, Jun 25, at Grandview Park. There are different rates if you or your group want to have a display or sell a product. The first registration deadline is Jun 1 (rates are cheaper). Write Vancouver's Stonewall Society, #1 -1170 Bute St, Van, V6Z 1Z6 or call 684-5307 for info. BIG SISTERS If you are 19 or over, and are willing to spend 5 hours a week with a South Asian girl, Big Sisters of the Lower Mainland would like to hear from you. We are looking for South Asain women who have experienced growing up in the South Asian community, are aware of cultural issues, and would be a positive role model for a young girl. For more info please call 873-4525. JUNE 1994 What am I going to do at 7:30 pm on June 24 at the W.I.S.E. Hall, 1882 Adanac for $3-5? Where is there going to be great entertainment, cheap food and a chance to win great prizes? When will I be able to go somewhere where there'll be on-site childcare in a smoke free space? THE KINESIS 20TH ANNIVERSARY BENEFIT D + $1.40 GST Two years Q$36 + $2.52 GST Institutions/Groups □$45+ $3.15 GST Nam* □Cheque enclosed If you can't afford the full amount for | □Bill me Kinesis subscription, send what you can ^ □New Free to prisoners I □Renewal Orders outside Canada add $8 □Gift Vancouver Status of Women Membership M □Donation (includes Kinesis subscription) J □$30 + $1.40 GST Address— Country — Telephone . Postal code. Fax" Published ten times a year by the Vancouver Status of Women #301-1720 Grant Street Vancouver, BC V5L 2Y6