Editorial

This editorial introduces a journal devoted to the issues surrounding women and their rights. As the development debate moves from women's need to their rights and to an understanding of the cultural roots of legal systems and the effects of the mass media in presenting alternative life styles as possibilities, the immense implications of using rights-based language in development emerge. This debate moves women from being the recipients of welfare to a state of empowerment. Women must be afforded individual rights which are linked to community rights. In addition, rights must be granted to women in their public and private domains. The dangers of using a rights-based language to assert women's claims to economic, political, and social equality in economic, political, and social life arise from the reality that the social position of men will usually place men at an advantage with the law. Legal processes which stress dichotomies may fail to improve real social situations. Also, the language of human rights may pit one set of rights (a woman's right to choose abortion) against another (the fetuses' right to live) to women's disadvantage. Areas governed by both customary and civil law pose other difficulties, especially since they require women to understand the law in order to use it. Development efforts which stress rights hope to meet immediate needs and to achieve a strategic end. Nongovernmental organizations can play an important role in asserting and enforcing the freedom of individuals and groups within groups. They can also build capacity at all levels of society and explore linkages between women's economic participation, decision-making within the home, and wider political participation.     

Islam and development: opportunities and constraints for Somali women

This article describes the effects of the rise of Islamic extremism on women's lives in Somalia since the early 1990s. Throughout the conflict and afterwards, Somali women's organizations in different parts of the country have been active in both development work and advocacy for peace. They were challenging both the government and nongovernmental organizations to recognize and promote the role of women in society, and to resist threats to women's rights. It has been documented that religious extremists were challenging women's rights within marriage and family, to their economic and political participation outside the home, and to their freedom of dress and behavior. The paper also highlights the fact that wholesome and unwholesome traditional practices tend to be associated with Islam, and with other rights as defined in Islam. It reconfirmed that the violations against Somali women's rights are culturally rooted, and that such practice continues unchecked. Until Somali women received a better education, particularly in religious education, this situation will continue. The only hope are the women's organizations who seriously attempt to redress the extremists' strategy of marginalizing women on the grounds of religious evidence.     

From basic needs to basic rights

After arriving at an understanding that basic rights refer to all human needs, it is clear that a recognition of the basic needs of female humans must precede the realization of their rights. The old Women in Development (WID) framework only understood women's needs from an androcentric perspective which was limited to practical interests. Instead, women's primary need is to be free from their subordination to men. Such an understanding places all of women's immediate needs in a new light. A human rights approach to development would see women not as beneficiaries but as people entitled to enjoy the benefits of development. Discussion of what equality before the law should mean to women began at the Third World Conference on Women in Nairobi where the issue of violence against women was first linked to development. While debate continues about the distinction between civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights, the realities of women's lives do not permit such a distinction. The concept of the universality of human rights did not become codified until the UN proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The declaration has been criticized by feminists because the view of human rights it embodies has been too strongly influenced by a liberal Western philosophy which stresses individual rights and because it is ambiguous on the distinction between human rights and the rights of a citizen. The protection of rights afforded by the Declaration, however, should not be viewed as a final achievement but as an ongoing struggle. International conferences have led to an analysis of the human-rights approach to sustainable development which concludes that women continue to face the routine denial of their rights. Each human right must be redefined from the perspective of women's needs, which must also be redefined. Women must forego challenging the concept of the universality of human rights in order to overcome the argument of cultural and religious diversity which erodes women's rights. Women can, however, challenge the traditional patriarchal understanding of human rights, drawing on the energy contained in the "basic needs to basic rights" approach.     

Opposition to gender-sensitive development. Learning to answer back

Opposition to gender-sensitive development policies can arise within the very development agencies charged with implementing the policies. Agencies may maintain that policies on equality for women are unnecessary because development is concerned with improving welfare in general. This can be refuted by referring to the literature which points out that failure to address the specific needs of women means their exclusion from the development process. Agencies may argue that women's equality is a political rather than a developmental issue. This is countered by the fact that the "Forward-Looking Strategies" define women's development, equality, and empowerment as intertwined processes. Agencies may say that promoting women's equality constitutes undue interference in a country's internal affairs. This is wrong because aid programs should not be supported in countries which do not support women's rights. Agencies may claim that they must work within the existing laws and policies of a developing country. This is partly correct, but the point must be limited because policies and laws may be "given," but they are not fixed. An agency may state that they have no business seeking or promoting change in existing social and customary practices. This is wrong where such practices stand in the way of development and because any development project is by definition a social and economic intervention. Agencies may consider their policy on women an inappropriate imposition of Western ideas. This is wrong because international conventions place a concern for women's rights on a level with a concern for human rights. Finally, agencies may maintain that women in developing countries do not desire equality with men. While it may be true that women accept their subordinate position, this does not offset issues of human rights and equal development. Oppressed women may be very silent; given the opportunity, they generally have a great deal to say.     

"It Still Don't Make You Feel Like You're Doin' It": Welfare Reform and Perceived Economic Self-Efficacy

The massive federal welfare reform effort of 1996 contained an inherent assumption that welfare use negatively affected recipients' sense of self-efficacy. Little research attention has been given to examining this assumption. Using in-depth interviews, I explore economic self-efficacy perceptions of 31 young mothers who have experience receiving welfare. Financial choice, they said, was central to their perceptions of themselves as economic agents and therefore to their sense of self-efficacy. Findings presented here detail women's perceptions of their own economic abilities, as well as how welfare receipt, the character of work, and experiences related to parenting in poverty all affected women's opportunities for exercising agency.     

Women's legal knowledge: a case study of Mexican urban dwellers

In Mexico, the nongovernmental organization Sevisio, Desarrollo y Paz, A.C. (SEDEPAC) is helping poor women acquire legal knowledge in an economic climate characterized by the increased feminization of poverty brought about by the Structural Adjustment Program. The Mexican legal system is grounded in a patriarchal tradition, and the codified laws continue to favor men. Women were not granted full citizenship until 1953, and discrimination against women was not addressed in Mexican law until 1974 as the country prepared to host the First UN International Women's Conference. However, legal advances are not being applied in the family or in larger society where men remain in power. Mexico also distinguishes between private law and public law. Because domestic violence falls in the realm of private law, authorities are loathe to follow-up on women's complaints in this area. Since its founding in 1983, SEDEPAC has applied a gender perspective to its activities and programs. SEDEPAC held its first women's legal workshop in 1987 and realized that most poor women have no knowledge of existing laws or their rights, that alternative legal services for women are scarce, that existing laws must be changed, and that the authoritarian and conservative legal system helps maintain cultural stereotypes. Since then, SEDEPAC has held annual workshops, follow-up meetings, and training sessions and has provided counseling. The main topics addressed are women's social conditions; violence and the penal code; civil rights, power, and dependency; women's bodies and reproductive rights; and women's organization and leadership. The workshops use techniques of popular education such as group participation and use of gossip as a communication tool. The workshops have changed participants' lives and led to the formation of an independent Popular Defenders' Coordination.     

The Trouble with Modernity: Gender and the Remaking of Social Theory

There is continued frustration over the failure of established social theory to be altered despite dramatic developments in women's lives and feminist theory. I argue that this process has been blocked by an overly static conception of society and gender itself. Close examination of the actual circumstances of African American and white women in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century United States reveals the relationship between gender and economic and political development has been a dynamic historical one, culminating recently in a radical transformation of women's lives and work. I develop the implications of this argument for older analytic divisions between work and home, or productive and reproductive labor, and for recent shifts in theory. Coherent grasp of the events currently altering women's lives provides a clear way to join gender with earlier theoretical concerns, as another moment of social transformation brought about by a still-unfolding process of economic and political development.     

Enforcing women's rights through law

Because women have to be equal partners in development to insure its sustainability, the human rights of women must be foremost on development agendas. Ratification of and adherence to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (the Women's Convention) would be a powerful international tool in this regard. In various countries, progress towards legalizing rights for women is passing through a first stage which focusses on the protection of specific rights to a second stage in which sex is included as a prohibited ground of discrimination to a third stage which addresses the pervasive and structural nature of the violation of women's rights. It is expected that governments will renew their commitment to the Women's Convention at the Fourth World Conference on Women (WCW) and, thus, take more seriously their obligations to report progress and remove reservations. Regional initiatives, such as the Organization of American States' 1994 Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women, can also be used to protect women's rights, and the application of national constitutions and domestic laws remains the first line of defence for women. Particular attention must be paid to laws which apply to property rights, nationality, equality within the family, reproductive and other health issues, and violence against women. The Draft Plan of Action prepared for the WCW challenges states to specify their plans to eliminate discrimination. While this Plan may prove to lack vision, women's nongovernmental organizations are playing a major role in accelerating the movement of international and domestic law towards justice for women.     

Women,conflict, and culture in former Yugoslavia

The civil war in the former Yugoslavia has taken a toll on the women's movement which has disintegrated across male-defined nationalist borders. The women's movement in this area got its start during the Second World War but was disbanded under communism until women's groups began to form in the 1970s. Today the women's movement has lost the power to oppose the war and has been unable to prevent widespread violence perpetuated against women. Some feminists who have refused to embrace nationalism and patriotism have been vilified and have had to seek refuge abroad. Recently, however, hundreds of nongovernmental organizations have been formed to provide support to women and children victimized by the war. Women have been raped and impregnated as a strategy of male warfare, and raped women who refused an abortion were ostracized. War-related rape has yet to be fully recognized as an international human rights violation, and the issue is being used as political propaganda in the former Yugoslavia while it is ignored elsewhere. Sensationalist reporting of these rapes has further victimized women and made them unable to give voice to their trauma. War also increases women's suffering by destroying economic and social welfare systems. Oxfam is helping women record their testimonies of war and reconstruct the fabric of their societies through programs which provide income-generation and training in micro-enterprises. In addition, Oxfam is strengthening electronic communication and networking among women's groups throughout the region.     

Have we come a long way? Using the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics to revisit the ‘pin money’ theory

Canada has experienced a lengthy period of economic recovery, since the recession of the early 1990s, and many families’ standard of living has improved. I evaluate the ‘pin money’ hypothesis of the feminist scholarship, which is closely linked to what economists often refer to as an ‘added worker effect’. An improved economy may generate incentives for some married women in various occupations to make significant alterations to their labour market connections. Panel data are used to examine the effects of changes to women's hours, for example, whether some respondents opt out or reduce their hours given the rising incomes of economic partners. The methodology involves the use of two panels of the Statistics Canada, Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics and a random effects probit model to estimate various participation equations of labour decisions over time within a household context. While the findings indicate that a small percentage of married female respondents have reduced their hours, there is stronger evidence that women's contributions to household income appear to be essential to family survival.     

Efficiency: An inappropriate guide to structural transformation

This article argues that efficiency, and outcomes-based theory generally, is both theoretically flawed and inimical to the transition process. Utilitarian social welfare theory (SWT), the genesis of the efficiency standard, contemplates theoretical constructs that cannot meaningfully be defined. Moreover, the moral force of rights and correlative duties cannot be accommodated by SWT. Worse still, SWT can be employed to argue that corruption may actually improve efficiency. Granting all of this, I argue that the efficiency standard should not be employed to guide structural transformation. Rather, attention should center on an explicitly normative, constitutional approach that focuses less on consequences and more on procedures; an approach that emphasizes the importance both for economic growth/development and social interaction of ethical norms.     

Violence against women: the international legal response

Violence against women has only recently become an international legal concern, because human rights law has been directed to protect men in their public lives. The failure of human rights law to protect women from gender-specific violence has occurred because much of the violence against women occurs in private and because cultural assumptions are used to justify the oppression of women. The silent nature of this violence has masked the reality of the international nature of the problem. Also, international law primarily regulates the behavior of states. Women have lobbied for recognition of the problem of violence against women within the UN agencies concerned with crime and those concerned with women's issues. It is illustrative of the marginalization of women's human rights issues that the international instrument which guarantees women's equality, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), was not drafted through the Human Rights Commission. CEDAW's Recommendation 19 directs the attention of states towards the elimination of gender-based violence, but the participation of the 139 states which are party to CEDAW is limited by reservations the states have attached to their participation. Wider commitment to the eradication of violence against women has been sought using other UN bodies, and, in 1993, the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference on Human Rights called for the integration of women's human rights into all UN human rights activities, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the Security Council of the International Tribunal was established to prosecute offenses committed in the former Yugoslavia, including rape. In 1994, the UN appointed a Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women to provide a continuing focus on gender violence. These calls for the recognition of the human rights of women and girls must be reinforced by the Fourth World Conference on Women. Such international instruments will not change women's lives alone, however. Improvement in the status of women will depend upon education, support services, and training of public officials. While working for social change, activists must also work to insure implementation of the instruments governments have adopted.     

Interview. Maria Isabal Plata,executive director of Profamilia,talks to Caroline Sweetman about the work of the organisation in Colombia

In this interview, Maria Isabal Plata discusses the work of the nongovernmental organization Profamilia in Colombia. Since its founding in 1965, Profamilia has assumed direct and indirect responsibility for nearly 70% of family planning (FP) and reproductive health activities in the country. These activities are complemented by a legal service program, an evaluation and research program, and a documentation center. In Colombia, women gained equal rights under the law in 1974 and a constitutional prohibition on discrimination in 1991, but sex stereotypes still dictate responsibility for family chores. When women realize their economic and social rights, poverty and inequalities will diminish. Thus, it is crucial to safeguard reproductive and sexual rights and ban violence against women. The traditional concept of family forces a disregard for the rights of family members and allows societies to oppose the interests of women. The aftermath of the UN Fourth Women's Conference in Colombia will be to work towards achieving full citizenship for women and democratic societies. The experience women's groups had at the conference has created a situation in which grassroots organizations can consider beginning to work with development organizations to achieve some of these goals.     

Crafting Migrant Women's Citizenship in Japan: Taking "Family" as a Vantage Point

Abstract:  To adequately approach the question of migrant women's citizenship claims, sociological studies of "family problems" of migrants need to be linked with theoretical discussions in feminist citizenship studies. This paper makes such an attempt by using "family" as a vantage point for understanding migrant women's location within the Japanese citizenship regime. I will tentatively use the concept of "citizenship regime" (J. Jenson) to designate a matrix of institutional rules and arrangements that regulate relations among different categories of citizens, as well as citizens and non-citizens. The aim of the paper is to show in what ways the dimension of "family" is constitutive of Japanese citizenship regime. "Family" will be approached in its aspect of empirical family situations on the one hand and on the other, in its aspect of legal and ideological construct that assures "intergenerational identities" of the nation. The paper will be divided into two parts. In the first section, I will examine the status of the two largest groups of migrant women (Filipinos and Nikkei Brazilians) within the citizenship regime, particularly in reference to labor and "family". In the second half of the paper, drawing extensively on the findings of collaborative research conducted from 2001 to 2003, I will trace the endeavors of migrant women to enhance their autonomy through economic as well as associational activities. In conclusion, I shall discuss briefly the significance of these endeavors in relation to the transformative politics of Japanese women's citizenship in the last two decades.     

Religious Freedoms versus Gender Equality: Faith-Based Organizations, Muslim Minorities, and Islamic Headscarves in the New Europe

The intersections of gender and civil society in the formersocialist countries of Eastern Europe have been examined primarilythrough the lens of Western Aid to support feminist nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs). What has received less scholarly attentionis the growing number of NGOs advocating for a return to moreconservative gender roles and more restricted public roles forwomen. Many of these organizations are so-called "faith-based"organizations (FBOs), and are bound to particular religiousdenominations. In this article, I will examine the presenceof Islamic FBOs in Bulgaria and how they mobilize a liberal"rights" discourse to justify practices that could be locallyinterpreted as being oppressive to women. Their insistence onguaranteeing women's "right to choose" certain religious practicesputs feminists and women's NGOs in an increasingly difficultposition.     

代表和维护妇女权益——我们责无旁贷(英文)

Promoting gender equality and representing and protecting women's lawful rights and interests are the primary functions of women's federations in China.In fact,women's federations,at all levels,have long attached importance to the protection of women's rights.Under the guidance and promotion efforts of the All-China Women's Federation(ACWF),women's federations,at all levels,have achieved excellent results in the protection of women's rights and interests.Regarding the protection of women's rights,the fed...     

Disabled Women and Reproductive Rights

Both the women's and disability rights movements have paid scant attention to the concerns of disabled women, especially involving sexuality, reproductive freedom and mothering. Although their concerns may seem opposite of the women's movement's primary agenda, they are based on the same position: women must not be defined solely by biological characteristics and have the right to make decisions about their bodies and lives. Disabled feminists often support 'reproductive rights', but also have different perspectives on abortion and reproductive technologies than non-disabled feminists. The literature indicates that the reproductive rights of disabled women are constrained by: the assumption that disabled women are asexual; lack of reproductive health care, contraception, and sexuality information; and, social resistance to reproduction and mothering among disabled women. Disabled women are at risk for a range of undesirable outcomes, including coercive sterilization, abortion or loss of child custody.     

Parental role strains, salience of parental identity and gender differences in psychological distress.

Although past research indicates that women's higher levels of psychological distress can be accounted for by their greater exposure and vulnerability to role-related stress, the social psychological factors contributing to female vulnerability have not been fully identified. This paper applies identity theory to the phenomenon of gender differences in distress among parents. From an identity perspective, I propose that salience of the parental identity in women's self-conceptions contributes to their vulnerability to parental role strains. Using 1988 survey data from a stratified random sample of married and divorced Indianapolis residents (N = 448), I find that gender differences in distress are explained by differences in exposure to parental role strains. Further analyses reveal, however, that salience of the parental identity contributes to both men's and women's vulnerability to parental role strains. These findings underscore the utility of identity theory for explaining psychological distress among women and men.     

Structural adjustment,women, and agriculture in Cameroon

This article assesses the impact of economic structural programs on the agricultural activities of women's groups in Cameroon, and explores women's ways of coping with the reduction in individual and family income and the loss of public services. It examines the role of 25 women's groups in both rural and urban areas of Cameroon's northwest and southwest provinces in a study conducted from April to June 1999. Economic structural adjustment caused a tremendous increase in the workload of women that are farming usually in lots distant from their homes that yield poor returns. Land for food-crop cultivation has become increasingly scarce, and inputs have become substantially unaffordable. Income generated from the sale of crops is inadequate to supply the economic and social needs of the family. Moreover, the burden of their work has increased as they cope with housework, child-care, and food production, in addition to an expanded participation in paid employment. Moreover, women spend longer working hours than men, meeting both household responsibilities and their outside work. Women have devised strategies to cope with this economic crisis, but they need organizations that will support them with the important resources to be able to operate. Rural women seem to be coping better than urban women cope. In extreme cases, some women in urban areas resort to prostitution to cope with life in this crisis setting.     

Liberalisation,gender, and the land question in sub-Saharan Africa

This article focuses on land reform initiatives undertaken in sub-Saharan African countries since the late 1980s. Section 1 sheds light on the changes in land tenure during the economic liberalization of the region. Section 2 briefly examines the gender-blind "mainstream" theoretical debates on land, and gender-sensitive studies on land issues. Section 3 offers insights on land issues in Africa from a gender perspective. Sections 4 and 5 reviewed the cases of Tanzania and Zimbabwe who have undergone a radical transition in terms of institutional land reforms since the 1980s, and the impact of economic and political liberalization on women's access and rights to land. Drawing on the two case studies, this paper is a call for policy makers, researchers, and activists to refocus their attention to these neglected issues.