More & Scandal of Indian unequal women

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women movement is ?inning develop Prime Minister", you'll be able to throw another statistic at him, as well as your beer glass.

Not only are women losing their jobs at three times the rate of men, but for those who've still got them, their wages are beginning to fall again relative to men's.

Peter Morrison, Under Secretary at the Dpeartment of Employment (as it is laughingly known), gave the following figures in reply to a Parliamentary question: women's average gross weekly earnings in April 1981 were £88.90 to men's £141.30.

The gap's widening -between April 1979 and 1981, men's wages rose by roughly 40% and women's by only about 25%. WHILE THE buying and selling of Thai women as part of the gigantic prostitution racket in Bangkok has become an international scandal, the market in Indian women is rather less publicised.

But now a major scandal has broken out following the report of the purchase of a middle aged woman from Madhya Pradesh for $306.

The woman was bought three months ago by a reporter on India's largest circulation daily paper the Indian Express.

The purchase price 2,300 rupees - was "half the price of a buffalo in the Punjab"

Reporter Ashwini Savin brought her to Delhi as living proof of the trade in women carried on in parts of the country. He posed as a doctor with a large family in the market for a wife for his farm foreman.

He returned reporting a widespread trade in women. Some are sold as prostitutes - many merely as servants. Prices range as high as $2,800 for a 15-year old girl.

Kamala, the unfortunate woman purchased by Savin however now finds herself in an even worse predicament as a result of his attentions.

Since being brought to Delhi she has been confined to an orphanage by court order - since there appears to be no other means of ensuring that she is provided for.

She is forbidden to smoke, subjected to prolonged investigations and quite naturally irritated by all the commotion.

Full of concern, the Express chief reporter, Ms Coomy Kupoor, has suggested that the only solution might be to "marry her off" an embarrassment to her "owners" and a living example of the exploitation of those who sold her. 41, Ellington Street, London N1, price 35p including postage. WYDALE HALL, set in 14 acres of woodland, in the Vale of Pickering, just outside Scarborough, is the venue for the Women's Fightback AGM and weekend school over the August Bank Holiday (29-31 August).

The AGM has been shifted to the Saturday to enable those wishing to attend for the one day to travel there.

On Sunday there are educational work-shop sessions where we can discuss basic Marxism, reform and revolution, what went wrong in the USSR, and socialism and feminism. (If you would like a basic reading list for these sessions ring the phone number below).

Monday is set aside for skill-sharing sessions where we'll discuss how to organise campaigns in areas like cuts, abortion rights, unionisation, campaigns against sexism and unemployment, drawing on the experience of Fightback members and groups in these areas.

There will also be sessions on organisational necessities like writing and producing leaflets, using the media, how to organise a lobby and much more.

It's £18 for the full weekend if you're in work, or f7 for uniaged, with a small charge for the first child and others free. This includes all meals from Saturday afternoon, but does not include the pooled fare.

Sue Carlyle 101-790 4937) is helping peocie with transor 1: 05%

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Organiser, Thursday 20 August, 1981 Page 12