WRI homepage > Publications > WRI Women

WRI Women 1994/01

• The Abuse of Victims
• International Women's Day in Cambodia: A Giant First Step
• Lesbians in Croatia
• March 8th Activities
• News
  • Against the War in Former-Yugoslavia
  • Death Sentence for Woman Writer
  • UN Soldiers Visit Rape Camps
  • First Woman MP in Jordan
  • Woman Dies Protesting Persecution
  • Peg Averill Dies
  • Black Women's Network
• WRI Women on the Move
• Take Note, Women Vote!
• IFOR's new quarterly
• Violence Against Women in South Africa
• Women Fighting for Equality
• British Sex Tourists in Thailand
• WRI Women's Working Group and the Beijing Conference
  • Why the WRI Women's Working Group Will Not Go to Beijing

WRI Women is edited by Shelley Anderson. Queries about the WRI Women's Working Group can be made through the WRI office at infowri-irg.org.

THE ABUSE OF VICTIMS

Since the beginning of the wars in ex-Yugoslavia, especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the image of the suffering of the civilian population projected by the major television networks is usually a variation on the image of the woman-victim, who, exhausted, humble and in tears, carries a child in her arms. If she is shown as a rape victim, that image is emphasized even more.

Endless scenes of suffering women served as a pretext for the Gulf War intervention in the Iraq-Kuwait conflict; the raped women in Bosnia were to be "protected by an efficient military intervention."

The abuse of victims and human suffering for political purposes is widely practised in this war; by the nation-state, by the media, even by humanitarian organisations. On the other hand, what such institutions don't seem to be willing to acknowledge is the fact that in Serbia and the other republics of ex-Yugoslavia women are the most active members of anti-war movements and the driving force behind most pacifist groups, human rights organisations and non-governmental agencies.

Media and the Militarist Exploitation of Rape

They were not satisfied with just any victims; their picture had to meet certain criteria and expectations. Their attitude was focused on ´victimization', which negated the integrity of the women and elicited indignation from women who do not enjoy being labelled "victims."

At the Meeting of Female Solidarity held in September 1993 in Merida, Spain, Radmila Zarkovic said, "Very often I get disgusted with newsmen from Europe. Their typical demands are: we want a Croatian woman married to a Muslim who is still in Bosnia. I usually ask them, ´Should she also be a rape victim?' The stories of such newsmen are cliches with which we are expected to comply." A telling joke: "What does a newsman ask when he come to a camp? The answer: ´Anyone here been raped and speak English?' When women from autonomous feminist groups have visited rape victims, the raped women's first reaction is, "Don't you have a camera? You are the first one not to ask these questions."

It is true that for the first time in history war-rape is being talked about while the war is still happening. However, it turned out that the unusual interest in raped women did not tend towards their protection but towards the achievement of various political aims. The big media, above all CNN (a US news channel), wanted to create a psychological climate to justify a possible military intervention "in defense of innocent victims." As feminist analyst Cynthia Enloe writes, "It would not have been possible without a feminization of victims."

Political interests separated the victims on ethnic grounds. Initially, the West talked only about raped Moslem and Croatian women while Serbia lamented the fate of raped Serbian women, which in both cases fomented interethnic hatred.

The members of the patriarchal brotherhood consider rape a violation of male honour. But raped women can regain honour by killing or by committing suicide. "Many victims of rape have committed suicide," reports Duca in 1992. "One Dragana, mother of two, acted like a real hero at a torture chamber in Bosanski Brod. To avoid falling into her tormentors' hands, she shot herself in the mouth."

The ideal of honour deserves a special place in patriarchal history. Another chapter could be devoted to the suffering mother: for example, the great Serbian mother of the Jugovic clan who offers her sons to the fatherland without shedding a single tear. From Homer to the present day, war is the basis of western civilization and the mother is the guardian of death.

In ancient Greece, the cause of death was listed in public records in only two cases: death on the battlefield and death in childbirth. Such equivalence of childbirth and war, the cradle and the grave, has been characteristic of every war so far; thus, during the first year of the war in Croatia, the main news of the Serbian radio in Krajina was of deaths in battle and of births. After dedicating her entire life to the task of reproduction, to bearing and raising sons, the woman gives them to the fatherland. "Even the generals wept," wrote Politikarecently of one such woman. "Three hearts of a single mother have been built into the freedom of the proud Serbian people. Her heart ached, but she didn't shed a single tear." A similar necrophilic practice can be seen in Alija Izetbegovic's description of a mother who has lost a son: "Everyone present at the funeral was crying, both the women and the soldiers, except the mother. She said, ´We do not grieve over the loss of our sons. On the contrary, we are proud of it.' "

The National State as Collective Victim

This transformation of the aggressor into the victim serves no other purpose than to compensate for the feeling of powerlessness, turning it into a fatalism which accepts even collective suicide. This fatalism in its turn creates ideal conditions for the undisrupted perpetuation of the regime's power.

Another national state which more or less follows this logic is the Croatian state. Its version of patriarchal logic rests on the unquestioned dichotomy of aggressor and victim, in which a male army (the Serbian Yugoslav People's Army) does violence to the female Croatian land. Adherence to this dichotomy created painful tensions at a feminist meeting held in February 1992 in Venice. Some feminists from Zagreb erected a wall between us: on one side of that wall were we "from the aggressor country", on the other side they "from the attacked country." Such symbolic walls have their origin in the patriarchal myth which prescribes that when the homeland (a woman) is at war, women from the warring lands should also be at war.

By accepting the analogy between one's homeland and a victimised woman, one could easily turn into an accomplice in a war. Identifying with male and militarist states means internalising militarist logic. Accusing women from an ´enemy' country, especially women who have opposed ´their' militarist state, plays into a patriarchal strategy of eliciting feelings of guilt for something which the men of ´my' nation have done. Not women; no one asked women if they wanted this war. If we identify our experience with that of the fatherland, the land of fathers, we are applying for a place next to the sons/heroes who have given their lives on the altars of that fatherland, which has nothing to do with the homeland of women as ´a land of life and feelings.'

The victim is, therefore, neither the fatherland nor the state but all those who have been deprived of choice, including the choice to live, while aggressors are those who destroy life, regardless of their nationality or the goals they advocate.

Experience has taught us that those who are fascinated by the fatherland and its history are precisely the people who kill and destroy.

Abuse of Refugees and Civilians in Serbia

The embargo has affected only Serbia's civilian population. Women bear the brunt of the misery caused by it. The state-sponsored media have been trying hard to absolve the regime of all responsibility for the war and poverty by blaming others. We are shown terrible scenes of massacres whose victims are mostly Serbian. These scenes are presented as a call to vengeance. According to public opinion polls done by the independent media from Belgrade, in 95% of all cases the motive for joining a paramilitary unit was, "I can't stand watching television scenes of my people's suffering."

Such scenes serve as well to silence people or give sham consolation. Identifying with the ´victim', the recipient is likely to have reactions such as, "that could have been me," "things could be even worse," "I live well in comparison to those people." The purpose of such manipulation is to forestall any idea of rebellion against the regime.

The Victim

Fortunately, our relationship with feminist and pacifist sisters from the West are free of such paternalistic attitudes. Our exchange presupposes differences related to the specific situation, yet all of us are fighting for the same goal: greater power and autonomy for women.

Staša Zajovic works with Women in Black in Belgrade.

International Women's Day in Cambodia: A Giant First Step

Pink and green banners proclaiming "End Violence Against Women" and "Women Build Peace" remain strung up in the streets of Cambodia's capital, indicating the themes of this year's International Women's Day. March 8, International Women's Day, was declared a national holiday by the Royal Cambodian Government. Cambodian women's groups, in cooperation with the newly established Secretariat for Women's Affairs, launched a series of events to celebrate the day. Activities included a visit by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to women in two Phnom Penh prisons (eight women were later released as a result of the visit); recognition of the new women's police team; a religious ceremony of offerings to Buddhist monks and nuns; and a national workshop on AIDS.

Perhaps the most moving event was a peace walk led by Buddhist monks and nuns through Phnom Penh's prostitution district. There are an estimated 10,000 sex workers in Cambodia now, a number which has greatly swelled over the past two years after the influx of over 20,000 UN peacekeeping soldiers and foreign businessmen.

Banners proclaiming "Stop Violence and Trafficking of Women" and "Stop Exploitation of Women" were carried as about 1,000 marchers, with flowers, incense sticks and candles, walked through the red light district. Over 100 participants had travelled from four outlying provinces, led by local Buddhist clergy. The four hour walk was led by Maha Ghosananda, the recent Nobel Peace Prize nominee and spiritual leader of two peace walks across Cambodia's war-torn provinces. The marchers encouraged the creation of real economic alternatives for women and expressed their solidarity with both the Vietnamese and Cambodian sex workers, thus helping to bridge some of the mistrust between the two ethnic groups. The evening ended with a candlelight ceremony, ´illuminating the darkness', and chanting at Independence Monument.

Police were seen barring people from entering one red-light district hours before the march, causing one organizer to comment, "Now we know who is in charge of the brothels--the police!" Organizers had leafletted and talked with women in the area days before the march to explain their solidarity while speaking out against the exploitation of women. Most local media still chose to focus on the ´loss of business' and lack of understanding of some of the workers about the march's meaning. Marchers had asked the press to focus on the social and economic causes of the sex industry, rather than blaming the women workers. One local newspaper did quote a teenaged prostitute as saying, "Because of today's procession, women may one day get full rights--and may even get on top of the men exploiting them."

In a position paper outlining plans for March 8, the Secretariat for Women's Affairs stated, "Although war and destruction have affected all Cambodians of every level of society, women have undoubtedly been most victimized by these years of conflicts. Women are over 60 percent of the population...and more than 30 percent of these women must raise their families alone...The improved status of women, including the full recognition and participation of women in the reconstruction of the country, is the fundamental base for sustainable development and peace...Cambodia cannot afford to ignore the strength of its women and the suffering they have endured for more than two decades."

The Secretariat stated that a year-long campaign would be devoted to the issue of violence against women. This is ground breaking in a society where domestic violence is still taboo. The Secretariat will work to encourage that legislation securing women's rights be adopted. The new constitution, revealed last September, clearly defines women's rights, thanks to the lobbying of the Constitutional Assembly by Cambodian women and NGOs. Yet these rights remain to be guaranteed by legal mechanisms, particularly family, employment and criminal law. The campaign will encourage, for example, that laws regarding rape, trafficking of women and children, and domestic violence be adopted.

As the position paper continued, "The culture of violence pervading a society at war has fostered tolerance of violence against women. Although recent economic improvements have benefitted a very small portion of the society, women have not reaped many of such gains." A newly established media center, the Voice of Cambodian Women, will lead the media campaign. Having recently received training in video techniques, four women and a team of women writers will publicize the campaign and prepare television and radio sketches. In addition, brochures and reports with information on the situation of Cambodian women will be produced in Cambodian and English. Interviews and debates on women's situation will be broadcast on national radio, television and in the national and international press.

As one woman organizer said of all the special three-day events around March 8, "It will benefit our children. In fact we are doing this for them. It is a first step. We hope it is the first step to build a society which creates effective laws and puts them into practice to protect women's rights...."

Liz Bernstein works with the Coalition for Peace and Reconciliation (CPR), Maha Ghosananda Center for Nonviolence and Peace in Cambodia and the World, Wat Sampeo Meas, P.O. Box 144, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Fax +855 232 6400. Donations for CPR's work may be sent to 87/2 Soi 15, Sukehmunt Road, Bangkok, Thailand 10110.

Lesbians in Croatia

Lesbian life in Croatia today is a life of women who are victims of totalitarian systems forced to hide their sexuality and to have a dual life--the private and the public. A few of us decided to struggle for our rights, to be public. I hope our activities will stimulate others to join us. Obviously in war time it is very hard to overcome the lack of courage. It is hard to struggle for truth when you can be fired from work the next day.

Some History

Lila wanted to make lesbians and bisexuals visible and popularize women's culture. It was not able to achieve all its goals, but there were some positive results: there was a place where women could be together and relax (there was no public place in Zagreb where lesbians could meet). The importance of Lila is best described by a member: "When my long love relationship ended, I was desperate and really alone. It was not possible to talk about this with my friends or my mother--I was a lesbian. When I came to the group, for the first time I felt that my problem was also a problem of these women, and that at least here, it was not a problem."

New Political Situation

There were hopes for human rights and pluralism when the new government began. But it soon became clear that homosexuality was still to be invisible. In 1991, during the middle of Croatian television showing the British series "Oranges are not the only fruit" (after a scene where two actresses kissed), the series was stopped. Technical difficulties were claimed. The reaction from Radio 101 was great: one program was devoted to this event, in which the station's programmer explained that they had received telephone calls from church leaders who asked that the "immoral drama" be stopped.

The Danger of a Kiss

Now when women and lesbians fight for our rights, there is a counter public information campaign, which says we are trying to destroy Croatia and Christianity. It is claimed that we are against an independent Croatia, that we do not love Croatia. We are suppose to be re-educated.

If you are a lesbian in Croatia today, you are forced to live in total isolation. We are not only isolated from society, we are isolated from each other. In Croatia there is no public space (outside of our group, Lesbians and Gay Men Action--LIGMA) where lesbians can talk and share their experiences, without prejudice. You cannot read a book based on lesbian themes, as there is no such thing in Croatian and books from abroad are few. The same is true for other media and scientific papers. The only thing you will hear about yourself from the public media is that you are a whore, or are ill, or do not even exist. In a direct, political sense, you are the destroyer of the state and all its moral values.

According to the new Croatian Constitution, being a lesbian is not a punishable offence. But in practice this is not true. Croatian families are very patriarchal, and there is great pressure on lesbians to marry. Today, it is impossible for young girls to be independent. The average monthly salary is DM 100. If you want to live on your own, a rented apartment costs at least DM 200 per month.

Lesbians who live in smaller towns see moving to Zagreb as their only chance of freedom. But in Zagreb there are no public spaces for lesbians to meet. Because of the unequal status of women in Croatian society, lesbians have lagged behind gay men in developing a sense of identity and community. The one gay male bar in Zagreb is regularly visited by police, who take personal information about those present away for their files. If you do not give the information, you are taken to the nearest police station, which is even worse.

LIGMA

It is hard as people are more concerned about finding food in order to survive than about struggling for their rights. But we want to work for the protection of lesbians and gays in Croatia, to publish lesbian and gay magazines, and do AIDS education. We have been forced to give interviews to newspapers in order to publicize the group, but the government-controlled media usually made interviews scandalous and insulting.

Financing is our major problem. There is a great economic crisis in Croatia (annual inflation is from 2,000 to 3,000 percent). But we also need literature and other materials, advice, and your support. Our organization is young, but well organized and willing to fight for our rights until the very end.

by Andrea Spehar, LIGMA coordinator for lesbian issues. LIGMA, PP 488, HR-41001, Zagreb, Croatia.

March 8th Activities

In Algeria, women held a public march as a protest against fundamentalist violence. Fundamentalist violence has claimed thousands of lives over the last several years in Algeria, including the lives of women who have refused to dress in ways some Islamic fundamentalists consider appropriate. One recent victim was a 17-year-old school girl who was shot for not wearing a head scarf. The classmate standing next to her, who was wearing a head scarf, was spared.

In Cochin (southern India), as part of WRI's "Crossing the Line", a candlelight march was held with women of different economic classes, castes and religions participating. In Israel/Palestine, women celebrated the opening of "Jerusalem-Link", two centers in East Jerusalem (Palestine) and West Jerusalem (Israel) which promote issues of women and peace. A mixed Jewish and Palestinian "women's protest culture" night of music, poetry and dance was held after a rally and march.

In the Netherlands, volunteers from the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) ran an information table with handouts about the war in Burma. They collected over 100 signatures on special postcards to be sent to the Burmese junta, requesting the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratic leader who has been under house arrest for almost five years. A special window display was made at the IFOR office to celebrate the "Crossing the Lines" campaign. The display highlighted the work of Women in Black (Belgrade), Innu women's resistance against low-level military flights, women's activities in Cambodia, and how FOR women in Uganda are conducting nonviolence training for returning refugees.

If you celebrated the "Crossing the Lines" campaign, please send details to the WRI office so we can spread the news.

NEWS

Against the War in Former-Yugoslavia

The SOS telephone line in Belgrade for women and children who are victims of violence, founded almost three years ago, continues its work to help women at home and in refugee camps by providing counseling and legal services, and documenting war rape. Tel. +38 11 322 226.

The Zenska Infoteka (Women's Information and Documentation Center) opened in March 1993 in Zagreb, Croatia. They are establishing a women's library and translating feminist books, plus information about the declining status of women in Croatia, including the Croatian media's attack against five women journalists who publicly advocated an anti-nationalist feminist perspective. Fax +385 41 422 926; email: zenskainfo_zg@zamir-zg.comlink.de. (From the winter 1994 issue of the Network of East-West Women newsletter: NEWW, 395 Riverside Drive, Suite 2F, New York, New York 10025, USA).

Death Sentence for Woman Writer

UN Soldiers Visit Rape Camps

First Woman MP in Jordan

Woman Dies Protesting Persecution

Peg Averill Dies

Black Women's Network

WRI Women on the Move

Bienvenue, Dominique!

Fáilte, Oillan!

In Thailand

In Taiwan

Violence Against Women in Zimbabwe

REMEMBER: the WRI office has moved. You can now reach us at WRI, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX, UK. Tel. +44 71 278 4040; fax +44 71 278 0444. The e-mail address remains the same: info@wri-irg.org.

IFOR's new quarterly

Dear Friend,

There are two letters in front of me, one from Sudan, the other from Ecuador. The church worker from Sudan was happy to learn about the Goss-Mayr's book The Gospel and the Struggle for Peace, while Serpaj, Latin America's peace and justice network, wanted to thank us for printing news of Father Pepe Gomez winning the Pfeffer Peace prize.

Both learned what they did by reading IFOR's new magazine, RI.

We're proud of our new magazine, which now appears six times per year rather than quarterly. We hope it will bring members of our Fellowship closer together and provide a forum for news about active nonviolence worldwide.

We're so happy with the new RI that we're sending you this complimentary copy of the first issue. We hope you'll be happy with it, too, and with our special offer: if you subscribe before May 15th, you will receive six issues, plus the new Occasional Papers series, at last year's low price.

Where else can you learn about what the IFOR branch in Uganda is doing? Or new resources in peace education? Or the address to write to express your support for a nuclear weapons free world?

There is a whole world of active nonviolence between the pages of RI. Come discover it with us and support IFOR's work at the same time.

Yours for a nonviolent world,

Shelley Anderson

Editor

Take Note, Women Vote!

In late November, 1993, the Dutch Southern Africa Committee organized the seminar "Women and political participation in South Africa" in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Several days later, the University of Utrecht held its annual Southern Africa Days with a program that focussed on women's perspectives.

The three-day long program brought together women's studies teachers and students from Dutch, Zimbabwean, Namibian and South African universities. The emphasis was on research that could be used by community activists. While women spoke about personal experiences in union organizing and the anti-apartheid struggle, the emphasis was on violence against women.

A university teacher from Harare, Zimbabwe, spoke about an incident that received national media attention: a male student ripped the short skirt off a woman visitor to the campus. Predictably, some commentators claimed the woman had ´asked for it' by dressing so ´provocatively'. The incident angered many others and gave impetus to a group of university women working on developing guidelines on sexual harassment and assault. Such guidelines gave women more options: if state courts failed to protect them, they could then try to prosecute the harasser under university rules. Likewise, if the university rules failed to stop the harassment, women could go to the state criminal court.

Violence Against Women in South Africa

Violence against women is not restricted to physical violence. Researchers found that many women were pressured into not using contraceptives by their male partner or parents; unwanted pregnancies lead to some 250,000 illegal abortions each year. Women's human rights are often violated: a woman married before 1984 (for whites) or 1988 (for blacks) cannot legally enter into certain contracts or negotiate a loan without the permission of her husband, who controls her property. The police and courts are dominated by white men--there is one woman judge in all of South Africa. Only five out of the 178 members of the white, Coloured and Indian Parliament are women.

Women Fighting for Equality

The fight will not be easy. Last year members of the Rural Women's Movement threatened to boycott the elections when a group of traditional leaders submitted a proposal that African women should be excluded for two years from the Bill of Rights. One traditional leader explained that rights for women would destroy tradition: his daughter would be able to contest her brother's ascension to the chieftainship under the Bill of Rights. Customary law may also allow men to marry more than one woman, and to retain control over land and custody of children. But women are determined. Democracy is coming to South Africa, and women will be a part of it.

A 56-page collection of articles on women in South Africa (the majority in English, with some Dutch articles), Take Note, Women Vote!, is available from the Dutch Committee on Southern Africa, Oudezijds Achterburgwal 173, 1012 DJ Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

British Sex Tourists in Thailand

According to the Tourist Association of Thailand (TAT), Pattaya is Thailand's ´premier beach resort.' Travel brochures depict it as both an ´exotic paradise' of palm trees and white beaches and as a ´single man's playground' of bars and women. Once the site of small fishing villages, Pattaya bay began to develop in the 1960s and 1970s when the US military used it for ´rest and recreation'. Today, nearly one and a half million tourists visit Pattaya each year. According to TAT figures, Germany, the Arab Emirates and Britain supply most tourists, but they also arrive from Japan, Australia, North America, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and even mainland China. Around 70 percent of the tourists are male; the majority coming for one reason--to buy the sexual services of Thai women, men and/or children.

Why do Thais become sex workers? The factors range from kidnapping, to debt bondage to poverty. In a country where the annual per capita income ranges from US$ 235 in the Northeast to $1,000 in Bangkok, there is nothing mysterious about the supply side of the sex industry. But who are the sex tourists and why do they come to Thailand? To find out, I visited Thailand in January to interview 25 sex tourists in Bangkok and Pattaya and to speak to many others.

Macho Lads, Mr. Average and the Cosmopolitans

In Thailand "anything goes", according to Macho Lads; they can indulge in anonymous sex with large numbers of women and their masculinity is so powerfully affirmed that they do things in Thailand that would dishonor them back home, such as having sex with transsexuals. They were aware that rural poverty leaves most sex workers few alternatives. They conclude from this that sex tourism is a highly positive phenomenon, almost a form of welfare that the West can give a ´backward' nation. One Macho Lad, with a paternalistic air, said to me, "If these men stopped coming here, I'd hate to think what would happen to these girls."

Mr. Average is another type. Usually older, widowed or divorced, the ones I spoke with were also in Thailand for their second or third time. All had first come on package tours, some specifically for ´single men'. Mr. Average may be a skilled manual worker, self-employed or in a junior or middle management position. He is primarily, though not exclusively, interested in simulating some kind of emotional or romantic relationship with a woman or a series of women. They claim never to visit prostitutes at home and the fact that in Thailand "you don't feel as if you're going with a prostitute" is of central importance. Mr. Average spends a great deal of time telling himself and others about how ´different' Thai women are: ´they' think differently, are more innocent and loyal than western women, and find white skin attractive. He explains the women's involvement without referring to the commercial transaction which is taking place.

Some are aware that poverty forces the sex workers into the industry. This is clearly a source of anxiety for Mr. Average. They cannot fully convince themselves that they are truly desired or that a fair exchange is taking place. They then strive to ´treat the girls well', by which they mean giving tips and gifts, which are hardly generous by British standards. A number of these men expressed great ambivalence towards the sex workers, moving from paternalistic sympathy ("They do it for their families") to hostility ("They're hard bitches really") in the space of a few minutes' conversation. I was assured that most of the Pattaya bar girls were really earning huge sums of money, and wasting it away, and that many had accumulated great wealth by tricking elderly English gentlemen who fell in love with them. One Mr. Average complained, "It's all changed now. You never saw a girl drink or smoke when I first came to Thailand. All the business with whisky and cigarettes is totally new. They were nice girls then, soft, very soft. Now it's commercialised. They're hard and they're after money."

Cosmopolitan men are more bourgeois, often well educated and travelled. They are keen to differentiate themselves from their compatriots: "I am not a sex tourist", "I am not a package tourist", "I am here on business." They visit more remote and less developed spots, spend more time in Bangkok, but visit Pattaya to relax. Several said they would never visit a prostitute anywhere else in the world. Thailand is different because first, "it's very easy and convenient" to buy sexual services here, and second because Thai women are so ´natural' and ´innocent' that the transaction does not feel purely commercial.

These are the common ´pull' factors for these different types of men: first, sex is cheap in Thailand. A man can buy 24 hours of a sex worker's time for as little as 350 baht (approximately US$ 14 or DM 25). This sum would not buy ten minutes of oral sex from a British prostitute. In Britain, too, the client specifies his requirements in advance and the prostitute indicates her charges. Sexual services are sold by the piece, less frequently by the hour.

In Thailand, a man usually buys access to the sex worker for the whole night and day, either by paying a ´bar fine' or by paying her directly if she is freelance. Most sex workers provide some non-sexual services as well, acting as translator, tour guide, masseuse, companion or even laundress for the client. But perhaps more important for British clients than the cheap price and inclusive service is that the non-contractual nature of the exchange conceals it commercial nature. This makes it possible for clients to buy sexual services without having to see themselves as the kind of men who use prostitutes. But sex tourism does more for these men's self-image than simply make them feel okay about using prostitutes. It also helps them construct a powerful and positive image of themselves as white men.

Constructing Moral Hierarchies, Constructing White Masculinity

The construction of moral hierarchies by British sex tourists is not only about reinforcing a particular kind of masculinity. It is about constructing a specifically white, British masculinity. The most powerful moral condemnation is directed towards sex tourists from the Arab Emirates. Almost every sex tourist I spoke with told me that Thai women hate ´Arabs' and avoid ´going with them.' This is because ´Arabs', unlike European men, rape and cheat them, because ´Arabs' are ´dirty', ´smelly', ´do it with boys and girls' and are unattractive to Thai women because they are not white. In Pattaya you can see British skin heads, one arm around a Thai woman, the other raised in a Sieg Heil salute as a citizen of the Arab Emirates passes by. One British owned bar displayed a poster of a pig in a yashmak with the words, "We respect your religion--that is why we refuse to serve you."

Sex Tourism's Future--and How to Fight It

Deciding on a political response to sex tourists is difficult, as the term ´sex work' covers such a wide spectrum of activities. At Jomtien Beach I saw sex tourists ´playing' overtly sexual ´games' with children as young as seven or eight. It seems to me that there must be possibilities for direct action against this kind of child prostitution, and that news of such action would travel and act as a powerful disincentive to this particular type of sex tourist.

Deciding on a political response to sex tourists who buy the sexual services of adults is more difficult. Sex tourism seems a pernicious phenomenon because it not only involves economic exploitation but also helps to maintain and reproduce white racist myths and a virulent concept of masculinity. I am haunted by the images of the men I saw who were able to draw a boundary between their own humanity and that of others, and by their enormous self-serving self deceit. But I also think it is necessary to ask whether, when literally thousands of people are directly or indirectly economically dependent on sex tourism, it is useful to call for its immediate termination. Is the direct action against sex tourists Kathleen Barry reports in International Feminism: Networking Against Female Sexual Slavery (1984) or that taken by the Philippine guerilla movement with the slogan "Kill a sex tourist a day" really likely to improve the lives of Thai sex workers?

Like some groups in the West, some Thai women's organizations argue that a distinction must be drawn between child and forced prostitution and those women who enter into sex work in the same way most workers enter into wage labor (that is, on the basis of a rational decision in view of their economic and other circumstances). If this distinction is made, it follows that political campaigns for legal and civil rights which empower sex workers vis a vis sex tourists and political struggle against the economic colonialism which denies people alternatives to sex work must take precedence over campaigns to prevent sex tourism per se. After much soul searching, the only thing I feel really confident of saying is that academics and Western feminists must seek out and listen to the views and wishes of sex workers themselves. We must offer them our services, rather than presume to give them advice on the politics of resistance.

WRI Women's Working Group and the Beijing Conference

The upcoming (September 1995) United Nation's World Conference on Women (WCW) was also discussed. It was strongly felt, for the reasons given below, that the WRI Women's Working Group should not have a presence at the WCW itself. A draft statement was drawn up explaining the reasons. The question was then asked, "What should our strategy be regarding the regional preparatory meetings? Should the women's working group boycott these also or try to influence the agenda setting process?"

Some members had previously expressed concern that a strong anti-militarist voice was needed, in order to make sure that the WCW does not recommend increasing the number of women in the world's militaries. Within the WCW organization there are those who argue that the militarization of women promotes women's equality, by providing jobs and access to decision making. If the WCW action plan does recommend the increased recruitment and training of women, this could influence many international and national policies and programs. While there are excellent reasons to condemn the venue for the WCW, who is going to oppose the militarization of women? The debate about participation in the WCW preparatory meetings is still being discussed.

Why the WRI Women's Working Group Will Not Go to Beijing

1. The Chinese government is maintaining an illegal military occupation of Tibet. Many Tibetan women have been imprisoned for peaceful independence protests, held under appaling conditions and usually subjected to torture, including sexual abuse; the reports that perhaps thousands of Tibetan women are being subjected to forced abortions need to be investigated immediately.
2. The population control policy of the Chinese government amounts to a systematic attack on women's rights. Chinese women may be subjected to forced abortions or birth control; women who bear more than one child face legal discrimination against themselves and their children.
3. The Chinese government is waging a relentless repression against autonomous civilian initiatives and organizations. The only women's groups allowed to function are those operating under the strict control of the Communist Party, mainly the All-China Federation of Women (ACFW). The 1995 UN conference would be completely monopolized by the government and the party-controlled ACFW. There will be no space for any independent voices or discussions which are not sanctioned by the government. The government-organized UN Conference would actually be blocking significant discussions and meetings which bear meaningful relevance to the problems and solutions facing women in China.
4. The only reason the Chinese government wants to hold this conference is to show its citizens and the world that it is getting support from the international community, despite its flagrant violations of human rights. The 1995 conference would legitimate the repressive regime in China and elsewhere.
5. The Chinese government will be extra vigilant from now until the conference against any signs of independent organizing by women's groups or on women's rights all across the country, especially near Beijing. Official vigilance will include secret police surveillance, intimidation, and detention.
   It is standard practice for the government to carry out detentions and police intimidation to ward off any expressions of unsanctioned opinions or activities during important national and international meetings. For example, during the government's lobbying for the 2000 Olympic, the state coerced support from citizens and organizations across the country. Shops and work units were forced to display posters and banners declaring their support to holding the Olympics in China. People and organizations will be coerced into giving donations to the event, which will worsen the already meagre income and resources of ordinary people.
   In March 1994, at least two dozen activists were detained by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) during the National Peoples' Congress (the Chinese parliament) and the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference in Beijing. Most of the detainees were arrested simply because they were active or had expressed their own opinions about the state. Similar police intimidation and detentions will take place during the 1995 UN WCW. As a result, instead of supporting efforts for the promotion of women rights, the meeting will actually add extra pressure on and victimize activists.
6. Independent women groups not sanctioned by the Chinese government would not be allowed to attend. This censorship applies to both inside and outside the country, most notably women's groups from Taiwan, Hongkong, Tibetan women living in India and Macau.
7. It is almost certain that many topics would be ruled off the agenda by the Chinese government. These would include not only the status of Tibet--and perhaps parallel cases such as East Timor--but issues such as coercive birth control and abortion, and any discussion of lesbianism and lesbian rights.

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