A-Infos (en) Peru, Long live the women who fight for Justice and Freedom! by Unión Socialista Libertaria - Huancayo - USL (ca)

8 March: International Day of Working Women -- Year after year the 8 March - International 
Day of Working Women - is responsible for a small commercial boom in shops selling 
clothes, makeup, flowers and all those other products aimed at us women; it often happens 
too that on this day, State and private institutions provide some sort of treat or reward 
for certain women, as if this act could lead to an improvement in the working and cultural 
conditions that both exploit and oppress women in Huancayo, in Peru, or throughout the 
world. This leads us to ask whether 8 March has been reduced to a 24-hours opportunity for 
shouting "Happy Women's Day!" to the four winds... --- Certainly not, but we must remember 
the struggle that some textile workers launched on 8 March 1857, when they demanded the 
right to work and more dignified conditions; the same way that in the year 1908, the 
struggle began for the 8-hour day, the abolition of child labour and female suffrage. The 
8 March, then, is a day of action by and for women who are opposed to any form of submission.

However, it has to be pointed out that the conditions in which we women have to live and 
work have remained almost intact. Proof of this is the wage gap between male and female 
agricultural workers in Junín, who earn up to ten soles [US$3] less than their male 
comrades for the same amount and type of work. It is also important to mention young 
females, who are not protected by specific labour rights, and whose conditions (pay rate, 
hours, etc.) in their jobs as street vendors, domestic workers, nannies and so on, are 
unilaterally decided by the bosses, without any form of protection.

Furthermore, the free exercise of our sexuality is being limited by the State through its 
laws and by interference from the church authorities in the name of the protection of 
life, leading many women to die from haemorrhaging or infection as a result of 
poorly-performed abortions. It must be noted that in 2009, the Department of Health 
prohibited free distribution of the so-called "morning-after pill", restricting its use to 
women in the poorest sectors. On the question of education, we believe that this should 
not be limited to the presence of male and female students in the classroom. The gender 
equity that the Department of Education claims to promote must be based on relevant 
training for teachers, alongside increased spending on education and the establishment of 
secular schools, free of interference from the Catholic church or the military culture 
that upholds radical male chauvinism.

Thus we recognize the need to fight, today more than ever, against the exploitation of 
labour by the State (now governed by the APRA government) and the multinational 
corporations, against the daily oppression experienced by women, and in order to promote 
the cultural and sexual diversity both men and women alike are deprived of.

Clearly, then, our struggle is a triple one and one that our cultural diversity, our 
gender and our unity as an exploited class demand of us. For this reason, we will be 
demonstrating on 8 March:

    * For comprehensive education based on the practice and development of gender equality.
    * Against all physical, psychological and sexual violence against women.
    * For the empowerment of women to make decisions regarding their own bodies, 
supported by specialized care and without risk of criminal conviction.
    * For free access to contraceptives.
    * For respect for the activity of small traders, by the municipal guards and police, 
who not only assault them but also steal their merchandise (they call it confiscation) in 
the name of "public order".
    * For a rejection of all repressive action by the APRA government against the 
Amazonian communities who are defending their right to cultural and economic autonomy 
against manipulation in the so-called roundtable discussions and/or committees of inquiry 
in favour of the multinational corporations and the government itself.
    * For the conservation of natural resources, flora, fauna, water and energy 
resources, in order to sustain the ecological balance.

Long live the International Day of Working Women!
Long live the struggle of the Amazonian women!
For the sexual and political autonomy of all women!
For comprehensive education!
Long live those who struggle!
Centro de Estudios Sociales "Manuel González Prada"
Unión Socialista Libertaria - Huancayo

Translation by FdCA International Relations Office

Related Link: http://www.uslhuancayo.blogspot.com/
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