Cork Women

Anti-Imperialist During the last two months the conditions for the women prisoners in Armagh Jail have deteriorated so much that they are almost in the same dreadful position as the men in the H Blocks.

On the 9th of April, a Tribunal was held in Belfast which |ooked into the treatment and the conditions under which these women live.

The Tribunal was organised by Women Against Imperialism, eleven of whom were arrested on International Womens Day, March 8, 1979, after a peaceful picket on Armagh Womens Prison and charged with disorderly behaviour, obstruction and/or assault. Having been in court twice already and been ad-—journed twice they decided to boycott the court the third time. The third appearance was to be April 9. The Tribunal was an active boycott that reiterated the reason they went to Armagh prison originally. The Tribunal had judges of national and international repute and throughout the day they heard evidence of the brutal conditions in which the women prisoners are being kept in Armagh jail. The evidence was given by way of personal testimonies from ex-prisoners, by letters smuggled out of the prison and by relatives and friends of the prisoners.

THE FACTS EXPOSED The Tribunal heard of conditions for prisoners who have political status, prisoners on remand ‘and women detained in Castlereagh, but most of the day was given over to the worsening conditions for the women on protest for political status in Armagh. This included statements about their food, medical treatment which isnil, their health which is dangerously open to infection at the moment because of the lack of washing, toilet and sanitary facilities and the violence which the women have had to endure since the 7th of February.

THE TRUTH EMERGES At the end of the day the judges found that:

* there has been an escalation of violence and hardship against the women in Armagh * the women suffer acutely heal th-— happy enough band of women -there doesn't seem to be anything wrong in this country (sic) witha group who have a political cause peacefully demonstrating their views. |! But according to RUC evidence, the demonstrators had become more aggressive, and could not be arrested because of insufficient police! The fact of the matter is that the women's determination to make contact with the prisoners inside and their hostility to those responsible for the brutality and torture became too much for the RUC. And so they waded in, angrily attacking the picket.

Even funnier, was the statement "the women abandoned their decision to contest the police evidence. The inference must be that they didn't think they had a case to contest! '!' made in full knowledge of the Tribunal and its intentions. The Armagh 11 have discussed not paying the fines, under threat of retributive jail sentences.

SOLIDARITY MUST GROW The support from the women's movement in Britain has been a real indicator of the potential for an even wider campaign on Irish women political prisoners in British and Irish jails. Similar solidarity is emerging in the South. This must be consolidated and could be quickly done by fighting for feminist supporters to pay the fines asa direct gesture of solidarity with the Armagh 11. To motivate this, meetings could be organised through Ireland and Britain, at whicha broader discussion on the British occupation and its effects would definitely emerge. This would give anti--imperialists in the Irish women's movement areal chance to implant themselves firmly in that movement asa fighting and conscious current.

On May 11th, the Dublin Armagh Prisoners Solidarity Committee is holding a day of sducation, information, video and in the evening, some music, Its purpose is to spread the information that has been collected for the tribunal and open more discussion among women and men in the South. Anti-impcrialists, feminists, republicans and socialists have a responsibility to support this and should organise to bring the crowds along, In November, 1978, a local Limeday. sexuality.

SEXUALITY change, LIBERATION A highly successful one-day [Forum by women, for women, and about women took place recently in Cork. It was the first such event.to occur for several years and showed that in the Munster region there isa lively interest in the problems change. facing women in Irish society toThe Forum entitled "Health and Sexuality'! was organised by Cork members of the Feminist Federation and was designed to bring women together to listen, discuss and to share common experience. It was also planned that from the Forum a women's group, or several women's groups, would emerge, The topics covered included a report on family planning in Ireland by members of the Contraception Action Programme who outlined campaigns in Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway. Two video films were also shown, one which dealt with the stresses on women of married life, and another exploring women's feelings about their own Angela Phillips, a member of the Spare Rib Collective, co-editor of the book Our Bodies Ourselves, and an active feminist, was guest speaker. She argued that for women sexuality was used as a means of control in patriarchal society based on property ownership. Sex could therefore be defined as a rate of exchange. In such a situation, she explained, women were unable to express themselves either sexually or as free human beings. Whilst birth control challenged such a situation to some extent, it should not be seen as the ultimate solution, Infngland, for example, although a sexual explosion had taken place, there had been no significant : change in sexual relationships. Women still stood in the same economic relationship to men as they had always been, They had mercly revalued the rate of sexual exENCOURAGING TURNOUT Around 160 women attended the Forum from areas as far apart as of women's rights in Ireland today Limerick, Midleton, Macroom and Cork city. They were of all ages and backgrounds and showed a tremendous enthusiasm in sharing experiences and linking up with each other to actively fight for An important contribution to the success of the Forum was the provision of a creche which gave many of the women the opportunity of participating freely in the discussion without being tied to children.

At a subsequent follow-up meeting of 50 women various areas of interest were discussed. The whole role of child-rearing and the need to socialise methods of child-mind+ ing was seen as an important step in the overall fight for women's freedom. Another crucial aspect of women's subjugation, particularly relevant in Irish society, was the sexist nature of education and its place in socialising women into the roles of wife and mother.

FUTURE PLANS Many women at the meeting expres-— sed a need to form themselves into small groups to combat isolation and develop their own conscious— ness. All agreed, however, that the momentum and strength of the group as a whole should not be lost and that there were many areas where women in Cork could work and struggle together. A series of small and large group meetincs are planned which will actively taxe up issues felt to be particularly relevant in the Cork region. These will include such things as contraception, women in industry, trade unionism, problems faced by rural women, women and the media, violence against women and such other issues as will be raised through the group's participation in the Feminist Federation.

The vitality and atmosphere at both meetings shows that an active women's current exists in Cork. It will be important to strike a balance between sclf development, education, and active participation in cgmpaigns around women's issues, GLEN SPRAY this to say about it:

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