Woman's oldest profession

Prostitution "continues to spread" and "traffic in women" still exists all over the world, according to an April 1983 report prepared for the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The rise in prostitution and trafficking in women in attributed to increased poverty, unemployment, and rural exodus to cities.

The report describes how prostitution rings and "agents" recruit women through the promise of employment and then often sell them as brides, household help, or secretaries to men in foreign countries. Many of these positions turn out to be nothing more than fronts for forms of sexual slavery.

Another group regularly exploiting the growing pool of prostitutes are the "hospitality" industries set up to serve tourists and visiting businessmen. The report cites the destructive effects on the local community and on the political and social development of women of touristgenerated prostitution. Such tourism is often viewed by the native population as a corruption introduced by industrialized countries, and thus "may provoke hostile reactions to development itself and prompt a return of discriminatory moral structures which would be an obstacle to the much needed emancipation of women."

- Josh Martin

The Gender Gap

The United Nations Monthly Bulletin of Statistics of June 1983 reported that women still earn far less than men-though there are some signs that the gap may be narrowing a bit.

Ironically, some of the worst cases of inequality appear in "advanced" nations. For example, in the United States, where the median monthly salary in manufacturing is $1,194, women only earn 60 percent of what their male counterparts make each month. In Burma, however, with monthly salaries of just $27 in the manufacturing sector, women earn 89 percent of men's wages.

- Josh Martin

Making-up Asia

Japanese companies, both large and small, have pushed cosmetics in Asian markets in recent years. Japanese feminists have responded by denouncing the expanded "cosmetics drive" as economic and cultural exploitation.

Japan's largest cosmetic company, Shiseido, opened its first overseas office in 1957 in Taiwan and now dominates the Asian beauty trade. The company currently has 5,130 stores in 20 countries. Cosmetics for its 2,300 outlets in Southeast Asia are manufactured in Taiwan and Singapore.

Japanese companies have found that Asian women will buy their cosmetics despite exorbitant prices. The price of cosmetics sold in Asian markets is sometimes 100 times the manufacturing cost, and is actually higher than their price in Japan because of the weaker local currencies. In 1979, for example, Shiseido's Quintesse skin lotion was sold in South Korea for $5.40 at a time when women's monthly wages were only $29 for factory workers, and $50 for office workers. To market to poor women, cosmetics sold door to door are sometimes sold on installment plans.

In addition, Japanese women's groups point to the health hazards associated with cosmetic use. Scientific studies have demonstrated that some cosmetics contain low-grade toxins that accumulate and damage the skin renewal system and cause spots leading to discoloring skin diseases.

But Shiseido is not just promoting a product. It is promoting an image-a decidedly Western image. One Shiseido product boldly pushes the notion that to be attractive, brown-skinned Asian women must be Western and look white. Its name: "White Beauty."

- Darcine Thomas

Source: ISIS Women's International Bulletin, March 1983.

Pregnancy hazards

The government of India recently banned the manufacturing and marketing of estrogen-progesterone injections for pregnancy testing, the National Women's Health Network reports, after health and women's groups campaigned strongly against the drug's dangers.

Estrogen-progesterone is a synthetic hormone preparation used to determine whether a woman who has missed her period is pregnant or not, and to treat delayed menstruation. But the injections have been shown to be ineffective and hazardous. Hormones are not reliable pregnancy tests, studies have shown; one out of five test results turn out to be false positives. The preparation is also ineffective in the treatment of delayed menstruation since it does not induce, and can even delay, the onset of bleeding.

When the woman tested for pregnancy is already pregnant, estrogen-progesterone can cause heart and limb defects in the unborn child. The injection can also cause abortion. One English study found a 10 percent abortion rate after use of the drug.

Estrogen-progesterone has been widely available in India for years. In 1982, 15 brand names were marketed by several companies including the American firm Parke-Davis and the English company Glaxo. Doctors and chemists prescribed them to an estimated 180,000 women each year without any warning as to their dangers. Some brands were even available over the counter.

In 1970, Sweden became the first country to ban estrogenprogesterone preparations. Finland followed suit in 1971, the U.S. and Singapore implemented a ban in 1975, the United Kingdom in 1978.

One Indian activist warns, however, that though the ban has been pronounced by the government, it is not being enforced. Vincent Panikulangara, founder of the Indian Public Interest Law Service Society, reports that estrogen progesterone is still available over the counter in India.

- Darcine Thomas

Sources: Centre for Education & Documentation, 3/8/82; Health Action International News, 1/9/83; National Women's Health Network, 3-4/83.

Infant Formula Update

The International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) will wind up a year-long series of regional conferences with a final meeting in southern Africa in October.

Each conference has brought together women, consumer activists, and health professionals from various countries to share information and experience and to initiate action campaigns around companies' promotion of infant formula. The United Nations estimates that more than one million "bottle babies" die each year due to improper use of infant formula.

So far, IBFAN has held conferences in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and East Africa. The campaigns aim to devise strategies for pressuring governments to both adopt the World Health Organization (WHO) code restricting the marketing practices of infant formula companies, and to consider legislation allowing women to breastfeed while working.

The infant formula code was passed by the WHO in May 1981 with almost unanimous approval - only the United States voted against it. But many countries have been slow in implementing it. Some countries have adopted the code as law, while others have adopted it as a purely voluntary measure, and still others have not acted on it at all.

IBFAN's organizing efforts have already begun to pay off. In Thailand, an action campaign initiated at the Southeast Asian conference in September 1982 succeeded in getting the government to strengthen the weak version of the WHO code it had adopted earlier. A similar campaign is underway in Malaysia.