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National News Flashes - Greece
IN GREECE THE WOMEN ARE FIGHTING BACK
The news about the aggressive march of neoliberalism in Greece are presented by all main world media, certainly much less they report the struggles against the successive and overwhelming neoliberal measures organised by the trade-union and social movements. In fact we have had many general strikes in the last 18 months, with huge crowds participating, and we are having continuously struggles by different branches of employees, mainly of the state and public sector.
We are faced with the most vicious antiworking class and anti-social government in Greece since the war, which is trying to rob the world of labour from their institutionalised rights, like work protection legislation, wages, environmental protection, democratic rights, common goods, pension funds, employment.
Smaller state, is one of the declarations of the government, which is shrinking the state and public sector everyday by different means, one of them job cuts. Massive layers of the middle class which is very widespread, are hardly hit also, and are fighting back.
The first victim is the social security sector, which is very important for the women. Its funding is radically reduced, and many women working in it, are gradually losing their jobs. Of course we don’t accept the idea that care work is a woman’s task, and here we make our ideological intervention against the traditional gender roles.
At the same time, we are faced with an increased police state and all the expenses for repression which has been massive, continuous and vicious.
Unemployment for all is of rapidly rising, and it is at the moment at about 17% (official), with grim prospects for the future. The women’s unemployment is 20% of the women’s labour force, while for the men is 14%. The higher percentages of women’s unemployment is no news. News is that men’s unemployment has been rising faster. And yet we say that women are struck hard by the crisis. This is because they were at quite low levels concerning rights and wages, especially in the private sector, so the fall finds them in an already squeezed position. Increased numbers of the population are faced today with the spectre of poverty, with women being the majority in this category. The spectre of total bancruptcy of the economy, with all the suffering it will cause, is coming closer.
The women’s movement is weak at the moment, and the gender issues are not priority for many women. Yet, the presence of the women in the general struggles, usually without gender demands, is very strong. This is why we consider the women to be “a dynamic factor of resistance in the framework of the crisis”, as was the title of the meeting held in the central square of Athens, in October. The women have an equal stance with men in the struggles, but in the leadership of the movements deciding for such struggles, they remain very few.
One of the bastions of the massive popular resistance in Athens and other Greek cities for many months was the movement of the squares, alongside similar movements initially in Northern Africa and subsequently in Spain, Italy, other European countries, and now the United States. Feminists around the WMW – Greece took part in the creation of the “Gender Group” in Syntagma Square.
We are also preparing activities for the 25th of November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women, like interventions in the public space, public meetings, one concert in the women’s prison. We want to stress this day, that while violence against women is rising, the support infrastructure is drastically reduced.
Everything has been changing so rapidly and so dramatically in Greece in the last 18 months and in the last 18 hours. Whatever happens, we present the slogan and the actions of SOLIDARITY.
SISSY VOVOU
WMW – Greece
svovou@otenet.gr
The news about the aggressive march of neoliberalism in Greece are presented by all main world media, certainly much less they report the struggles against the successive and overwhelming neoliberal measures organised by the trade-union and social movements. In fact we have had many general strikes in the last 18 months, with huge crowds participating, and we are having continuously struggles by different branches of employees, mainly of the state and public sector.
We are faced with the most vicious antiworking class and anti-social government in Greece since the war, which is trying to rob the world of labour from their institutionalised rights, like work protection legislation, wages, environmental protection, democratic rights, common goods, pension funds, employment.
Smaller state, is one of the declarations of the government, which is shrinking the state and public sector everyday by different means, one of them job cuts. Massive layers of the middle class which is very widespread, are hardly hit also, and are fighting back.
The first victim is the social security sector, which is very important for the women. Its funding is radically reduced, and many women working in it, are gradually losing their jobs. Of course we don’t accept the idea that care work is a woman’s task, and here we make our ideological intervention against the traditional gender roles.
At the same time, we are faced with an increased police state and all the expenses for repression which has been massive, continuous and vicious.
Unemployment for all is of rapidly rising, and it is at the moment at about 17% (official), with grim prospects for the future. The women’s unemployment is 20% of the women’s labour force, while for the men is 14%. The higher percentages of women’s unemployment is no news. News is that men’s unemployment has been rising faster. And yet we say that women are struck hard by the crisis. This is because they were at quite low levels concerning rights and wages, especially in the private sector, so the fall finds them in an already squeezed position. Increased numbers of the population are faced today with the spectre of poverty, with women being the majority in this category. The spectre of total bancruptcy of the economy, with all the suffering it will cause, is coming closer.
The women’s movement is weak at the moment, and the gender issues are not priority for many women. Yet, the presence of the women in the general struggles, usually without gender demands, is very strong. This is why we consider the women to be “a dynamic factor of resistance in the framework of the crisis”, as was the title of the meeting held in the central square of Athens, in October. The women have an equal stance with men in the struggles, but in the leadership of the movements deciding for such struggles, they remain very few.
One of the bastions of the massive popular resistance in Athens and other Greek cities for many months was the movement of the squares, alongside similar movements initially in Northern Africa and subsequently in Spain, Italy, other European countries, and now the United States. Feminists around the WMW – Greece took part in the creation of the “Gender Group” in Syntagma Square.
We are also preparing activities for the 25th of November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women, like interventions in the public space, public meetings, one concert in the women’s prison. We want to stress this day, that while violence against women is rising, the support infrastructure is drastically reduced.
Everything has been changing so rapidly and so dramatically in Greece in the last 18 months and in the last 18 hours. Whatever happens, we present the slogan and the actions of SOLIDARITY.
SISSY VOVOU
WMW – Greece
svovou@otenet.gr
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Last modified
2011-11-14 01:26 AM
