Women's Autonomy and Politics of Gender in Guyana

Author(s): Maitreyi Das

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35, No. 23 (Jun. 3-9, 2000), pp. 1944-1948
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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 Women's Autonomy and Politics
of Gender in Guyana
The HumanDevelopmentReport,1995 demonstratesthat no countryin the world treatswomen as
well as it does its men. Even so, the HDR ranks Guyanafairly high on its gender-related
indicators.Thispaper is an attemptto analyse the comnplexities
W omen's autonomy is an impor-
tantcorollary of development in
the widest sense - of enlarging
women's choices and in the attainment of
full personhood [Nussbaum and Glover
1995]. The degree of autonomy thatwomen
have is determined by various historical,
culturaland economic factors. Thus, in the
Caribbean,women have greaterautonomy
than do women in south Asia (see Human
Development Report, 1995). The purpose
of this paper is to analyse the complexity
of women's autonomy in Guyana - a small
Caribbean country undergoing profound
socio-economic transformation.I arguethat
women's autonomy in Guyana is the prod-
uct of several factors, but at the most basic
level it is shaped by the contradiction
between the gender ideology of male
dominance and the reality of women's
control over their personal and domestic
spheres.This contradictionhas also shaped
public policy which tries to relegate women
to the domestic sphere, when reality at the
micro - the personal, the household and
community - level, does not distinguish
between public and private spheres.
Guyana (formerly British Guiana) is an
Anglophone country in South America,
which identifies politically, culturally and
historically with the Caribbean. It is
currently in the process of restructuring
its highly indebted economy through a
structural adjustment programme. Its
social indicators are at the lower end of
the Caribbeancontinuum - closer to Haiti
thanto Barbados.Guyanais a post-socialist,
post-colonial country, which attained in-
dependence from British rule in 1966. It
has had a period of restricted democracy
in the 1980s. From 1992, since the first
free elections, democratic trendshave been
strengthening but the ethnic divisions
between the Afro-Guyanese and the Indo-
Guyanese populations have confounded
its development objectives. Indo-Guyanese
comprise49.5 percent,Afro-Guyanese35.6
1944
of women's autonomyin Guyana.
MAITREYI DAS
per cent, and Amerindians or indigenous
persons account for 6.8 per cent of the total
population. The remaining 15 per cent of
the population is made up of Chinese,
Portuguese and mixed heritage persons
[PanAmerican Health Organisation1998].
Women's autonomy in Guyanahas been
shaped by its unique history of colonial
rule, slavery. and indentureship, its eth-
nic composition, its proximity to the US
and its small size. The two major political
parties, the Afro-Guyanese dominated
People's National Congress and the Indo-
Guyanese dominatedPeople's Progressive
Party have been locked in a struggle for
power in the post-independence decades.
Voting is along ethnic lines and the elec-
tions of 1997 were marked by violence.
The political and economic problems the
country in the last three decades have led
to massive emigration and the flight of the
educated middle class. This scenario has
also had an effect on the politics of gender
and on women's solidarity in Guyana.
Data on demographic and social indica-
tors in Guyana are poor and unreliable.
Thus, most UN publications such as the
State of the World's Children by UNICEF
or the Human Development Reports by
UNDP have no data for Guyana for many
indicators.However, Guyanaranksreason-
ably high on the indices of gender equality
developed by the Human Development
Reports [UNDP 1995]. While on the
HumanDevelopment Index (HDI), Guyana
ranked 105 out of 174 countries, on the
GenderRelated Development Index (GDI),
it ranked 70th out of 130 countries for
which the index was computed. The GDI
adjusts the HDI for gender equality in life
expectancy, educational attainment and
income. The Gender Empowerment Mea-
sure (GEM) is an index of women's par-
ticipation in the economic, political and
professional spheres. Guyana ranked 25th
among the 113 countries for which the
GEM was computed.
Economic and Political Weekly
The research in this paper is prompted
in part by seeking an inquiry into the
dimensions of women's autonomy as a
'reality check', given high levels of gender
equality as evidenced by the GEM and
GDI. It is based on participatory field
research in Guyana, as also on analysis of
available sources of national data.
The term women's 'autonomy' has
gained currency in development and femi-
nist literature in preference to women's
'status', which is considered to be more
limited in scope. Thus, women's autonomy
has come to denote the independence that
women have in their functioning, while
women's status denotes women's posi-
tion. Autonomy thus takes into account the
activities that women engage in and the
power that they exercise as a consequence
of their status, while the status can be
arguedto be a more static concept thatdoes
not focus on women's active role in society.
Mason (1986:285,1993:21) uses the
terms 'status' and 'position' to include
autonomy, when she explains that
'women's position here is taken to mean
women's control over resources,compared
to that of men; the degree of their au-
tonomy from men's control; or other as-
pects of their privilege or oppression that
arise from society's institutions' (empha-
sis mine). She further points out that the
concept is an elusive one, but is intrinsic
to the relations of inequality that women
have with men and in their engagement
with their environment.
Shrijvers (1985, cited in Van der Aa,
1995:16) has analysed women's autonomy
by economic, political, social-cultural and
physical dimensions. Van derAa(1995:17)
also points out that the definition of
autonomy can vary by political perspec-
tive. It can furtherbe analysed at different
levels - personal or the micro level, and
the organisational or macro level. In ad-
dition to this, we can look at autonomy at
the theoretical level or at the level of actual
June 3, 2000
functioning. In the present analysis, we
will use some of these concepts and levels
of analysis to understandthe autonomy of
Guyanese women.
In analysing women's autonomy, we
must also distinguish between access to
and control over resources. Mason (1986)
argues that merely having access to re-
sources does not mean having control over
them. Conversely, I argue that having con-
trol over personal resources does not mean
have access to public resources. Mason's
contends that control over resources ulti-
mately means betteraccess. Evidence from
Guyana suggests that 'access to' is not a
logical corollary of 'control over'. Women
in Guyana, as we shall see, have control
over personal resources, but limited access
to resources. This is because merely hav-
ing control over personal and community
level resources is not enough to leverage
access to or control over public resources.
Ranking Guyana
The measurementof women's autonomy
is an even more daunting task than defin-
ing it. Mason (1986) has listed a set of
variables that are often used to measure
autonomy. This list takes into the account
the multidimensionality of the concept of
autonomy, the importance of context-
dependency, the multiple locations of
gender inequality, and the confounding of
gender and class. These are the pathways
to women's autonomy. Table 1 accords
Guyana a score of high or low on the list
of indicators.
We have to emphasise the importance
of contextual and cultural factors in deve-
loping indicators to measure women's au-
tonomy. Thus, some of Mason's indicators
may be more relevant in other contexts,
notably dowry, levirate and purdah. This
is an inherent pitfall in developing
standardised indicators to rank women's
autonomy. Therefore, in order to capture
the Guyanese context, I have added four
indicators that have a bearing on the
autonomy of Caribbean and Guyanese
women to Mason's original set of 34
indicators.These arefemale-headed house-
holds, alternatives to marriage,distinction
between public and private domains and
female kinship and familial networks.
These additions to Mason's list are spe-
cific to the Caribbean context, and would
have little meaning in other cultures.
Headship has provided women greater
leverage in the management of their lives
and thatof their children [Momsen 1993].
This is regarded as an aspect of their
Economic and Political Weekly June 3, 2000
empowerment and autonomy. Approxi- of inheritance to children born from
mately over one-third of the households marriage. It is however, difficult to say
in the Caribbean are headed by women. whether this variable is strengthening or
Almost 28 per cent of Guyanese house- constricting to women's autonomy. Third,
holds are headed by women, and this the distinction between the private and
fact does not predispose them to poverty public domains in Guyana and indeed in
[World Bank 1994]. In some other soci- the Caribbean is very thin. This produces
eties, this variable could be lowering an environment of fairly unrestricted
women's autonomy by exposing them to physical mobility, and leads to overlap-
physical risk and additional patriarchal ping domestic, community-based and
constraints. professional spheres [Barrow 1993;
Second, the restrictions on marriage Momsen 1993; Olwig 1993]. Wonen
during slavery and the increased emigra- therefore, are not confined to a restrictive
tion in the post-colonial period led women domestic sphere. Fourth, women in the
to form alternativeconjugal ties. InGuyana, Caribbean have extended female kin net-
as in most other countries, children born works, and sibling households that pro-
of common law unions have equal rights vide support to them, thus reducing their
Table 1: Indicators of Female Status and Ranking of Guyana'
Indicatorof Female Status Relationshipto Female Score of Guyanese Women
(A) Status (High/Low)
(B) (C)
DemographicIndicators
1 Female minusmale mortalityrates - High
2 Female age at marriage + High
3 Averagehusband-wifeage difference -NA
4 Parentspreferencesformale children -High
Indicators
Kinship-Famiiy
5 Purdah -(?) High
6 Levirate -(?) High
7 Polygyny ? ? - (multiplepartnersand
alternativeconjugal
unionscommon)
8 Conjugalfamilyhouseholds + High
9 Emphasison lineage -(?) High
10 Female propertyinheritance + High
11 Villageexogamy of females - High
12 Partilocalpost-maritalresidence - High
13 Dowry - High
14 Arrangedmarriages - High
15 Cross cousin marriages + NA
16 -
Emphasison virginityof brides ?
17 Pre or Post MaritalDoubleStandard - Low
18 Emphasison women's sexuality,Youthfulness - Low
19 Malerightto divorcewife withouther consent - High
20 Egalitariannessof husband-wiferelationship + ?
21 Malefeeding priority -High
22 Extended-kinsupportforwidowsand divorcees + High
EconomicIndicators
23 Femaleemploymentopportunities + Low
24 Female labourforce participation + Low
25 Exclusionof women fromextradomestic sphere _ High
26 Concentrationof women v/s men in informal
economic sector Low
27 Occupationalsegregationof sexes _Low
28 Sex differencesin wages or earnings _ Low
29 Sex differencesin amountof leisuretime _Low
30 Femaleeducation + High
31 Female underemploymentor unemploymentrates _ Low
32 Women'swork'commitment'(measuredvariously) + ?
33 Women'saccess to credit + Low
34 Women'saccess to non-familialsupport + High(?)
IndicatorsGuyanaand the Caribbean
35 Female headed households + High
36 Alternativesto marriage +(?) High?
37 Distinctionbetween publicand privatedomains _ High
38 Female kinshipand familialnetworks + High
Note: 1 ColumnsA and B in indicators1-34 fromMason(1986). Scoring in ColumnC and indicators35-
38 author's.
1945
dependence on men. Thus even in the
context of absentee adult males in Carib-
bean households, female kin provide the
support and sustenance that in other cul-
tures is the function of males.
I must point out at the outset that the
ranking of Guyana in Table 1 is an aggre-
gate ranking based on aggregate social
indicators. The reality is confounded by
class, age, reproductive status, geography
and ethnicity. The scoring in Table 1 is
perhapscloser to the reality of the average
lower and middle income woman. For
instance, western notions of propriety are
likely to persist more in the upper class
households, thus according women a lower
level of autonomy, as Momsen (1993) and
Besson (1993) have argued in the case of
the Caribbean. Similarly, some studies
allude to the fact thatIndo-Guyanese Hindu
women are likely to emulate the Hindu
ideal of womanhood, which is essentially
lowering to women's autonomy as com-
paredto Afro-Guyanese notion of woman-
hood [Jayawardena 1980; Trotz 1996].
Similarly, older women have greater con-
trol of their lives than younger women,
especially adolescents.
In scoring women's autonomy, we find
that Guyanese women rank high on the
demographicand kinship-familyindicators
but low on the economic indicators. The
high ranking on the first two sets of indi-
cators is prevalent across the Caribbean.
Ithasbeen attributedto threesets of reasons.
First,the existence of slavery andindenture-
ship imposed on women added responsi-
bilities and independence. Second, in the
legal system of the Anglophone Caribbean
(as distinct from the Francophone and the
Hispanic Caribbean)women and men have
equal legal rights of inheritance. Third,
Caribbeanwomen have very high educa-
tionalattainmentcomparedto otherdevelop-
ing countries. Guyana has a female literacy
rate of 94 per cent.
While we have dwelt at some length on
the reasons for high levels of personal
autonomy, the reasons for low levels of
economic autonomy are more complex. At
the macro level, women's access to skills,
wages, occupations and services such as
health and education has been limited by
traditionalconceptions of women's work
and place. The low position of Guyanese
women relative to men on the economic
indicatorsbecame more pronounced in the
context of macroeconomic crisis of the
1980s [IDB/PAHO 1996]. Women have
tended to remain within the traditional
spheres of work and skills. Data on occu-
1946
pation characteristics from the Household In sum, then, it is relevant to analyse
Income and Expenditure Survey, 1992-93 autonomy in terms of the micro and the
(HIES) show that women outnumber men macro levels. At the micro level, as de-
in 'soft' sectors such as education, health noted by personal, household and commu-
and social work, and in occupations re- nity level autonomy, women have more
lated to hotels and restaurants. Men tend controloverdecision-makingandresources.
to dominate occupations related to agri- At the macro or organisational level, their
culture, hunting, fishing, mining, manu- access to economic resources such as
facturing transport, storage, communica- employment, skills, wages and services is
tion, and construction. The latter are also lower than that of men. Or, it is more
the occupations which contribute to the precise to say that women have access to
majorpartof the Gross Domestic Product. the more traditional kinds of employment
Educational enrolments at the post- and skills thatprevent them from asserting
secondary and tertiary levels also display greater autonomy in the macro sphere.
a strongly gendered dimension [MOE Thus, women in Guyana have control over
1994-95]. Almost twice as many women their personal lives and resources, but this
as men enrol in courses in education and does not translate into greater access to
the social sciences in the University of public resources or the influence to create
Guyana, while almost thrice as many men better access. Better access to public re-
as women enrol in the faculty of agri- sources is contingent upon a number of
culture. Similarly, gender differences are factors, notably changes in the system of
also strong in the faculties of natural gender stratification, a strong women's
sciences, and arts, where more men enrol movement, and women's voices in public
in the scientific disciplines and more decision-making.
women enrol in the arts. Perhaps the most
Women's Autonomy in Public
glaring difference in enrolment is evident
in the faculty of technology, where only Sphere
9 per cent of the students were women in Political autonomy of women is signi-
1994-95. Enrolments in the vocational fied by their participation in various lora
institutions show a similar pattern, with at the community and national levels. The
women dominating the traditional areas policy rhetoric in Guyana is very support-
such as secretarial science and catering.
Table 2: Key Indicators of Health in
The occupation where the participationof
Guyana1
men and women is almost equal is in the
area of trading and commerce, although Indicator Value
men outnumberwomen slightly. Men and Estimatedpopulation 770,000
women areequally likely to enrol in courses Urbanpopulation(percent) 31.1
Crudebirthrate 29.2
in commerce. Crudedeath rate 7.3
Women's autonomy also has a bearing TFR 2.8
on their access to health [Dreze and Sen Lifeexpectancy at birth 64
Male 62.1
1995]. The impediments to women's ac- Female 67.7
cess to health in Guyana are rooted in the
Literacyrate (percent) 95
macroeconomic situation and in a gender Male 96
ideology thatdiscourages the utilisation of Female 94
certain kinds of health services, as we shall Per capita nationalhealth
expenditure(USD) 44
discuss later. In terms of the relationship Nationalhealthexpenditureas a
between women's autonomy and access to per cent of GNP 7.5
health,two importantaspects emerge. First, IMR 27..8
Maternalmortalityrate
the macroeconomic situation has led to
(per 10,000 live births) 180
problems in the available health services Birthsattendedby trained
and in lowered economic autonomy of personnel (percent) 93
women, both of which impede their ability Contraceptiveuse by women -
all methods(percent) 31
to access care. Second, physical autonomy
Populationwithaccess to
of Guyanese women is compromised by healthservices (per cent) 84
a gender ideology thatfacilitates male con-
Note: 1 Healthstastics inGuyanaare notoriousfor
trol over their reproductive health. This their nureliability.Thus, even the same
combination of factors has led to a low organisation(PAHO)cites differentfigures
articulation of reproductive health needs, forthe same indicator,basingiton different
low access to contraception, and low sources, and acknowledgesthe problem
[PAHO1998].
utilisation of antenatalcare facilities, even Source: Pan American Health Organisation
though they are available. (PAHO),1996; 1998
Economicand PoliticalWeekly June 3, 2000
ive of women's equal access to the realms
of decision-making. In reality, women are
very active at the micro or community
level, in churchesandothervoluntarywork,
but their participation at the national level
is limited. While Guyana has had a female
president and a chief justice of the Su-
preme Court, the overall representationof
women in the realms of decision-making
is poor. In the last parliament, 16.7 per cent
of the members were women. In 1997 there
were two permanent secretaries out of a
total of 12, also adding up to 16.7 per cent.
The representation of women in the judi-
ciary is better, with more than half the
Supreme Courtjudges being women. The
present cabinet of 15 persons had two
women ministers in 1997. There are no
women ambassadorsrepresentingGuyana
abroad.
In local governmental structures,
women's representation shows a trend
similar to the national structures. In 1997,
in the 72 village councils, there were 16.6
per cent women in decision-making posi-
tions. There are no female mayors. The
chairpersonsand vice-chairpersons of the
newly formed regional administrations
were recently sworn in. Of these, only one
vice-chairperson (Region 7) is a woman.1
Figures from the HIES 1992-93 indicate
that 28 per cent of the legislators, senior
officers and managers were women at the
time of the survey. Women outnumbered
meninsalariedprofessions,andin theclerical
cadres. There is a distinct 'feminisation'
of the lower levels of the salaried profes-
sions, especially the traditional ones such
as teaching, nursing, secretarial and lower
rungs of the civil service.
Gender Ideology
We have alluded to the role of gender
ideology in women's autonomy, earlier.
There is a contradictionbetween the ideo-
logy of gender relations and the reality in
Guyana, as elsewhere in the Caribbean.
The ideology of masculinity and feminin-
ity in Guyana entails that the man be the
breadwinnerand the woman the caregiver.
This ideology is the legacy of the Anglo-
Protestant colonialists.
In reality, as we have seen, women do
not have demarcated lines between the
public and private domains, and are in-
volved in their own right as breadwinners
and in majordecisions affecting their lives
[Van der Aa 1995]. However, the preva-
lent gender ideology leads to an emphasis
on women as sexual beings, and the glo-
rification of motherhood and child-bear-
Economic and Political Weekly June 3, 2000
ing, the latter conferring status upon women's organisationsin Guyanaarethose
women. This is confirmedby a studyunder- affiliated to the major political parties,
taken by Trotz (1996) among Afro- and trade unions and religious groups. While
Indo-Guyanese women. This gender these organisations have an extensive
ideology, though more common in the outreach, they are often hindered by the
upperclasses, whose normative ideal is the nature of their parent bodies. Women's
Anglo-Protestant family, also percolates organisations, which are arms of religious
down to lower classes [Barrow 1986, cited groups, are mostly hampered by
in Van der Aa 1995]. Williams (1996) in adherence to patriarchalnorms and status
an analysis of the construction of gender quotist positions.
and race among Afro-Guyanese notes that The political party based organisations
in "contemporaryGuyana neither men nor owe primary allegiance to the party posi-
women are exempt from the contradictory tion, hence relegating gender concerns to
interactional demands of egalitarian and a secondary position [Peake 1993]. Sec-
hierarchicalideological precepts that have ondly, since political organisations tend to
historically constituted views of class represent the interests of the two major
appropriate conduct". This contradiction ethnic groups, they often prove to be
may explain why women pay nominal divisive rather than reinforcing to the
deference to male authority, though they women's movement as a whole. Organi-
may carry the major responsibility of the sations affiliated to trade unions cater to
household. Therefore, I rank Guyana low women's interests in the formal sector.
on indicators of double standards and During the struggleto pass the act legalising
emphasis on women's sexuality andyouth- abortion in 1995, women's groups rallied
fulness (Table 1). This ideology could be together to make the passage a success in
responsible for limiting women's access the fact of resistance by a strong pronatalist
to certain kinds of health provisions, lobby. Similarly, the act against domestic
notably reproductive health care. violence too was passed in 1996 with
I argue that public policy in Guyana hasthe support of all women's groups. The
sought to further the needs of the gender passage of these acts however has not
ideology thatsees women as home-makers led to better access for women to safe
rather than productive actors. Women's abortion or recourse to legal support
concerns are placed within the ambit of against violence.
welfare, and not development. Thus, the In recent years apolitical, multiethnic,
low articulation of women's health needs developmental organisations have begun
explains why immunisation coverage is to blossom. Therefore, Red Thread, which
almost universal, but contraceptive access had among its founder members women
is low. Child health is a politically neutral,
leaders of the Working People's Alliance,
altruistic developmental objective, while (a political party that seeks to present an
access to contraception defies the gender alternative to the two major parties) is
norms in the society. Similarly, women's today an apolitical, secular women's
economic activities have remained con- organisation, but its outreach is limited
fined to the informal sphere or to tradi- compared to the women's arms of the
tional arenas in the formal sphere. Paeke major political parties.
(1993) points out that the socialist ideo- The leaders of the women's movement
logy of the People's National Congress in Guyana have been preoccupied with the
that held power for 28 years prevented need for a women' s umbrellaorganisation,
gender issues from coming on its agenda, which would function as a lobby for gender
since women's issues were seen as partof equity, transcendingthe societal divisions.
broader national issues and gender was Various embryo organisations have been
seen as dividing the socialist movement. formed and rendered defunct in the pro-
Thus, socialism and feminism were seen cess of forming this umbrellaorganisation.
as 'mutually exclusive'. The reasons for this tortuous process are
located in the absence of women who
Politics of Ethnicity
could work for such an organisation on a
The women's movement is an important full time basis, lack of funds for such a
lobby for women's autonomy and em- venture, mistrust among the leaders, and
powerment. It articulates women's needs the domination of their political and ethnic
and brings gender-related inequalities to identities.
the public agenda. In Guyana, the women' s The events in the aftermath of the na-
movement has been splintered by the tional elections of 1997 have a strong
politics of ethnicity. The strongest implicationfor democracy andgovernance.
1947
Women supporters of opposition parties
participated in large numbers in street
demonstrationexpressing protest, indicat-
ing their involvement in the democratic
process and in party politics. There were
also alleged incidents of violence against
women duringthese demonstrations,where
the victim's ethnic identity became the
subject of debate and discussion. This and
other political developments have created
a further rift in the women's movement,
which is already dominated by ethnic and
party politics.
The Human Development Report, 1995
demonstrates that no country in the world
treats women as well as it does its men.
Even so, the HDR ranks Guyana fairly
high on its gender-related indicators. This
paper is an attempt to analyse the com-
plexities of women's autonomy in Guyana.
We find that while the country ranks high
on personal and micro level indicators of
women's autonomy, it ranks low on macro
and economic indictors. This is mediated
by a contradiction between ideology of
gender and the living reality. Public policy
has given credence to the value of women
as domestic actors, even though their lives
display active involvement in managing
their resources. Thus, women's access to
resources has been limited by policies,
even though their control of their personal
resources is high. [1I
Note
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IDB/PAHO/WHO (1996): Caribbean Regional
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[Thispaperdrawsfromtheexperiencesandinsights
of women in the Guyanese women's movement REVIEW OF INDUSTRY AND MANAGEMENT
- notably, Indra Chandrapal, Andaiye, Janice
Jackson, Jocelyn Dow, Magda Pollard, Pat November 27, 1999
Sheerattan, and innumerable women in
communitiesthat I visited and worked with. An Economic Reforms and Foreign Trade Policies: Case Study
earlierversion has benefited from the comments of Apparel and Machine Tools Industries - Shuji Uchikawa
of VandaRadzig. Carlos Felipe Martinez,UNDP
Guyana,was very supportiveof this researchand Manufacturing
Foreign-Controlled Firms in India:
commented at various stages of this paper.] Long-TermTrends - Suma Athreye
1 Information on women in decision-making Sandeep Kapur
from the Women's Affairs Bureau and The Modern and Indigenous Perceptions in Small Enterprises - Jan Brouwer
Guyana Chronicle, February 16, 1998. Small-Scale Industriesin West Bengal, 1971-97:
References Data Analysis for Study of Growth - Robin Mukherjee
Pranab Kumar Das
Barrow, Christine (1993): 'Small Farm Food Uttam Kumar Bhattacharya
Productionand Gender in Barbados' in Janet
Momsen (ed), Women and Change in the Labour Market under Trade Liberalisationin India:
Caribbean, Ian Randle, Kingston; Indiana Some Issues Concerning Reallocation - Deepika Chakravarty
University Press, Bloomington and
ManagementEducation:A Critical Appraisal - Bernard D'Mello
Indianapolis,James Currey, London.
Besson, Jean (1993): 'Reputation and Respect-
The Review of Industry and Management appearsas a supplementto the last issues
ability Reconsidered:A New Perspective on
Afro-Caribbean Peasant Women' in Janet of February,May and November.
Momsen (ed), Women and Change in the
Caribbean.
For copies write to
CirculationManager
Delph, Y and F Nunes (1997): 'MakingAbortion
LawReformWork- StepsandSlips in Guyana' Economic and Political Weekly
(Parts 1 and 2), ReproductiveHealth Matters,
No 9:66-76.

1948 Economic and Political Weekly June 3, 2000