NEPD defends women’s rights

The NEPD is supporting the Global Women’s Strike which is campaigning with women in Venezuela to defend their hard won rights, and the government of President Hugo Chavez which is under constant threat from right-wing forces linked to the US and the oil industry.

When an attempted coup took place in 2002 it was women from the poorest areas who mobilised support for the democratically-elected government. Women in Venezuela have gained recognition for their role as workers both in the workplace and in the home when the Chavez government passed Article 88 of the Constitution which says:

"The State guarantees equality and equity between men and women in the exercise of their right to work. The State recognises work in the home as an economic activity that creates added value and produces social welfare and wealth. Housewives are entitled to Social Security in accordance with the law."
The statement from Global Women’s Strike, which NEPD has signed, states:
“Women all over the world who have been campaigning for decades for the recognition of the work done by women in the home, on the land and in the community, congratulate our sisters in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for winning Article 88 in their Constitution.

“As President Hugo Chavez has said on many occasions: "The Market cannot be in charge of the world because it threatens to end the world." The work we do for our survival, and not to profit the capitalists, is outside of the market. If we as human beings are truly prioritised, then the work that ensures all our survival must be truly valued. It is our view that, by recognising housewives as workers who "create added value and produce social welfare and wealth", Article 88 is key to creating "a caring economy, an economy at the service of human beings rather than human beings at the service of the economy".

To add your support or request more information email:

womenstrike8m@server101.com

Global women’s strike is also campaigning to make the European Social Forum to be held in London from 14-17 October 2004 more accessible to women, to asylum seekers, to disabled people and those who are generally left at the door. They want one day to be led by women and focused on women’s issues, and they also want ESF to be open to the poorest and most excluded people with free entry for those without incomes, free transport and access for people with disabilities.

NEPD supports their stance.

For more information about ESF www.esf2004.net