Dear End-violence members, I would like to follow up on the discussion of women's vulnerability whenever there is violence -- exemplified in Bihar -- and emphasise the importance of recognising and understanding systemic gender violence within each particular context. The situation in Bihar is a good example. The struggle in Bodh Gaya, Bihar has long been a struggle of landless peasants to gain access to and control over land held by a local head of a temple who was a powerful landlord of the area. What was interesting about the struggle was that for several years no one had thought of women's need for independent access to land. It was only after several years of struggle that the issues were raised by the peasant women, who pointed out that when the men were still landless laborers, their domination over women was so strong. Given that situation, what would it be like if they really gained control over the land?
That was the context in which women raised the demand for equal land rights. It has been demonstrated by women's struggles in India several times over that access to and control over land is a major determinant of women's economic and social status and security both within the household and in the community. The absence of such rights both results from and perpetuates women's subordination. Thus, it has been essential to address gender inequality and gender violence within the problem of landlessness. Only in this way is it possible to address the issue so that reform helps improve women's situation rather than maintaining existing inequity and violence -- or even exacerbating it. Regards Manoshi Mitra ***End-violence is sponsored by UNIFEM and receives generous support from ICAP*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe end-violence OR type: unsubscribe end-violence Archives of previous End-violence messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/end-violence/hypermail/
