Abortion in Northern Ireland: Report of an international tribunal

Women’sStudies ht. Forum, Printed in the USA.

Vol.13,No. 3. pp.273-283. 1990

0277-5395/90 $3.00+ .w 0 1990 Pergamon Pressplc

BOOK REVIEWS

RUSSIANWOMEN'SSTUDIES: ESSAYSONSEXISMINSOVIET from her biological studies that the liberation of women from the constant cycle of reproduction would allow CULTURE,by Tatyana Mamonova, 178 pages. Pergamon Press, New York, 1989. US%1450 pb. them to take a greater role in their surroundings and develop as individuals. In the fourth section, Mamonova uses the previous As Gorbachev’s economic reforms are expected to have a material to explain present day life in the Soviet Union. great effect on Soviet women, it becomes even more She addresses the sexism which can be seen in both the important to study the history of women in the Soviet official and unofficial press in the Soviet Union and Union and Russia. (Today ethnic Russians are only 51% which results in the view that women should be responsiof the Soviet population.) Tatyana Mamonova accomble for the home. Mamonova recognizes that this private plishes this in her new book. Although she wrote the responsibility makes it virtually impossible for women to book in the United States for an audience outside of the compete with men in the workplace. She examines the Soviet Union, Mamonova feels that it is important to mistreatment of homosexuality in literature and draws acquaint Russian women with their history. She states, attention to the problem of pornography in both the “All the ingredients for a vigorous women’s movement Soviet and the emigre presses. are there (in the Soviet Union). My message to feminists In the last section, Mamonova discusses women’s in the West is that these women need information about connections to the peace movement and their knowledge their own past which is not available to them . . ” (pp. of feminist issues and women’s history. Mamonova feels 165-166). that Soviet women have been entrapped by individualRussian Women’s Studies is a collection of essays ism so that they cannot see the common problems that about ethnic Russian women and their portrayal by men unite them. She suggests that restoring women’s history both in the Russian empire and the Soviet Union. In the will allow Soviet women to unite and change their socifirst section, Mamonova addresses women’s history. She ety. Simple lack of knowledge about Soviet feminists explains that the influx of Greek culture into Russia and other female leaders allows Soviet women to feel gradually changed society from matriarchal to patriarthat women are supposed to be in their present chal. She then discusses several of the great women of position. Russian history, such as Catherine the Great, and her It is somewhat surprising that Mamonova does not friend Catherine Dashkova. She also discusses the less include such important 20th-century poets as Akhmawell-known figures of Nadezhda ‘Ihrova, who pretended tova and Tsvetaeva and the feminist and revolutionary that she was a man so that she could fight against NapoKollontai in her book, as they are well-known in the leon, and Mariya Tsebrikova, a member of the intelliSoviet Union. Mamonova may not feel it necessary to gentsia in the 1860s who advocated education for discuss them. These women, however, are generally not women. well-known outside of the Soviet Union. As the book is In the second section, Mamonova describes the written for a non-Soviet audience, it might have been a treatment of women by the great male Russian writers. good idea to include essays on these influential women. She shows the inherent sexism in the works of Chekov, The book is, in general, an excellent and much needBunin, and Kuprin by their views of women as sexual ed study of women’s history. Russian Women’s Studies objects. Mamonova notes that both Gorky and Dostoysets an important context for the solutions to Soviet evsky write with a greater feminist consciousness. Howwomen’s problems which is especially important today ever, Dostoyevsky is generally considered to be one of as a result of the new interest in Soviet women’s probthe great misogynists of Russian literature. Mamonova lems by both the Soviets and western scholars. states that Dostoyevsky gives his heroine in A gentle KATHERINE E. LDDA creature a perfect and even Christlike personality. She PORT WASHINOTON, NY, U.S.A. does not address how this perfection can be used against women by creating a standard which every woman must live up to in order to be considered good by men. In the third section, Mamonova draws our attention to some of the lesser known female artists, scientists, ABORTION IN NORTHERN IRELAND: REPORT OF AN INTERand thinkers, such as Kochetkova, Ostroumova-LebeNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. Beyond the Pale Publications, Beldeva, and Teffi. Mamonova discusses the contributions fast, 1989. f3.50 (in U.K. only) soft cover. of these women not only to their fields, but to the condition of women. Kochetkova, for example, determined Sometime in the last 10 years, I had the experience of counselling a working-class Belfast woman with a crisis pregnancy. We met in the inauspicious surroundings of Please note that it is our editorial policy to publish occasion- the Central Railway station. At 22 years of age, she was already the glorious widow of a republican martyr. She ally more than one review of a book, without in any way implying revision of the review(s) which appeared earlier. was Roman Catholic, abortion is murder, and she was 273

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Book Reviews

not to be permitted in her widowhood to have a sexual relationship, much less to produce incontrovertible evidence of her “betrayal.” This unlovely story is but one from the largely unwritten and unspoken annals of the Irish abortion reality, north and south. To the nonresident, mention of Ireland conjures images of war-torn Belfast, the Beruit of Western Europe. The Irishwoman abroad will invariably be offered commiserations for living in the midst of such violence. Such a perception, however well-intentioned, is nonetheless inadequate and especially misleading in relation to women’s ordinary lives, where we face the usual problems and struggles encountered everywhere under patriarchy. Between the beginning of October and the end of December 1989, a period of only three months, 416 women normally resident in Northern Ireland and 931 from the Republic had lawful abortions in England. These figures are by no means extraordinary; any such three-month review will yield the same result. As “foreigners”, these women have limited access to elective abortion in England under the provisions of the 1967 British Abortion Act, which also provides that “nothing in this Act shall extend to Northern Ireland.” Obviously, the Act has no jurisdiction whatsoever in the south. Abortion remains illegal throughout Ireland under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, although therapeutic abortion after 28 weeks gestation is available in the north on a limited basis. The group which became the Northern Ireland Abortion Law Reform Association (NIALRA) was formed in 1981 when Charlotte Burton died of a backstreet abortion. It has a single campaigning issue: extension of the 1967 Act to Northern Ireland. The demand in itself is controversial-conservatives on both sides of a virulent sectarian divide are agreed that the north must remain “abortion-free”(!), while republicans, usually male, argue that such a demand constitutes recognition of the legitimacy of government from Westminster. Against this background, NIALRA convened an international tribunal of enquiry, held in Belfast in October 1987. Evidence was presented by individual women, women’s groups, medical and legal opinion, and pregnancy advisory services, as well as other interested parties, north and south. The eminent jurors included Wendy Savage, Carol Tongue, Sabine Klein-Schonnefeld, and Dr. Kadar Asmal. A report of the deliberations and findings has recently been published and it provides fascinating and informative reading for anyone interested in women’s experience of abortion and in questions of abortion law reform. It also presents a view of Ireland which comes from women’s perspective. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Panel Members in their Statement endorsed NIALRA’s demand, commenting “we believe the extension of the Act will reduce the unnecessary and inhumane suffering women in Northern Ireland are forced to endure through unwanted pregnancy,” to which I can only add, from my submission to the Tribunal: The particular circumstances-religious, social and cultural-under which Irish women seek legal abortions abroad are contributory factors in their experience of unwanted pregnancy. The provision of more accessible abortion services would undoubtedly re-

lieve much of this trauma. For this reason, the extension of the 1967 Act to Northern Ireland would also be a welcome development for women from the Irish Repubiic. RUTH RIDDICK DUBLIN,~RELAND

NOT

EITHERAN EXPEWMENTALDOLL, edited by Shula

Marks, 217 pages. ington, IN, 1987.

Indiana

University

Press,

Bloom-

Much has been written about the historical and contemporary problems caused by colonialism and apartheid in South Africa. All possible issues, ranging from the land question and forced removals to the humiliation of petty apartheid, have been exhaustively analyzed by academics, writers, and artists alike. Yet the personal struggles of South African women remain underresearched. Shula Marks correctly identifies the reason for this as being the double concealment of women in South Africa, as women and as black women. This collection of private correspondence certainly helps fill in the gaps of women’s herstory in South Africa. Shula Marks has to be congratulated for recognizing the unique worth of forgotten correspondence, thus making it available to a wide audience. The letters reveal a fascinating account of the lives of three South African women during the late 1940s and early 195Os, and the race, age, class, and rural-urban divisions between them. Herstory is told in simple language accessible to most people, without the encumbrances of mystifying academic jargon. The three women who engaged in the correspondence came from backgrounds that typify the stark contrasts of the South African society. Mabel Palmer was a member of the white, English colonial society, while Lily Moya and Sibusisiwe Makhanya were members of the subordinate black population. Mabel Palmer and Sibusisiwe Makhanya were both older adults who were familiar with the more cosmopolitan urban environment and who had both travelled extensively. Lily Moya in contrast, was 15. years old when she initiated this correspondence, lived in a rural area, and was quite naive. Lily first wrote to Mabel, who was the organizer of the Non-European section of the University of Natal at the time, requesting her help in obtaining a place at the university. This request from a young black woman was quite remarkable at the time, even though she still had to complete her final year at school. Only “0.2% of the African schoolgoing population actually passed the matriculation (school leaving) examination, which acts as the university entrance qualification. Many of these would have been male and far older” (p. 3). Mabel Palmer, who was an active campaigner for black education in Natal Province, was herself, remarkable. She was one of the first women to graduate from Glasgow University. She was later awarded a scholarship to Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, by Mrs. G. B. Shaw. Lily’s letter reminded her of her own struggle for education, and she was prompted to “help another poor and ambitious student” many years later. Lonely and parentless, Lily was encouraged by Mabel’s prompt reply to embark on an enthusiastic exchange of letters. She had misinterpreted Mabel’s letter as the beginning of a