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Oxfam GB Finding a Voice Author(s): Visanthi Arumugam Source: Focus on Gender, Vol. 1, No. 1, [The Environment] (Feb., 1993), pp. 28-29 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Oxfam GB Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4030286 . Accessed: 12/06/2014 20:39 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and Oxfam GB are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Focus on Gender. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 188.72.126.108 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:39:35 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Oxfam GB

Finding a VoiceAuthor(s): Visanthi ArumugamSource: Focus on Gender, Vol. 1, No. 1, [The Environment] (Feb., 1993), pp. 28-29Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Oxfam GBStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4030286 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 20:39

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and Oxfam GB are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toFocus on Gender.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.108 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:39:35 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: [The Environment] || Finding a Voice

Finding a voice Visanthi Arumugam This article has been drawn from Victims Without Voice: A Study of Women Pesticide Workers in Malaysia, published in 1992 by Tenaganita, Selangor; and Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific, Penang, Malaysia.

IN THE PAST women's role in agriculture was grossly underestimated. Although today the role of women in subsistence

and small-scale agriculture is more widely recognised, their position in large-scale and plantation farming rarely is. As a result, the health problems they face in this type of agricultural work have been a neglected area of study and action.

'Development' packages, including high- yield varieties of seed, fertilisers, pesti- cides, irrigation and tractors, have intensi- fied the already acute problems of land scarcity and tenure, and have transformed agricultural methods in order to accommo- date the weeding, spraying and transplant- ing needed for high-yield crops. This form of high-tech, high-input agriculture has been thoroughly criticised by environmen- talists for the damage it causes to the soil and water supplies.

On plantations in Malaysia, as elsewhere, women's labour is still used for the most back-breaking and tedious work, all for very little reward - the average earnings of the women who do these jobs are less than men's, and if the seeds are grown on a woman's own family land, the chances are that the woman will have to do all that extra work without pay herself. In addi- tion, women agricultural workers are now

faced with the grim fact that their health can be seriously damaged through the unregulated use of pesticides. Pesticide toxicity can also reach unborn children, the damage having been done before the moth- er realises she is pregnant.

Joint study on Malaysia In early 1991, Tenaganital and PAN Asia and the Pacific2 collaborated on a study of the impact of pesticides on women workers on the plantations in Malaysia. This was the first part of a seven-country study on the subject to be undertaken by PAN Asia and the Pacific.

In Malaysia about 40 per cent of the eco- nomically-active female population is involved in the agricultural sector. Of the 50,000 field and general workers, 80 to 90 per cent are women. In the plantation sec- tor alone 30,000 women work as pesticide sprayers. Complaints of sore eyes, skin rashes, burnt fingernails, and disruption of menstrual periods are disturbingly com- mon.

In 1988 the Malaysian Minister of Health attributed incidents of pesticide poisoning to unsafe working practices, such as mix- ing pesticides with bare hands, blowing the nozzle of the sprayer with the mouth to

Focus on Gender Vol. 1, No. 1, 1993

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Page 3: [The Environment] || Finding a Voice

Invisible farmers find a voice 29

remove blockages, and carrying out spray- ing operations without regard to basic safe- ty precautions in handling toxic pesticides. He advised estate managers to pay more attention to workers' health, particularly the preventive health aspects. Yet the plan- tation products of palm oil, rubber and cocoa continue to be a major source of for- eign exchange for Malaysia and a major contribution to the fortunes of the owners, while the estate labour force lives in pover- ty, amid exposure to toxic chemicals.

The study was undertaken to document the extent of the problem in the planta- tions. It is an attempt to give a voice to the women workers, to record and publicise their plight. Researchers from Tenaganita conducted the survey throughout the months of January to March 1991, living in the community and participating fully in community life, keeping detailed notes on what they heard, saw or felt about the women working with pesticides. A detailed look at the women's socio-eco- nomic problems provided a clear under- standing of the issues involved. PAN Asia and the Pacific analysed the findings and did the research into the health effects and available legislation on pesticides.

Workshops for women

As part of its Women and Pesticides pro- gramme, PAN Asia and the Pacific is organising a series of training workshops during 1991-3, with a special focus on women's groups in Asia. In June 1991 PAN worked closely with Tenaganita in organis- ing the first workshop in Serdang, Malaysia. Twenty participants from ten local organisations attended the five-day event. Two resource persons from Indonesia and a participant from Thailand came to share their experiences and cam- paign successes in their own countries.

During the workshop, the participants devised strategies for action. Their recom- mendations were compiled in the Serdang Declaration, the first of its kind to address the hazards facing women working in modern agriculture.

1 Tenaganita stands for Kumpulan Tenagapadu Wanita -

Action Group of Women Workers - an organisation in

Malaysia supporting women workers and carrying out

action and research to promote the interests of working

women.

2 PAN Asia and the Pacific is a regional centre of the

Pesticide Action Network (PAN), a worldwide network

which carries out action and research on the hazards asso-

ciated with pesticides, their causes and their solutions.

* Women harvesting cabbages, Malaysia. Growing vegeta- bles commercially requires heavy use of pesticudes.

DAVID BULL/OXFAM

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