(RESEARCH the commercialization of poverty and oppression affecting the great majority of people in underdeveloped countries .. . It seemed to her that there was a deliberate effort on the part of the developed world to close their eyes to the causes of poverty, oppression, racism and misery, and instead, overplay their roles as aid givers to the victims of those evils. They are quite willing to help the victims of crimes but very relu::;tant to deal with the criminals. This is a vicious circle, and is poor logic. The writer concludes by saying: «I wish to question this whole philosophy of perpetual beggars and eternal masters of wealth ... Aid in whatever form must remain a very temporary measure, while the search for long-.lasting solutions must be intensified. In the long run, It IS not the masters who will decide to relinquish their supremacy. It will have to be the affected who will rise and take charge of their fates." (lCVA: International Council Voluntary Agencies, the international association of non-governmental, non-profit organizations. Geneva. Switzerland.) NINTH CONFERENCE OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE LEBANESE WOMAN'S RIGHTS Held in Beirut, 5-8 March 1981, the Nihth Conference of the Committee for the Lebanese Woman's Rights opened its session with reports from the delegates about the members' social , political, economic and national activities since the meeting of the 8th Conference of 1978. The session of March 8th, was attended by the prime minister, Mr. Chafic Wazzan who gave a speech in which he affirmed his complete support of woman's cause and of her rightful claim for liberation. While he approved the Lebanese woman 's achievement in educational, artistic and social fields, he showed his disapproval of her apathy regarding political activity and called for her effective participation in responsible government positions. The list of recommendations presented in the closing session pointed out 1) the necessity of woman 's struggle in favor of the political liberation of Lebanon. 2) The importance of creating syndicates for women emloyees and workers and of encouraging women's joining and supporting them. 3) Social and educational problems should receive their proper share of attention from the members. 4) Every sort of discrimination against women in any field must be eliminated. 5) The Committee reemphasized its determination to cooperate with other social, cultural and educational organizations for the purpose of carrying out its objectives. 6 WOMAN AND INDUSTRIAL WORK IN EGYPT(1) In studying the phases of women's involvement in the sector in Egypt, it is noteworthy that this country experienced the process of transition from a subsistence cultural economy to a semi-industrial economy earlier than any other Arab or African country. The first phase occurred unaer Muhammad Ali who tried to forge the economic basis of Egypt's independence from Turkey and succeeded in establishing a number of national factories where veiled women worked side by side with men and shared with them the same oppressive treatment, which in some cases was worse for women. . VVhen MohB:ma~ Ali founded the school of midwifery , his project met with resistance from the upper class of society but those of the lower stratum were ready to enroll their daughters at the school in large numbers and the State encouraged them by arranging marriages between midwives and medical students. The second phase took pl.ace with the expansion of cotton cultivation in Egypt which encouraged women 's work in cotton mills as well as in other growing industries such as sugar, textile and cigarette manufacturing . Just as in the Muhammad Ali era, they were also involved in construction . As a result, the veil in factory and construction work was removed while among peasant women engaged in rural work, it had already disappeared. World War I, by reducing the volume of imports, spurred the development of local industry. In 1914 women comprised about 5 percent of the workers engaged in industry and construction. In the period which followed , 1915-1942, women and children worked under an oppressive legislation: 9-15 hours per day, on all shifts. Women worked in mining and other underground work, wages were irregularly paid, married women were forbidden to work, workers had no right to strike or to form trade-unions. Yet on several occasions, they succeeded in organizing demonstrations and strikes. With the liberation of Egypt from colonialism in 1952 the policy of centralized planning focused on the developme'nt of heavy Industry. The Labor Code of 1954 contained a large number of laws which brought about an improvement in the conditions of female workers. Between 1961 and 1971 the percentage of women engaged in the manufacturing industries rose from 3.3 percent to 11.7 percent and that of illiteracy among females in the labor force declined from 82.4 percent in 1961 to 54.1 percent in 1971. A field research in 1975 was conducted in a textile factory located in Chubra el-Kheima, in the outskirts of Cairo, where a relatively large concentration of women were employed : 1150 females out of 20,000 workers. Workers interviewed numbered 148 (about 37 percent of female workers employed in the silk factory) : 65 percent of them were single, 25 percent married, 10 percent divorced; about 10 percent had indus~ral (1) Abstract of a study prepared by Mona Hammam, member of the Department of Sociology. American University, Washington , D.C. , published In Arab Studies Quarterly, Winter 1980. (See AI·Raida, Nov. 1979, Vol. III , No. 10, p. 10) attended preparatory school. The illiteracy rate among the totality of women workers was 3:3 percent . THE DOWRY RESULTS AND COMMENTS The researcher points out the sharp class separation existing between the workers and the administrative staff. As an example , the factory compound had two gates, one exclusively used by the administrative staff, the other by the workers. They were transported to and from work on separate company buses. Transportation of women created for them .certain probblems. Their working hours dictated that they leave home between 4.00 and 5.00 a.m. in order to walk to the bus station and ride the hour long commute to the factory. They had to be accompanied to the bus station by a male escort ; otherwise , they would be subjected to a whole range of male abuses . Another problem was that of women who had children below school age. If they had no relative or neighbor where the child could be deposited , they had to take him or her to a costly day care center which was not always reliable and rarely provided instruction. When asked why they chose to work, they all gave economic need as the unique reason for working. Another reason for seeking employment was that a job offered women a socially acceptable opportunity to get away from the home environment and make new acquaintances . Single women considered their occupation as a means of accumulating enough savings to provide household furniture when they get married . An interesting method they practiced for stretching the family budget was the «Gam'eyya», a sort of credit cooperative, by which each member contributed to a common fund , allowing all the members to make loans granted on a temporary basis. IN ALGERIA(1) In her introduction , the author of this study raises the following questions : In what measures does the dowry factor influence woman 's condition in Algeria? How do we explain the persistence of the dowry as a facto~ of. social. development while , all through its practice , It confirms social hierarchy and sex discrimination? the topic she begins by saying that a . . In ~reating distinction must be made between «Mahr Musamma» or Sadaq , whose amount is fixed in the marriaqe contract and «Mahr el Mithl» , an undetermined amount of money which should be given to the bride in case no precise amount has been fixed by contract. The Mahr, or dowry, is defined by Muslim law as : 1) price of the right to possess the woman 's body; 2) a condition of validity of marriage and a result of the marriage contract. Since the Mahr is the price of defloration , the bride who is not a virgin has no right to a dowry. Consequently a widow upon remarriage is entitled to a lower pnce than that of a maiden . As to the time of payment, it is a matter of agreement validated by contract. The amount may be paid at a precise date , or only in case of death or divorce. According to a tradition surviving in Tlemcen SOCIAL VALUE OF EDUCATION They all considered education as the only avenue for until fifty years ago, it was payable only ten years after upward social mobility and exhibited enormous concern marriage. In case of divorce motivated by the exclusive that their children , including daughters, «not be deprived ot it fault of the wife, the dowry is never paid. like their parents ». The most frequently mentioned occupaIs the dowry a condition of the validity of marriage? tion aspired to by the mother for her son was that of engineer It is so in theory but in practice it is a result of it, since and for her daughter, that of doctor. They considered all jobs preferable to their factory work. None of them said that if she only the consummation of marriage gives the right to a were educated she would aspire to an administrative position dowry if marriage has been concluded without stipulation or exclusion of such a conditon . related to factory work. Owing to the poor cultural background .offered by their Regarding this question, there is no unified opinhome environment, it is difficult for children of laboring ion among judges . Some think that marriage occurring classes to achieve the educational level required for college or university entrance. As a result , many parents resort to the without previous agreement on the dowry is considquestionable practice>very common in Egypt now, of private ered nil. They require that the nature ar:ld amount of tutoring lessons, which results from classroom overcrowding the dowry be mentioned in the marriage contract by and the desire of parents to push their children into academic agreement of both parties . success. Historical documents reveal that real estate was Another sign of backward mentality among those women sometimes given to a bride in the form of Mahr. is the persistence of the traditional scorn of manual work . Textbooks used for adult teaching contain a bias toward Investments in jewelry, gold or silverware have also intellectual rather than vocational training. While those books occasionally emphasize the importance of the workers' (1) Abstract of a study made by Chafika Marouf, in "Actes des contribution to social welfare, they fail to recognize the role of Journees d'Etude et de Reflexion sur les Femmes Aigeriennes », Centre de Documentation des Sciences Humaines, Universite the working woman in this field and thus fail to encourage d'Oran, 3, 4, 5, et 6 Mai 1980; Oran, pp . 295-329. See AI-Raida , women 's participation in industrial activity. May 1, 1981 , Vol. IV No. 16 p. 9. I 7