Interview with an Internationalist Communist from Turkey: the experience of a communist woman organising political work among working class women in Turkey What are your experiences with political work among women in Turkey?A: In 1973 the leadership of the TKP decided to organise the party underground. This was combined with the attempt to build legal mass movements, the trade unions, a youth organisation and also the working women's movement. In 1975 we built the Women's Association. Starting as a very small force we began to work in the suburbs and working-class districts. Soon we came into contact with women workers from different factories.
Housemaids are only a solution for the rich: What working women in Sweden need is a shorter working week. We publish below a translation of the December 1998 editorial statement of the Socialisten (Swedish Marxist journal). It was written because their was some debate at the time over the question of "housemaids". The fact is that a lot of wealthy families "employ" immigrant women to do their housework. They get low wages, no taxes are paid and they have no rights or social security at all. It is a totally black market. The proposal then was to make this market legal, by granting tax-exemptions on these services.
Women, Work and the Struggle for Socialism Women now form over 50% of the workforce in this country. One in five households are headed by a female breadwinner and the majority of women can expect to take up paid employment at some stage in their life. Employment is also widespread amongst women with young children. These are world-wide phenomena. In the United States 99% of women will at some stage form part of the workforce. The same trend is occurring in the developing world. The two income household is now firmly established.
