A voice, then bread and peace

[originally published on the Civic Express blog, www.civic-express.com, March 7th 2006; Picture shows Legco (Legislative Council) Building, Hong Kong]

89 years ago, a group of Russian women went out on the streets of Moscow in strike, opposing political leaders who had failed to deliver what was most urgent at the time – bread and peace. However, as the women's action show, in order to obtain these goals, they were in fact demanding a third – political participation. The women's persistence and co-operation eventually contributed to the czar's abdication and the women were granted the right to vote by the following provisional government.

Approaching March 8th, named International Women's Day after the Russian women's success, Hong Kong women are also seeing the need for unity. During Saturday's symposium organized by the Women's Foundation, research was presented confirming the notion that Hong Kong women are underpaid and discriminated against in the labor market. It also revealed perhaps the most urgent insight about women's situation in Hong Kong: the lack of research and just how little we actually know!

Underlying the gross inequalities in social and economic fields is a fact which brings us back to the Russian women in 1917: Hong Kong women lack a voice in politics. And Hong Kong politics lacks the skills and talent of a huge proportion of the population. According to the report presented at the symposium, since the establishment of the HKSAR, fewer than 20% of political candidates and elected officials on the Legislative and District Councils have been women.

I am always a bit skeptical towards the notion that women contribute by adding a “softer” or more “feminine” touch to politics. Women are not needed because they are different, but because they are the same. And thus have the same right to participate. Nevertheless, women have experiences which differ from men's due to gender segregated occuption and processes of socialization - experiences which will not be included in the political equation until women have a voice to forward their concerns.

The Women's Foundation's report reveals shocking inequalities in many areas. However, limited resources and the limited attention span of the Hong Kong community makes it impossible to deal with them all at once. If one single issue is to be prioritized – let it be increasing women's political participation – a step will which have a multiplier effect on raising women's concerns in other spheres of society as well. First a voice – then come bread and peace.