Women in struggle for Peace

The workshop on Women and Peace was run by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Betty Holt began the session with an address about the factors which would lead to another world war — especially the arms race between Russia and America and the lack of justice for third world countries. She argued that women must actively work for peace in whatever way they can. Discussion following her speech centred around the role of the Soviet Union and America in building for war. Some people saw both superpowers as expansionary — both seeking to gain economic and political domination over various parts of the world. Others questioned the stance of the Soviet Union — whether it was a communist country, whether underneath its rhetoric it was really pursuing a peaceful policy.

We broke into small groups to consider questions which covered education on peace, violence on TV, war games for children, and a nuclear free zone in the pacific. The workshop supported a nuclear free zone in the Pacific. The discussion brought out the need for more people to study what is happening in the world, to understand the causes of war, and the reasons why Russia and the USA are moving toward a new war which will necessarily involve their allies. Too often discussions on peace are centred on ideals rather than facts. As a new world war looms ahead, the women's movement must take an active and fruitful role in the struggle for peace.

After the workshops on Saturday and Sunday, a final plenary was held on Monday morning. Unlike the last UWC in Wellington in 1975, workshop convenors did not report back their findings or proposals and this seemed a retrograde step.

Most of the session was taken up with the individual commentaries of four NZ women: Fanaura Kingston, Christine Dann, Elsie Locke, and Toni Church. Christine Dann argued that too much time was spent in disseminating information and knowledge, while too little was spent in talking about how to get changes. Fanuara Kingston who followed disagreed with this point.