“December 18, 1 989 Tourists Unwittingly Support Slavery by Manjula Misra and Trina Epstein Montreal (CUP) -- As the holiday season approaches, many of us will plan dream vacations to such exotic places as the Dominican Republic, which is the favourite third-world destination of Quebecois tourists. Canadians typically account for 30 percent of the Dominican Republic’s visitors, which works out to approximately 100,000 “people. However, not many of those visitors are aware that in addition to supporting the Dominican Republic's economy, they are also supporting the last American country to practice in- Stitutionalized slavery. Indeed, the Coalition for Abolishing Haitian Worker’s Slavery in the Dominican Republic (CAHWS) reports between 500,000 and 750,000 Haitian na- tionals -including men, women, children, and seniors - are denied civil status. They are not even con- sidered to be human, and are bought and sold for 15 to 20 dollars each. Furthermore, they are repressed, forced into labour under inhuman conditions, and are per- secuted by the Dominican govern- ment. They are kept in sordid work camps known as bateys, with no: hope of escape, and overworked and underfed. The situation vio- lates all 27 articles of the United Nations’ 1948 Convention on Human Rights. In order to fulfill the demands of the Dominican Republic’s year- ly sugar harvest, more than half of the 40,000 required cane cutters are recruited from outside the sugar- producing areas. This labour force used to be! supplied, without contract, by the Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, whose policy of denying fundamental human rights in Haiti was well known. _ Since his overthrow in the mid-eighties, the Republic has not had things so easy, for Prosper Avril’s new Hatian government demands legitimate work contracts for its citizens, as well as docu- ments stating civil status for the Haitians already residing in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican government refuses to do so, and to get the required work force, they have im- plemented forced recruitment. Who is recruited? Any Haitian who lives or works outside of a Sugar-producing area of the country. No Haitian is exempted from labour if recruited. Throughout the last harvest season many cases of slavery were reported. Haitians were being forced to cut cane, held in detention against their will, and arrested Cockney Kings FISH & CHIPS Old English Style PRAWNS -- eahieee OYSTER COD -- Sour aa ane. CHIPS STEAK & KIDNEY PIES STEAK PIES CHICKEN & VEGETABLE PIES ed YL a) ® oe “ty a! Columbia Square 1005 Columbia Street - 522-6099 Behind London Drugs without cause. But those were the lucky ones. For example, last June three Haitians were shot by police at a ‘demonstration protesting the ex- ecution, at a detention centre, 0 one their counterparts. These tw incidents are just the tip of a v terrifying iceberg. Various Quebec organizations have undertaken actions to stop the opression in the Dominican Loo etitions containing up to 1,00@&na@migs are received every week Gifgamis Domingo. But it is still n in Haiti. It is now time to end slavery in the Dominican Republic. It will not end, however, unless ac- tion is taken. Do not passively let human suffering continue. Tell your friends not to go to the Dominican Republic. And don’t go there yourself, Violence Is More Than A Gun by Rachel Gray (CUP) -- We should not be having this discussion at all. There can be no doubt. It is time to make the connections about all of these things. A man carrying a new semi- automatic rifle walks into a tradi- tionally male dominated institution, and kills 14 women. In the hallways, he mainly ignores men and hunts women. In the class room, he separates the women from ‘the men. before killing them. At some: point during the carnage he has railed against feminists. He turns the gun on himself and dies ‘with a suicide note in his pocket | which identifies women and ' feminists as the source of much of ‘his unhappiness. This all seems - very Clear. Is it not obvious who he intended to kill? Who is dead? | What is up for debate? Now, there are those who would have us Westminster Mall New Westminster B.C. 520-6146 Vijay’s Boutique Women’s Fashions ; **$2.00 off sweaters, dresses, jeans etc. with this coupon** We’re Here!! Perky’s Pet Palace believe that this is the work of a sick and demented mind, and that itis an isolated incident. There are those who would have us believe that this is a human tragedy with no more bearing on women’s lives than on men’s. There are those who agree that we live in a sexist society, but iwho say that "this thing in Montreal" has no place in a discus- sion about violence against women because violence can’t be qualified jaccording to sex. On the campus at \Gucen's University a bunch of self- proclaimed "friendly guys" feel misunderstood. They say, "No means kick her in:the teeth". They ‘say, "OK, so it may have been in ‘bad taste but it was just a joke. My ‘dad says that worse things hap- ‘pened in his days here. It was a ‘prank. Queen’s is a great univer- \sity. What are they complaining :about?" These friendly guys have a\ need to make jokes about women being raped. The language they use (one coupon per customer please 756 Columbia St. New Westminster B.C. §22-2111 All Tropical Fish 1/2 Price (Boxing Day, 11am-Spm) Aquarium Starter Kit Reg.:$89.99 Reg.:$104.99 Neg: $85.50) | Reg. S1Ges We Carry Birds and Small Animals #114 Columbia Street 526-3 New Westminster WMovy Chuistmas! (behind London Drugs) for joking about rape involves gang bangs, kicking her teeth in and tying her down. How much time would you want to spend with these friendly guys? Have they ever con- sidered the woman who is raped -- areal person -- being gang banged, tied down and a mouth full of broken teeth? If rape jokes are ac- ceptable material now, is it because women are safe; safe from rape, sexual harassment and assault, ex- ploitative images that use our bodies to sell cars and beer, safe from violence at home and on the street... safe from murder? These boys don’t have to think about rape and therefore it’s fine to joke about it. What is not their consciousness, their experience, is not their con- cern. And if I don’t take a joke about suffering and pain and violence and hatred then I’m the one with the problem -- not them. When I walk home at night I am cautious and quite often afraid. When statistics tell me that one out of ten women will be violently at- tacked by the men who share their beds and their lives this affects me differently than it does my brothers. When my friends talk about being raped I know that those boys at Queen’s have never thought about what it is like to be a woman in a woman hating society. They haven’t had to. Don’t you think it’s time they did? As long as it’s okay to make jokes about rape, the "thing in Montreal" should not shock us. It illustrates the hatred and violence that is accepted and justified and joked about. For women who have been raped, who are beaten in their kitchens, who walk home at night knowing that the keys gripped tightly in hand are a poor defense, who feel hostility because of the way they dress, or the work they do, or the independence they seek, or the conventions they reject...for all of us women this is not a shock. It may be our worst nightmare come ‘true, but it should not be a shock. Ed. Co-or. Note: The oc- curances at Queen’s University that are refered to are the blatant vandalisation and disregard for the C.F.S.’d anti-date rape cam- paign by a group of male students on campus. C.F.S. posters with the slogan "No means No!" were covered with posters stating "No means yes!" and "No means kick her in the face!"