Women in the Grenada Revolution, 1979-1983

Abstract

IThe year 1951 was synonymous in Grenada with the words strike, riot and revolution. It saw the rise of a trade unionist, a people's messiah, in the person of Eric Matthew Gairy, who led the first massive strike action by agricultural workers and later ruled the country as premier and then prime minister from 1951 to 1979. This period saw an increase in wages and an improvement in working conditions for agricultural workers, most of whom were women. It also saw the establishment of a number of women's groups, including the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), the Soroptomists, Lioness Club, Home Industries Association, Home Makers' Association, and Grenada Women's League. These groups were mainly charitable organizations that catered to the needs of poor women, especially in the rural areas. For example, the YWCA and the Home Makers' Association provided advice on domestic science and home management. With the exception of the Grenada Women's League, they had no political affiliation. The Grenada Women's League was the women's arm of Gairy's Grenada United Labour Party (GULP). Like the other women's groups, its vision was limited to charitable work.The Gairy regime encouraged the movement of women into positions of power by his appointment of Dame Hilda Bynoe as first female governor of Grenada and in the British Commonwealth. He also appointed two female ambassadors. Three women won their parliamentary seats on a GULP ticket. One became a minister of government and the other two were parliamentary secretaries. The Gairy government also encouraged the establishment of a Commission on the status of women and Grenada hosted the regional seminar for women in 1970. While female support for Gairy was apparent in the period, there were pockets of discontent and some women joined and took an active role in the main opposition parties, the Grenada National Party (GNP), and the New Jewel Movement (NJM). These women felt that, despite Gairy's projection of an image of promoting and encouraging women, many of their demands were not being met. For example, few day-care centres were built, there were hardly any scholarships for women, equal pay for equal work was not implemented, and women in positions of power within the regime (like men) were not expected to oppose the decisions of his government. The women's groups had raised these issues yet they were not adequately addressed, if addressed at all.IIOn 13 March 1979, the New Jewel Movement staged a military coup that marked the beginning of a new political era for the English-speaking Caribbean with the formation of the socialist People's Revolutionary Government under Maurice Bishop (PRG). Some Gairyite women continued their support for their ousted leader; others transferred their support to the PRG, while still others remained neutral. Another group, the St George's Progressive Women's Association (PWA), opposed the Gairy regime but did not follow the socialist line. Nevertheless, in the early years of the revolution it received some support from the PRG. The PWA was formed in early 1977. Its aims and objectives were:To raise the progressive consciousness of women. . . .To struggle to achieve material and other benefits for our women. . . . Better wages and working conditions, equal pay for working women, day nurseries, training and employment opportunities, proper housing, medical sanitation, recreational and cultural facilities. To struggle against any further encroachments on democratic rights . . . and to extend rights and civil liberties.1Membership was open to any woman residing in Grenada who accepted the goals of the organization. Membership fees were EC$0.50 per month. For unemployed women membership was free. According to Dessima Williams, Grenada's Representative to the United Nations, 1979-1983, the PWA served as a small but effective urban forum for politicizing and organizing middle class women, housewives, teachers, professionals, students and a core of the urban working class. …