Debt affects both women and men in 'Third countries - but the sharing of that burden is unequal. The poverty caused by debt reinforces the existing sexual division of labour. But the role of women in anti-imperialist struggles -and their struggles within 'Third societies - is often overlooked.
While it is true that the position of many women has improved since the days of direct colonial rule, the oppression of women is still deeply rooted in "Third World' societies. And in many ways, the situation is worsening.
An understanding of the relation between the oppression of women and indebtedness, reanalysis of the development of capitalism following struggles for inde pendance.
In Africa, white settlers relied on cheap, Black male labour as mineworkers, farmworkers, and later in manufacturing industry. Women's labour was only required towards the end of colonial rule - as domestic workers.
Migrant workers generally lived hundreds of miles from their families. Women would be left in the countryside with children, surviving on subsistence crops.
In Zimbabwe (by no means the poorest or most indebted African country) the colonial expropriation of land resulted in he 'establishment of 'reserves', where women, children and the elderly were forced to live. Traditional systems of agriculture broke down, and the pattern of environmental degradation began, leading to widespread impoverishment.
It was these factors that led to women playing a prominent role in the war for inde pendance. After the war, the position of black women in the labour market improved. In 1981, white women comprised 54% of the female workforce, and black women 46%. By 1985 the position had reversed, so that black women comprised some 83% of female workers.
However, the worsening economic situation - a product of indebtedness - meantthatthe proportion of women in the workforce as a whole fell from 14% to 12%.
The relation between the exoloitation of women and the debt is starkly demonstrated in the case of Thailand. In 1984 the country's debt totalled $14 billion, equal to that of Peru. A major source of foreign currency for the country is the hidden economy - its thriving prostitution industry.
Young girls (and boys) are sold to brothels for rich tourists by families desperate for money. Prostitutes in Thailand are super-exploited, and exposed to a high level of danger from violence and disease.
And in the Philippines, the remittances paid from the domestic labour of Philippino women working as servants in the West, make up a large proportion of the hard currency that goes to pay the country's foreign debt Latin American women have countered their marginalisation with the development of a major movement. Through taking up'women's issues' such as abortion, forced sterilisation and domestic violence, women have been able to make an impact on trades unions and other workers' organisations.
Women in 'Third World' countries frequently find that they face battles on many fronts. The rise of religious fundamentalism - christian, muslim, hindu or jewish - that is accompanying the world recession, demonstrates the importance of linking the struggle against debt with the fight for women's liberation.