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Patent: Intravaginal ring
Full text linkThis invention relates to an improved intravaginal ring for use as a contraceptive comprising an inert elastomer core, a medicated layer encircling the core and an outer inert elastomer layer and method of manufacturing the intravaginal ring
Women and handicrafts: Myth and reality
Full text linkThis issue of SEEDS reviews handicrafts as a means of providing income to women. In some instances, crafts are a solid source of income and can also provide women with a link to their own cultural heritage. In most instances, however, crafts production concentrates women in an area that is labor intensive and exploitative, providing a meager income for long hours of work. Handicrafts can be a means of increasing income for women in some settings, but only under the conditions outlined in this report, since crafts are specialized activities which have limited markets and offer limited potential as a means of employment. The report summarizes a few of the key issues that must be addressed when considering a handicrafts program for women
Market women\u27s cooperatives: Giving women credit
Full text linkIn 1972, the Nicaraguan Foundation for Development (Fundación Nicaraguense de Desarrollo—FUNDE), one of two programs sponsored by the Nicaraguan Institute of Development, became aware of market women\u27s need for credit. This issue of SEEDS describes FUNDE\u27s experience in developing savings and loan cooperatives to meet this need. This summary stresses the human aspects of the process as much as the financial and technical ones. The project has been successful because the cooperatives have built upon the existing market women\u27s culture, utilizing all the subtle and complex interpersonal relationships established over the years. In essence what the cooperatives have done is to teach women to use and build on what they have to their own best advantage, by providing them with information, experience, and encouragement
Village women organize: The Mraru Bus Service
Full text linkThe Mraru Women\u27s Group in rural Kenya, like many community women\u27s organizations around the world, is an example of a deeply rooted tradition of association and self-help among women. In 1971 the group began to gather its resources to solve a common problem—transportation. They raised money, bought a bus, and began a public transport service that made money; they now face other difficult questions such as reinvesting profits, serving members\u27 broader needs, and maintaining a strong economic base. The Mraru Women\u27s Group has shown unusual creativity and persistence in identifying common needs and organizing to meet them. They have also demonstrated that a small, private organization with few resources can effectively call on the skills and resources of other agencies, both public and private, to help them achieve their goals, while remaining independent and self-reliant
Hanover Street: An experiment to train women in welding and carpentry
Full text linkThe Hanover Street Project, formally known as the United Women’s Woodworking and Welding Project, is an experiment in training women for jobs usually held only by men. Begun in 1976, this was the first such program of the Jamaica Women\u27s Bureau, established by the government during International Women\u27s Year to ensure that women participate fully in Jamaica’s development. The project demonstrated that low-income women can learn non-traditional skills and can work together to improve their lives. Through trial and error, the project is providing the Women\u27s Bureau with a wealth of information about teaching technical skills, working with other government agencies, and establishing self-sufficient cooperative structures. The lessons from this experience extend beyond Jamaica and, hopefully, will be useful to people in other countries who are addressing similar problems
Contraceptives and common sense: Conventional methods reconsidered
Full text linkSince the 1960s, the solution to contraception problems has been based increasingly on complexity, not simplicity. The oral contraceptive was developed in the late 1950s using newly discovered synthetic hormones that act in intricate ways on glands in the brain. Intrauterine devices were widely introduced in the 1960s in a host of scientifically engineered configurations that act inside a woman’s uterus. Nearly half of all married couples in the United States who use some method of contraception use either the pill or IUD. In examining emerging social trends and considering the special needs of some large groups for better contraceptives—adolescents, women over 30, individuals concerned with health and safety—in many respects barrier methods appear to offer a commonsense solution to age-old problems. They offer high effectiveness combined with freedom from short- or long-term side effects and the freedom to be fertile in the future. This Public Issues paper examines how good or bad today’s barrier contraceptives are, and how acceptable they are. New patterns of use and demand for barrier contraceptives in this country are documented, and the potential utility of these methods is considered for couples living in developing countries
