Evening star., 1933-11-10
STATUS OF WOMEN
COVERED IN REPORT
ter-AmeriCan Commission
Completes 5-Year Work for
Western Hemisphere.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
After five years of research the In
ter-American Commission of Women
has finished report on laws governing
the legal status Of women in countries
Of the Western Hemisphere.
e is the first time such a research
.oE information on the political and
civil rights Of women has been made
over so large an area
The results of the work will be sent
to the seventh international confer
ence of American States to meet on
December 8, at Montevideo.
The work has been done by a COM
mission of women created at Havana
in 1928 by the sixth Pan American
conference The commission is headed
by Doris Stevens. American feminist,
and includes women from the 81 re-
publicS of the two continents, all of
advisory capacity.
1T is the first time in the worlds
history that such an important con-
ference welcomes recommendations
from women on how to improve the
position of women" says Miss Stevens.
Conference First of Kind.
1.-THE conference in 1928 was the first
i of it's kind to ask women to DO this.
Before women had been obliged to
present reports to unwilling ears.
1T is commendable that this heml-
sphere is sufficiently enlightened to
give life to such commission. such
enthusiastic cooperation has been
given us that we feel more than hope
full the conference will take favorable
action.
Each republic has an eager and
active nucleus of women at work. Since
the sixth conference created the COM
mission Ecuador, Uruguay and Brazil
have given the vote to women; the
United States had done so earlier, and
Peru has granted municipal suffrage
to women.
I'VE have found everywhere that
property laws are grossly unfair to
women. This is specially true where
political rights have not been granted.
Take, for example, those States
where the regime of common property
exists. Almost universally the husband
has complete control of the property.
This makes marriage such partner
ship as no two business men would
enter. One partner has all the rights;
the other shares the burdens.
Until women have both political
and economic equality such degrada-
tion of women as white slavery for ex-
ample, will exist Hitherto, women sit
ting on governmental commissions have
been shunted off to study such sub
jects as this one. 1t put them in the
position of patching up something that
is caused by the inferior position of
women generally, rather than attack
ing the inferior position itself
Legal Oddities Revealed.
1.-THE work of Miss Stevens commits
sion has uncovered such legal oddities
as follows:
In Peru, for instance, women over
80 can be members of public welfare
organizations, but only on permission
of their husbands; only men can act as
witnesses to marriage ceremonies and
birth registrations.
In Costa RIGA women cannot hold
public Office; only a widowed grand
mother is permitted to act as tutor or
guardian. This prevents a widowed
mother from being guardian of her
own children.
In Cuba a wife cannot borrow on
the common property without her hus-
bands consent If he dies she can do
II only on the consent of a court. How
ever, the husband can sell or exchange
without consent OF the wife"