The Army, which is having problems holding on to its enlisted men and women anyway, has discovered that large numbers of female soldiers and civilian employees are leaving because of sexual harassment. Pfc. Sarah Tolaro, stationed at Fort Meade, Md., told the Baltimore Sun that she was "kicked out of my first job in the Army because I wouldn't go to bed with my boss." Tolaro's problem was similar to that of thousands of other women in other kinds of jobs: "I can't prove it but I know it's true". Tolaro went on to explain, “He kept trying to get me to pose for nude pictures. He kept insinuating that as soon as I posed for him, I would get my rank”.

The right of women to work in any kind of job without being harassed by male co-workers, as well as the right of women to get promotions without having to sleep with the boss, is an important one. At the moinent, activists face the problem of proving sexual harassment, which is usually carried out in private. Until now, "women have assumed they just have to cope," remarked Maj. Gen. Jeanne Holm, who was President Ford's special assistant for women. The Army has no statistics on sexual harassment, and

Uncle wants you

to keep it in the family

finds that few formal charges are ever filed. Women in the Army say that the military structure itself, as well as the shame of bringing charges, makes it extremely difficult for them to press complaints.

-The Guardian

Jan. 2, 1980

Women Train as Coal Miners

Jobs in coal mining are practically the only option for good wages in Appalachia but until very recently, the coal mines have been virtually closed to women.

To remedy the situation, a public interest group in the eastern Tennessee area started investigating the lack of affirmative action in mining and formed the Coal Employment Project (CEP) which has worked to break down the traditional barriers to women in mining.

CEP has been cooperating with the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs of the U.S. Department of Labor, which enforces Executive Order 11246 requiring affirmative action of federal contractors, the State Human Rights Commission and interested individuals in the community. CEP has helped stimulate a policy of active enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Executive Order 11246 provisions against sex discrimination.

CEP's advocacy efforts were also influential in securing the United Mine Workers of America International Executive Board's unanimous vote to support those who were working to widen options for women in the coal industry.

This year, with funding from the Women's

Bureau, CEP developed an advocacy and training program for women miners. The first phase of the program involved contacting coal mine owners and personnel officials to inform them about the laws against sex discrimination and the need for affirmative action for women in the coal industry.

The second stage consisted of recruiting and training women for mining jobs. The initial recruiting effort (primarily ads placed in local papers) resulted in over 100 inquiries for approximately 20 training slots. Nineteen of the women selected completed the two-week training program.

As part of this training program, women were instructed in areas such as familiarity with tools and terminology, assertiveness and communication skills and how to deal with harassment.

In spite of some indications of a slowdown in mining operations in the eastern Tennessee area, it is expected that all of the trained women will have found jobs in the mines by the end of this month.

Pro Whose Life?

"We have seen, in recent days, pictures of starving children and have read the accounts of those who died and will die. If I could bring before this House just one of these children and lay upon the hearts and minds of our colleagues the enormity of this tragic

NOW ON TO MORE

IMPORTANT

THINGS

LIKE...

MY VOTE FOR EXTENDING

NUCLEAR ARMS!

Sulbul © Las

-Ohio Report Vol. 5, No. 6

situation, I know that no American could turn his or her back on that child." John Buchanan (D-AL) made these remarks during consideration of an amendment to a refugee assistance authorization bill which will provide $30 million over the next six months to the hundreds of thousands of women, children and men facing death by starvation and disease in Cambodia. The amendment passed the House overwhelmingly, 362-10. Only ten Congressmen voted against the emergency aid measure: Adam Benjamin (D-IN), James Collins (R-TX), Daniel Crane (R-IL), William Dannemeyer (R-CA), George Hansen (R-ID), Richard Icherd (D-MO), Richard Kelly (R-FL), Marvin Leath (D-TX), Larry McDonald (D-GA), and Ron Paul (R-TX). These ten men would "turn their backs" on the starving children of Cambodia, and yet in the name of life all ten consistently vote in favor of restrictive abortion legislation.. They call themselves "pro-life" even as they prove the term a sham. We have long known that "pro-life" really translates into "pro-fetus," and this vote reconfirms it.

-NARAL Newsletter December 1979

Women in Unions

According to a survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of women who are members of labor organizations has increased as women now constitute 27.4 percent of all organized workers (6.7 million women in all).

Data show that labor unions gained 455,000 women members between 1976 and 1978 while employee associations lost 231,000 women members. This shift accounts for a significant proportion of the overall membership change in the two types of organizations.

-Ohio Report Vol. 5, No. 6

DES Affects Men

(HerSay)-DES has been linked to sterility in the sons of women who took the synthetic estrogen iru to prevent miscarriages. The drug had previously been linked to vaginal cancer in daughters of women who were given it during pregnancy.

Now Dr. David Schottenfeld of the Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center in Baltimore says DES may be responsible for causing testicular cancer in men, as well as undescended or malformed testicles which in turn contribute to sterility. In a study of 190 men with testicular cancer and 166 men without cancer, the incidence of undescended testes was more than three times greater in the men who had cancer of the testes.

CETA Eligibility

Approximately 18 million of all U.S. women 16 years and over (or about 22 percent) are poor and eligible for Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs, the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor estimates. Of these. 2.8 million are CETA-eligible displaced homemakers.

According to special tabulations based on Census Bureau data, Region Five (in which Ohio is included) has approximately 16,756 women 16 years or older and 3,235 (or 19.3 percent) of these women are eligible for CETA programs. Of that number, five hundred are CETA-eligible displaced homemakers.

Copies of CETA-eligibility tables for the U.S., the 10 regions, all states, the District of Columbia and selected Standard Metropolitan Areas are available from the Women's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. 20210 and from the Women's Bureau, Region Five Office, 230 S. Dearborn St., 8th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60604.

-Ohio Report Vol. 5, No. 6

Tampax Troubles

(HerSay)-Women Health International, Washington, D.C. based organization, is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to start requiring that tampon manufacturers label tampons for their fiber and chemical contents. Currently, the FDA has no rule for labeling tampons, which are considered a Class 2 medical device in the FDA Code.

Women Health is urging women to write to the FDA to request immediate labeling of tampons, and to send a copy of their letters to their congressional representatives. Write to Dr. Lillian Yin, Division of Ob/Gyn Medical Devices, Food and Drug Administration, 8757 Georgia Avenue, Silver Springs, Md 20910.

January, 1980/What She Wants/Page 5