Monica Felton (WIDF Vice-President) writes in 1954 on the Second Congress of Gerwani, which she attended: 349 delegates, 80,000 members, a meeting with President Sukarno, resolutions on West Irian, the 1955 elections, a nationwide marriage law, democratic rights and support for the government against armed gangs. She s
Java-Bode, 23 April 1954, p. 2: Gerwani held a Wednesday-evening meeting at Adhuc Stat to welcome foreign women's delegates. Australian delegate Allison Diekei, Dutch delegate Rie Lips and Soviet delegate Alexandra Kholopova spoke on women's position in their countries; Kholopova also described study opportunities for
De Waarheid, 12 May 1954, p. 5: Rie Lips's account of her Java trip: plantation workers' wages (about 3 rupiah per day), child labour on tea and rubber estates, and volunteer village schools. Quotes the Gerwani congress appeal that those who can read should teach others; Soviet delegate Alexandra Kolopowa speaks; photo
Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 1 June 1954, p. 9, report of Allison Dickie, Victorian president of the Union of Australian Women, on her return from an Indonesian women's conference in Jakarta (360 delegates for 60,000 women; Dutch WIDF delegates present). She describes sex equality in the provisional constitution but