GONE are the days when it is acceptable for a woman to be uneducated, barefooted and pregnant," businesswoman Dr Sandra Palmer-Peart says. "A lot has happened over the last two decades, once you educate and liberate your women, everything else takes off..."

Indeed, the past several decades have seen a dramatic increase in 'woman power' - not only are women opting out of having children early and doing the love-marriage-baby-housewife thing, but more and more are choosing careers, getting educated, and becoming liberated.

"I had my first child at 18, the second at 20, the third at 22, and five more by the time I was 32," 58-year-old Joycelyn Bennett told all woman. "At that time it was normal. I had left high school and was doing a book keeping course when I met the father of the first four. I was married when I was 23 years old and went on to have five more children after the marriage."

Nowadays, having out your lot is no longer hip. Today's women are having one or two children, and later.
This, according to experts, quoted in an Observer story carried last May, is due largely to Jamaica's family planning programme, in effect since the 1970s.

According to the 2002 Jamaica Reproductive Health Survey, the total fertility rate has consistently fallen over the past 27 years, reaching 2.5 children per woman in 2002. This is an 11 per cent fall compared to 1997 and 45 per cent fall compared to 1975.

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica said that in 1997, the fertility rate among women stood at 2.8 children per woman in every 1,000 women. Three years later that number decreased to 2.25. This number continued to decline to 2.21 in 2001, 2.05 in 2002, 1.99 in 2003 and 1.93 in 2004.

Women have been making their marks in business too. The Women Business Owners of Jamaica recently commissioned a study to find out the characteristics of women business owners. It showed that:

* 20 per cent of female-run businesses have been in existence for over 20 years
* 57 per cent are sole proprietorships or partnerships
*76 per cent operate from well-defined business plans.
* 34 per cent are college or university-educated with an increasing number seeking higher education after business start-up.
-PC

Getting the help we need
There are several insttutions in Jamaica charged with promoting women's rights, and ensuring that these are on par with men's.

1. The Bureau of Women's Affairs monitors government policy on women.

2. The Association of Women's Organisations of Jamaica (AWOJA) is an umbrella organisation to co-ordinate activities of women's organisations islandwide.

3. Women's Crisis Centres help those in dire straits.

4. The Women's Political Caucus facilitates women's participation in representative politics.

5. The Women's Construction Collective trains women in construction skills and assists in obtaining employment.

6. Woman Inc promotes the welfare of women, runs a crisis centre and shelter.

7. Jamaica Household Workers Association represents the needs and interests of household workers.

-Source: Independent Jamaica Council on Human Rights(IJCHR) website.

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