  We consider the absorption of light with emission of one S(tot)=1 magnetic
excitation in systems with a spin gap induced by quantum fluctuations. We argue
that an electric dipole transition is allowed on the condition that a virtual
phonon instantaneously breaks the inversion symmetry. We derive an effective
operator for the transition and argue that the proposed theory explains the
polarized experiments in CuGeO(3) and SrCu(2)[BO(3)](2).
