User:Juliaschilz/Women in Russia

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Political participation[edit]

At the national level, the most notable manifestation of women's newfound political success has been the Women of Russia party, which won 11 percent of the vote and twenty-five seats in the 1993 national parliamentary elections. Subsequently, the party became active in a number of issues, including the opposition to the military campaign in Chechnya that began in 1994. In the 1995 national parliamentary elections, the Women of Russia chose to maintain its platform unchanged, emphasizing social issues such as the protection of children and women rather than entering into a coalition with other liberal parties. As a result, the party failed to reach the 5 percent threshold of votes required for proportional representation in the new State Duma, gaining only three seats in the single-seat portion of the elections. The party considered running a candidate in the 1996 presidential election but remained outside the crowded field.

A smaller organization, the Russian Women's Party, ran as part of an unsuccessful coalition with several other splinter parties in the 1995 elections. A few women, such as Ella Pamfilova of the Republican Party, Socialist Workers' Party chief Lyudmila Vartazarova, and Valeriya Novodvorskaya, leader of the Democratic Union, have established themselves as influential political figures. Pamfilova has gained particular stature as an advocate on behalf of women and elderly people.

Contemporary situation[edit]

Article 19 of the 1993 Constitution of Russia guarantees equal rights to women and men.^[1] Under the Labour law, women have the right to paid maternity leave, paid parental leave, and unpaid parental leave, that can be extended until the child is 3.^[2]

Women now have for generations worked outside the home; dual income families are the most common: the employment rate of women and men is 66.1% and 76.2% respectively (age 15-64, as of 2018). Nevertheless, women often face discrimination in the labour market; and the law itself lists 100 occupations^[3] that are forbidden to women, as they are considered too dangerous to their health, especially reproductive health (until 2019 the figure was 456 ^[4]). Despite this, many Russian women have achieved success in business.^[5]

The total fertility rate of Russia is 1.61 as of 2015,^[6] which, although below replacement rate of 2.1, is still higher than in the 1990s.^[7]

In the post-Soviet era, the position of women in Russian society remains at least as problematic as in previous decades. In both cases, nominal legal protections for women either have failed to address the existing conditions or have failed to supply adequate support. In the 1990s, increasing economic pressures and shrinking government programs left women with little choice but to seek employment, although most available positions were as substandard as in the Soviet period, and generally jobs of any sort were more difficult to obtain. Such conditions contribute heavily to Russia's declining birthrate and the general deterioration of the family. At the same time, feminist groups and social organizations have begun advancing the cause of women's rights in what remains a strongly traditional society.

In 1999, there were only four (at most) women named as part of the Nezavisimaya gazeta's monthly ranking of influential Russian politicians, the highest-ranking being Tatyana Dyachenko, Boris Yeltsin's daughter.^[8] There amount of women in Russian politics has increased; at the federal level, this is partially due to electoral victories by Women of Russia bloc in the Duma.^[9] While there has been an increase in the share of women in politics in Russia, this has not led to increased gender equality in Russian society overall.^[10] A 2016 study argues that women's descriptive representation in Russian politics will not align with an ability for them to demonstrate substantive representation because female politicians in Russia are "boxed in by informal rules and by parallel institutions and posts, with virtually no opportunities to advocate for women's interests. Putin's regime has promoted women to be “stand ins” during times of crisis or change, “loyalists” and “showgirls” when the regime needs to showcase elections and representation, and “cleaners” when the appearance of corruption threatens the regime."^[10]

There is significant modern public sentiment that opposes the presence of women in Russian politics. The findings of a 2017 independent research study reveal a culture "not ready" for female leaders. In 2017, one in three Russians "do not approve of women in the political sphere." In 2016, only twenty percent of respondents felt this way. The same study also concluded that the 2017 response against gender equality among the "high echelons of power" was stronger (38%), comparatively, than in 2016, when only 28% of respondents submitted these sentiments. Furthermore, only 33% of respondents would welcome a female president. ^[11]

Decriminalization of domestic violence[edit]

In January 2017, the lower house of the Russian legislature decriminalized first time domestic violence. This applies to first offenses which do not cause serious injury, decreasing from a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment to a maximum of fifteen days in police custody. It became an administrative offense, with the penalty for first offenses falling under the Administrative Code, these usually being fines or suspended sentences if the accused is a family member, which constitutes the vast majority of domestic violence cases. For second offense and beyond, it is considered a criminal offense, prosecuted under the Criminal Code. The move was widely seen as part of a state-sponsored turn to traditional values under Putin and shift away from liberal notions of individual and human rights. President Putin signed the bill into law in February 2017. The Guardian reported in February 2017 that "according to some estimates, one woman dies every 40 minutes from domestic abuse." Human Rights Watch responded extremely critically to this legislation, presenting recommendations to the Russian legislature to reverse course by increasing protections for victims of domestic violence. To substantiate this recommendation, Human Rights Watch cites an independent study which concludes Russian women are three times as likely to encounter violence at the hands of a family member or loved one than a stranger. Furthermore, Human Rights Watch observed that only 3% of domestic violence cases in Russia go to trial, and notes that the 2017 decriminalization makes it even harder to prosecute abusers.^[12]

The 2017 decriminalization of domestic violence opposed over two decades of activism in favor of increased penalties for abusers. In 1993, upon the first State Duma, the Women of Russia party drafted a bill against domestic violence; a petition in favor of codifying a stance against such abuse received 884,000 signatories nationwide.^[13] A 2012-2016 effort to craft a bill which allowed for victims of domestic violence to file restraining orders against their abusers, as well as fund shelters and "guarantee judicial and psychological help," was ultimately rejected.^[14] In 2019, a group of women's rights activists and female politicians promoted another bill against domestic violence. Ultimately, this effort was rejected as well, most notably by the Russian Orthodox Church, whose "Patriarchal Commission on the Family and Protection of Motherhood and Childhood" lobbied against the bill, labeling it "anti-family" and "reducing the rights and freedoms of people who have chosen a familial way of life and birth and the raising of children." The commission further claims that the bill "unjustly overburdens families and parents" and "introduces punishment for family life."^[14] Protesters want to keep government interference away from the home, however, a study by St. Petersburg State University finds that 90% of domestic violence cases take place within the home, and that 85-91% of victims of martial violence are women.^[15]

Lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic trapped many women at home with their abusers. Russia initially denied a spike in domestic violence, despite national domestic violence organizations reporting their inability to keep up with a steep increase in calls from victims. ^[16] Women were fined for breaking quarantine in order to escape their abusers until May of 2020, when the government finally declared domestic violence an emergency in which breaking quarantine was acceptable. ^[16] In March of 2020, Putin signed a bill increasing the severity of punishments for breaking quarantine, which include fines up to $640 USD (more for companies and public officials). If their actions caused others health issues or even death, those who break quarantine would receive a minimum of 5-7 extra years in prison and fines worth up to $4,800 USD.^[17]Meanwhile, under Russia's domestic violence legislation, only abuse that results in a victim's hospitalization is criminal; first-time offenders are punished with a fine worth merely $88 USD.^[18]

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