DOCSLIB.ORG

Report of the Russian Federation on Progress Achieved and Obstacles

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Report of the Russian Federation on Progress Achieved and Obstacles Report of the Russian Federation on progress achieved and obstacles encountered in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the Twenty-Third Special Session of the General Assembly Section One: Priorities, achievements, challenges and setbacks 1. The most important achievements, challenges and set-backs in progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women. Promotion of gender equality is considered as a tool for enhancing personal development and promoting freedom of choice for women and men. Recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, provisions of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other documents are considered in practical work. Resources of the Russian society focus on creating favourable conditions for the realization of equal opportunities for every citizen regardless of sex, age, nationality or other status. The following measures contributed towards the progress of the empowerment of women over the past 5 years: - Strengthening of legislation related to birth and childcare allowance and implementation of the Maternity (family) Capital Programme; - Enhancement of women's competitive skills in the labour market through professional training provided to women on maternity leave; - Introduction of incremental pay increase for public sector workers, predominantly represented by women (such as education, science, healthcare, culture and social security); - Introduction of measures facilitating favourable conditions to combine child-rearing responsibilities, including provision of care for children with disabilities and special needs, with work (by guaranteeing access to pre-school education for children aged 3 to 7 and introducing legislative provision granting request for paid annual leave at a convenient time to a parent raising a disabled child); - Improvement of health care services during pregnancy, birth and the post- natal period in accordance with the Birth Certificate Programme and opening of new perinatal centers; - Strengthening of support for small- and medium-sized enterprises owned by women and female entrepreneurship; - Provision of assistance to socially-oriented non-profit organizations supporting empowerment of women, families and children. Significant results in progress towards the empowerment of women achieved through the implementation of the Concept for Demographic Policy of the Russian 2 Federation for the period up to 2025 approved by the Presidential Decree dated 9 October 2007 No.1351; the National Children's Strategy 2012–2017 approved by the Presidential Decree dated 1 June 2012 No.761; the Concept of the State Family Policy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025 approved by the Government Order dated 25 August 2014 No.1618-r; the Strategy of Actions for the Benefit of Senior Citizens in the Russian Federation up to 2025 approved by the Government Order dated 5 February 2016 No.164-r; the National Strategy for Women 2017-2022 approved by the Government Order dated 8 March 2017 No.410-r; as well as relevant action plans for their implementation and state programmes in the areas of education, health and social support. Implementation of the Concept for Demographic Policy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025 includes the following activities: public health campaigns, mortality reduction initiatives, campaigns towards prevention and reduction of abortion rate, maternal and neonatal mortality rates, creating conditions and motivation for a healthy lifestyle, improving public support system concerning childbirth and childcare support to families, introducing facilitating measures for reconciling work and family life, satisfying the needs of the population in childcare and preschool facilities, promoting employment of parents of young children, and etc. Different measures have been implemented within the framework of the Concept of the State Family Policy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025. Such measures include fulfilment of the necessary conditions for family formation and development as an independent and a fully-fledged entity of family policy, promotion of motherhood and fatherhood image, support and protection of families, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood, and safeguarding traditional family values. The following measures are included in the implementation plan within the Strategy of Actions for the Benefit of Senior Citizens in the Russian Federation up to 2025: establishment of strategic frameworks focused on improvement of well- being and social and cultural development of senior citizens; introduction of activities aimed to improve elderly health and increase their life expectancy. The National Children's Strategy 2012–2017 incorporates a set of actions towards the reduction of poverty and income shortages of families with children and aims to fill the gaps in pre-school educational facilities, as well as introduce measures to reduce number of socially vulnerable families, promote importance of family values and responsible parenthood, improve the quality and accessibility of services for families with children living in difficult circumstances, reduce cases of child abuse and domestic violence, and reduce number of orphans and children left without parental care. The National Strategy for Women 2017-2022 contains actions aimed at safeguarding the health of women of all ages, promoting economic advancement of women, fostering continuous improvement of their income and welfare, preventing social disadvantage and violence against women, enhancing women's participation 3 in political and public life and advancing official statists related to matters of women's position in society. Women are actively involved in social and political activities; represent legislative authorities, civic chambers, public councils and committees across all levels. Non-governmental women's organisations are traditionally socially oriented and focus primarily on family support, children, women, education, culture, social welfare, ecology, legal education, civic engagement, charity, volunteering and support provided to victims of violence. Financial support of these organizations is provided, including through the Presidential Grant Program and from budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Women's representation in the Government of the Russian Federation has increased. At present there are two women occupying a position of the Deputy Prime Ministers, compared to one in 2017. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education are headed by women. There are 23 female deputy federal ministers (and 130 males holding the same position). Ten women serve as assistants/advisors of the federal ministers (with 32 men having the same position). The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (the upper house of Russian Parliament) is represented by 28 women, including the Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly and the Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly. There are 70 female members in the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the seventh convocation (the previous convocation had 21 women). 4 out of 25 the State Duma Committees are headed by women, with 8 women holding the position of the First Vice-Chairperson of the Committee and 10 women holding the position of the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee. Women also hold key positions, such as the Governor of the Bank of Russia, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation and the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights. 2. Which have been the top five priorities for accelerating progress for women and girls over the past five years through laws, policies and/or programmes? 1. Strengthening of support provided to families with children (refer to points 1 and 10). 2. Promoting employment of female parents with young children (refer to point 7). Federal Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises plc (SME Corporation) implements the following programmes: - “ABC's of Entrepreneurship”, educational programme on setting up business from scratch and “School of Entrepreneurship”, programme on business development. 16,524 persons completed these programmes in 2018, 58% of them were women. 4 - “Mom Entrepreneur” educational programme (hereinafter referred to as “Programme”) specifically aimed at women on maternity leave and mothers of minor children, as well as women registered at the public employment agency. Programme is delivered over five full days and covers basic business skills, and effective business management, provides practical immersion in the business environment done by experienced experts and representatives of regional entities involved in development of small and medium enterprises. An independent jury selects best business plans presented by women and awards grants helping them to start their own businesses. In 2018 the Programme was implemented in 52 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Number of female participants amounted to 2,170 persons and 42 of them were winners. SME Corporation successfully introduced the SME Business Navigator, an information and analytical system, available free of charge to any person looking to start a new business or develop an existing one and can be accessed on the SME Business Navigator Internet Portal located at smbn.ru. The system is also available
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 the Woman Question in Russia
    The Woman Question in Russia: Contradictions and Ambivalence Elizabeth A. Wood The Woman Question in nineteenth and early twentieth century Russia focused principally on the position of women in the family and society. It was one of the so-called “burning” social issues that occupied the Russian intelligentsia in the second half of the nineteenth century, questions such as the emancipation of the peasants and the Jews, the rise of national consciousness. Yet it was perhaps the least straight-forward of the burning questions, the one most burdened by contradictions and ambivalence. It was, for one thing, very much a question about the place of men and masculinity under autocracy. Although it ostensibly addressed notions of how to improve women’s lot, it also contained within it and even perpetuated deeply misogynist notions of women’s backwardness. The early “woman question” was also often a code phrase for authors seeking to evade the strict censorship under Tsar Nicholas I (1825-1855); they wrote about women as a way of talking about revolution and radical social change. Contemporaries perceived the Woman Question as a native development that had organic Russian roots. Yet in actuality it came to Russia as an import, borrowing many Western ideas, yet melding them with Russian intellectual and moral traditions in a new synthesis. Historians and literature scholars debate the timing and nature of the earliest appearances of the Woman Question. Most general discussions date it from the time of discussions of the Emancipation of the peasantry, i.e., the late 1850s and early 1860s. Yet it is easy to see the roots in changes under Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, as well as in the 1830s-40s [1-4].
    [Show full text]
  • Revolution in Real Time: the Russian Provisional Government, 1917
    ODUMUNC 2020 Crisis Brief Revolution in Real Time: The Russian Provisional Government, 1917 ODU Model United Nations Society Introduction seventy-four years later. The legacy of the Russian Revolution continues to be keenly felt The Russian Revolution began on 8 March 1917 to this day. with a series of public protests in Petrograd, then the Winter Capital of Russia. These protests But could it have gone differently? Historians lasted for eight days and eventually resulted in emphasize the contingency of events. Although the collapse of the Russian monarchy, the rule of history often seems inventible afterwards, it Tsar Nicholas II. The number of killed and always was anything but certain. Changes in injured in clashes with the police and policy choices, in the outcome of events, government troops in the initial uprising in different players and different accidents, lead to Petrograd is estimated around 1,300 people. surprising outcomes. Something like the Russian Revolution was extremely likely in 1917—the The collapse of the Romanov dynasty ushered a Romanov Dynasty was unable to cope with the tumultuous and violent series of events, enormous stresses facing the country—but the culminating in the Bolshevik Party’s seizure of revolution itself could have ended very control in November 1917 and creation of the differently. Soviet Union. The revolution saw some of the most dramatic and dangerous political events the Major questions surround the Provisional world has ever known. It would affect much Government that struggled to manage the chaos more than Russia and the ethnic republics Russia after the Tsar’s abdication.
    [Show full text]
  • Background Guide, and to Issac and Stasya for Being Great Friends During Our Weird Chicago Summer
    Russian Duma 1917 (DUMA) MUNUC 33 ONLINE 1 Russian Duma 1917 (DUMA) | MUNUC 33 Online TABLE OF CONTENTS ______________________________________________________ CHAIR LETTERS………………………….….………………………….……..….3 ROOM MECHANICS…………………………………………………………… 6 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM………………………….……………..…………......9 HISTORY OF THE PROBLEM………………………………………………………….16 ROSTER……………………………………………………….………………………..23 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………..…………….. 46 2 Russian Duma 1917 (DUMA) | MUNUC 33 Online CHAIR LETTERS ____________________________________________________ My Fellow Russians, We stand today on the edge of a great crisis. Our nation has never been more divided, more war- stricken, more fearful of the future. Yet, the promise and the greatness of Russia remains undaunted. The Russian Provisional Government can and will overcome these challenges and lead our Motherland into the dawn of a new day. Out of character. To introduce myself, I’m a fourth-year Economics and History double major, currently writing a BA thesis on World War II rationing in the United States. I compete on UChicago’s travel team and I additionally am a CD for our college conference. Besides that, I am the VP of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, previously a member of an all-men a cappella group and a proud procrastinator. This letter, for example, is about a month late. We decided to run this committee for a multitude of reasons, but I personally think that Russian in 1917 represents such a critical point in history. In an unlikely way, the most autocratic regime on Earth became replaced with a socialist state. The story of this dramatic shift in government and ideology represents, to me, one of the most interesting parts of history: that sometimes facts can be stranger than fiction.
    [Show full text]
  • A Cross-Cultural, Comparative Analysis of the Domestic Violence Policies of Nicaragua and Russia Jo-Ann Della Giustina Bridgewater State College
    Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 10 | Issue 4 Article 3 May-2009 A Cross-cultural, Comparative Analysis of the Domestic Violence Policies of Nicaragua and Russia Jo-Ann Della Giustina Bridgewater State College Follow this and additional works at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Della Giustina, Jo-Ann (2009). A Cross-cultural, Comparative Analysis of the Domestic Violence Policies of Nicaragua and Russia. Journal of International Women's Studies, 10(4), 34-52. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol10/iss4/3 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2009 Journal of International Women’s Studies. A Cross-cultural, Comparative Analysis of the Domestic Violence Policies of Nicaragua and Russia By Jo-Ann Della-Giustina 1 Abstract This is a cross-cultural comparative analysis of the domestic violence policies of Nicaragua and Russia. While these two countries have striking differences, they both had socialist revolutions that established workers and farmers governments. The Soviet Union was the main economic and political support for Nicaragua following the 1979 Frente Sandinista Para Liberación Nacional (FSLN - Sandinista Front for National Liberation) revolution. This article examines the domestic violence policies of post-Soviet Russia and Nicaragua. While both countries have serious domestic violence problems, only Nicaragua is taking an aggressive stance to eradicate the problem.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom of Expression in Russia As It Relates to Criticism of the Government
    Emory International Law Review Volume 27 Issue 2 2013 Freedom of Expression in Russia as it Relates to Criticism of the Government Tatyana Beschastna Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/eilr Recommended Citation Tatyana Beschastna, Freedom of Expression in Russia as it Relates to Criticism of the Government, 27 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 1105 (2013). Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/eilr/vol27/iss2/10 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Emory Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Emory International Law Review by an authorized editor of Emory Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BESCHASTNA GALLEYSPROOFS2 5/1/2014 9:09 AM FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN RUSSIA AS IT RELATES TO CRITICISM OF THE GOVERNMENT Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. —Martin Luther King Jr. INTRODUCTION Freedom of expression in Russia appears to be slowly eroding, Russian Government promising to protect human rights, including the right to freedom of expression. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the transition from “Old” Russia to “New” Russia were associated with many new hopes and promises.1 One such promise was the establishment of new human rights standards, including the fundamental right to freedom of expression. This promise was made by the ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) in May of 1998.2 Previously under the oppressive governments of Stalin and his successors, Soviet Russia enjoyed no freedom of expression.3 Under Mikhail Gorbachev, Russia began a new movement commonly known as “Perestroika,” a Russian word that literally translates to “restructuring.”4 Perestroika ushered in a new era of hope and freedom and was heralded both domestically and internationally as an opportunity to change the oppressive policies of the past and establish new respects for the rights of the individual.5 The collapse of the 1 Mikhail S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gender Gap in Russian Politics and Elections
    The Gender Gap in Russian Politics and Elections PONARS Policy Memo No. 259 Valerie Sperling Clark University October 2002 Introduction After the Soviet Communist Party's regime was replaced by a multiparty system in the 1990s, voting in Russia became a subject of intense interest to political scientists. Voters in Russia, as elsewhere, now make choices based on many issues, such as perceptions about the economy. Demographic characteristics, such as ethnicity and income, highly predictive in the United States, and age, particularly salient in Russia, also play a role in voter choice. In recent years, scholars of U.S. politics have paid increasing attention to the role of gender as a demographic characteristic contributing to voter preference and have labeled this phenomenon the electoral “gender gap.” The availability of reliable polling data in Russia has now made it possible to explore the gendered dynamics of Russian politics as well. What Is the Gender Gap? The gender gap is a term used largely to describe several phenomena, including the under-representation of women in political positions and the fact that women and men often differ in the political parties they support on Election Day. Several aspects of the gender gap are evident in U.S. politics. For instance, American female and male voters differ in turnout rates, party identification, issue positions, and vote choices. The proportion of men elected and appointed as politicians to women elected and appointed as politicians in the United States is highly skewed as well, with men dominating the political field across the board. The gender gap in voter choice in the United States has made a large impression in recent years.
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S
    Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests Jim Nichol, Coordinator Specialist in Russian and Eurasian Affairs November 4, 2010 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL33407 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests Summary Russia made some uneven progress in democratization during the 1990s, but according to most observers, this limited progress was reversed after Vladimir Putin rose to power in 1999-2000. During this period, the State Duma (lower legislative chamber) came to be dominated by government-approved parties and opposition democratic parties were excluded. Putin also abolished gubernatorial elections and established government ownership or control over major media and industries, including the energy sector. The methods used by the Putin government to suppress insurgency in the North Caucasus demonstrated a low regard for the rule of law and scant regard for human rights, according to critics. Dmitriy Medvedev, Vladimir Putin’s chosen successor and long-time protégé, was elected president in March 2008 and immediately chose Putin as prime minister. President Medvedev has continued policies established during the Putin presidency. In August 2008, the Medvedev-Putin “tandem” directed wide-scale military operations against Georgia and unilaterally recognized the independence of Georgia’s separatist South Ossetia and Abkhazia, actions that were censured by most of the international community but which resulted in few, minor, and only temporary international sanctions against Russia. Russia’s economy began to recover from the Soviet collapse in 1999, led mainly by oil and gas exports, but the sharp decline in oil and gas prices in mid-2008 and other aspects of the global economic downturn put a halt to this growth.
    [Show full text]
  • Full Text (Pdf)
    Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics, 4(2), 25 ISSN: 2468-4414 Russian Suffragists and International Suffragist Organisations: Solidarity, Discipleship, Victory Irina Iukina 1* Published: September 8, 2020 ABSTRACT This article serves to throw light on how suffragism developed in Russia at the beginning of the 20th Century. In 1905, the first Russian electoral law was enacted, granting men, but not women, the right to vote. Russian suffragists began forming organisations with the specific goal of achieving women’s voting. This paper intends to describe the strategies and tactics Russian suffragists employed in order to achieve female suffrage. This will include analysing the successful practices of their ‘Western sisters’, as Russian suffragists labelled their foreign colleagues, and adapting their practices to the circumstances prevailing in Russia, as well as promoting suffragism in the Russian press as well as maintaining contacts with international suffragist organisations. The result was the granting of full voting rights to Russian women in 1917. The history of Russian suffragism is barely known in the overall history of suffragism worldwide. This was the result of Soviet propaganda which instilled the idea that women’s suffrage in Russia was solely due to the Soviet authority. In modern research, this trend has been overcome, though we still do not know much about Russia’s key contributions to suffragism. The article also serves as a tribute to a majority of unknown Russian suffragists for their immense efforts achieved the right voting for women in Russia. Keywords: Russian suffragists, women’s suffrage, international suffragist organisations, sisterhood, solidarity INTRODUCTION The history of interaction Russian suffragism with international women’s organisations, as well as national suffragism movements of Europe and America is insufficiently studied.
    [Show full text]
  • Melia Testimony.Pdf
    Testimony by Thomas O. Melia Deputy Executive Director, Freedom House Before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe Hearing on Human Rights and U.S.-Russia Relations: Implications for the Future Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 562 July 27, 2006 1:00 PM Mr. Chairman and distinguished Commissioners, Freedom House appreciates this opportunity to testify about the deteriorating democracy and human rights situation in Russia today, its implications for the future – and the American response. We gather today not only in the immediate aftermath of the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, but in the opening days of the campaign that will culminate with critical parliamentary elections next year in the Russian Federation. Having spent a week in Moscow last month, I can offer some personal observations as well as convey to you the findings from recent reports published by Freedom House about Russia. Freedom House sent a multinational delegation, led by our executive director, Jennifer Windsor, and including some of our research team that focuses on Russia. We went to Moscow just prior to the G-8 summit quite deliberately to engage personally with a broad range of Russians – including the community of democratic activists and politicians who mainly now find themselves outside of government, journalists and human rights groups, scholars and NGOs, as well as with those in the Kremlin and others sympathetic to Vladimir Putin’s administration. While there, we released our most recent report on Russia, from our survey called Nations in Transit, at a well attended press conference on June 14, and so these findings were conveyed to at least some Russians through the dwindling array of still independent newspapers and radio stations in Moscow.
    [Show full text]
  • Female Entrepreneurship in Russia: Women Wanted!
    Master Thesis Female Entrepreneurship in Russia: Women Wanted! Authors: Nataliya Seliverstova & Aleksandra Somkova Supervisor: Mikael Lundgren Examiner: Tomi J. Kallio Term: VT18 Subject: Leadership and Management in International Context Level: Master Degree Course code: 4FE75E Abstract Female entrepreneurship, as a subject of the academic research, has gained a lot of popularity in the recent years. A considerable amount of attention to this field has been caused by the growing recognition that female entrepreneurship has a profound impact on the economic development. Nevertheless, the potential of female entrepreneurs is far from being fully realized in many economies. Having chosen Russia as the area of investigation, the researchers intend to examine female entrepreneurship and discover specific obstacles contained in it. Therefore, this study aims at discovering preventing factors that dissuade Russian women from stepping into entrepreneurship. For the purposes of this work, qualitative research approach is followed, with the actors view and qualitative content analysis being applied. Case studies and interviews are used to collect data about female entrepreneurs' opinion on the general state of female entrepreneurship in Russia, their attitudes toward it and assumptions about existing barriers. The results of the research demonstrate that distinguished and described barriers of female entrepreneurship hold different level of influence. The researchers also emphasize that actual barriers do not fully comply with those that are generally perceived by Russians and broadly described by scholars. From the study it is revealed that the most influential barriers are the following: managerial incompetence together with financial illiteracy, mistrust to the government and the myth of female entrepreneurship, with corruption and social prejudices being of less significance.
    [Show full text]
  • C:\Working Papers\10868.Wpd
    NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES AUTOPSY ON AN EMPIRE: UNDERSTANDING MORTALITY IN RUSSIA AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION Elizabeth Brainerd David M. Cutler Working Paper 10868 http://www.nber.org/papers/w10868 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 October 2004 David Cutler is grateful to the National Institutes on Aging for research support. Elizabeth Brainerd’s research for this paper was supported in part through Grant Number S-LMAQM-00-H-0146 provided by the United States Department of State and administered by the William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan. David Cutler’s research is supported by the National Institutes on Aging. The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any of the sponsoring organizations. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Bureau of Economic Research. ©2004 by Elizabeth Brainerd and David M. Cutler. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source. Theoretical Foundation of Buffer Stock Saving Elizabeth Brainerd and David M. Cutler NBER Working Paper No. 10868 October 2004 JEL No. I1, P0 ABSTRACT Male life expectancy at birth fell by over six years in Russia between 1989 and 1994. Many other countries of the former Soviet Union saw similar declines, and female life expectancy fell as well. Using cross-country and Russian household survey data, we assess six possible explanations for this upsurge in mortality.
    [Show full text]
  • Dialogues on the Socialization of Russian Daughters Into Womanhood
    FEMININITY AND THE DOUBLE BURDEN: DIALOGUES ON THE SOCIALIZATION OF RUSSIAN DAUGHTERS INTO WOMANHOOD Natalia Roudakova, Stanford University and Deborah S. Ballard-Reisch, University of Nevada, Reno Introduction In the last two decades there has been a mini-boom of publications on Russian women’s issues (Hurych & Goldstein, 1995; Ruthchild, 1993). There may be several explanations as to why the ‘women question’ in Russia has received so much attention recently. On the one hand, the lives of Russian women have been of great interest to western feminist scholars, as Soviet Russia was the first country in the world to officially proclaim the full liberation of women, legally protecting their equal political and civil rights (Tolkunova, 1985). Another source of attention to Russian women’s issues was the public debate about women in the USSR, launched by Soviet officials in the middle of the 1960s in an attempt to solve the demographic crisis (Attwood, 1990; Buckley, 1986; Lapidus, 1983). The official discussions about the position of women in Soviet society continued well into the 1980s, challenging the country’s sociologists, economists, demographers, and lawyers to solve the problems of falling birth rates and the declining economic productivity of working women (Buckley, 1986). The third large body of studies on Russian women’s issues has been done by Russian feminists, whose writings emerged separately from their Western counterparts and had been ‘underground’ prior to perestroika (Mamonova, 1994, 1989). In addition, a number of ‘anti-feminist’ articles appeared in Western and Russian press as a reaction to the feminist treatment of Russian women’s issues (Tolstaya, 1995, 1990).
    [Show full text]