WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN UKRAINE Myroslava Antonovych INTRODUCTION The independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union in 1991 meant not only political liberation but the assumption of new obligations concerning human rights. Questions arose in Ukraine regarding Ukraine's existing treaty commitments and the possible ratification of new human rights treaties. By 1995, Ukraine's human rights record received a better-than-passing grade in the U.S. Department of State's Country Report on Human Rights Practices.1 Yet, much remains to be done in the sphere of human rights in Ukraine, particularly concerning the human rights of women. A review of the literature on women's issues in Ukraine showed that the legal rights of Ukrainian women have not been the subject of separate research. However, there are several publications which focus on the role of women in Ukrainian public life.2 Further, several books and papers are devoted to famous Ukrainian women who played important roles in Ukrainian and world political affairs.3 Numerous mono- graphs reveal the status of women in the Soviet Union.4 Furthermore, articles regard- 1. 1 U.S. DEPT OF STATE, COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES FOR 1995 (Mar. 1996). In March 1996, this report was submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate, and to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives. iSeeYaro Bihun, State Department Says Ukraine Makes Progress on Human Rights, UKRAINIAN WEEKLY, Mar. 24, 1996, at 1. 2. MARTHA BOHACHEVSKY-CHOMIAK, FEMINISTS DESPITE THEMSELVES: WOMEN IN UKRAINIAN COM MUNITY LIFE 1884-1939 (1988); MARTHA BOHACHEVSKY-CHOMIAK, DUMA UKRAINY: ZHINOCHOHO RODU (1993) (Duma of Ukraine of the Feminine Gender), which includes a section entitled, Women, History, and Human Rights. The role of women in Ukrainian history is further analyzed in other books, including A Woman and a State: IVAN KUZYCH-BEREZOVSKYI, ZHINKA I DERZHAVA (2d ed.1994); Women in the History of Ukraine: OLES' KOZULYA, ZHINKYV ISTORIYI UKRAINY (1993); Outstanding Women of Ukraine: OL LUHOVYI, VYZNACHNE ZHINOTSTVO UKRAYINI (2d ed. 1994); FRANSES SVYRIPA, WEDDED TO THE CAUSE: UKRAINIAN-CANADIAN WOMEN AND ETHNIC IDENTITY 1891-1991 (1992); and WOMAN OF UKRAINE: HER PART ON THE SCENE OF HISTORY, IN LITERATURE, ARTS, AND STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM (1955) [hereinafter WOMAN OF UKRAINE], published by the Ukrainian National Women's League of America, and 500 UKRAINIAN MARTYRED WOMEN (Stephanie Halychyn ed., 1956). 3. See, e.g., Y. ROLLE, ZHINKY PRY CHYHYRUNSKOMU DVORI (1996); DE KE DE SENT-EMUR, ANNA RUSSE, REINE DE FRANCE; I. FYLYPCHAK, ANNA YAROSLAVNA-KOROLEVA FRANTSIYI (1995); A. LOBANOV-ROSTOVSKY, UNE PRINCESSES RUSSE, REINEDE FRANCEAU XI SlECLE (1829). 4. See, e.g., THE ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE SOVIET UNION (Donald Brown ed., 1968); NORTON DODGE, WOMEN IN THE SOVIET ECONOMY; THEIR ROLE IN ECONOMIC, SCIENTIFIC, AND TECHNI- 701 702 • Women and International Human Rights Law ing Ukrainian women have regularly appeared in Our Life, a journal published in New York by the Ukrainian National Women's League of America. And a number of arti- cles on Ukrainian feminism by Professor Bohachevsky-Chomiak and Maxim Tarnawshy have been published in several American journals.5 Nevertheless, the topic of women's rights in Ukraine still needs a thorough and detailed interpretation and expansion. In an attempt to conform to international standards, Ukraine is a signatory to many international human rights instruments. Ukraine was among the first of the for- mer Soviet Republics to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.6 Subsequently, Ukraine ratified the Convention on the Political Rights of Women,7 the Convention on the Nationality of Married Women,8 and the Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.9 Among the conventions of the ILO concerning women's rights, Ukraine has ratified the Convention on the Use of Women Workers in Underground Jobs,10 the Convention on Equal Pay to Men and Women Work Force for Equal Jobs," and the Convention on the Protection of Maternity.12 The process of CAL DEVELOPMENT (1966); ALENA HEITLINGER, WOMEN AND STATE SOCIALISM: SEX INEQUALITY IN THE SOVIET UNION AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA (1979); BARBARA WOLFE JANKA, WOMAN UNDER COMMUNISM (1978); GAIL WARSHOFSKY LAPIDUS, WOMEN IN SOVIET SOCIETY: EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT, AND SOCIAL CHANGE (1978); WILLIAM M. MANDEL, SOVIET WOMEN (1975); SOVIET LEGISLATION ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS: COLLECTION OF NORMATIVE ACTS (1978). 5. See, e.g., Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak, Socialism and Feminism: The First Stage of Women s Organizations in the Eastern Part of the Austrian Empire, in WOMEN IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION 44 (Tova Yedliived., 1980); Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak, Feminism in Ukrainian History, 12 J. UKRAINIAN STUD. 16 (1982); Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak, Feminism in Action: The Ukrainian Women's Union Between the World Wars, 2 WOMEN'S STUD. INT'L 20 (1982); Maxim Tarnawsky, Feminism, Modernism, and Ukrainian Women, 19 J. UKRAINIAN STUD. 31 (1994). After Ukraine gained independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union, several articles and papers were presented at women's conferences held in Ukraine. For example, in July 1993, Professor Zoreslava Romovska of Lviv University presented a paper that analyzed legal problems,, dealing with women and power at The Ukrainian Woman and Democracy. Conference sponsored by the Union of Ukrainian Wpmen and the World Federation of Ukrainian Women organizations. See ZORESLAVA ROMOVSKA, ZHINKA I VLADA: PERSHA MIZHNARODNA ZHINOCHA CONFERENTSIYA— UKRAYINKAI DEMOCRATIYA 151 (1993). 6. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, G.A. Res. 34/180, UN GAOR, Supp. No. 46, at 193, UN. Doc. A/34/46 (1979) [Women's Convention]. 7. Convention on the Political Rights of Women, 193 U.N.T.S. 135 (1953) 8. Convention on the Nationality of Married Women, 309 U.N.T.S. 65 (1957). 9. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, 96 UN. T.S. 271 (1949). 10. Convention Concerning the Employment of Women in Underground Work in Mines of All Kinds, No. 45, 40 U.N.T.S. 63 (1935). 11. Convention Concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Equal Value, No. 100, 165 U.N.T.S. 303 (1951). 12. Convention Concerning the Employment of Women Before and After Childbirth, No. 3,38 U.N.T.S. 53 (1919) [Maternity Protection Convention]. Women's Rights in Ukraine • 703 implementing other international human rights instruments and standards affecting women is a continuing one. HISTORY OF WOMEN IN UKRAINE There was a time when Ukraine demonstrated high esteem for and favorable treatment of women. In 900 A.D., in the Ukrainian state of Kyivan Rus with its famous princess Olha, women were highly educated and occupied powerful positions in soci- ety. In the Kyivan Rus family, a woman played a significant role. Comparatively, a woman's position in the Kyivan Rus family was much higher than under the Roman or Old-Germanic law. Unlike a woman in Roman or Old-Germanic systems, a woman in Kyivan Rus was considered legally competent and needed no trustee.13 Indeed, in Kyivan Rus, a woman retained title of her pre-marital property during the marriage, and it was never subject to a common legacy after the husband's death.14 Furthermore, a woman, in her own right, could be considered the head of the family.15 Under a 912 treaty between Kyivan Prince Oleh and the Byzantine Church, a wife maintained sep- arate ownership of property, which was not confiscated by the state even when her husband was incarcerated or escaped from prison.16 Additionally, women could sue or be sued and could appear in courts as advocates and witnesses. There are several examples of the active role women played in state affairs and diplomatic relations in the periods of Kyivan Rus and the Halych-Volyn Princedom. Princess Olha wisely ruled the Kyivan Rus state for almost twenty years. She was an authoritative woman who maintained tradition, raised her children, and promoted order in the state. She never remarried—even forgoing a proposal from a Greek king. Under the Rus Chronicle, Olha led a diplomatic mission to Constantinople in 957.17 According to his writings, Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII, Porphyrogenitus, sought to marry Olha. Cleverly, Olha asked the king to be her godfather, and the king obliged. Since the king was her godfather, a marriage between godfather and god- daughter would be impermissible. Shortly thereafter, in 959, Olha sent her ambas- sadors on a political mission to the German king, Otto I the Great, who governed as the Holy Roman Emperor.18 It is likely that she asked the German king to send Western missionaries to Kyivan Rus. There were also several royal marriages that elevated the image of Kyivan Rus in the world. Anna, daughter of the Kyivan Prince Yaroslav the Wise, married the king of France, Henri I (son of Robert II).19 After Henri's death in 1060, Anna became the 13. MYKHAILO HRUSHEVSKYI, 3 ISTORIYA UKRAYINY-RUSY 376-77 (1993). 14. 2 PRAVDA RUSKA 99 (B. Grekov ed., 1947). 15. NATALIYA POLONSKA-VASYLENKO, 1 ISTORIYA UKRAYINY 254 (2d ed. 1976). 16. LITOPYS RUS'KYI 20 (1989). 17. See id. at 35-36. 18. See, e.g., HRUSHEVSKYI, supra note 13, at 451. 19. See MYKHAILO HRUSHEVSKYI, 2 ISTORIYA UKRAYINY-RUSY 33 (1993). 704 • Women and International Human Rights Law regent of the French throne. Another of Yaroslav's daughters, Yelyzaveta, married the king of Norway, Harald III.20 Furthermore, one of Yaroslav's granddaughters, Yevprasksiya, married Henry IV, and became the courageous German Empress Adelgeida.21 Ultimately, these marriages served to further the interests of Kyivan Rus in the international community.