- March 8th was introduced as a day marking women’s struggle for their labor rights. Wouldn’t you agree that those rights cannot be defended unless women have political rights?
Definitely. The present-day situation serves as the best evidence of that: a situation, in which there are high levels of discrimination against women on the labor market and in which laws are being enacted that encroach on women’s rights. The situation is due to the absence of a policy that would prevent or eliminate discrimination against women. Implementing such a policy requires that a sufficient number of women be represented in the state administration. However, only 9.36 percent of those serving in upper-level government bodies in the Russian Federation are women. Women can be found in the greatest numbers at the bodies of local administrations, where basic political and economic decisions are not made. Thus, it is not surprising that the situation with regard to gender equality is worse in Russia than it is in most of the other post-Soviet countries, where legislation on equal rights and equal opportunity has been adopted. In Russia, the situation has deteriorated in that respect compared to the conditions in the mid 1990s, when a number of institutions that safeguarded gender equality did exist. Under Putin, though, they were all dismantled, shut down. We will have to drag ourselves out of this gender pit of failure.
- Where do you draw the connections between democratization processes in society, the women’s movement and gender equality?
Democracy, that is the possibility for citizens to participate in political decision-making, both as voters and as government representatives. In Russia, women make up more than 50 percent of the population; thus, the number of women working at the level where political and economic decisions are made should reflect that proportion. A policy of parity is the most appropriate and most efficient policy in that area, judging by experiences gathered all over the world. For our women’s movement, which is still fairly small and not united, the key task is to change society’s attitudes, convince the people who shape public opinion and convince politicians that there should be more women at the decision-making levels. This could change their situation in society as a whole.
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About the author:
Galina Mikhaleva. Executive Secretary of the Political Committee of the Russian United Democratic Party “Yabloko“, Chair of the Women’s (Gender) Caucus of the Party, Co-Chair of the Council for the Consolidation of the Women’s Movement in Russia.
Natalia Bitten Journalist, political
scientist, writer, feminist. Has published academic essays and the
novel 'Mainstream' (2007) under the pseudonym of Natalja Kim.
She specializes in Gender Studies. Edited the largest
political paper in the area of Kemerow. Currently she works on the
internet portal Klub (traveling women). She is an active member of
'Initiativegruppe Für Feminismus'.
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