One can argue that it is time for female activists to embrace feminism, for men to become true allies in pursuit of women’s rights, and for feminists to join the fight for wider social change. This article concerns the analysis of court practices for criminal cases relating to female victims of domestic violence who have been charged with murder or intentional infliction of grievous bodily injuries of their partners. The author directly connects the observance of women’s rights in domestic violence self-defense cases with the problem of the lack of legal mechanisms of protection against violence in Russia. Russia remains the last country in the Council of Europe which has yet to create legal mechanisms to protect women against domestic violence.

  • One speaker outlined similarities and differences between the development of feminism in Russia and in the West in the nineteenth century, emphasizing the more pronounced differences.
  • You might hate most of the meals, but occasionally there will be something great (e.g., my boyfriend loves Russian salad. He says it is because there is no cabbage there).
  • The share of women in the sciences, which increased in post-Soviet times because of male brain drain and exit, is now in decline again.

Vladimir Putin’s call-up of hundreds of thousands of military reservists may have added to the trend. Women and children who live in poverty are at most risk of becoming trafficking victims. Prostitution in Russia has spread rapidly in recent years, with women from small towns and rural areas migrating to big cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Omsk, or Yekaterinburg to engage in prostitution. Russian women are also lured abroad with sham promises of jobs such as dancers, models, waitresses or domestic helpers and end up caught in forced prostitution situations. However, Russia has ratified the UN Trafficking Protocol, and has taken steps to curb this phenomenon. Article 19 of the 1993 Constitution of Russia guarantees equal rights to women and men. 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.

All the Russian food.

By removing the rhetoric of war and its threat of unpredictable consequences from our daily life. Today, due to a societal perception of women that permeates the highest levels of Ministry of Defense, the role of women in the Russian Armed Forces remains limited and gendered. This mentality, which emphasizes the importance of reproduction and motherhood, and doesn’t see women as particularly qualified for overly complicated or strenuous roles, is likely further entrenched by an unfavorable birth-to-death rate (10.1 to 12.3 out of 1,000, pre-Coronavirus figures). Hundreds of thousands of Russian men are reported to have fled the country since Moscow announced a “partial” mobilization in September. Their wives and partners have been left with the burden of raising a family alone, often without a strong support system or sufficient finances.

Germany is talking to the Swedish government about buying mobile launchers that would boost the capabilities of IRIS-T air defence systems that Berlin is planning to send to Ukraine, Spiegel magazine reported on Friday, citing sources. Elizaveta, 27, who asked to be identified only by her first name, said she received a 12-day jail sentence after protesting in February. She spent nine of those days at a police station where she slept on the bare floor in a dark cell. She showed Reuters documents and photographs relating to her detention. Rossman, who is mapping out Russian feminist activism, counted 45 Russian feminist groups in 2021, up from about 30 in 2019. Lisa protested for the first time in February, joining in with chants of “no to war”. One of them, 30-year-old Vladislav Staf, a historian with no military experience, said he and a dozen men who were put in the same police van were handed draft papers after being arrested on Sept. 21.

Conference Report

When officers do respond, they often refuse to criminally prosecute instead of telling victims to prosecute privately. This is economically unfeasible for many women and effectively places the onus of an entire subgroup of law enforcement on the victim rather than the state. Decriminalization of domestic violence has rendered the statistics on it unreliable, but statistics have shown that most cases do not end up in court. If women cannot receive the assurance of their physical safety under Russian law and society, their overall rights are under severe threat. The Constitution of Russia, adopted in 1993, guarantees equal rights for women and men. Even before that, the Bolshevik Revolution granted women’s rights in Russia– including suffrage– in 1917. However, women are still fighting inequality in many sectors, including the professional realm.

People from all over the world consider Russian women beautiful or at the very least… extremely beautiful. This means that Russian women appeal to people of very different nations and ethnicities.

She offered examples to dismantle the stereotypes that women are always allies of other women and of human rights advocates and that men are always the perpetrators of violence. Rather, she explained, she had met with mothers who were ready to follow religious norms or social expectations at the expense of their daughters’ well-being, while fathers and brothers were ready to defy family and community pressure to protect their daughters and sisters. In Russia, civil society may have “a woman’s face” and the authorities may have “a man’s face,” but protecting women is a job for everyone, and ensuring numerical gender equality does not immediately resolve the human rights violations.

Russian municipal councils do have a high share of women, but there was no need for quotas to achieve that; it is enough that these jobs are not very lofty for men to pursue. From the all-women Death Battalion led by Maria Bochkareva in the Russian Revolution, to the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, dubbed the “Night Witches” by the Nazis they fought in World War II, lore of women defending the Motherland is well-known among Russians. Yet, in modern day Russia, a fairly low number of women serve in the military, despite an expanded force structure approaching one million active duty personnel.

The proportion of women was likely higher in all three years because Reuters was only able to determine the gender in about 80% of cases from protesters’ surnames. Reuters analysed cases of the most common charges used against protesters.

Much of Russian politics and economy is informal, and important decisions often are made outside formal institutions, in spaces that exclude women—such as in men’s restrooms and saunas or on https://gardeniaweddingcinema.com/european-women/russian-women/ hunting and fishing trips. All four women told me they’re constantly worried about the men in their lives, whether partners, friends, or passing acquaintances. He’s explaining something in class, and you’re wondering if he’s OK.” In her free time, Sofia’s mother now hunts down military supplies and prepares backpacks for recruits, just in case someone she knows is drafted. Makoveev moved to Argentina in 2014, working first as a travel guide, but he said he quickly saw the potential the country had as a birth tourism destination, founding his agency in 2018. Pekurova herself gave birth last year in Buenos Aires, and her “positive” experience further strengthened https://sshafiee.ir/european-women-in-space/ her desire to offer trips to the country. Georgy Polin, head of the consular department of the Russian Embassy in Argentina, estimated that between 2,000 and 2,500 Russians moved to Argentina in 2022, many of whom, he said, were Russian women planning to give birth in the country.

Manning with women: an overlooked solution to personnel shortages?

Hundreds instead of dozens of women attend marches and protests now, especially against the controversial decriminalization of domestic violence. The work of leaders like Leda Garina and Zalina Marshenkulov has fostered the growth of feminism in the public consciousness. Despite facing arrests and threats, activists and organizations are persisting in getting the message of gender equality out to the public. Innovations in technology and social media make information more accessible to the Russian people and change the perception of feminism from a dirty, Western word to something necessary to Russian society. For example, Cafe Simona in Saint Petersburg is a woman-only workspace and event space that allows women to go about their days without experiencing harassment.

Soon after a structural opportunity presented itself in 2013, there emerged a conservative backlash and a worsening of Russia’s relations with the West, which affected the discourse on family and values and led to the decriminalization of domestic violence. Several high-profile cases of abuse drew attention back to the draft legislation, and advocates hope that the new parliament of 2021 will finally pass the law. The first roundtable focused on the evolution of feminism and the feminist agenda in Russia. An overview of historical background offered context for subsequent discussions. One speaker outlined similarities and differences between the development of feminism in Russia and in the West in the nineteenth century, emphasizing the more pronounced differences.