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(The Moscow Times) On paper, women's rights are better protected in Russia than in many countries in Europe. But in reality, Russian women face discrimination nearly every day due to poor enforcement of laws and their own reluctance to go to court, according to an authoritative study released Wednesday.
Women's salaries are 36 percent less than men's, they often lose jobs because of pregnancy and maternity, and they have little chance of succeeding in politics or getting senior posts in government, according to the study conducted by the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative, together with USAID and a group of Russian lawyers and sociologists.
Based on 180 interviews conducted in 2004 and 2005 in 32 cities and towns across the country, the study found that very little has been done to provide women with the same rights and opportunities as men since Russia signed the United Nations Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women 25 years ago.
"Russian legislation widely maintains gender equality, but in reality no provisions of the law are being implemented," Leah Utyasheva, a lawyer with the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative and co-author of the study, said in presenting the report.
Women's salaries on average amount to 64 percent of men's salaries, the report said, citing the State Statistics Service.
Less than 10 percent of State Duma deputies and 10 percent of legislators in the regions are women -- compared with between 30 and 40 percent in most European countries, the study said. Although women account for 53 percent of Russia's population of 142 million, no women serve in the Cabinet. St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko is the only female regional leader. Also, working-age women account for 43 percent of those who live below the poverty line, while working-age men account for 30 percent. Gender discrimination is the most common in the workplace, the study said.
Perhaps the most interesting, and at the same time alarming, finding in the study is that women generally do not recognize themselves as victims of gender discrimination and almost never stand up for their rights.
Thus, women have no inclination to assert their rights when they are illegally fired or refused a job because of maternity or pregnancy, said Lyudmila Yakhontova, a co-author of the study from the St. Petersburg-based Center for Independent Sociological Studies.
National human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin receives hundreds of complaints every month, and about 70 to 80 percent of them come from women, said Yelena Sereda, a legal expert with the Lukin's office.
"But women only complain about rights violations against their children, spouses, parents or other relatives and friends and never about themselves," Sereda said during the presentation.
"This means that, unfortunately, our women do not recognize that there is gender equality in our country and that they are subject to discrimination," Sereda said. She said Lukin's office was currently preparing its own report on gender inequality.
Women who are sexually harassed at work are also usually reluctant to fight for their rights, and the few who talk back only do so when their careers are at stake, the study said.
"Women who are approached by men at work consider it a positive flattering sign of attention rather than a case of harassment, and they ask for help only if they fear that they could lose their jobs," Yakhontova said.
Post-Soviet governments have done little to address gender discrimination at governmental level, and there is no agency that keeps on eye on the issue, Sereda said.
Under a top-to-bottom government shake-up in 2004, both the presidential and governmental commissions for women's affairs, which looked into gender equality, were quietly shut down.
Sereda said one way to improve matters would be to educate students about their legal rights.
No universities, however, currently offer specialized programs in gender issues. "A number of schools and rectors are reluctant to allow human rights courses to be taught to their students, so what is to be said about gender issues?" Sereda said.
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