The status of women in Russia has gone down in the aftermath of the new economic policies that has been introduced in the country in the last 15 years. Women had better political representation in the former Soviet Union as they had a specific quota, while at present, women's representation was less than 10 per cent in the Russian Parliament (Dumas), Tatiana Chertoritskaya, a member of Dumas and the president of All Russian Social Democratic Women's Congress said.
Ms. Chertoritskaya, who has come to the city with a six-member delegation of representatives from various NGOs in Russia, was speaking at an interactive session organised by the Russian Cultural Centre here on Sunday.
In 1993, women had a representation of about 16 per cent in Parliament. In Russia today, there is no women in Government and only one woman governor from 87 regions, she said
The six-member delegation is in the country as part of a project, `Dialogue of Civilisations,' sponsored by the Rusian International Centre for Scientific and Cultural Cooperation, to promote political, social and cultural links between India and Russia.
About 60 per cent of the students in higher education institutions in Russia were women. However, despite the high level of education achieved by women, they had little job prospects.
Even in the same jobs, the salaries of women were less than that of men by about 40 per cent, Natalia Berdnikova, a delegation member representing the Institute for Social and Gender Policy, pointed out.
The delegation would leave for the Russian Cultural Centre in Mumbai on Monday.
|