VZCZCXRO6439
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #1647/01 1740728
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230728Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3930

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MOSCOW 001647 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KDEM EFIN SOCI KWMN RS
SUBJECT: FOR RUSSIAN WOMEN, SURVIVAL TRUMPS RIGHTS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Despite liberal laws and official Russian 
policy protecting women's rights,  Russian women routinely 
suffer rights abuses in their daily lives, including violence 
and sexual harassment.  Centuries-old patriarchal attitudes 
continue to hold sway.  Soviet ideology temporarily and 
marginally elevated women's legal status, but subsequent 
economic woes exacerbated women's social problems. 
Alcoholism and poverty, often associated with spousal abuse, 
have also caused a demographic decline of men.  The shortage 
of working men forces many women to work as breadwinners, 
while maintaining their role as the primary family caregiver, 
and it also decreases women's incentive to complain publicly 
about rights abuses.  Even prominent women's rights activists 
distance themselves from "feminism," leading to a diminished 
women's rights movement in the country.  This cable is the 
first in a series on women's issues in Russia.  End Summary. 
 
Good laws, but reality is different 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Russian policy and women's rights laws, which were 
drafted in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 
are among the most liberal in the world.  The 1993 
Constitution of the Russian Federation, in its section on 
women's rights, closely follows the "Bill of Women's Rights" 
found in Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the 
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women 
(CEDAW).  Article 19 of the Russian Constitution states that 
men and women shall have equal rights and equal opportunity. 
Russia has had the equivalent of the U.S. Lilly Ledbetter law 
(recently signed by Obama) on equal pay on its books since 
early Bolshevik days. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In reality, however, Russian women routinely suffer 
rights abuses, discrimination, and inequality in their daily 
lives.  Shelters and rights organizations report tens of 
thousands of cases involving battered women -- including 
approximately 12,000 killed annually -- but reported cases 
are only a small percentage of the full number.  Such abuse 
is not limited to poor families; in a 2007 Moscow State 
University study of upper-income families, 70 percent of the 
women reported having suffered violence, including during 
pregnancy.  In a June 11 conversation with us, Larissa 
Mikhaylovna, a professor in the journalism faculty at Moscow 
State University, attributed the problem to ingrained social 
attitudes in Russian culture, going back centuries.  Alluding 
to the medieval monk Domostroy, who wrote that a husband must 
use violence to control his wife and to show that he loves 
her, Mikhaylovna said that this belief remains common today. 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to the NGO ANNA, which defends battered 
women, men who commit acts of domestic violence are unlikely 
to face prosecution in Russia.  The law does not recognize 
domestic violence as a distinct crime, and nearly fifty 
versions of a national law to address domestic violence have 
failed to make any progress in the State Duma.  Natalya 
Abubikirova, who runs the Association of Women's Crisis 
Centers, told us June 15 that there is little government 
assistance for women's shelters; nearly all of them are run 
by NGOs with limited funds, and the approximately 20 shelters 
nationwide (including three on the outskirts of Moscow, and 
none in Moscow city) with 200 beds in total are woefully 
insufficient to accommodate the large number of cases.  The 
domestic violence problem is also considerably worse than the 
numbers indicate, as societal attitudes discourage women from 
publicly complaining about abuse. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Russian women rarely complain publicly about sexual 
harassment, despite its ubiquitous presence in the Russian 
workplace.  Although a 2007 survey also showed that 100 
percent of female respondents with a job reported having 
suffered sexual harassment at work, only three women in 
Russian history have lodged a sexual harassment complaint in 
court; all three lost their cases.  The attitude that sexual 
harassment is acceptable is widespread among both genders in 
Russia.  Job advertisements routinely indicate age and gender 
requirements for a position, and Association of Women 
Journalists director Svetlana Svistunova told us June 15 that 
"job applications are like a beauty contest."  After an 
Embassy event introducing Russian female activists and 
leaders to an American feminist, a journalism doctoral 
student at the Higher School of Economics expressed 
skepticism to us about the goals of the U.S. women's rights 
movement.  "Is it really true," she inquired incredulously, 
"that in an American office, a man cannot touch a woman, or 
else she will take him to court?"  She added that perhaps the 
woman might find the attention pleasing.  (Note: Some women 
object to the sexual stereotypes that they are expected to 
live up to in Russia.  In a May 20 conversation with us, Dr. 
Galina Mikhaleva, Chair of the Yabloko party's Gender 
Faction, noted that "in other countries, you do not show up 
 
MOSCOW 00001647  002 OF 004 
 
 
to work in a mini-skirt."  End Note.)  In this atmosphere of 
sexual exploitation, it is not surprising that according to a 
May 4 Reuters article, Moscow houses ten times the number of 
prostitutes (100,000) than either London or New York. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The issue of family planning and reproductive 
rights, an issue of major concern for Western feminists, is 
barely on the radar screen in Russia.  Svetlana Yakimenko, 
the Director of Project Kesher, an international women's 
rights NGO, told us May 21 that Planned Parenthood 
International had a difficult time gaining a foothold in 
Russia and faces opposition to its work from both the GOR and 
the Orthodox Church.  She added that education regarding 
family planning is woefully inadequate among both genders, 
especially outside of the big cities.  The GOR pursues an 
official policy of encouraging women to have as many children 
as possible in order to counteract the country's demographic 
problems, but many women are reluctant to have children, as 
they are aware of the likelihood that they will have to raise 
them as single mothers.  (Note: The Human Rights Ombdusman 
recently released his annual report on human rights in 
Russia, encompassing a variety of subjects but saying nothing 
about women's rights, and only noting the need for families 
to have more children.  End Note.) According to Mikhaleva, 
Russia's abortion rate is one of the highest in the world; 
for every 100 births there are approximately 200 abortions. 
 
A worsening problem since Soviet times 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Soviet ideology elevated women's status in society, 
teaching that women should work alongside men in building a 
socialist utopia.  A women's rights expert based at the 
Institute of North American Studies, Natalya Shvedova, told 
us June 10 that Soviet propaganda successfully influenced 
popular attitudes.  Women in the Soviet Union were often held 
up as shining examples of workers making the country strong; 
illustrating this point, Svistunova mentioned the example of 
the female sculptor who created the iconic "Worker and 
Peasant Farmer" statue that represented Communist ideals.  At 
the same time, however, Svistunova noted that even in such an 
ideological atmosphere, women rarely held high positions in 
the Politburo or as factory managers.  With perestroika, the 
old patriarchal traditions returned, in which women were 
viewed as keepers of the hearth.  Shvedova said that 
perestroika had "coarsened" Russian society; in place of 
building a socialist utopia, since the fall of Communism the 
average Russian has focused instead on competition for scarce 
resources. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The social pressures imposed by economic 
difficulties since the fall of Communism have pushed many 
women into the position of focusing more on survival than on 
defending their rights.  They often must either support their 
family single-handedly in the absence of a man in their life, 
or tolerate abuse from a man who is present.  The life 
expectancy for men in Russia, 61, is one of the lowest in the 
world, and a full 12 years less than that of women.  Much of 
this problem can be attributed to alcohol.  According to the 
World Health Organization, per capita consumption of alcohol 
in Russia exceeds by fourfold the acceptable limit.  Male 
consumption of alcohol, particularly in smaller towns and 
villages, deals two blows to women: first, it frequently 
exacerbates tension and violence in male-female 
relationships, and second, the absence of working men affects 
women's socio-economic welfare.  Both the demographic 
disparity and the 75 percent divorce rate mean that women 
commonly are stretched thin by the need to support themselves 
-- and often their children -- which increases their 
incentive to put up with abuse.  Svistunova asserted that the 
economic basis of gender relations that has accompanied the 
post-Soviet era has led most women to view men largely as 
sources of money.  As many men are unable to fulfill that 
role, she said, this exacerbates the alcohol problem and also 
has led to a high rate of suicide among men, which in its 
turn, worsens the demographic problem. 
 
Oppression is in the eye of the beholder 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Perhaps because of many women's focus on pragmatic 
necessity under difficult conditions, our contacts tell us 
that the majority of Russian women say that they do not 
consider themselves oppressed.  Although women are rarely 
found in positions of significant political or economic power 
(as well as other allegedly "male" professions such as 
driving Metro trains), few report any problems receiving a 
good education and pursuing a career of some kind, even if 
the career is not always commensurate with their education 
level.  According to Mikhaylovna, who tracks wage statistics, 
the wage disparity between the genders -- 15 percent -- is 
 
MOSCOW 00001647  003 OF 004 
 
 
considerably lower than in other countries.  (Note: In the 
U.S., the disparity is 35 percent; some Russian studies have 
found the Russian disparity to be higher as well.  End Note.) 
 However, while feminist goals often include the right to 
pursue a career, a number of Russian women ironically would 
prefer the right not to pursue a career.  Consistently, both 
in private conversations with us and publicly on television 
and radio shows, we have heard women express the intention of 
meeting a man (Russian or foreign) who is wealthy enough to 
support them so that they are not required to work and raise 
a family at the same time.  In keeping with such goals, 
advertisements for beauty products are ubiquitous in Russia; 
in one recent ad for a skin product, rather than "Pamper 
yourself," or "Indulge yourself," the billboard suggested: 
"Invest in yourself." 
 
¶10. (SBU) Svistunova traced this attitude back to Soviet 
times, when everyone of both genders was required to work, 
except "the wives of the big shots."  When Gorbachev 
encouraged women to leave their jobs and care for kids, and 
provided three years of paid maternity leave for the purpose 
(since decreased to one year), women did so enthusiastically. 
 Svistunova added that after perestroika, Russian women 
developed a "mania" for beauty, and in the 1990s it was 
common "to hunt for a foreign man."  In the following decade, 
she said, attention transferred to "New Russian" moguls. 
Such attitudes, while still widespread, are now starting to 
diminish.  What Svistuna sardonically called "this pretty 
life" (of support from a rich man) exists only for five 
percent of women, and many others are starting to recognize 
it as a "fairy tale."  Furthermore, women are increasingly 
starting to view such an arrangement as unsatisfactory, as it 
turns the women into objects who are kept in a golden cage. 
In a potentially bright spot amidst bleak statistics and 
backward attitudes, Svistunova describes conversations with 
her 20-year-old daughter and her daughter's female friends in 
which they express interest in establishing themselves as 
confident and independent, pursuing their own careers and 
personal fulfillment. 
 
Is "feminism" a dirty word? 
--------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Such encouraging signs notwithstanding, widespread 
attitudes among both genders remain at variance with feminism 
as it is understood in the West, and most Russian women 
continue to shun the term "feminism."  Mikhaylovna noted that 
many Russian women encourage machismo in their sons and 
husbands; this is seen as necessary in a rough-and-tumble 
country that historically has had to defend itself against 
invaders.  She added that many view feminism as synonymous 
with hatred of men.  She said that in her opinion, feminism 
means women respecting themselves without denigrating men, 
and quoted the American feminist Rebecca West, who said in 
1913, "I don't know what feminism is, but every time I don't 
want someone to wipe their feet on me, I am called a 
feminist."  However, she acknowledged that her opinion was a 
minority one.  In reality, as Svistunova lamented, even 
prominent women's rights activists distance themselves from 
feminism.  She said that Russian female activists need to 
"reanimate" the feminist movement, but lamented that "we 
can't get people interested," because of perceptions that it 
is too "political."  She cautioned, however, against forming 
the impression that Russian women are submissive; on the 
contrary, she said that in the private environment of the 
home, they assert themselves strongly and "command the men." 
 
¶12. (SBU) At both the official and the societal level, 
consciousness of women's rights remains embryonic.  Shvedova 
- who was a Fulbright scholar at Trinity College in 
Washington, DC in 2005 - said that the women's rights 
movement in Russia is at the stage that the American movement 
was many decades ago.  In Russian universities, gender 
studies rarely exist as a subject, but are folded into 
classes on "social problems."  Even if the GOR had a 
concerted policy of encouraging and defending women's rights 
to accompany its liberal legislation, it would face an uphill 
battle changing societal attitudes.  As it is, the GOR does 
little to address the subject, and Mikhaylovna accuses the 
GOR of fostering patriarchal attitudes through its emphasis 
on "mother capital" as part of its stated goal to strengthen 
Russia.  In 2008, during a State Duma meeting on women's 
issues, Liberal Democratic Party nationalist leader Vladimir 
Zhirinovskiy infuriated many women when he stated that women 
should stay at home and have children, and let men take care 
of everything else. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Many Russian women seek the same rights as women in 
 
MOSCOW 00001647  004 OF 004 
 
 
other countries, such as safety from domestic violence and 
the right to equal pay for equal work.  However, the context 
in which they attempt to assert those rights differs 
considerably from that in the Western context.  As they often 
find themselves fulfilling both traditional male and 
traditional female roles, while men are either nowhere to be 
found or are incapacitated and/or abusive, Russian women are 
focusing more on simple survival than on organizing a Russian 
version of the National Organization for Women.  Until 
demographic trends in Russia change, the social dynamic 
between the genders in Russia will continue to discourage 
women from taking the time, energy, or initiative to publicly 
stand up for their rights in a manner similar to Western 
feminists. 
BEYRLE