The European Dialogue Expert Group, 3.06.2021

On Monday, 31 May, the first meeting within the framework of the cycle of international online seminars “Time for Women” took place. The topic of the seminars is gender equality and advancement of women, the events are organised by the European Dialogue Expert Group and the Gender Faction of the Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko. The first session was devoted to the topic “Discrimination Against Women and the Fight for Gender Equality: European Experience and Its Applicability in Russia”.

The discussion was moderated by Prof. Dr. Galina Mikhaleva, Chair of the Gender Faction of the Yabloko party. She noted the importance of gender studies and stressed that this issue is now coming to the forefront. The post-Soviet problems of gender equality in relation to women are largely related to the fact that in the USSR the authorities had already endowed women with equal rights with men, but at the same time left them their old responsibilities. As an example, Mikhaleva recalled the prohibition of abortion in the Stalin period. The legal “breakthrough” led to the fact that there was no feminist agenda in Russia later. At the same time, today there are many stereotypes about women, which are supported by traditionalist culture, in particular, by religious organisations.

Olga Radayeva, the First Deputy Chair of the Gender Faction of the Yabloko party, agreed with the thesis of some isolation in the development of Russian feminism. She spoke about the historical past of feminism, and the four waves of this movement. The expert emphasised that, despite this isolation, Russian feminism as a whole developed within the framework of the global mainstream.

Yeuvgenia Ivanova from the Republic of Belarus, who is a Co-Chair of the feminist organisation “Adliga: Women for Full Citizenship”,  spoke about the activists practices of fighting for their rights, noting particular difficulties, for example, in the distribution of resources.

Tanya Lyungqvist, a representative of the Swedish People’s Party of Finland and a municipal deputy from that country, made a report on the problems of feminism in Finland. She noted that her country strives to be at the forefront of gender equality. So today in the local parliament, women make up almost half of all deputies (42%) and more than a third of ministers (36%). It was a woman whom Finnish voters supported in the past presidential elections.

Following Olga Radayeva, Olga Shnyrova noted the historical connection of the Russian feminist movement with the European one. Shnyrova is the head of the Ivanovo Centre for Gender Studies, and today the Russian authorities are trying to recognise her as a foreign agent. Shnyrova emphasised that up to the October Revolution, feminism in Russia developed within the mainstream of European activism.

The participants of the seminar summed up the results of the first meeting and answered the questions of the listeners. You can watch the full video on the EuroDialogTV Youtube channel.