The Soviet Union before its decline and collapse had become one of the most powerful nations in the world. The great influence of the government in political, economic and social issues aimed at maintaining the political stability of the Soviet state. This had great impact on the employment opportunities, political participation and family roles of the Soviet women. For example, economic growth as a result of political stability increased employment opportunities of women. During the Soviet rule, the government policies supported equal opportunities for men and women in education and employment.However, women experienced lower political participation than men, unemployment, low salaries and wages, poor health services and faced hard economic conditions. Gender roles influenced the number of men and women serving in government leadership positions where few women served in the positions as compared to men.. Between 1959 and 1987, reforms in Soviet Union became necessary and efforts to introduce reforms led to the disintegration of the powerful Soviet Union into separate independent states. The decline and fall of the Soviet resulted to reformulation of economic and political issues at an international level. The period of decline was marked by deep political and economic problems changes which had great impact on the lives of Soviet women .Despite the fact that political and economic reforms initiated in the country before the collapse of the Soviet Union improved the lives of women through increased employment opportunities and political participation, women faced the challenges of low salaries and wages, unemployment and low political participation after the union collapsed. This paper will explore how the decline and the fall of the Soviet Union have over the years affected the Russian Women.
Women in Communist Soviet Union
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, different member countries of the Common wealth of Independent Republics managed to acquire political independence. The newly formed independent countries were faced with the tough challenge of reorganizing their political systems and developing the economies. These demands changed the lives of women in the newly formed independent states and in Russia. The USSR constitution, Article 122 declared that women in Soviet had equal rights with men in relation to cultural, economic, political and social matters .However, women experienced unemployment and had low access to education as compared to the men. During the Soviet rule, women had the primary role of taking care of the family and men were considered to be the sole providers in the family. Women were expected to take care of homes and families but had to secure employment and bear the burden of going to work and attending to domestic chores in order to support their families. Soviet women lacked equal opportunities for education and employment with men because men were able to acquire better paying jobs as compared to women. For example, the flexibility of men to attain higher education and experience at work than women who had to balance between work and domestic chores placed them at a better place to better jobs with good salaries as compared to women .Many women were employed as farm laborers and home servants while a large number of men was employed as engineers, medical practitioners and scientists. In 1960, the 43 per cent of women were employed as compared to the 57 per cent for men. This confirms the gender disparity in employment during Soviet rule.
Women had lower wages as compared to men. For example, the average wages of women were 25-30 percent lower than those of men. In 1975, women wages were between 67-73 percent those of men. For instance, the average wage for women working in the education sector in 1950 and 1972 was 767 and 1562 rubles respectively. This coupled with high levels of unemployment resulted to peasant position of women. For instance, it was estimated that only 22 per cent of the labor force comprised of women. Women had to balance between work and the heavy burden of domestic chores. The women employed in administrative and professional jobs were few as compared to that of men. Men dominated management and administrative positions as managers of chief executive officers which had higher salaries unlike women who were employed in subordinate staff positions as supervisors or junior managers. Many women who were employed in the public sector were engaged in physical occupational jobs as farm labourers, industrial workers and cleaners. This meant that their work was tedious and hard. The remaining one third was lucky to secure jobs in the specialist professional and semi-professional occupations as teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists, nurses, business women or shop attendants. Those who worked in professional jobs such as doctors, engineers or teachers required academic qualification and skills in the field of work while minimal skills were required for business women or shop attendants. The average working hours were 8 hours. In relation to skills, women took menial jobs that did not require great skills. The government supported working mothers by providing maternity leave, maternity homes, nurseries and kindergartens to facilitate good bringing up of children and participation of women in economic activities. A large number of women were employed in various branches of the national economy. Only a small number of women were employed to work as scientists, engineers, executives, and physicians. For example, by 1939, about 39 per cent of women who were employed worked in large scale industry.
Although women rights to participate in political matters were acknowledged in the Soviet state, their level of participation in civic, political and governance matters was low. Although women participated in electing political leaders, the high social status of women and their dominance in politics undermined a large women representation in political matters. For example, low participation of women in politics had less than 30 per cent. In 1988, only about 26.5 per cent of all candidate members of the Communist Peoples Party were women. Soviet elected party and state organs leadership positions held by women.
Despite the fact that women were required to give consent in marriage-related decisions, sometimes parents supported arranged marriages for their daughters through matchmaking whereby young women were showed off to eligible bachelors.The average age of marriage for Soviet women was 22 while that of bearing children between 20 and 24.The patriarchal family structure had men play the role of family heads while women were expected to assist them. Women expected to have men provide for the family but also worked to support the family. They also expected to play the role of mothers and caretakers. Divorce laws in the 1940s made the process of divorce lengthy and costly but by 1954, marriage laws were amended to make divorce easier. Liberalization of divorce laws in 1965 increased the divorce rates due to incompatibility, drunkenness and economic hardships. Between 1967 and 1986, the divorce rates increased from 2.75 to 3.4 divorces per 1,000 people. Divorce laws between 1917 and 1945 were tightened to promote social and marital society but the collapse of the Soviet regime resulted to leniency in the laws. Abortion was only allowed in order to protect the health of women. Although in tsarist Russian, prostitution was widespread, the Soviet government made efforts to stop prostitution.
In order to encourage women to participate in social and economic development and promote family stability, the Soviet government supported working mothers by establishing kindergartens and nurseries where children could be left when mothers went to work. For instance, it is estimated that in 1937, the Soviet Union nurseries and kindergartens took care of about 1.8 million children. The establishment of public dining rooms and ready-to serve facilities reduced the womens share of household work. This however did not change the fact that women received lower wages and salaries. For example, the average wages and salaries of women were lower as compared to those of men. This had women engaged in income generating enterprises such as selling of farm products of establishing business enterprises such as shops .The family institution and the interests of women and children in a marriage were protected by the marriage and divorce laws. Although in the 1980s Soviet society women enjoyed equal rights with men, they were accorded a lower status as compared to men. Soviet women have over the years experienced great changes in their social, political and economic issues. The Soviet Constitution of 1977 declared that women and men have equal rights to access education, employment, remuneration, training and participation in cultural, social and political activity.
In the early the 1980s, education aimed at producing technically qualified and socially motivated people to serve in the state-run economy. Deterioration in the Soviet economy was due to poor planning by government officials, shortage of consumer goods and food, workers strikes, unemployment, inefficient production methods, wastage of government resources and reduction in investment. Due to the decline in economic growth and employment opportunities for women, the government continued to support state benefit programs. Reduction in industrial productivity and inadequate raw materials led to increased unemployment in women. Shortage of food stuff made life it difficult for mothers to support their families. Although many women provided labor force in agricultural farms which recorded high production levels, bureaucracy in the government led to food shortage because lack of transport and storage facilities had large quantities of food rot in the farms. Women who accounted for a large percentage of peasant farmers were able to increase productivity in their private plots.
The men dominated the political arena However, women participation in politics remained low in the Soviet. The Soviet women were underrepresented in the political arena. Although the constitution ensured that women were provided with the opportunity to be elected or to elect political leaders, men dominated political governance due to the high social status given to men as compared to women. For example, women were underrepresented in the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) leadership. The women accounted for only 5 per cent of the partys Central Committee. Examples of women who managed to get top political positions included Paulina Zhemchuzhina who served as Commissar of the Fish industry and Bakhy Altibayeva who was the Commissar of light industry of Turkmenistan.
How the decline and collapse of the Soviet Union has affected Women
The Soviet society for a long time has remained a patriarchal society. Since the rise of Stalin into power in the 1960s,the Communist Party was aware of the Zhenskii vopros .The Zhenskii vopros was a Russian term that encompassed issues of women in relation to politics, legal matters, social and cultural status of women. The Zhenskii Vopros was concept advocated by Marxist-women during the pre-revolution period and aimed at addressing the issues of women status and roles in the Soviet society. It encouraged women development as mother and wives and supported the transformation of the social order and family structure. The political and economic issues failed to address unemployment or underemployment, gender disparity in employment, low political representation and difficult economic conditions. These issues were of great concern of the Soviet women. When Gorbachev took over leadership in Soviet, he introduced reforms economic and political reforms.Poverty had proved to be a major problem for many citizens during the Soviet regime. As the General Secretary in 1985, he proposed a program of reforms that was adopted to modernize and increase agricultural and industrial productivity. The 1986 radical reforms through the perestroika were meant to overcome economic stagnation in the Soviet through accelerated social and economic progress. The reforms provided women with opportunities for employment and accessing education. Improvement in industrial and agricultural productivity due to the reforms that led to the introduction of new technology increased production efficiency, lowered production costs and employment opportunities in industries that were expanding. These factors increased income for women who were generated from the sale of food products as well as an increase in wages. For example, the reforms shifted the share investment from the farms into improvement in food processing, rural infrastructure and food processing. This improved the working conditions of women.
The decline and collapse of the Soviet Union was attributed to efforts by the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) and the Soviet Union president Mikhail Gobarchev to introduce economic restructuring (perestroika) and political reforms (demokratizatisiia .In 1987, political reforms were characterized by appointment of non-party members in government and multi-candidate elections. To increase the freedom of speech and give new freedoms to people, Gobarchev introduced the glasnost. Initially, the government had controlled freedom of speech and the glasnost reduced the control of the government on the press. The glasnost policy played an important role in the rise of independent media in Russia. This led to the rise of media barons and proliferation of independent newspapers. This opened a new door for women to raise concerns about women-related matters through the press and to advocate for increased women participation in political issues. For example, women feminist groups and activists through the media began fighting for women rights. Furthermore, increased public criticism of the reforms played an important role in the enactment of legislation that improved education, employment and healthcare services for women. According to Gorbachev, the reforms were meant to achieve the objectives of socialism with a human face. The Gorbachev reforms introduced the use of new technology in industries and agricultural sector, introduced democracy in the political system and initiated reforms in education. Reforms in the industrial and agricultural sectors increased employment opportunities for women while reforms in education encouraged a large number of women to enroll in schools, colleges and universities. For example, girls who enrolled in primary schools enjoyed universal, free compulsory education within a nine year general school program. Completion of school beyond the eighth grade was required for both girls and boys. In 197, only completion of the eight grades was compulsory but girls who enrolled in primary schools after the collapse of the Soviet Union were able to learn up to the eleventh grade. For those who managed to come at the top 20 per cent of the secondary school leavers, they were able to join colleges and universities .Currently, a large number of women joins universities and this provides them with opportunities to get into professional careers. Many women are now employed as managers, chief executive officers and administrators, positions that were earlier dominated by men. Over the years, the need to improve economic growth has had Russian women gain from the educational benefits and programs that are provided by the government. Education up to the eleventh grade is mandatory and women are now encouraged to get involved in physical sciences, mathematics and foreign language courses that are offered in Russian universities. The growth of the Russias private sector has increased employment opportunities for women.
Many women were trained to serve as health care professionals. The impact of gender differences in employment and political participation in Soviet Union were evident.This gender disparity was narrowed. Medical assistants in remote and rural areas were trained to provide health care services in those areas. Although the influence of ones social status affects the Russian politics and economy, access to education has empowered many women to secure well paying jobs. The number of women employed in various public and private sectors has been increasing. Globalization and modernization has eliminated gender roles that that discourage women to compete with men for jobs and political participation. For instance, Russian women have been transformed from being just caretakers and nurturers to career women with families. Employed women are now making great contribution to the growth of Russias economy. . The government had many women recruited to serve in the health care sector whose primary goal was to ensure that the centrally controlled economy was supported by a healthy workforce. For women who are employed, wages have increased and living conditions have improved. The health care structure after the end of Soviet rule broke down and deteriorating health services affected women.However, the situation improved with time and women were able to access better health facilities. The government provided generous child care and maternity leave but this did not stop overburdening of the Soviet women .State run programs that continue to benefit women include the support of the state for child care centers and after school care facilities.
The Russian women involvement in the film and music industries, politics and business enterprises had been growing over the years. The economic reforms and political reforms that have been introduced in Russia have made great impact on increased involvement of women in fields that were formerly dominated by men. In the past during the Soviet regime, women activists who were considered to spread anti-soviet propaganda were arrested. The post-soviet cinema has led to the formation of a new Russian identity and massive economic transformation in the film industry which now provides freedom of expression and employment to many women. Since the implementation of the glasnost policy, the role of mass media in empowering women to become financially independent and actively participate in governance has been important. The policy also allowed the public to express discontent with the government and to acknowledge past violation of human rights and abuses. For example, in 1992, the Russian Parliament was criticized by feminist groups for adopting the Article 1 of the Draft Law of the Russian Federation on the Protection of Family, Maternity, Paternity and Childhood that promoted more employment for men than women. Increased freedom of expression has had positive impact on womens efforts to demand for their rights. Decades of Soviet rule have continued to shape opportunities for women.
High levels of abortion have been witnessed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The need to increase awareness on sexual matters has exposed the Russian women to the issues of pornography. The media has played an important role in exposing sexual matters related to pornography to women and increased organized crime is luring many Russian women to prostitution and pornography. Sex education and family planning have reduced the number of abortions carried out in Russia. Efforts to improve reproductive health have been promoted by a Demographic Policy program Concept that was introduced by President Putin with the aim of improving reproductive health, preserving and reviving moral and spiritual traditions in the family and reducing infant and maternal mortality. Efforts in the mid 1990s to expand family planning led to the adoption of the Legislation on Public Health Protection by the State Duma.Currently, family planning and sex education are a priority for the government. In 2006, Putin introduced the maternal capital, a program that offers women with more than one child financial assistance when the child reaches 3 years of age.
In the present Russian society, men have maintained their role as the heads of the family and women as caretakers and nurturers. The Family Code of 1995 gave women the responsibility to rear children and protects the family members against abuse. This legislation also supports self-determination in marriage. New religious groups are encouraging women to assume leadership positions by integrating them in leadership. Increased participation of women in political matters has enabled women to be elected in Russias political parties .Some examples of influential political figures in Russia have included Lydumila Vartazarova (the chief of Socialist Workers Party),Ella Pamfliova(Republican Party) and Valeriya Novodvorskaya(Democratic Union leader).The Russian Minister of Social Protection position has been dominated by women. Efforts to empower women have had the once suppressed independent women organizations increase at the regional, local and national levels. Many women rights groups are now making efforts to set up domestic and rape awareness programs. To empower women with entrepreneurial skills, women groups such as the Women Union of Russia have emerged.
It is expected that in thirty years time, the Russian women will be in a great position to effectively compete with men for political positions. Their willingness to participate in governance and politics is evident. Because Russia is moving towards democratization, an increase in political parties will encourage more women to participate in governance. There is no doubt that the role of women in entrepreneurship will increase in future. Many Russian women are now involved in entrepreneurship as a means of increasing financial stability and the Russian private sector has continued to grow. This is anticipated to provide women with more employment opportunities and in future. The freedom of expression promoted by the media will provide an excellent platform for women organizations and activists to initiate political, social and economic changes that will benefit the Russian women.
The decline and collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 had great impact on the global politics and economy. The discontent of the people about the Soviet state and Gorbachevs administration began with mass resistance from the Baltic States in 1987 which demanded for autonomy. By 1989, the increased influence of nationalistic movements and territorial dispute that arose from the influence in the Soviet Union led to a decline and collapse of the state when the nations managed to get autonomy. This resulted to the establishment of Russia in December 1991. This was hailed by the West which considered the disintegration to be the superiority of capitalism over socialism as well as triumph of victory over totalitarianism. The changes that resulted from the decline and collapse of the union also had great impact on the Soviet women. The political, economic and social changes that were experienced have continued to affect the lives of Russian women. Although some changes were beneficial to women, others have undermined the role of women in economic development and governance. Changes that continue to be witnessed in Russia are expected to increase women participation in politics, improve women education and present women with equal opportunities to compete with men. These historical events in the Soviet Union had great impact on the lives of women.
Women in Communist Soviet Union
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, different member countries of the Common wealth of Independent Republics managed to acquire political independence. The newly formed independent countries were faced with the tough challenge of reorganizing their political systems and developing the economies. These demands changed the lives of women in the newly formed independent states and in Russia. The USSR constitution, Article 122 declared that women in Soviet had equal rights with men in relation to cultural, economic, political and social matters .However, women experienced unemployment and had low access to education as compared to the men. During the Soviet rule, women had the primary role of taking care of the family and men were considered to be the sole providers in the family. Women were expected to take care of homes and families but had to secure employment and bear the burden of going to work and attending to domestic chores in order to support their families. Soviet women lacked equal opportunities for education and employment with men because men were able to acquire better paying jobs as compared to women. For example, the flexibility of men to attain higher education and experience at work than women who had to balance between work and domestic chores placed them at a better place to better jobs with good salaries as compared to women .Many women were employed as farm laborers and home servants while a large number of men was employed as engineers, medical practitioners and scientists. In 1960, the 43 per cent of women were employed as compared to the 57 per cent for men. This confirms the gender disparity in employment during Soviet rule.
Women had lower wages as compared to men. For example, the average wages of women were 25-30 percent lower than those of men. In 1975, women wages were between 67-73 percent those of men. For instance, the average wage for women working in the education sector in 1950 and 1972 was 767 and 1562 rubles respectively. This coupled with high levels of unemployment resulted to peasant position of women. For instance, it was estimated that only 22 per cent of the labor force comprised of women. Women had to balance between work and the heavy burden of domestic chores. The women employed in administrative and professional jobs were few as compared to that of men. Men dominated management and administrative positions as managers of chief executive officers which had higher salaries unlike women who were employed in subordinate staff positions as supervisors or junior managers. Many women who were employed in the public sector were engaged in physical occupational jobs as farm labourers, industrial workers and cleaners. This meant that their work was tedious and hard. The remaining one third was lucky to secure jobs in the specialist professional and semi-professional occupations as teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists, nurses, business women or shop attendants. Those who worked in professional jobs such as doctors, engineers or teachers required academic qualification and skills in the field of work while minimal skills were required for business women or shop attendants. The average working hours were 8 hours. In relation to skills, women took menial jobs that did not require great skills. The government supported working mothers by providing maternity leave, maternity homes, nurseries and kindergartens to facilitate good bringing up of children and participation of women in economic activities. A large number of women were employed in various branches of the national economy. Only a small number of women were employed to work as scientists, engineers, executives, and physicians. For example, by 1939, about 39 per cent of women who were employed worked in large scale industry.
Although women rights to participate in political matters were acknowledged in the Soviet state, their level of participation in civic, political and governance matters was low. Although women participated in electing political leaders, the high social status of women and their dominance in politics undermined a large women representation in political matters. For example, low participation of women in politics had less than 30 per cent. In 1988, only about 26.5 per cent of all candidate members of the Communist Peoples Party were women. Soviet elected party and state organs leadership positions held by women.
Despite the fact that women were required to give consent in marriage-related decisions, sometimes parents supported arranged marriages for their daughters through matchmaking whereby young women were showed off to eligible bachelors.The average age of marriage for Soviet women was 22 while that of bearing children between 20 and 24.The patriarchal family structure had men play the role of family heads while women were expected to assist them. Women expected to have men provide for the family but also worked to support the family. They also expected to play the role of mothers and caretakers. Divorce laws in the 1940s made the process of divorce lengthy and costly but by 1954, marriage laws were amended to make divorce easier. Liberalization of divorce laws in 1965 increased the divorce rates due to incompatibility, drunkenness and economic hardships. Between 1967 and 1986, the divorce rates increased from 2.75 to 3.4 divorces per 1,000 people. Divorce laws between 1917 and 1945 were tightened to promote social and marital society but the collapse of the Soviet regime resulted to leniency in the laws. Abortion was only allowed in order to protect the health of women. Although in tsarist Russian, prostitution was widespread, the Soviet government made efforts to stop prostitution.
In order to encourage women to participate in social and economic development and promote family stability, the Soviet government supported working mothers by establishing kindergartens and nurseries where children could be left when mothers went to work. For instance, it is estimated that in 1937, the Soviet Union nurseries and kindergartens took care of about 1.8 million children. The establishment of public dining rooms and ready-to serve facilities reduced the womens share of household work. This however did not change the fact that women received lower wages and salaries. For example, the average wages and salaries of women were lower as compared to those of men. This had women engaged in income generating enterprises such as selling of farm products of establishing business enterprises such as shops .The family institution and the interests of women and children in a marriage were protected by the marriage and divorce laws. Although in the 1980s Soviet society women enjoyed equal rights with men, they were accorded a lower status as compared to men. Soviet women have over the years experienced great changes in their social, political and economic issues. The Soviet Constitution of 1977 declared that women and men have equal rights to access education, employment, remuneration, training and participation in cultural, social and political activity.
In the early the 1980s, education aimed at producing technically qualified and socially motivated people to serve in the state-run economy. Deterioration in the Soviet economy was due to poor planning by government officials, shortage of consumer goods and food, workers strikes, unemployment, inefficient production methods, wastage of government resources and reduction in investment. Due to the decline in economic growth and employment opportunities for women, the government continued to support state benefit programs. Reduction in industrial productivity and inadequate raw materials led to increased unemployment in women. Shortage of food stuff made life it difficult for mothers to support their families. Although many women provided labor force in agricultural farms which recorded high production levels, bureaucracy in the government led to food shortage because lack of transport and storage facilities had large quantities of food rot in the farms. Women who accounted for a large percentage of peasant farmers were able to increase productivity in their private plots.
The men dominated the political arena However, women participation in politics remained low in the Soviet. The Soviet women were underrepresented in the political arena. Although the constitution ensured that women were provided with the opportunity to be elected or to elect political leaders, men dominated political governance due to the high social status given to men as compared to women. For example, women were underrepresented in the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) leadership. The women accounted for only 5 per cent of the partys Central Committee. Examples of women who managed to get top political positions included Paulina Zhemchuzhina who served as Commissar of the Fish industry and Bakhy Altibayeva who was the Commissar of light industry of Turkmenistan.
How the decline and collapse of the Soviet Union has affected Women
The Soviet society for a long time has remained a patriarchal society. Since the rise of Stalin into power in the 1960s,the Communist Party was aware of the Zhenskii vopros .The Zhenskii vopros was a Russian term that encompassed issues of women in relation to politics, legal matters, social and cultural status of women. The Zhenskii Vopros was concept advocated by Marxist-women during the pre-revolution period and aimed at addressing the issues of women status and roles in the Soviet society. It encouraged women development as mother and wives and supported the transformation of the social order and family structure. The political and economic issues failed to address unemployment or underemployment, gender disparity in employment, low political representation and difficult economic conditions. These issues were of great concern of the Soviet women. When Gorbachev took over leadership in Soviet, he introduced reforms economic and political reforms.Poverty had proved to be a major problem for many citizens during the Soviet regime. As the General Secretary in 1985, he proposed a program of reforms that was adopted to modernize and increase agricultural and industrial productivity. The 1986 radical reforms through the perestroika were meant to overcome economic stagnation in the Soviet through accelerated social and economic progress. The reforms provided women with opportunities for employment and accessing education. Improvement in industrial and agricultural productivity due to the reforms that led to the introduction of new technology increased production efficiency, lowered production costs and employment opportunities in industries that were expanding. These factors increased income for women who were generated from the sale of food products as well as an increase in wages. For example, the reforms shifted the share investment from the farms into improvement in food processing, rural infrastructure and food processing. This improved the working conditions of women.
The decline and collapse of the Soviet Union was attributed to efforts by the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) and the Soviet Union president Mikhail Gobarchev to introduce economic restructuring (perestroika) and political reforms (demokratizatisiia .In 1987, political reforms were characterized by appointment of non-party members in government and multi-candidate elections. To increase the freedom of speech and give new freedoms to people, Gobarchev introduced the glasnost. Initially, the government had controlled freedom of speech and the glasnost reduced the control of the government on the press. The glasnost policy played an important role in the rise of independent media in Russia. This led to the rise of media barons and proliferation of independent newspapers. This opened a new door for women to raise concerns about women-related matters through the press and to advocate for increased women participation in political issues. For example, women feminist groups and activists through the media began fighting for women rights. Furthermore, increased public criticism of the reforms played an important role in the enactment of legislation that improved education, employment and healthcare services for women. According to Gorbachev, the reforms were meant to achieve the objectives of socialism with a human face. The Gorbachev reforms introduced the use of new technology in industries and agricultural sector, introduced democracy in the political system and initiated reforms in education. Reforms in the industrial and agricultural sectors increased employment opportunities for women while reforms in education encouraged a large number of women to enroll in schools, colleges and universities. For example, girls who enrolled in primary schools enjoyed universal, free compulsory education within a nine year general school program. Completion of school beyond the eighth grade was required for both girls and boys. In 197, only completion of the eight grades was compulsory but girls who enrolled in primary schools after the collapse of the Soviet Union were able to learn up to the eleventh grade. For those who managed to come at the top 20 per cent of the secondary school leavers, they were able to join colleges and universities .Currently, a large number of women joins universities and this provides them with opportunities to get into professional careers. Many women are now employed as managers, chief executive officers and administrators, positions that were earlier dominated by men. Over the years, the need to improve economic growth has had Russian women gain from the educational benefits and programs that are provided by the government. Education up to the eleventh grade is mandatory and women are now encouraged to get involved in physical sciences, mathematics and foreign language courses that are offered in Russian universities. The growth of the Russias private sector has increased employment opportunities for women.
Many women were trained to serve as health care professionals. The impact of gender differences in employment and political participation in Soviet Union were evident.This gender disparity was narrowed. Medical assistants in remote and rural areas were trained to provide health care services in those areas. Although the influence of ones social status affects the Russian politics and economy, access to education has empowered many women to secure well paying jobs. The number of women employed in various public and private sectors has been increasing. Globalization and modernization has eliminated gender roles that that discourage women to compete with men for jobs and political participation. For instance, Russian women have been transformed from being just caretakers and nurturers to career women with families. Employed women are now making great contribution to the growth of Russias economy. . The government had many women recruited to serve in the health care sector whose primary goal was to ensure that the centrally controlled economy was supported by a healthy workforce. For women who are employed, wages have increased and living conditions have improved. The health care structure after the end of Soviet rule broke down and deteriorating health services affected women.However, the situation improved with time and women were able to access better health facilities. The government provided generous child care and maternity leave but this did not stop overburdening of the Soviet women .State run programs that continue to benefit women include the support of the state for child care centers and after school care facilities.
The Russian women involvement in the film and music industries, politics and business enterprises had been growing over the years. The economic reforms and political reforms that have been introduced in Russia have made great impact on increased involvement of women in fields that were formerly dominated by men. In the past during the Soviet regime, women activists who were considered to spread anti-soviet propaganda were arrested. The post-soviet cinema has led to the formation of a new Russian identity and massive economic transformation in the film industry which now provides freedom of expression and employment to many women. Since the implementation of the glasnost policy, the role of mass media in empowering women to become financially independent and actively participate in governance has been important. The policy also allowed the public to express discontent with the government and to acknowledge past violation of human rights and abuses. For example, in 1992, the Russian Parliament was criticized by feminist groups for adopting the Article 1 of the Draft Law of the Russian Federation on the Protection of Family, Maternity, Paternity and Childhood that promoted more employment for men than women. Increased freedom of expression has had positive impact on womens efforts to demand for their rights. Decades of Soviet rule have continued to shape opportunities for women.
High levels of abortion have been witnessed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The need to increase awareness on sexual matters has exposed the Russian women to the issues of pornography. The media has played an important role in exposing sexual matters related to pornography to women and increased organized crime is luring many Russian women to prostitution and pornography. Sex education and family planning have reduced the number of abortions carried out in Russia. Efforts to improve reproductive health have been promoted by a Demographic Policy program Concept that was introduced by President Putin with the aim of improving reproductive health, preserving and reviving moral and spiritual traditions in the family and reducing infant and maternal mortality. Efforts in the mid 1990s to expand family planning led to the adoption of the Legislation on Public Health Protection by the State Duma.Currently, family planning and sex education are a priority for the government. In 2006, Putin introduced the maternal capital, a program that offers women with more than one child financial assistance when the child reaches 3 years of age.
In the present Russian society, men have maintained their role as the heads of the family and women as caretakers and nurturers. The Family Code of 1995 gave women the responsibility to rear children and protects the family members against abuse. This legislation also supports self-determination in marriage. New religious groups are encouraging women to assume leadership positions by integrating them in leadership. Increased participation of women in political matters has enabled women to be elected in Russias political parties .Some examples of influential political figures in Russia have included Lydumila Vartazarova (the chief of Socialist Workers Party),Ella Pamfliova(Republican Party) and Valeriya Novodvorskaya(Democratic Union leader).The Russian Minister of Social Protection position has been dominated by women. Efforts to empower women have had the once suppressed independent women organizations increase at the regional, local and national levels. Many women rights groups are now making efforts to set up domestic and rape awareness programs. To empower women with entrepreneurial skills, women groups such as the Women Union of Russia have emerged.
It is expected that in thirty years time, the Russian women will be in a great position to effectively compete with men for political positions. Their willingness to participate in governance and politics is evident. Because Russia is moving towards democratization, an increase in political parties will encourage more women to participate in governance. There is no doubt that the role of women in entrepreneurship will increase in future. Many Russian women are now involved in entrepreneurship as a means of increasing financial stability and the Russian private sector has continued to grow. This is anticipated to provide women with more employment opportunities and in future. The freedom of expression promoted by the media will provide an excellent platform for women organizations and activists to initiate political, social and economic changes that will benefit the Russian women.
The decline and collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 had great impact on the global politics and economy. The discontent of the people about the Soviet state and Gorbachevs administration began with mass resistance from the Baltic States in 1987 which demanded for autonomy. By 1989, the increased influence of nationalistic movements and territorial dispute that arose from the influence in the Soviet Union led to a decline and collapse of the state when the nations managed to get autonomy. This resulted to the establishment of Russia in December 1991. This was hailed by the West which considered the disintegration to be the superiority of capitalism over socialism as well as triumph of victory over totalitarianism. The changes that resulted from the decline and collapse of the union also had great impact on the Soviet women. The political, economic and social changes that were experienced have continued to affect the lives of Russian women. Although some changes were beneficial to women, others have undermined the role of women in economic development and governance. Changes that continue to be witnessed in Russia are expected to increase women participation in politics, improve women education and present women with equal opportunities to compete with men. These historical events in the Soviet Union had great impact on the lives of women.
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