Women's rights: March 8th and beyond

International Women's Day on March 8 is one of the favorite holidays in Russia, when it is customary to shower women with flowers and desirable (or not so desirable) gifts. Traditionally, gifts are given by men, in general - the whole day turns into a day of triumph of a woman - mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, colleague, neighbor - no woman on this day will be left without at least a verbal congratulation even from unfamiliar men. Also on this day men try to take on women's chores - housework, such as washing dishes after dinner, cooked by them. Women are assured of love and fidelity, their intelligence and abilities are highly appreciated - in general, a woman becomes a "caliph for an hour", i.e. "queen of the day". And despite the fact that women gladly accept both gifts and attention of men around them, many of them are well aware that tomorrow the holiday will end and "the carriage will turn into a pumpkin", the "queen" will have to plunge back into routine everyday life and be content with the role defined by her... Who?

Khadicha Abysheva, President of International Justice Organization Inc., expert of INL, OSCE, UN Women believes that "International Women's Day or the day of solidarity of women in the struggle for equal rights and emancipation has turned into an endless carnival of patriarchy. At the beginning of the last century, the holiday was invented to talk about the struggle for women's rights, discuss strategies for their liberation and call for solidarity. Years later, the day has evolved into a "day of spring, love and beauty." It has been overgrown with the symbolism of traditional femininity and now seems to exist solely to reinforce stereotypes about women and their "natural" qualities and vocation. Flowers and pink ribbons become the visual dominant theme every year."

Her words are confirmed by surveys (on the RBC website[1]), 62% of women believe that flowers, candy and perfume are pleasant gifts for March 8. 49% of men agree with them. Moreover, 22% of respondents, regardless of gender, are sure that these are obligatory symbols of the holiday. For 53% of women March 8 is an occasion to relax from household chores, another third of women expect gifts from their loved ones. 57% perceive March 8 as International Women's Day, and 30% - as the Day of Spring. However, only 7% said that March 8 is a day dedicated to the struggle for women's rights, and 5% called it a day in support of women. The majority of respondents (82%) disagreed that March 8 is an occasion to talk about women's rights. Only 3% talk about the problem of gender inequality in social networks, and women do it more actively.

It is not clear from many such surveys whether women are really satisfied with this state of affairs and do not feel the need for change. Of course, sometimes it is nice to feel weak, the one who is surrounded by care and attention, but still, modern women most often realize that such point recognition of their merits is not worth many years of struggle of feminists for women's rights. According to the same survey, over the past five years, 14% of respondents have changed their attitude to the March 8 holiday. Most of all it has changed among young people under 24 years old. Moreover, Russians often do not connect the change in their perception of the holiday with feminism and the struggle for women's rights (80% of those who have changed their perception said so).

The topic of women's rights does not bother Russian society much, and the traditions of the holiday remain unchanged. More than half of the respondents say that there is gender equality in Russia, and only 24% speak about the infringement of women's rights. One third of respondents have a neutral attitude to the ideas of feminism, while 23% of men are sure that feminism is evil.

Despite all the controversies, the protection of women's rights is still as important, or perhaps more relevant, than ever in this world. From protecting women's health and lives from domestic violence, to their right to abortion or alimony, to equal pay for the same work as men or proportional representation in politics or power structures. Whatever heights women achieve - and they are not few - a "glass ceiling" exists, women realize that there is a certain limit when their gender becomes an obstacle to a fair resolution of a situation.

Men are 1.6 times more likely than women to negotiate the monetary aspect of their first job after graduation, according to a study by a team of economists from Boston, New York, Singapore, and the University of Michigan, who published the preprint of the paper "Gender Differences in Negotiation and Labor Market Outcomes" in the NBER. Women, on the other hand, are less likely to be willing to raise the issue of salary increases and are more flexible in negotiations, which affects the final salary level. One of the reasons for this behavior is women's lack of understanding of the potential benefits of active negotiation, according to the authors of the paper.

In order to conduct salary negotiations more effectively, it makes sense for women to prepare for them thoroughly. For example, assess the value of their competencies in the labor market, categorize their contribution to the company - and be ready to talk about a raise in person, not over the phone or via email, the publication says.

Today, the beautiful half of humanity realizes the price of this struggle, agreeing that a strong woman is not an antifeminine, but one who is able to ensure her financial independence, able to take care not only of herself, but also of her children and parents. If in the past women fought for the right to receive education, the right to inherit their parents' or husband's property, the right to participate in elections both as voters and as candidates, now women want these rights to be natural for all women on the planet. Women are realizing the value of horizontal ties and creating communities, supporting each other in a wide variety of situations, warning of risks and ways to deal with them. And they are creating NGOs, organizing rights support centers, shelters to shelter from violence or harassment, organizing in coalitions, and launching women-friendly legislative initiatives.

The international community of women experts in the field of support and protection of the rights of women in the process of migration and adaptation in a new place was formed about a year ago and unites participants from different countries - from Russia and the USA, from Asian and European countries. During this time, women have not only identified the risks and problems that any woman may face when moving to a new place, but also tested support and protection mechanisms to help women in difficult situations. By joint efforts it was possible to solve women's problems in different countries, making their situation much easier, helping them to overcome bureaucratic obstacles, saving them time and money. The high competence of the Women's Club participants - including sociologists and anthropologists, journalists and human rights activists, business women and representatives of ethnic communities - proved to be organically complimentary to the requests for help. Some needed help in filling out documents, some needed representation in court, some needed jobs, some were unable to enroll their children in school on their own, some had to return to their home country and settle there anew... all these issues were resolved quickly and efficiently thanks to the cooperation that was established.

The personal experience of each participant of the Women's Club also plays a special role, allowing them to build empathic trusting relationships with each other and with the women they helped. Almost everyone has experience of migration - some leave their native land and cross borders, and some go to metropolitan areas from the regions; even a change of job also requires adaptation to a new place and integration into a new team; many risks that a woman who has arrived in another country may face are also relevant for local women. However, local women are better oriented in the socio-legal space and can resist violation of their borders and rights.

Vera Gracheva, President of the Interregional Public Movement against Trafficking in Human Beings and Modern Forms of Forced Labor "Alternativa", who returned to Russia after 15 years of work in the OSCE in Vienna, believes that in Russia "women have many problems. First of all, there is the prevalence of domestic violence and the absence of a law criminalizing it. Then there is discrimination in terms of salaries and promotion to senior positions. The imposition of a patriarchal view of the role of women, if not a domostroevsky view. 

Alla Chikinda, coordinator of the project "Let's cope together" on inclusive support, is in solidarity, there are problems, and they concern, it would seem, ordinary things: "The organization of space for living in the city is not made without taking into account the interests of women. For example, there is little lighting on the streets and in the entrances of houses, which makes it unsafe to move around the city in the dark.  Plus there is no system to protect women on the streets from harassment and assault.

Natalia Kazarina, a lawyer and anthropologist, an expert on the traditions of the peoples of the Caucasus, who has just moved from the region to the capital, echoes her, noting that she sees "specific problems - from renting apartments to employment. There are problems varying in subject matter and scope, such as:

- women are less competitive in the labor market (childbearing/having young children)

- a woman is obliged not only to socialize in an unfamiliar place and to find a job, but also to take care of a huge layer of household tasks, which includes registration of herself and family members in medical institutions, children in kindergartens/schools/extra-curricular activities". All these issues are difficult not only for external, but also for internal migrants, they need to have both knowledge and skills to settle in a new place without problems.

Women are generally more responsible for their own safety and know where to go if they are in trouble, and many are willing to help other women avoid problems and share information with those who need help. There is a list of organizations working to protect victims of domestic violence and a list of shelters and crisis centers that are willing to accept women in crisis.  However, there is never a lot of information about safety. Natalia Kazarina suggests holding educational events or developing informational materials - a kind of guide/checklist that would identify the most common problems and ways to solve them, as well as contact addresses and phone numbers of places to go in this or that situation, and links to laws.

It is the desire to help avoid problems that inspires the Women's Club participants not to leave others in trouble. "The problem must be solved systematically, it cannot be done from below, because the measures will be insufficient. And at the system level it will be possible to start to change it only if there will be at least 50% of women in the governing bodies (in the city administration, in the council of citizens, and so on)" - says Alla Chikinda.

Vera Georgievna Gracheva states: "My experience is the knowledge of how the fight against human trafficking and work with victims should be organized regardless of the form of exploitation. Unfortunately, despite the large number of publications, interviews and work with journalists, we are not heard by those who are responsible for recognizing the existence of the problem as such. Such times - other priorities. However, I am not discouraged and continue to work to raise awareness of the risks of modern slavery to as many people as possible.

After all, a safe life is a life under the rule of law, for which human life is the highest value. It is a life free from stigma and discrimination, it is gender equality or equality of opportunity, it is diversity of learning and access to education for all, it is mutual respect for cultures and traditions".

"A safe environment, a safe life for women is a life in which there are conditions for self-expression, development, without fear to express oneself, to search for oneself when occupying a certain position (material, social)" - believes Maria Polyanina, lawyer of the "Migration and Law" network.

"A safe and good life is a life without daily stress" - echoes her Alla Chikinda

Natalia Kazarina agrees - "it is a life without constant anxiety, when you know in advance how you can solve problems that arise.

[1] https://trends.rbc.ru/trends/social/622481cb9a794763d14088b1?from=copy

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