Defining “equality” for women in Russia — and why proactive change must start in the classroom
Women in Russia have more autonomy than at the start of Putin’s regime, but more change needs to be made before any definition of equality is achieved.
By Abigail Kneal
As a teenager, Sofia Dorofeyeva didn’t want to become a traditional Russian housewife. She would sketch trains and female conductors, hoping to one day become a conductor herself. But Vladimir Putin’s regime has made it extremely difficult for women like Sofia to explore jobs traditionally saved for men, deemed “too demanding or hazardous by the state.” Now, the 21-year-old has a chance to fulfill that dream, after Russia limited the list of jobs it prevented women from holding on January 1, 2021. “At first, we couldn’t believe it, but then of course we felt great joy as well as a sense of calm,” Sofia said. “Instead of fighting, we could finally just take this job after passing our exams.”
Previously, women were unable to become metro drivers, train conductors and lorry drivers. But Sofia’s is just one case among many. A transgender woman known as “Anna” in St. Petersburg, Russia, has recently overcome a tough legal battle that was based on the same premise of women not being allowed to take certain jobs. Compared to being a woman in Russia, being transgender isn’t a walk in the park, either. Just last year, Russian lawmakers introduced legislation that, if passed, will make it impossible for transgender people to change their gender on official documents after they have transitioned. “No matter how hard the Russian government tries to oppress transgender people: they exist, they are willing to defend themselves and they make the best out of their often complicated situation,” Dutch photographer Jasper Groen says.
“Instead of limiting women’s access to employment,” writes Human Rights Watch Senior Researcher Kyle Knight, “the Russian government should focus on ensuring that workplaces are safe and free of abuse and discrimination for everyone.” Although the revised list is a stepping stone toward progress, women are still restricted from holding jobs in the chemical industry and in coal mining, among others.
Sofia and Anna’s stories are just two of many that show how Russian women are increasingly exploring careers outside of the traditional housewife role. Ksenia Busheva, a Russian tech entrepreneur, originally studied the humanities and journalism, but when she didn’t feel excited by that work, she co-founded a recruitment tech platform in Moscow called 6nomads. Although Ksenia has travelled around the world and received strong support from investors and other entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, back in Moscow, she felt differently. In an article for Russian news site RT, she explains that “when her male business partner and herself would attend potential business meetings in Moscow they had the mutual understanding that it would just be easier if he was the one who did most of the talking.” Despite this, Ksenia states she doesn’t feel handicapped by her gender.
Although some women like Ksenia feel like they have just as much opportunity as men, the statistics say otherwise. Gender equality in Russia continues to be imbalanced, as only 54% of Russians think it is “very important” that women have the same rights as men in their country. Even more, the pay gap between men and women is one of the widest among developed nations — Russian women still earn almost a third less than men. Further, in “The Decline of Women in Russian Engineering Education,” researchers state that despite a strong presence of female engineers, “Female students were less confident in their professional skills than their male colleagues and question whether the engineering profession is right for them.”
What could be a solution for changing sentiment around gender equality that precedes an unhealthy work environment and unfair government regulation? Education. “I think it goes deeper than just encouraging women to get into tech in later life, it should be something that governments take initiative on in the early years in promoting certain subjects in school,” Ksenia said. The author of the RT article, Ciara Haley, explains that modern Russia is still quite young and has a strong capacity to change, which is supported by Hofstede’s claim that Russia has an ability to adapt traditions easily to changed conditions when those conditions are desired.
Do Russia women actually feel equal to their male counterparts, at work and at home? That answer isn’t clear. But one thing is for certain: changing the narrative spoken to our young girls, and empowering them to make their own decisions and fight for equality, is essential to changing the culture and overcoming harmful gender roles in Russia.
To help make positive change for women and members of the LGBTQIA+ in Russia, readers can consider donating to https://nasiliu.net/ (anti-domestic violence in Russia nonprofit) or the “Saving Russia’s leading independent LGBT media” project.
