As a result of the September elections in Moscow, 18 women became deputies of the Moscow City Duma - that's 40%. The indicator is higher only in Chukotka - almost 47%. But these are white crows. The average number of women parliamentarians in the regional parliaments of Russia does not exceed 15%, and there is no female majority anywhere, according to Transparency International-Russia under the heading “Non-Representative Power”. Despite the fact that there are 10 million more women in Russia than men, there are three times less of them among the registered candidates for elections to regional parliaments. And even when a woman becomes a deputy, her income is on average 36% of men's. The reasons are discussed by the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Olga Timofeeva.
Olga Timofeeva Deputy Chairman of the State Duma “Politics is a rather tough story, and today not many women decide to live in a public environment, because it is very difficult, and this is a difficult story, but this concerns the chosen story, this is a conscious choice. As for women at work in the executive branch - in city halls, regional governments - I want to say that I know thousands of women, professionals, smart women, who are much more effective than men in these positions. Another point, I want to say that, probably, it just so happened that everyone thinks that a male leader is more effective. I disagree with that. I believe that there is no gender position in the effectiveness of a person - a man or a woman."
Indeed, there are a lot of women in unelected government positions in Russia - two and a half times more than men. The problem is that, according to Rosstat, which was analyzed by Transparency International-Russia, women are disproportionately less represented in leadership positions and disproportionately more in specialist positions. The trend is clear - the higher the level, the fewer women.
At the same time, in Russia, the opinion is quite widespread that this is gender inequality in the West, while we have Valentina Matvienko and Elvira Nabiullina in high positions. Elena Rozhdestvenskaya, professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Higher School of Economics, objects.
Elena Rozhdestvenskaya Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Higher School of Economics “Political cultures of the West are more politically correct. They implement the principles of quotas. In relation to the principles of quotas, of course, there are skeptical positions, but you must agree, take, for example, Germany - 30%, 25% that in politics and in business there should be women, therefore favorable conditions are created for them to start a career. Much more favorable corporate policies are being implemented for them, much more favorable opportunities for the so-called problem of the balance of life and work. And here, in our realities, it becomes, in general, the risk of women themselves - they have to carry on their own shoulders all the balances between family and career, to overcome the stereotypes that a career is not a woman's occupation at all. So it seems to me that it is more difficult for us."
Last year, amid Weinsteingate and a global wave of interest in gender issues, the State Duma voted on a gender equality bill that had been introduced to the lower house back in 2003. The document was supposed to fix the norm according to which men and women performing identical work should receive the same salary. In addition, it was proposed to introduce a gender quota for government bodies and political organizations - for example, if the share of men in the list of candidates for a party to the parliament is higher than the share of women by more than 10%, it could be reduced in state funding. The amendments were also supposed to define the concept of harassment - sexual harassment in the workplace. As a result, the State Duma, 84% composed of men, decided that after 14 years of consideration, the bill was outdated, there was no need to adopt it, and indeed, everything was not bad anyway.
