Women's Movement in Belarus - Formation, Development, Problems.

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Silvia Barber
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1 (RUSSIAN) Women's Movement in Belarus - Formation, Development, Problems. During the years of social-economic transformation and long-term crisis in Belarus there has been a considerable decline in the professional and social status of women, and a sharp reduction of their actual participation in decision making at all levels and in all spheres. Belarusian women are the least protected social group in the job market: they face discrimination when being employed and dismissed, in the remuneration of their labor. The share of women among unemployed amounts to 65%, and the process of poverty feminization is going on. However, despite having a continuous experience of being discriminated women do not recognize it. The majority: of them do not have legal expertise, and neither there is experience to protect their rights and interests. There are considerable obstacles on the way of women's participation in policy: men actually occupy all top positions both in the sphere of managing state affairs and in the leadership of political parties. In reality, women are debarred from the participation in designing strategies for the development of the society. Belarusian women do not identify their rights and interests, such as political representation, equal rights in the sphere of labor, reproduction rights and health, and personal security as specifically feminine interests separated from national ones. This phenomenon has roots in the Soviet practice of solving the feminine issue, and in the preservation in public conscious of one of the subtlest social myths about the equal rights and emancipation of women. The myth turned out to be so enduring that it has actually not been questioned until presently, and most of people today do not see social injustice in the low status of women, and this phenomenon does not cause protest in the society. On the mass scale, women in Belarus are poorly involved yet in the social and political processes that form a civil society. However, different feminine groups in appearance have become aware of the need of civil participation in social and political life and defined the "feminine agenda" as an objection to injustice. The appearance of first feminine initiatives and the formation of feminine movement became possibly due to the weaker control from the State. In addition to the only feminine structure existing in the Soviet time - Belarusian Committee of Soviet Women that was transformed into the Union of Women in Belarus in independent women's organizations appeared at that time. Initially, feminine groups got detached from the general democratic movement in early 90s. Women from the movement of national-democratic orientation, mothers of perished servicemen, and those concerned with environmental problems and status of women constituted the feminine organizing committee. Several feminine organizations sprouted from this mass-scale feminine group, e.g. League of Women in Belarus, Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, and Women's Indepenent-Democratic Movement. Later, in the Ministry of Justice of Belarus registered other feminine organizations that in addition to their main objective, i.e. protection of women's rights, were setting other various tasks. For instance, the AII-Belarusian Women's Foundation of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk was established to promote the development of culture and revival of national traditions. The Betarusian association of women "OS&Ya" appeared in Brest and considered environmental protection their basic goal. Independent women's organizations emerged in regional centers and major industrial cities, e.g. League of Women for Survival (in Gomel). Ulyana (in Vitebsk), Rogneda (in Soligorsk), and the first organization in the rural area Belarusian Women's Community (Supolnast) - in Minsk region. The Discussion Women's club, women's club "Cleo" and others were set up for the purposes of communication and exchange of information. A number of women's organizations, e.g. women's party "Nadzeya", "Working Women". "Rogneda" and

2 "Soligorchanka" have appeared within the structures of trade unions in order to resolve problems of both working and unemployed women. Organizations of women similar to corresponding international structures have also appeared in Belarus, e.g. Lady Leader Club, Belarusian Association of University Women, and Belarusian Association of Young Indepenent Women (YWCA of Belarus). Their emergence was only possible after contacts with foreign partners saw the continuation of women's groups formation in political parties. A number of women's organizations tightly linked with certain political structures were established. For example, Belarusian feminine movement "For the Renascence of Fatherland" united women of social-democratic orientation, while the "League of Women-Electors" - mainly members of the United Civil Party; a women's organization was set up at the Liberal-Democratic Party called Women's Liberal Association. Women's professional organizations like a movie studio "Tatyana" (created in 1991), Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Association of Women Lawyers (1997) is still another active direction in Belarus. A Women's Non-State Institute "Envila" was also set up in our country. At present there are more than twenty women's organizations in Belarus of the Republican status and registered by the Ministry of Justice. The range of their forms of activities is wide enough, from service clubs to political organizations, from charity and social ones to research and educational formations. In the whole structure of public organizations the share of women's ones constitutes less than 3%. Nevertheless, women's groups implementing their own projects are active within some public organizations. Women's organizations have had several stages in their development. Initially, after having united themselves into groups women were discussing the commonness of their fate, and developing together with their groups they also influenced the development of the society. So, at this stage new women's organizations to a big extent can be called "development groups". This phase is typical for the presence of personal factors with their participants, like a possibility to establish objectives and tasks themselves, to discuss and select the forms of the activities and policies of their organizations, and to specify their missions. After that women's NGOs start developing projects, conducting seminars, they form data bases on different problems, enter informational networks, carry out research, look for the forms of cooperation between themselves and the State, establish contacts with the international movement of women, with professionals and scientists. After the stage of the organizational formation is complete women's organizations render some services, e.g. consulting and educational ones, they carry out cultural and charity activities. A number of organizations succeeded in setting up their own structures and establishing a regular and long-term foundation for rendering services. For instance, the Belarusian Union of Women opened up the Center for social assistance and the Crisis Center, the Association of University Women facilitated the creation of the Gender Center at the European Humanitarian University, and the Women's Indepenent-Democratic Movement opened the Center of Women's Education and Conseling. Women's organizations pay attention to identifying cases of women discrimination in all the spheres of activities, and of expressing traditional stereotypes about women in the fields of ideology and culture. The decrease of the status of women in the society, forcing them out of leadership and policy, violence on women, spreading of sexism, as well as problems of unemployment and poverty are the concern of women's organizations. In conditions of survival caused by the collapse of the economy and environmental problems, the values of development, independence and emancipation fire rather of theoretical interest and are unable to acquire response from women who connect their participation in the social movement with the expectations of the practical improvement of their status. This is why a major part of women's organizations do not so much focus their attention on the problems of equality and

3 liquidation of discrimination as seek for a concrete social support, charity activities with the most suffering strata of the population, and arrange self-assistance. In addition to specific social support they look for means to help women in taking actions and their recognizing that they are capable to change something themselves. Some organizations of women (e.g. Women's Indepenent-Democratic Movement, women's party "Nadzeya", AII-Belarusian Women's League and "Working Women") when raising the level of legal knowledge with women involve them at the same time in political processes. New independent women's organizations have already passed a certain stage in their formation, and gained experience and skills; many have won authority and reputation. However, it is too early to speak about a mass-scale feminine movement influencing the course of social development and political decision making. Feminine movement in Belarus has a number of peculiarities conditioned by the post-soviet time. "Group orientation", understanding of specific women's interests as interests of a certain social community that should be asserted and represented individually is the first peculiarity. The second most important feature of the feminine movement lies in the fact that it is already being developed within a new space, i.e. in a vast "third sector" and in the environment of other public organizations forming horizontal structures and links that in due course may acquire the features of a civil society. To create it is their common 'supertask'. Tills is why all independent public organizations to a big extent act as schools of civil education teaching the basics of democratic participation in the life of the country. Difficulties in the development of the feminine movement are caused both by the objective reasons typical for the whole third sector and a number of specific factors. The most significant of them is that the State not only shows its interest in the development of a civil society but in every way impedes its formation. There is no progressive policy in Belarus providing privileged taxation to potential domestic sponsors that would allow identifying internal resources for the development of the third sector. Moreover, sponsor funds for public organizations are subjected to taxation, and materials brought in from other countries - to dues and duties. No practice has been formed in Belarus of issuing. State grants on a competitive basis for the realization of civil initiatives. There is a policy on the part of the authorities to formally follow international requirements, but in real practice attempts have been noted to control and specify channels for the public activities, including feminine ones, "from above". In addition to the problems of funding there are a number of oilier objective reasons hampering the development of feminine movement. Absence of knowledge with the leaders of women's groups on social and political technologies, legal basis and mechanisms of changing the status of women, as well as on the experience of civil acts impede the process of forming the feminine movement. It should be noted that women have less access than men to civil education, and all types of legal and political education are conducted without accounting to gender peculiarities. Participation of women and the process of their self-organization therewith are often difficult due to the absence of free time required for the communication. Belarusian women sometimes lack confidence in their own strength and self-esteem that they deserve accounting for their role in the society and economy. The above reasons resulted in the disappearance of many women's organizations who failed to overcome organizational barriers and existed for very short periods (Women's League, women's foundation "Belief, Hope, Love", "Rogneda", OS&Ya". Association of Women Entrepreneurs etc.). There is fear that another re-registration specified in Decree 2 will become an insurmountable barrier for a number of women's organizations. Feminine movement in Belarus is not homogeneous and solid. Women's organizations have different views on feminine movement, on the place of woman in the society; they are of different political orientations. The habitual concept in the society of "social protectionism" with the traditional understanding of woman as "weaker sex" fulfilling her "natural designation" of a

4 wife and mother is still in use. A considerable number of women's organizations regard their activities within this protective and paternal ideology striving for privileges and assistance of different kind from the part of the State. These organizations acquire the status of permanent supplicants which makes them dependent, and it is difficult to bring them up to reconsider conditions of life. The dependence of these organizations is used by the State to exercise political manipulations and control over the life of the population. Another part of women's organizations builds their activities in the context of the modern definition of women's rights and "women's agenda". The watershed in the feminine movement is ideological and lies in the attitudes to social strategies and in the degree of loyalty to the established power. However, feminine movement may have common goals. Specific activities on the participation in setting up a national mechanism of actions meant to improve the status of women, to control the implementation of this policy, and to fulfil the national legislature and accepted international commitments may become a uniting factor for the feminine movement in Belarus. In order to do it, feminine movement should have an independent strategy formulated by women themselves allowing to identify potential allies. Presently, the spheres of activities of women's organizations are very similar. In case of the favorable development of the feminine movement its structurization can take place. For this purpose organizations should build the field for their activities, and identify their niches not only in the feminine movement but also in the society. In order to form their own modern strategy women's organizations require expertise in international documents, world experience of implementing the policy of equal rights and equal opportunities, and methods of gender analysis. All this is required to elaborate the strategy of development, change legislative acts, to lobby and adopt special programs in the spheres of employment, policy, education and resolution of problems of violence over women. Promotion of women in the political sphere, which is necessary to defend and represent the interests of their social community on the political scene, should become a common goal of the feminine movement. The success of the feminine movement will depend, in the first turn, on the future progress of democratic processes, but not in the last one on the ability of women's organizations to integrate and protect the interests of different categories of women, to influence the formation of the state policy, to determine tactics in the relations with authorities, political parties and public associations. Women's NGOs should be aware in what way they can help thousands of women to avoid unemployment, to find a worthy place in the new economic system, and to gain equal rights and opportunities with men in reality but not in words. In order to change the situation programs of full-fledged integration of women in all the spheres of the society are required. They can be offered by women's NGOs engaged in educational activities. Research women's programs should be designed to identify the social expenditures that aggravate the status of women. Complex settlement of the task to develop feminine movement and to involve women in the social and political life is possible if a special "women's program" is set up and if women's projects on the implementation of this task are supported by sponsor organizations. Within the frame of the women's program training should be carried out of women leaders on the basic issues of the modern women's agenda, rights of women aiming, to disseminate knowledge from the center outwards. It would be expedient if the women's program was set up at a major umbrella organization of NGOs being the Assembly of Non-Governmental Organizations in all regional resource centers in Belarus. To our opinion, projects designed to improve the competitiveness of women in the economical, political and social spheres, and to render assistance to women victims of violence should have priority in funding.

5 Within the frame of the women's program training and preparation should be carried out of women's organizations for the creation of coalitions in different types and subjects of activities, and for the coordination of actions by women's NGOs. Proposal by the Center of Women's Education and Consulting Our Women's Center is engaged in research, informational, educational and consulting activities aimed to improve the competitiveness of women in the economical, political and social spheres. The Women's Center also carries out practical activities on rendering assistance to women victims of violence. During the period of our activities the Women's Center has conducted a number of pilot educational projects, and has a wide circle of specialists and trainers as well as own programs as its assets. The educational department of the Women's Center has prepared the following programs to be realized in : women's rights protection and legal education school; women's political leadership school; education in principles of small business; "No" to the violence in family and society; "Women - Environment - Health". Every one of the above programs is an individual project. The realization of these projects aims at improving legal, political, economical and environmental informational provision to the leaders of women's groups and at the development of feminine movement. The programs envisage carrying out seminars and training in different towns of Belarus making it possible to stir up regional women's groups and to involve them into the system of civil education. Based on these programs the Center of Women's Education proposes to prepare a universal program within the context of the modern women's agenda and to act as a resource center for the "women's program" in coordination with other women's organizations. Lyudmila Petina, Director of the Center of Women's Education and Consulting, Chair person of WIDM

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