Russian Federation - Combined 6th and 7th periodic reports of states parties [2009] UNCEDAWSPR 2; CEDAW/C/USR/7 (8 March 2009)

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Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Report on the implementation in the Russian Federation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

I. Introduction 4
II. Review (by article) of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women, with reference to the concluding remarks
regarding the results of the consideration of the fifth periodic report 4

I. List of legislative acts regarding women, adopted during the period from 1999 to 2007 45

This report of the Russian Federation (which includes the sixth and seventh periodic reports) regarding the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women presents the measures have been taken to implement the provisions of the Convention during the period from 1999 to 2007.

The present document has been prepared on the basis of the “General guidelines regarding the form and content of reports that are submitted by State participants in accordance with article 18 of the Convention”, “Guidelines for preparing second periodic reports”, (document CEDAW/C/7), “Guidelines for submitting reports on a specific convention for the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women” (document CEDAW/SP/2008/INF/1), and also the concluding remarks of the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the results of the consideration of the fifth periodic report regarding the implementation in the Russian Federation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The present report utilizes information received from ministries and agencies of the Russian Federation, which are charged with dealing with issues associated with the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, from the agencies of the executive branches of the entities of the Russian Federation, as well as from public organizations associated with these issues.

The report contains concrete information regarding the implementation of the provisions of specific articles of the Convention (taking into consideration the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in accordance with the results of the consideration of the fifth periodic report), information regarding the legislative, administrative, and other measures adopted in the Russian Federation for the purpose of implementing the provisions of the Convention, as well as information regarding the progress that has been achieved in the area of improving the status of women and with respect to the persistent obstacles to the elimination of discrimination against women. A list is attached of the legislative acts aimed at improving the status of women, which have been adopted during the period from 1999 to 2007, as well as statistical information related to the problem of gender.

II. Review (by article) of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

1. The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 (hereinafter, the Constitution) establishes State guarantees of equality of human rights and civil liberties regardless of gender, race, nationality, language group, origin, property and official status, place of residence, relationship to religion, beliefs, membership in social groups, or other circumstances.

At the same time, in view of the fact that society requires the creation of conditions for overcoming discrimination according to gender and for creating equality of opportunity for women in all areas of political, economic, social, and cultural life, the Constitution reinforces double-sided standard of equality: men and women have equal rights and liberties and equal opportunities for their realization.

Regarding paragraphs 373 and 374 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee regarding the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

Equal rights and liberties for men and women and equal opportunities for their realization, which are established in the Constitution, are obligatory for the State. In accordance with article 2 of the Constitution, “The human being, his rights and liberties, represents the highest value. The recognition, observance, and defence of human rights and civil liberties are the obligation of the State.”

This provision is one of the foundations of the constitutional structure of the Russian Federation. In accordance with the Constitution, human rights and civil liberties are in immediate effect. They determine the meaning, content, and application of the laws, the validity of legislative and administrative power and of local government, and they are secured by the legal system.

The Constitution prohibits all forms of restricting the civil rights (of men and women) in accordance with social, racial, national, linguistic, and religious membership.

2. The principle of equal rights for men and women is included in the Constitution (see paragraph 1).

3. On the regional level, the principle of equality of men and women is reinforced in the constituent documents of the entities of the Russian Federation.

4. The principle of equality of men and women is found everywhere in the legislation of the Russian Federation. Thus, civil law is based on the recognition of the equality of the participants in civil relationships, the inviolability of property, the freedom of contract, the prohibition of the arbitrary intervention of any agency in private matters, the necessity of the unobstructed realization of civil rights, the provision for making good on violations of rights, and their legal defence. Labour law establishes the equality of rights of workers and the equality of opportunity for their realization, regardless of gender, race, skin colour, nationality, language group, origin, property, social and official status, age, place of residence, relationship to religion, political beliefs, membership or non-membership in social groups, or other circumstances unrelated to the relevant qualities of the worker. At the same time, the establishment of distinctions, exceptions, and preferences does not constitute discrimination, nor do limits on the rights of workers which are stipulated by requirements inherent in the kind of work and are established by federal laws or which are based on the special concern of the State regarding persons requiring increased social and legal protection.

5. The constitutional principle of the equality of human rights and civil liberties is protected by article 136 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (CCRF), in accordance with which violating the human rights, civil liberties, and the legal interests of citizens is regarded as discrimination, including any dependence on gender, race, nationality, language group, origin, property or official status, place of residence, relationship to religion, beliefs, or membership in a social association or in any other kind of social group. The punishments stipulated are in the form of monetary fines of 200,000 rubles or in the amount of the salary and other income of the convicted person for a period of up to 18 months, mandatory work for a period of up to 180 hours, correctional labour for a period of one year, or the loss of freedom for a period of up to two years. If the discrimination was committed by a person through the use of his or her official status, then such a criminal act is punished by a fine of 100,000 to 300,000 rubles or in the amount of the salary or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to two years, by the loss of the right to occupy specific positions or to engage in specific activities for a period of up to five years, mandatory work for a duration of 120 to 240 hours, correctional labour for a period of one to five years, or the loss of freedom for a period of up to five years.

6. The Constitution (part 3, article 55) prohibits the passing of laws that would abolish or diminish human rights and civil liberties. In the event of discrimination or the violation of rights, any citizen has the right to appear in court with a request for the restoration of his or her violated rights, compensation for material damages, and compensation for moral injury. The court may compensate for decisions and actions (or non-actions) of agencies of the State, agencies of local government, social groups, and officials (article 46 of the Constitution). Article 53 of the Constitution guarantees the right to demand compensation for injury caused by the illegal actions of Government agencies and officials. Russia has an active mechanism for the defence of human rights: the Constitutional Court invalidates unconstitutional laws, the Supreme Court and Higher Arbitration Court overturn illegal judicial actions; the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation and the Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation actively defend the rights of citizens; international legal protection is also provided.

The most active means of protecting against discrimination is judicial protection. The Constitution and legislative acts such as the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the Code of Administrative Violations of Rights of the Russian Federation stipulate the right of each citizen to have legal recourse to other State bodies for the defence of their rights without regard to gender. The federal constitutional law “On the judicial system of the Russian Federation” (1995) stipulates that the judicial system in the Russian Federation is constituted only by courts that exercise judicial power independently, being governed only by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. In this regard, justice is carried out on the basis of the equality of all citizens before the law and before the courts regardless of gender.

7. The growth in trust in the judicial system is evidenced by the annual increase in the number of civil, criminal, and administrative cases being processed by the courts of general jurisdiction. Thus, if in 2001 courts of the first instance handled more than 4.2 million civil and 1.3 million criminal cases, in 2003 there were 5.2 million civil and 0.9 million criminal cases, and in 2005 there were 6.7 million civil and 1.1 million criminal cases.

8. Questions of the defence of human rights and liberties are also handled by new mechanisms in addition to the traditional institutions (judicial and administrative forms of defence).

In the office of the President of the Russian Federation, a Council for cooperation in the development of institutions of civil society and human rights is functioning. Among the main tasks of the Council are the formation of policies in the area of human rights, the development of civil society, the examination of typical complaints regarding serious violations of human rights, and the production of expert reports regarding legislative acts.

In 53 entities of the Russian Federation, human rights commissions are functioning. These commissions are generally advisory and consultative organs for the leaders of the entities of the Federation; among their functions are cooperation in realizing the rights and liberties of citizens, the collection, examination, and analysis of information regarding compliance with human rights in the region, the examination of the legal actions of citizens, and the preparation upon their own initiative of surveys regarding the observance of rights.

Although unconditional priority is granted to the judicial system for the defence of rights and liberties, citizens are also afforded the right to file a petition of complaint or a declaration with the appropriate agency of the executive branch. The procedure adopted in Russia of having executive-branch agencies and agencies of local government consider citizens’ petitions has proven to be an effective administrative means of protecting the rights of citizens. For purposes of considering petitions by citizens in executive-branch agencies and agencies of local government, a special mechanism has been devised in accordance with the law, fundamental procedures have been set out regarding the process of considering declarations and complaints, and time limits and procedural specifics of such considering have been established as well as types of decisions to be adopted and their juridical force. In this way, all elements of the State apparatus are subject to the obligation to defend human rights and civil liberties.

In addition to having recourse to the courts and to agencies of the State, citizens of Russia for the purpose of defending their civil rights and preventing discrimination may appeal to the Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, who in accordance with law provides a guarantee of a State defence of the civil rights and liberties through the consideration of individual complaints. The Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation has been granted the power to undertake measures for investigating violations of human rights upon his own initiative. In 31 entities of the Russian Federation, individual ombudspersons for human rights are at work accepting individual complaints. In addition, in 18 entities of the Russian Federation, there are ombudspersons for the rights of children.

9. The Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees to citizens the right to have recourse to international tribunals for the defence of human rights (part 3, article 46). For the defence of their rights, women quite frequently have recourse to the European Court for Human Rights. After the ratification in July 2004 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, women were granted the right to submit individual or collective communications regarding the violations of provisions of the Convention to the UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

10. Russian law is constantly being improved. More than once the norms of criminal law have been revised. In the period under review, new norms were adopted that were aimed at intensifying the struggle against discrimination against women, and in a series of cases punishments have been revised along the lines of intensifying the punishments for persons who have discriminated against women or who have transgressed against their personality, freedom, or inviolability.

Regarding paragraphs 391 and 392 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

11. During the period under consideration, particular attention has been paid to the problems of respecting the rights of women who have been imprisoned. The norms of criminal and administrative criminal legislation with regard to women have been significantly relaxed. The current administrative criminal law of the Russian Federation is based on a strict observance of the guarantees of protection against torture, rape, or other cruel interaction with convicted persons that degrades human dignity. The observance of such rights is monitored both by the oversight agencies as well as by bodies of prosecutorial control. An important step in the reform of the system of executing criminal punishments was the creation in October 2001 within the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (Miniust of Russia) of a special office for monitoring the observance of the rights of citizens who are currently in prison. In the chief administrative office for carrying out punishments of the Ministry of Justice of Russia a corresponding department has been created, and in the territorial bodies, positions as assistants to the chief official for human rights have been created. Among the duties of these officials are uncovering the facts of a violation of human rights, preparing suggestions for eliminating shortcomings, and restoring the rights and liberties of citizens who are in prison.

Temporary detention facilities are regularly visited by representatives of national and international social and religious organizations, who pay great attention to the situation of women and girls, among other topics. Mechanisms for the independent examination of complaints and petitions of persons accused of committing crimes and persons so convicted have been established by law, as well as for visits to facilities by representatives of human rights organizations, including by the Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, and representatives of organizations that monitor the compliance with human rights in the entities of the Russian Federation. In the course of such inspections, the conditions of detention of women and minors are investigated first of all. During the period under consideration, there have been no crimes against the lives and health and sexual inviolability of women being detained in investigative isolation wards.

Regarding paragraph 393 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

12. Bearing in mind the comment of the Committee on violations of the rights of women during armed conflicts, measures have been undertaken in the Russian Federation regarding the education and training of military personnel in the area of the human rights and equality of women. In the Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, courses are taught and seminars and conferences are held on the topic of equal rights and gender. Educational work is conducted in military units, and this work has also involved non-governmental organizations.

An example of the strict observance of the law with regard to crimes committed by Russian military personnel in the Chechen Republic is the sentence pronounced in July 2003 by the North-Caucasus regional military court in the case of the former colonel Yuri Budanov, who was found guilty with regard to three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: “exceeding his official authority”, “kidnapping”, and “premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances”. The former colonel of the Russian army, Yuri Budanov, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in a maximum-security colony for the murder of the 18-year-old Chechen woman, Eliza Kungaeva. The trial lasted about two years. This crime received widespread publicity in the mass media.

13. In accordance with the principle of equality as reinforced in the Constitution, women and men possess in full measure the right to make their own contributions to national, political, economic, social, and cultural development, and to share in the results (see paragraph 1).

14. The policy of the Russian Federation, as a social State, is aimed at creating conditions that provide for a dignified life and for the free development of the human being. In accordance with the Constitution, the labour and the health of people is safeguarded in the Russian Federation, a guaranteed minimum wage is set, State support for families, motherhood, fatherhood, and childhood as well as for disabled and elderly citizens is provided, the system of social services is being refined, and State pensions as well as benefits and other guarantees of social protection are established. Citizens of the Russian Federation are guaranteed the right to work, a free choice of profession or type of occupation, unemployment protection, relaxation, and social welfare, which includes receiving benefits and pensions, protecting health and safe working conditions, education, professional training, retraining, and advanced training. The equality of men and women in work situations has been reinforced in the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, including equality of rights and opportunities, professional advancement, equal pay for equal work, equal conditions in work of equal importance, and equal approaches to evaluating the quality of work regardless of the gender of the worker.

The law has stipulated equal rights of citizens regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property or official status, place of residence, relation to religion, beliefs, membership in social groups, or other circumstances, in electing and being elected to office, participating in referendums, and actively participating in social and political life.

15. For the purpose of ensuring the all-around progress of women and of overcoming discrimination in the Russian Federation during the entire period under consideration, a broad package of measures has been implemented which have been emphasized in programmes of social and economic development for the Russian Federation and in the National Action Plan for improving the status of women and for promoting their role in society (for 2001-2005). Particular attention in the aforementioned plan has been paid to measures for improving the position of women on the labour market, improving the working conditions and labour protection for women, protecting their health, developing systems of social welfare for families, women, and children, providing assistance to women who have suffered rape, and for strengthening family relationships. The National Action Plan has played a positive role in providing employment to women, reducing unemployment among them, and strengthening the system of social support for motherhood, childhood, and families. In the majority of the entities of the Russian Federation regional plans of action for improving the position of women are also being implemented.

16. Beginning in 2006, the transition has been accomplished to programme-based, targeted methods of administration (programmes have been adopted that extend until 2010, 2015, 2025, etc.). The federal budget for the 2006 fiscal year was the first budget to be drawn up in the context of a three-year financial plan, in which the financing of a significant number of social programmes was stipulated, especially of priority national projects that are oriented towards improving the quality of life of the population especially of basic target groups, such as children, the disabled, pensioners, pregnant women, women with underage children, and families in general. The majority of these measures have been implemented since 2006 in the context of the priority national projects, “Health”, “Education”, “Affordable housing”, and “Development of the agricultural industrial complex”. Moreover, with regard to the general approaches to programmes, measures have begun to be inaugurated whose implementation corresponds to the interests of women and fosters the expansion of their rights and opportunities towards a fuller and more wide-ranging development and progress.

17. In 2006 at the inter-departmental level, a National Strategy has been approved for guaranteeing equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women in the Russian Federation (General Strategy of the Russian Federation), aimed at achieving actual equality on the basis of instituting general approaches in the system of State administration, education, legislation, etc. The basic aims of the Strategy are as follows:

– fostering the improvement in the well-being of the general population through eliminating gender differences in the economic status of women and men;

– eliminating discrimination in the economic sphere, increasing the competitiveness and the demand for women on the labour market;

– mobilizing actions for preventing violence and for lessening the consequences of it;

– developing systems of providing assistance to persons who have suffered from domestic violence, sexual violence, and trafficking in women and children;

– providing conditions for the development of the personality, equal access to State cultural, educational, and informational infrastructures and services for women and men.

The fundamental directions of the Gender Strategy are reflected in a package of measures that have been prepared for the purpose of implementing a series of federal targeted programmes, plans, and conceptions for social, economic, and demographic development.

18. A large series of questions affecting the interests of women with children are being addressed by the federal targeted programme, “Children of Russia” for the years 2007-2010. Specifically, this includes promoting safe maternity and healthy children, protecting the health of children and adolescents, providing vaccinations, reducing childhood and adolescent illnesses, disablement, and mortality, and preventing social difficulties for families with children, including domestic violence.

19. Questions of expanding the opportunities for women in the social and economic sphere and on the labour market have been organically integrated in the Conception of demographic policy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025, as confirmed by a Decree of the President of Russia in October 2007.

Among its basic goals is the future development of a system of providing benefits in connection with childbirth and childrearing, including their regular review and indexation for inflation, strengthening the stimulating role of supplemental measures of State support for families with children, and also creating mechanisms of supplemental support for families of various kinds (single-parent, multi-child, families providing education for children who have been left without a guardian, and those having disabled children, etc.), creating conditions for improving access to housing, developing mortgage credits, assisting in providing employment, creating favourable conditions for carrying out family and professional responsibilities, including the creation of a system of advanced training and retraining for new professions for women who are returning from maternity leave, expanding the flexible forms of employment (working at home, part-time employment), etc.

Regarding paragraphs 377 and 378 of the remarks and recommendation of the Committee with regard to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

20. During the period in question, the development of a national mechanism has continued for improving the status of women and for achieving gender equality, which comprises structures in both houses of Parliament as well as in the Government of the Russian Federation.

21. During the period 1999-2004, at the federal level the functions of a national mechanism have been implemented by a Governmental Commission for issues relating to the status of women in the Russian Federation under the leadership of the Vice President of the Government of the Russian Federation, and a Commission for issues relating to women, families, and demography in the office of the President of the Russian Federation. In the office of the President of the Federation Council (upper chamber of Parliament) in 1999 a Commission for women’s affairs was formed the purpose of which included introducing gender approaches into the work of the Federation Council, providing information to members of the Federation Council regarding fundamental problems in the area of improving the social and economic status of women, and conducting expert investigations in gender matters for decisions to be taken by the Federation Council. In the State Duma (the lower chamber of Parliament) a Committee for women’s, family, and youth affairs has been active in implementing the Conception of legislative activity for assuring equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women.

During the period in question, the national mechanism underwent substantive change. At the current time, the national mechanism includes structures at both the legislative as well as executive levels.

In the State Duma at the present time a Committee for issues relating to families, women, and children is active, and in the office of the President of the Federation Council a General Commission for guaranteeing equal rights and opportunities to men and women in Russia is at work.

At the federal level, in June 2006, an Inter-Departmental Commission for issues relating to guaranteeing the equality of men and women in the Russian Federation was formed. Among its members were representatives of federal ministries and departments, entities of the Russian Federation, and social and scientific organizations. The Commission coordinates the work of improving the legislation of the Russian Federation in the area of achieving equal rights and opportunities; it carries out gender expert investigations on laws and other normative legal acts that have significance for guaranteeing the equality of men and women in the social, economic, political, and cultural spheres; promoting the integration of gender approaches into the activity of agencies of the executive branch at all levels, etc.

For purposes of coordinating the actions of federal agencies with social organizations of the Russian Federation, a Coordinating Council for gender problems has been formed to develop joint approaches to solving current problems regarding the status of women.

22. At the regional level, the problems of improving the status of women are now the focus of interdepartmental commissions, which have been created in governmental republics, governors’ offices, and administration heads of districts in 44 entities of the Russian Federation (in 2001, it was 31 entities).

For example, in the office of the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, a sector has been created for implementing a policy of equal rights and opportunities for women and men in all areas of life in the society of St. Petersburg. Deputies of the legislative assembly of St. Petersburg have developed a draft law of St. Petersburg, “On providing State guarantees of gender equality”.

In many regions in Russia, agencies of the executive branch in cooperation with public organizations have developed regional action plans for improving the status of women and promoting their role in society, which include issues of gender equality extending through various periods of three to five years.

The role of women’s social organizations that are active in the entities of the Russian Federation is being reinforced. Many of them participate in the work of the coordinating and consulting bodies that are in executive-branch agencies. Gender approaches are being introduced into the activities of the executive-branch agencies of the entities of the Russian Federation on the basis of the equality of gender education and enlightenment (see paragraph 30).

Regarding paragraphs 387 and 388 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with regard to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

23. One of the main causes for restrictions on the opportunities of women in their development remains poverty.

The question of overcoming poverty is being discussed by the Government of the Russian Federation as an urgent and vital issue. Approaches to reducing the level of poverty have been developed.

The high level of poverty among citizens of working age can be explained essentially by the low level of pay in various areas. Around 30 per cent of poor people are made up of families where all working age persons regularly have paid work in agriculture, trade, and the financial sector.

Women with children are more often faced with the problem of poverty than women without children. Overall, of women aged 31-54, 21.0 per cent are from an underprivileged population, of men aged 31-59, it is 18.9 per cent. A special risk group is made up of young families, since the birth of a child significantly lowers their standard of living.

24. To resolve the problem of poverty, the Government of the Russian Federation has seen itself required to prepare a package of measures aimed at overcoming the crisis phenomena of the 1990s, the massive multi-month delays in paying pensions, benefits, and wages.

During the period in question, the Government of the Russian Federation has made important efforts aimed at guaranteeing expenditures from the federal budget for the payment of wages, stipends, and benefits and for preserving the vital network of social and cultural institutions. Work has been done to improve civil, taxation, budgetary, labour, and pension legislation and to limit powers at levels of government, including the transfer of obligations in the social sphere to the regional level, and changes in budgetary fiscal relationships.

The amounts allocated from the budget for the system of social support of the general population have been significantly increased, and measures have been adopted that are associated with increasing the material support of families, increasing benefits, providing services of health care, education, and social welfare, and creating dignified conditions of life in both urban as well as rural localities.

25. The strategic course of the Government of the Russian Federation in overcoming poverty, which in the programme for social and economic development is directed at the mid-term perspective (2005-2008), was aimed at increasing the money income of the general population on the basis of supporting high rates of economic growth and macroeconomic stability. The fundamental directions in the fight against poverty have been increasing the effectiveness of programmes of social welfare which are aimed at fighting poverty in developing mechanisms of social partnership, combining material assistance for the poor with measures aimed at their social integration and increasing their competitiveness on the labour market, providing financial support to the entities of the Russian Federation in carrying out events associated with the restructuring of social assistance agencies and increasing the effectiveness of their activities in the area of the struggle against poverty, differentiating approaches in reducing poverty according to the territorial context, restructuring the system of social assistance, increasing the minimum wage and the wages of workers of budgetary institutions, increasing the targeted character of social support, optimizing the system of social services for the general population, increasing their quality and scope, conducting preventative work with families at early stages of social difficulties, etc.

26. As a result of the prompt measures undertaken, the delay in paying salaries has been ended. If at the end of 1999, the unpaid amount was more than 77 billion rubles, by the end of 2006, it was 2.7 billion rubles. The delay in paying monthly child benefits has been completely eliminated, and the real, disposable money income of the general population has increased. During the period from 1999 to 2006, the real income of the general population increased annually by an average of 10 per cent. The numbers of persons with money incomes lower than subsistence wage and the percentage of the corresponding category of the population among the overall number of citizens has been reduced. If in 2000, the number of persons having incomes lower than subsistence wage was 42.3 million persons (29 per cent), in 2005, the number was 25.2 million (17.7 per cent), in 2006 it was 21.5 million (15.2 per cent), and in 2007 it was 18.9 million (13.4 per cent).

27. By the year 2010, it is planned to reduce the rate of poverty to 8-10 per cent by increasing wages and salaries, by improving the system of paying wages to workers of budgetary organizations and gradually causing the average rate of pay in the budgetary sphere to converge with pay in the non-budgetary sphere.

It is proposed to make major efforts directed at increasing the incomes of the poorest groups within the general population, more than half of whom are made up of families with many dependents and of poorly paid workers. For the purpose of overcoming poverty in families with children, work is continuing of developing State supports for citizens, and of improving the targeted quality of social assistance that is provided by the entities of the Russian Federation as well as the municipalities.

28. The legislation of the Russian Federation does not contain any provisions whatsoever that discriminate on the basis of gender. However, the practical achievement of equality is a long-term question, which depends both on the activity of the women’s movement as well as on the political will to support the achievement of real equality. In the period under discussion, work has been conducted on the draft legislation, “On State guarantees of equal rights and liberties for men and women in the Russian Federation and equal opportunities for their realization”, which contains a definition of the word discrimination, and a system of temporary special measures is proposed that are aimed at accelerating the achievement of real equality. The draft law has been considered multiple times in parliamentary hearings, and in 2003 it was adopted in its first reading. In 2006 during the preparation of the draft legislation for its second reading, negative conclusions were attached to it by the legal office of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the Administration of the President, and the Government. The cause for this appears to be an ambivalent relationship with respect to temporary special measures, which were being considered, on the one hand, as injuring the equal rights for women, and on the other hand, as contradicting current norms of equality. Work on the draft legislation is continuing. Regardless of the fact that at the federal level the law “On State guarantees of equal rights and liberties to men and women in the Russian Federation and equal opportunities for their realization” was not adopted, by decree of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of State Participants in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in November 2005, it was adopted in the form of a model law and was recommended for use in the national legislation of the countries of the CIS.

29. Special measures motivated by the particular concern of the State regarding persons needing increased social and legal assistance are provided for by labour law. It specifically stipulates that establishing differences, exceptions, preferences, and limitations on the rights of workers, which are defined by requirements that are characteristic of their type of work and that have been established by federal law, do not constitute discrimination.

Regarding paragraphs 379 and 380 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

30. The Russian Federation remains a traditional society, in which stereotypical representations of the social roles of men and women are still widely held. However, to a large degree such representations are maintained at the level of everyday life. Russian law does not contain norms that infringe the rights of women. Nevertheless, the traditional representations of the social roles of men and women are a significant obstacle limiting the opportunities of women to make use of all their rights and liberties. Gender stereotypes are reinforced beginning in childhood in school education.

For the purpose of modifying the social and cultural models for the behaviour of men and women, eliminating prejudices, and ending customs that are based on stereotypical representations of the roles of men and women, gender education is being expanded and widely disseminated.

During the period under discussion, the following inter-institutional programmes have been conducted: “Gender stereotypes in the system of the social and cultural development of Russia” (2000), “Gender studies” (2001-2003), “Gender education in the system of higher education in Russia” (2002-2003), and “Gender expert studies on textbooks and State standards for social sciences and the humanities in higher education” (2004). Carrying out these programmes has made it possible to create an academic method for integrating the foundations of gender knowledge into the humanities in accordance with the requirements of the State educational standard for higher professional education, to conduct expert gender studies on all types of textbooks for all levels of public schools and institutions of higher learning, to develop and to approve programmes of specialized courses for pupils in middle and high school as well as students in institutions of liberal learning and technical education, to include the new school discipline “Study of gender” in the State standard of higher education within the specialties “Social work” and “Study of cultures”.

Beginning in 2001, distance-learning programmes of advanced training in gender studies have been offered to teachers in institutions of higher learning in various regions of Russia and the CIS, and beginning in 2003, gender education has been offered to State officials in the Academy of State Service in association with the President of the Russian Federation (RAGS), which has a distance-learning option.

As a result of the efforts that have been undertaken, the level of knowledge in the area of gender equality has significantly increased among State workers, teachers in higher education, school teachers, journalists, young people, and university students. Expert studies on gender have been widely disseminated, Russian law has become more and more gender-sensitive, and gender perspectives are gradually being introduced in the development and implementation of programmes of social and economic development.

31. The mass media play a significant role in the work of overcoming gender stereotypes. In news broadcasts and opinion programmes of national radio and television companies and of the majority of regional television and radio companies, measures are emphasized that have been undertaken at the State level to improve the life of women in Russia, to increase their participation in the political, economic, social, and cultural life in society, to improve their social status, etc. These programmes contain statistical data, official information, the commentary of pundits, interviews, and presentations by State and public figures. In these programmes, women appear as active members of society, workers in the State, side by side with men, participating in the general political and economic life of the country. A significant contribution to informing the population regarding the status of women in Russia is made by special nationwide and regional periodicals for women. At the present time in Russia, around 260 newspapers and magazines are published that are specifically targeted at a female readership. The State provides financial assistance to mass media, and it awards grants to journalists for preparing their own broadcasts and publications.

Compliance with the law on advertisements is monitored. Often advertising spots on television intensify the effect of gender stereotypes. However, advertisements have recently become more balanced with regard to gender. Specifically, this has been promoted by the prohibition on showing series of advertising spots that have a sexist character.

In addition, the issuance of rental licenses is monitored for films that are designated for showing and distribution on the territory of the Russian Federation. Rental licenses are not issued in the event that details of scenes of sadism, excessive violence, and cruelty towards women can be demonstrated, as well as in cases where films contain scenes of a pornographic character.

32. In the Russian Federation, the law stipulates State support for families, motherhood, fatherhood, and childhood. The support for motherhood, fatherhood, childhood, and families, the strengthening of family relationships, promoting the significance of families in the life of young people, broadcasting family values, and overcoming violence are among the priorities of the policy of the Government of the Russian Federation. In the Russian Federation both on the federal as well as on the regional levels measures are being undertaken that are aimed at supporting families, motherhood, and childhood, increasing material support to citizens with children, and providing opportunities to combine professional and family obligations. The law concerning State benefits provided to citizens with children is regularly revised with a view towards expanding its categories of recipients and increasing the amount of the benefits. The rights to receive benefits for fathers, other relations, and guardians who are actually providing care for the child, are being expanded. In the interest of families and children in the entities of the Russian Federation, measures are being adopted to increase the targeted material support to various types of families – young, underprivileged, single-parent, multiple-child, and also families that are raising orphans and children without the care of parents.

33. The State with all the means at its disposal supports families, especially at the moment of their origin, and it is cooperating in solving the most difficult family problems. In a most significant event, a new social guarantee was introduced in 2006 for families with respect to the birth (or adoption) of a second, third, or further child, in the form of maternal (familial) capital in the amount of 250,000 rubles (to be indexed for inflation). This measure is aimed especially at stimulating the birth rate and providing material support for families. Women who have given birth (or adopted) a second, third, or further child will receive a certificate for receiving maternal (familial) capital, the funds of which may be used for improving the housing conditions of the family, obtaining education for children, or setting up a savings account for the working pension of the mother. Initially it was agreed that the funds for maternal (familial) capital could not be used earlier than three years after the birth (adoption) of the second, third, and further children. The aforementioned three-year period was chosen as a means to defend the rights of the child. The maternal (familial) capital was planned by the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation to begin to be paid out on 1 January 2010. However, the decision was subsequently taken that the maternal (familial) capital could be received from 1 January 2009, in order to solve housing problems (eliminating the chief debt and paying interest on credits (including mortgages) or loans which were taken out for obtaining housing or for construction). Beginning 1 January 2007, State certificates for receiving maternal (familial) capital have been issued to women who have given birth (or adopted) a second or third child. During 2007, the agencies of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation issued 309,826 certificates. The entitlement to receive the familial capital in the amount of 250,000 rubles (with subsequent indexation) beginning 1 January 2007 has been afforded not only to women who have given birth (or adopted) a second, third, and further child, but also to men who are the sole adopting parent of a second, third, or further child (see also paragraph 103).

34. Motherhood has traditionally been accorded the highest social respect in Russia, which is demonstrated by the various awards for mothers that have been established both on the federal and regional levels. Beginning in 1998, “Mother’s Day” has been widely celebrated on a nationwide basis. In many territories, in addition to the national holiday of Mother’s Day, Father’s Day is also celebrated as set out by legislative acts of the entities of the Russian Federation, the goal of which is to create responsible fathers and improve the roles and the responsibility of men in raising children in the family. In the Russian Federation, the International Day for the Defence of Children, as well as the International Family Day are also widely celebrated.

By decree of the President of the Russian Federation, 2008 was declared the Year of the Family in the Russian Federation. Among the basic events of the Year the Family in the Russian Federation have been programmes such as “Family and society”, “Family and stable development”, “Family and culture”, “Family and health”, “Family sports and relaxation”, “Socially responsible business and families”. Social organizations and associations of entrepreneurs have been involved with the work of carrying out these fundamental programmes.

Regarding paragraphs 389 and 390 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

35. One important way to overcome gender stereotypes and strengthen family relationships lies in preventative work and heading off family difficulties and domestic violence. Violence within the family remains a current problem regardless of the fact that during the period in question multi-part programmes have been carried out for preventing and heading off violence in the family, and for the social rehabilitation of the victims of violence, and educational and public relations campaigns have been organized (2001, 2006), which have been aimed at raising the consciousness of the general population, specifically of workers in the law-enforcement agencies, medical care institutions, and social services.

36. For the purpose of preventing family difficulties and focusing on the women and children who are subject to violence in the family, the agencies of internal affairs in the entities of the Russian Federation regularly conduct the multi-part events “Everyday life”, “Family”, and “Adolescent”. The general population and social organizations are actively invited to participate in these events. Depending on the place of residence, community councils, street committees, have been created, which afford assistance to those authorized by the police for preventive work with troubled families. In order to raise the consciousness of workers in law-enforcement agencies regarding the problem of violence, educational programmes have been formed in educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD of Russia). The topic of violence is made thematic in the context of existing educational disciplines: criminology, criminal law, family law, etc. In the context of the cooperation of the MVD of Russia with the Council of Europe, more than 150 teachers in educational institutions of the MVD of Russia have received advanced training in the area of preventing violence. The informational and method-based guarantee of the practical work of the police agencies has been accelerated.

37. The social rehabilitation of persons who have suffered from domestic violence is being carried out by social service institutions for family and children that are active in all the entities of the Russian Federation. As of 1 January 2008, the number of such institutions was 3,363 (in 1999, it was 2,240, and in 2002 it was 3,059). Various types of institutions are included in the system of social services for the general population: centres of social assistance for families and children, centres of psychological and pedagogical assistance for the general population, centres of emergency psychological assistance by telephone, centres for the assistance of children who are without parental care, rehabilitation centres for children and adolescents with learning or educational difficulties, multi-part centres of social service for the population, crisis centres for women, crisis centres for men, etc. The system of providing social services for families and children is constantly being developed, the quality constantly being increased, and the spectrum of services that are made available constantly expanded (everyday, medical-social, psychological, pedagogical, legal-social, including services that are required for victims of violence and cruelty).

As structured subdivisions within social service institutions for families and children, there are presently functioning 2,355 family parenting groups, and 764 agencies for preventing neglect of minors and others. Specialized assistance in crisis situations is provided by 21 crisis centres for women and two crisis centres for men, 120 crisis departments for women which are structural subdivisions of social service institutions for families and children of various types, and 22 social hospitals for women with minor children. In these institutions, psychological, legal, medical, pedagogical, and shelter services are provided for women and girls, men and boys, who have fallen into difficult life situations or who have been subject to violence. Annually, around 50,000 women and more than 12,000 men as well as almost 14,000 girls and around 12,000 boys receive specialized assistance in crisis centres. For the purpose of preventing domestic violence and providing emergency psychological assistance in institutions for families and children, 485 “hotlines” have been opened.

38. Social organizations, working in close contact with executive-branch agencies of the entities of the Russian Federation and agencies of local government, have made their contribution to providing assistance to the victims of violence in families. In the period in question, along with the NGO women’s organizations, various educational and public relations events have been carried out in the general population regarding questions of violence in families, as well as informational campaigns, scientific research, seminars, and conferences, the recommendations from which are made available to State agencies. Active work in preventing and heading off violence in families has been conducted by crisis centres, which have been created by social organizations (the Association of crisis centres for women “Let’s stop violence”, “Anna”, “Sisters”, etc.).

Regarding paragraphs 395, 396, and 376 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

39. During the period in question, work has been done in estimating the difficulty of the problem of human trafficking, investigating the causes and factors that promote the expansion of trafficking, and developing mechanisms of preventing and stopping this phenomenon. Great attention during this entire period has been paid to scientific research and educational work among the general population. Non-governmental and international organizations have actively participated in this work.

In 2000, the Russian Federation signed and in 2004 ratified the United Nations Convention against transnational organized crime, as well as the supplementary Protocol against the illegal importation of immigrants on land, sea, and in the air, as well as the Protocol on preventing and stopping the trafficking in humans, especially women and children, and on punishments for this. Russian criminal law was brought into harmony with the aforementioned documents. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (CCRF) was supplemented by new articles, “Trafficking in humans”, “Using slave labour”, and a series of articles of the Criminal Code have been supplemented by new provisions and published in a new edition. Trafficking in humans is understood to be the purchase and sale of a person, other transactions involving a person, and those transactions committed for the purpose of exploitation, i.e., recruitment, transport, transfer, concealment or reception, are punished by 3 to 15 years imprisonment, depending on the seriousness of the crime. Exploitation is understood by the law to mean the use of a person for purposes of prostitution by other persons, and other forms of sexual exploitation, slave labour (services), subordinate status (for these types of crimes, punishments have been established in the form of imprisonment for 5 to 10 years).

40. The inclusion of the aforementioned articles in the criminal law has been encouraged by the appearance of tens of organized crime groups (made up of more than 2,000 persons), which have participated in crimes connected with human trafficking. The incidence of human trafficking during the period under question has increased more than six times. For committing the crime in question, 73 persons have been brought to justice. The greatest number of victims are women from 16 to 25 years of age (38 persons or 90 per cent of the overall number of victims).

41. In the MVD of Russia, a department for fighting organized crime and terrorism has worked on the problem of counteracting human trafficking. Since 2007, several channels of sexual trafficking have been liquidated by workers of the department along with foreign colleagues.

For example, in March-April 2007, officials of the MVD of Russia in cooperation with the law-enforcement agencies of Ukraine ended the activities of an international organized group, the participants of which for more than a year had illegally imported girls into Russia from Ukraine and forced them to engage in prostitution.

On the basis of information made available by the Russian side in January 2007, in the city of Antalia, Turkish colleagues conducted a special operation which resulted in the detention of 41 persons, including three active participants in organized groups, for the organization of a channel of illegal immigration and trafficking in Russian women for purposes of prostitution.

Officials of the MVD for the Republic of Mari El, together with the law-enforcement agencies of Germany, Italy, and Spain succeeded in uncovering the activities of an organized group in the city of Yoshkar-Ola, which had been involved in human trafficking.

42. For the purpose of counteracting human trafficking, law-enforcement structures of the Russian Federation have been increasingly cooperating with the competent agencies of many foreign States, Great Britain, Israel, Germany, the USA, etc. At the end of 2004 in the offices of the national central bureau of Interpol associated with the MVD of Russia, a Russian national contact point was created for cooperation with Europol (RNKP). Its functions include organizing and implementing cooperation between the competent agencies of the Russian Federation and European police organizations.

43. An important role in the fight against organized crime, including human trafficking, is played by the federal law “On State protection of victims, witnesses, and other participants in judicial actions”, which was adopted in August 2004 and which provides various measures for safeguarding the safety of protected persons, for example, removal to new places of residence, alteration of documents, modification of appearance, providing personal bodyguards, guarding residences and property, issuing special means of individual protection, communications and warnings of danger, providing confidential information regarding the person under protection, changing the place of work or of education, and temporary transfer to a safe place. The aforementioned relates to the protection of both victims and members of their families. The law also establishes a State programme “Providing safety to victims, witnesses, and other participants in criminal judicial proceedings in 2006-2008”. For the protection of witnesses, including victims of human trafficking who cooperate with investigations, 948,720,000 rubles have been appropriated from the federal budget.

44. At the intergovernmental level, in the context of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a programme of joint measures for fighting crime in 2005-2007 was adopted and implemented, and at the present time a programme of cooperation for the States of the CIS is active in the fight against human trafficking for 2007-2010.

45. An important role in organizing the work of fighting against human trafficking has been played by civil society. In the Russian Federation around 100 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are active, focusing on this or that aspect of the problem of human trafficking. Work plans along three basic directions have been established: preventative measures (informational campaigns directed at cooperating with and providing assistance to potential victims of trafficking); events for protecting and providing legal assistance to victims; and cooperating with governmental agencies to create a legal basis for prosecuting and punishing criminal elements, the organizers of human trafficking.

Law-enforcement agencies are cooperating more and more with non-governmental organizations in providing assistance to victims of human trafficking and of violence.

46. A large contribution toward resolving the problem of human trafficking in Russia is being made by international organizations (PROON, MOT, MOM, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIFEM). In the context of the project EC/MOM, begun in 2006, on the topic “Preventing human trafficking in the Russian Federation”, a refuge for victims of human trafficking was opened in Moscow.

Regarding paragraphs 393 and 394 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

47. Among crimes committed in the area of human trafficking are also those actions such as the recruiting for purposes of prostitution, organizing the activity of prostitution, the illegal distribution of pornographic materials and objects, and the manufacture and distribution of materials or objects with pornographic images to minors.

48. Children without guardians and without homes and children from disadvantaged families are included in the risk group. Poverty and family difficulties often become the cause for recruiting children into the occupation of prostitution, and they serve as the basis for human trafficking.

For purposes of preventing the recruiting of children for the manufacture, storage, distribution, public demonstration, or advertising of materials and objects with pornographic images, a new article has been included in the criminal law, “The manufacture and distribution of materials or objects with pornographic images to minors”, which provides for punishments in the form of imprisonment for 6 to 8 years.

In addition, measures of criminal liability for recruiting minors into prostitution and into the organization of prostitution have been intensified in the form of imprisonment for 3 to 8-10 years, depending on the seriousness of the crime.

In addition, criminal law at the present time (articles 134 and 135 of the CCRF) prohibits sexual contact with a child younger than 16 years of age (until 2003, the age of protection for sexual inviolability was 14 years of age). The aforementioned age does not depend on the gender of the child or the gender of his or her partner, nor does it depend on the character of the sexual activity engaged in.

49. In 2005, 390 crimes were revealed as falling under the article of the CCRF “Recruiting for the occupation of prostitution”, and 100 persons were brought to justice, and in 2006, 1.4 times more than in 2005 (262 persons). According to the article in the CCRF “The organization of the occupation of prostitution”, in 2005, 1,039 crimes were registered and 741 persons were brought to justice, whereas in 2006, 1,376 crimes were registered, which is 1.3 times more than in 2005, and 967 persons committing such crimes were brought to justice.

50. According to the facts of the illegal distribution of pornographic materials or objects, in 2006, 2,876 crimes were registered, and 1,198 persons were brought to justice. Overall for three years (2003-2006), the number of crimes committed in the aforementioned category increased by 1.4 times, and for their commission 4,044 persons were brought to justice.

51. With the goal of preventing the recruitment of minors and women to the occupation of prostitution, specialized police units have been formed in some entities of the Russian Federation for fighting criminal violations in the area of morality. Such units are called on to uncover the haunts used for prostitution as well as the persons participating in exploiting prostitution.

52. Practically in all regions of the Russian Federation, regional laws have been adopted for preventing the neglect and violations of the rights of minors, and corresponding regional targeted programmes have been implemented. For the future support of children who find themselves in difficult life situations, and for measures to prevent all sorts of difficulties for children, a fund was created in 2008 for the support of children in difficult life situations. The amount of 5.2 billion rubles from the federal budget has been appropriated for the functioning of this fund.

Regarding paragraphs 381 and 382 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

53. The Constitution of the Russian Federation and the 2002 federal law “On fundamental guarantees of election rights and the rights to participate in referendums of citizens of the Russian Federation” establish equal rights of citizens, regardless of gender, to elect and be elected and to participate in referendums, regardless of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, property or official status, place of residence, relationship to religion, beliefs, membership in social groups, or other circumstances.

54. In the period under discussion, the existing election law of Russia has been transformed in the direction of reducing the number of entities that have the right to nominate candidates for participating in elections of governmental bodies at various levels. In the middle of the 1990s, duly registered social and political associations (such as the social and political movement, Women of Russia) were able to participate in all elections independently or as a member of an electoral bloc, including federal elections, whereas now they are not permitted to do this. At the present time, goals such as the formation and expression of political will of citizens, participation in elections and referendums, the representation of interests of citizens in federal agencies and those of local government have been strengthened as fundamental goals only in the rules of political parties. In this way, political social associations are now made up exclusively of political parties. Other social groups may strengthen their provisions regarding participation in elections not as a goal for the sake of which the association was created but as one of the means of achieving other goals of the association.

55. Current legislation has also introduced restrictions on the direct participation of non-commercial social associations in elections. In accordance with current law, non-commercial social associations may independently nominate their candidates only in municipal elections. Among the reasons for such legislative limitations are the necessity of overcoming the factionalized characteristics of the State Duma, consolidation of the political system, and the creation of strong and influential political parties. Introducing restrictions does not obstruct the participation of social associations, including women’s non-commercial organizations (NKO), in the political life of the country and in elections at all levels.

56. In 2005 new federal laws were adopted which set out the procedure for elections of deputies to the State Duma, which have been responsible for changes in the legislative acts of the Russian Federation regarding elections and referendums, and in other legislative acts which regulate electoral relationships. The most significant change was the transition to the election of all 450 deputies of the State Duma according to a single multi-mandate electoral district on the basis of a proportional electoral system, where votes are cast not for a specific candidate but for a list of candidates which has been put forward by a political party. The new law contains important provisions that permit non-commercial organizations (including women’s) to nominate their supporters for governmental positions, since up to a half of the list of candidates put forward by parties in elections may be made up of persons who are not members of the party. A general condition is the support of a “nominated person” by 10 members of the party. According to the intent of current legislation, this must be a self-nomination which may be carried out with the support of a social organization. Moreover, a different situation is created juridically in which access to government at various levels is now open to institutions of civil society.

57. In addition, the procedure for the formation of governmental agencies of the entities of the Russian Federation was amended in 2002, establishing the mandatory application of a mixed majority-proportional system for the election of deputies. In accordance with the law, not fewer than 50 per cent of the deputies of the legislative (representative) body of the government of an entity of the Russian Federation (in a bicameral legislative (representative) governmental body of an entity of the Russian Federation not less than 50 per cent of the deputies of one of the houses of the aforementioned body) must be elected on the basis of a single electoral district proportional to the number of votes cast for lists of candidate deputies which have been put forward by electoral associations in accordance with the electoral law. Moreover, the tendency to increase the influence of political parties and to consolidate the political system compels the entities of the Russian Federation to establish by law a mixed system of elections at the municipal level as well. The three-level territorial organization of local government which has been created at the present time (settlements, municipal regions, and municipal districts) has significantly expanded the field of activity of NGOs, inasmuch as for municipal elections social associations as independent entities may nominate candidates and lists of candidates, i.e., they become electoral entities in accordance with the federal law “On fundamental guarantees of electoral rights of citizens”.

58. In the federal law “On political parties” adopted in 2001, for the first time gender-sensitive norms were included that expand the opportunities of women in the political sphere: “Political parties must create for men and women, as citizens of the Russian Federation of various nationalities who are members of political parties, equal opportunities for representation in leadership groups, in the lists of candidates of deputies, and in other electoral positions in State bodies and local government”. The makeup of the list indicates that women are not standing on the sidelines apart from the process of the formation and activity of political parties. Women participate in the activities of political and social associations, and they make up the larger part of the electorate. In almost all political parties, they constitute up to half of the membership in regional departments.

59. Regardless of their high level of social and political activity, the number of women in federal legislative bodies is at present insignificant. In the membership of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (the upper chamber of Parliament) there are seven female senators (in 2002 there were 6). In the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (the lower chamber of Parliament) the number of female deputies was 14 per cent (63 persons) of the total number of members of Parliament (in 2003-2006 it was 10 per cent, or 46 persons). In the period 2003-2006, the number of female deputies of legislative (representative) bodies grew in the majority of the entities of the Russian Federation. On average, across the country women made up from 2 to 19 per cent of the total number of deputies of the legislative bodies of the entities of the Russian Federation (in some regions, from 25 to 42 per cent).

60. Russian law provides women with equal rights with men in being appointed for State service and being promoted in service ranks. During the period in question, the law in the area of State administration has been improved, and federal laws have been adopted according to which the procedure has been established for the organization of, acceptance to, and appointment to State civil service as well as to agencies of local government. The law does not maintain distinctions between men and women, and does not permit direct or indirect limitations or preferences in State civil service on the basis of gender.

61. Women remain numerically the dominant group among State workers, but they predominate in executing-type positions, in which the “gender pyramid” in governmental agencies and administration is maintained. During the period 1999-2003, in the Government of the Russian Federation only one woman occupied a position of Deputy President of the Government of the Russian Federation, in 2004-2006 there were no women in the Government, and since 2007, two women have been members of the active cabinet of ministers: the Minister of Economic Development and Trade and the Minister of Health Care and Social Development. Only one woman is a governor (the head of one of the entities of the Russian Federation).

62. There are no legal restrictions of any kind on the participation of women in the activities of social, non-commercial organizations. Russian law guarantees the right of citizens to form organizations and participate in their activities, and it guarantees the independence of such organizations from the State, as well as their equality before the law.

In Russia more than 3,000 women’s organizations are active on the federal, regional, as well as local levels. For promoting constructive cooperation between the State and civil society in resolving the most important social problems, in Russia a Social Chamber began to operate in 2005, whose members include representatives of women’s social organizations, who amount to 35.7 per cent. In the entities of the Russian Federation, Social Chambers have been formed in whose work women are actively participating.

63. In the Russian Federation the practice of encouraging women to participate in various international events at the intergovernmental level has been widely expanded. In the period under discussion, the percentage of women of those participating in the work of international organizations has increased two times. Unfortunately, the women of Russia are insufficiently represented in the leading departments of international organizations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MID of Russia) is undertaking systematic efforts directed at increasing the numbers of female diplomats. At the present time, female employees of the Central Bureau of the MID of Russia having diplomatic rank constitute 16.1 per cent of the total number of diplomatic employees in the Central Bureau of the Ministry. In this regard, 25 women occupy leadership positions. In the foreign offices of the Ministry, women with diplomatic rank amount to 8.6 per cent of the total number; in the period under discussion one woman was an advisor-ambassador (nominated in 2003) and one was an ambassador (nominated in 2004).

The number of women who are accepted each year for work in the MID of Russia and in diplomatic positions during the period under discussion has grown by a factor of more than two.

Women also make up a significant portion of the graduates of prestigious educational institutions of the MID of Russia, in recent years up to 40 per cent.

64. Men and women have equal rights in matters of citizenship. The basis for the reception, alteration, or termination of citizenship is laid out by the federal law “On citizenship in the Russian Federation”. The concluding or terminating of a marriage between a citizen of the Russian Federation and a person who is not a citizen of the Russian Federation does not necessitate any changes in their citizenships, nor do any changes in the citizenship of one of the spouses necessitate a change in the citizenship of the other spouse.

65. Men and women have equal rights in determining the citizenship of their children. A divorce does not influence the citizenship of children who have been born into a broken marriage, or who have been adopted by the spouses. A child obtains Russian citizenship as a result of being born in Russia, and also as a result of the reception of citizenship, the restoration of citizenship, or on other bases provided for by federal law or international agreements of the Russian federation:

– if both of his or her parents or one of his or her parents has citizenship of the Russian Federation (independent of the place of birth of the child);

– if one of his or her parents has citizenship of the Russian Federation, and the other parent is a person without citizenship, or has been declared missing, or the place of his or her origin is unknown (regardless of the place of birth of the child);

– if one of his or her parents has the citizenship of the Russian Federation, and the other parent is a foreign national, provided that the child was born on the territory of the Russian Federation;

– if both of his or her parents or one of his or her parents, residing on the territory of the Russian Federation, is a foreign national or a person without citizenship, provided that the child was born on the territory of the Russian Federation, and the State of which his or her parents, or one of his or her parents, is a citizen does not offer the child it’s citizenship.

For a child of 14 to 18 years of age to obtain or to terminate citizenship of the Russian Federation, his or her agreement is required. Russian citizenship of a child may not be terminated if, as a result of the termination of the citizenship in the Russian Federation, he or she will become a person without citizenship. The citizenship of the child does not change in response to a change in the citizenship of his or her parents if they have been deprived of their parental rights. In the event of a change in the citizenship of the child, the agreement of his or her parents is not required if they have been deprived of parental rights.

66. The law of the Russian Federation guarantees to citizens the opportunity to obtain primary, secondary, specialized secondary, and higher education regardless of gender. Basic general education, and secondary (complete) education, is generally accessible, mandatory, and free of charge.

67. In Russian educational institutions, persons of both genders receive an education on the basis of the same programmes and textbooks. They are taught by the same teachers, and they make use of the same forms of education and methods of teaching. The law provides for identical opportunities for receiving scholarships and other educational benefits. Overall, the current legal norms in the area of education do not contain discriminatory provisions on the basis of gender. According to statistics, of the total number of students in general-education schools (1-9 grades), 50 per cent are girls. Insignificant differences, which are associated with the opportunities of choice, exist in secondary school. Girls tend more to obtain secondary (complete) general education in schools and not in primary and secondary professional institutions, for which reason 55.3 per cent of the total number of students in 10-11 grades are female. In evening educational institutions, only 36.4 per cent of the students are girls, evidence of their desire to receive education in regular forms and not to postpone it for later. In secondary special institutions, 50 per cent are girls, in institutions of higher learning 58 per cent are girls, and 42 per cent are boys.

In Russia, the coeducation of boys and girls is generally accepted, but by decision of the founders, general-education institutions may be opened for pupils of just one gender. Such institutions are being opened, but they are predominately institutions for boys and are generally connected with military training (for example, cadet schools). The quite rare examples of gymnasia and lysées with separate education of boys and girls indicate that differences in the contents of fundamental school subjects do not exist. Usually such institutions are founded with a view to solving educational tasks. No tendency towards a growth in the demand among the general population for such institutions and towards increasing their number has been noted.

Among students, women usually amount to 56-57 per cent, and among graduate students 43 per cent. This disproportion has been observed over several decades in the grouping of girls and boys according to specialties, specifically: 63 per cent of those studying the humanities are girls versus 37 per cent boys, and 74 per cent of those studying technical subjects are boys versus 26 per cent girls.

Restrictions remain on women’s entering a series of professions, which is stipulated by law in the form of a strengthened norm in accordance with which the professional training of women and minors is permitted only for those professions and for those industries and jobs in which their labour is permitted.

Since 1999, the education of girls in military educational institutions has been resumed, in the Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Minoborony of Russia), the military medical institutes, the Academy of Civil Defence of the Ministry for Extraordinary Situations of the Russian Federation (MChS of Russia), the Academy of the Federal Security Service (FSB) for a limited group of specialties.

68. The education of boys and girls in educational institutions is fostered by scholarships. The amounts of scholarships are constantly being increased.

69. The gender proportions in teaching personnel are unbalanced. Among teachers of general educational schools women predominate (87 per cent), among teachers of professional technical junior colleges women amount to 60 per cent, and in technical colleges the percentage of women is 77 per cent. In institutions of higher education, 42 per cent of the students are women and 56 per cent are men. The gender disproportion can be seen among teachers who have higher degrees: among doctors of science women constitute 17.9 per cent, and among candidates of science 31.9 per cent. The gender disproportion is also observed among the leaders of educational institutions. Among the directors and deputy directors of general educational institutions, women are a majority, 85 per cent. Among the rectors of institutions of higher learning, the overwhelming majority (92 per cent) are men. Among the pro-rectors, women constitute 26 per cent, among deans of faculties 36 per cent, and among heads of departments 35 per cent.

70. In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, citizens of Russia are guaranteed the right to work as the inalienable right of all persons, the right to a free choice of profession or type of activity, the right to protection from unemployment, the right to relaxation, the right to social welfare including benefits and pensions, the right to health care and workplace safety, and the right to education, professional training, retraining, as well as advanced training.

Equality of rights and opportunities for men and women in their working relationships has been strengthened in the Labour Code of the Russian Federation (2001), including equality of opportunity without discrimination in promotions at work on the basis of productivity, qualifications, and seniority in the specialty. Women enjoy the same rights as men to participate in the organization and the work of professional associations.

In the labour rights of citizens to a prompt and complete payment of a fair wage in the Russian Federation, there is no distinction with regard to gender. The wages of workers depend on their qualifications, the difficulty of the work being carried out, the quantity and quality of the work being carried out, and they are not limited to a maximum amount. All discrimination in setting or changing the amounts of wages and other conditions of work is prohibited.

Federal law stipulates a minimum wage, which may not be lower than the subsistence wage.

Federal law in June 2007 set the minimum wage beginning January 2009 at 4,330 rubles.

71. For the purpose of preventing discrimination against women, the Labour Code of the Russian Federation provides for the dissemination of norms of labour law to organizations and enterprises of the private sector, including obligations to observe the law-based labour rights of women. Women who work in the private sector as hired workers and individual women entrepreneurs, upon condition of the voluntary payment of insurance premiums into the mandatory social insurance fund, have the right to receive benefits for temporary disability, pregnancy and birth, one-time benefits paid to women who are registered in medical institutions during early stages of their pregnancy, benefits for adopting a child, one-time benefits for the birth of a child, and monthly benefits for a child until he or she reaches the age of one and a half years. The payment of benefits in such a case is taken entirely from the Fund with respect to the amount and the procedure as established by the normative legal acts regarding benefits for State social insurance.

72. Four types of State pensions exist: pensions for years of service, old-age pensions, disability pensions, and social pensions (provided to disabled citizens).

The right to a worker’s old-age pension is afforded to men at the age of 60, assuming an insurance period of no less than five years, and to women at the age of 55, assuming an insurance period of not less than five years. Individual categories of citizens have the right to an early granting of a labour pension under conditions stipulated by law.

Women with multiple children, five or more children, who have raised them to an age of eight years, mothers of persons disabled from birth, who have raised them to an age of eight years, and women who work with special working conditions have the right to an early pension at age 50. The right to a worker’s pension for disability is afforded to persons who have limitations on their working activity of I, II, or III steps, in accordance with medical opinion. In the event of the loss of the breadwinner, a worker’s pension is granted to members of the family of the deceased breadwinner, who are not able to work and who were dependent on him or her.

The total number of recipients of all forms of pensions is 38.5 million persons, of whom 30 million receive old-age pensions, and 2.2 million receive social pensions. More than 6.2 million persons receive pensions for disability and due to the loss of a breadwinner. Women account for the majority of pensioners: according to statistics, in 2007 of all pensioners, women numbered 25,735,000 and men 12,732,000.

73. In 2002, the pension law was reformed. The following federal laws entered into force: “On workers’ pensions in the Russian Federation”, “On State pension provision in the Russian Federation”, “On mandatory pension insurance”, and “On investing funds for financing the savings portion of a worker’s pension in the Russian Federation”. A mechanism for pension reform has been introduced in the country, directed at modifying the existing system of distributing pension supplements, contributing to it a savings component and a personal calculation of the insurance obligations of the State with respect to each citizen.

Regarding paragraphs 383 and 384 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

74. Women constitute 49.6 per cent of those employed in the Russian economy. The level of economic activity is generally stable, and it is sufficiently high with regard to both men (72.2 per cent), and women (62.5 per cent). The changes that have taken place in the last 10-15 years are not significant. The policy of the State in the area of labour includes programmes that have been realized for promoting the employment of the general population, support for small and mid-sized businesses, as well as for peasant holdings and private farms. Such programmes aimed at increasing the competitiveness of women on the labour market, reducing unemployment among them, but also attracting women to entrepreneurial activity. The majority of the programmes have been carried out in such directions as providing information on various questions associated with guaranteeing employment, filling vacant positions, organizing social and temporary work, cooperating in developing entrepreneurship and self-employment, and providing career guidance, retraining, and advanced training.

During the period in question, the employment of women has risen at rapid rates in comparison to the employment of men (in 2007, the increase in the number of employed men in comparison to the previous year was 2 per cent, but in the case of women it was 2.8 per cent). The numbers of unemployed citizens was reduced from 7 million persons in 1999 (of whom women amounted to 4.3 million persons, or 47 per cent) to 4.2 million persons in 2007 (of whom women amounted to 2 million persons, or 46.5 per cent). The number of officially registered unemployed persons in 2007 was reduced to 10.8 per cent in comparison with the analogous period of the previous year. Among the registered unemployed, the percentage of women was higher (63.3 per cent) than men, which is related to their less energetic efforts on the labour market and the presence of young children. The least well protected category of women was in a difficult position on the labour market: mothers with young or disabled children, single mothers, graduates of educational institutions, and wives of military personnel residing in military cities. Their percentage of the total number of unemployed women amounted to 42.7 per cent (or 27.7 per cent of the total number of unemployed persons). Women avail themselves of the services of employment offices more often than do men. Difficulties in adapting themselves to the labour market compel women to turn to organized forms of the job search, to take courses of professional training, and to reorient themselves to new kinds of employment. According to data of 2007, the duration of the job search for women was 5.8 months, and for men 5.9 months.

75. Nevertheless, in the economic sphere gender problems such as hidden discrimination against women and vertical and horizontal segregation remain serious. According to data provided by Rosstat, the average income of women is 64 per cent of the average income of men across the country. Underlying this difference are many factors, but primary among them is the representation of men and women in various areas of employment. One area of employment is associated with well-paying jobs, another with less well-paying jobs. These different areas of employment of men and women stubbornly persist and, as modern research has demonstrated, the mobility of men and women on the labour market does not change the situation. Women generally move between women’s jobs, and men between men’s jobs. This horizontal segregation is brought about by many factors including those associated with mentality, the preference for various types of activity of men and women, but as a result women generally have less access to well-paying jobs.

76. Reducing vertical segregation, lessening the difference in wages and salaries, and equalizing the positions of women and men in the economy are all promoted by changes in the policy of payment in the budget sector. The Government of the Russian Federation is undertaking measures aimed at encouraging the growth of wages and salaries by increasing the minimum wage, increasing the level of wages and salaries of workers in federal budgetary organizations aiming at causing a convergence of the average pay for workers in the budgetary sphere with the average pay of those in the non-budgetary sphere, and improving the system of payment to workers in federal budgetary organizations.

77. For the purpose of supporting a high rate of economic activity among citizens, including women, special programmes are being implemented to promote the integration in the labour market of unemployed citizens who bring inadequate competitiveness to the labour market and who experience difficulties in finding jobs (women with young children, and persons having a limited capacity for work). Thus efforts are being made to create a system for advanced training and retraining to new professions, to expand the flexible forms of employment (working at home, part-time employment), etc. The aforementioned package of measures is put forward in the Conception of a demographic policy of the Russian Federation for the period to 2025, which has been confirmed by decree of the President of the Russian Federation in October 2007. In the context of this project, it is planned by 2010 to train 720,000 women in new specialties which are in demand on the labour market.

78. The Labour Code of the Russian Federation stipulates requirements for organizing labour protections and securing the rights of workers to labour protections, including the right to a job, mandatory social insurance for accidents on the job and for work-related illnesses, the right to receive accurate information regarding conditions and workplace safety at the job site, medical examinations, compensation paid to workers who are employed at hazardous jobs and jobs with toxic or dangerous working conditions, providing means for individual protection, etc.

Regarding paragraphs 385 386 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

79. For the purpose of safeguarding the health of women, including their reproductive function, a special article 253 of the Labour Code (2001) has established restrictions on women’s work. In contrast to the prior law, the current labour law does not forbid the use of women’s labour in heavy labour or in jobs having toxic conditions, but rather it simply limits their employment in the aforementioned jobs until such time as safe working conditions have been created for them. Including the aforementioned norm in the labour Law has greatly promoted generally recognized principles and norms of international law and of the Constitution, and it provides women with a free choice in their type of activity.

At the present time, there is a list of heavy-labour jobs and jobs with toxic or dangerous working conditions, for which it is prohibited to employ women, as confirmed by a Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation in 2000. In the aforementioned list, such jobs are named according to the branch of the economy, industry, and type of work (for example, “food-production industry”, “agriculture”, “printing industry”, “mining”).

The list includes underground jobs in the mining industry and in the construction of underground facilities, as well as several jobs in agriculture. In addition, it indicates not only jobs that are prohibited to women, but it also stipulates an exception for jobs which they are permitted to take.

However, in cases where safe working conditions are created in jobs (professions, positions) that are included in the list and this is confirmed by the results of a workplace certificate and by the positive conclusions of State expert studies of the conditions of work and employment through the State public health and epidemiology centre of an entity of the Russian Federation, the employer is permitted to make use of the labour of women in these jobs. On the other hand, in the event that officials of the agencies of State oversight and monitoring for compliance with labour law uncover facts regarding the illegal use of women in jobs with toxic working conditions, the employer is issued the appropriate mandatory instruction, or a declaration is made regarding the elimination of the discovered violation of the law on workplace safety. In this case, the employer may offer the woman another job in the same profession (speciality). In the event that such a job does not exist, perhaps because of the refusal of the woman to be transferred to another job, the labour contract with her requires to be discontinued as having been based on her accepting a job in violation of the list of heavy jobs and jobs with toxic or dangerous working conditions, in which it is prohibited to use the labour of women.

In manufacturing areas where the use of women’s labour is permitted, jobs for them must be in conformity with established hygienic standards and must not exert a negative effect in either the near or far terms on the health of the workers or on their progeny. Mandatory hygienic requirements must also be observed in the use of women’s labour with regard to the scope of the amount of work in accordance with each profession, the level of overall vibration, the degree of heat stress taking into account the season and the duration of its effects, and other factors relating to the industry and work process. Responsibility for meeting the requirements of the public health rules and norms falls on the employers (the leadership of the enterprise), as well as on the project-related organization that has developed projects in the construction and reconstruction of enterprises.

In selecting workplaces that are the most acceptable for women for various categories, and also in creating jobs for women, scientific criteria have been developed for evaluating the conditions of work, which include hygienic criteria of the industrial milieu, hygienic criteria of the difficulty of the work process, hygienic criteria of the intensity of the work process, ergonomic criteria of the workplace and of the industrial equipment, and medical and social criteria relating to the enterprise. Using these criteria it is possible to determine the workplaces that are recommended for women’s labour, workplaces where women’s labour is permitted upon the condition of implementing preventative measures, and workplaces where women’s labour is prohibited. These criteria also make it possible to approach the selection of workplaces for women in a differentiated manner: for healthy and practically healthy women, for young women with immature physical development, for female workers of a pre-pension and pension age, for women with restricted work capacity; etc.

80. In accordance with the norms established by international agreements and by current Russian law, oversight agencies monitor the compliance with labour law and the labour rights of women, and violations of labour law are exposed. An analysis of the condition of the rule of law in the area of complying with the law regarding the labour of women indicates that the standards, character, and typology of the violations of the labour rights of women remain for all practical purposes unchanged over the course of many years.

A generalization of the inspections that have been carried out gives evidence of the fact that the problem of assuring the labour rights of working women continues to remain quite serious, and violations of the requirements of special legal norms in parts of the provision of the labour rights of women in organizations featuring all types of economic activity have a very broad-based character, which is often the cause of the unsatisfactory conditions of their labour.

81. In 2007 in the entities of the Russian Federation, more than 238,000 inspections were carried out, in the course of which more than 1.6 million violations of law, thus exposed, were eliminated, more than 101,600 guilty persons (employers, officials of organizations, and judicial persons) were fined, and more than 20,500 workers in organizations from which more than 90 workers were fired were subject to disciplinary liability.

82. A special chapter of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation “Special features of the regulation of the labour of women and of persons with family obligations” establishes a series of rights and guarantees that are associated with improving the position of pregnant women and women with children, in comparison with other workers.

The annulment of a labour contract by the employer is not permitted in the case of pregnant women, with the exception of cases where the organization is liquidated. The annulment of a labour contract in the vase of women with children aged less than three years, single mothers who are raising a child aged up to 14 years (a disabled child up to the age of 18 years), and other persons who are raising the aforementioned children without a mother, is permitted the employer upon his own initiative only in situations that are specifically established by law (essentially, this refers to firing for cause).

It is prohibited to refuse to conclude a labour contract with women for reasons associated with pregnancy or the presence of children. Refusal to be hired for the aforementioned reasons may be grounds for a legal complaint.

The employer is obligated to establish a partial working day or partial working week upon the request of a pregnant woman, of one of the parents (guardian, trustee) who has a child up to the age of 14 years (or a disabled child up to the age of 18 years), or of persons providing care for a sick member of the family in accordance with medical opinion.

It is prohibited to send pregnant women or workers less than 18 years of age on business trips, or to assign them to night time work or overtime work or to work on weekends or holidays.

Pregnant women in accordance with medical opinion and in response to their request are subject to reductions in the norms of output, or they are to be transferred to another job which precludes the effect of negative factors.

In addition, the average pay for a job is maintained for women during the conduct of the mandatory clinic examinations in medical institutions.

Women with children up to the age of a year and a half, in the event of the impossibility of carrying out the previous job, are transferred upon their request to another job having payment that is not lower than the average payment at the previous job. In addition to breaks and vacations, they are afforded supplemental breaks for nursing a child (or children) not less frequently than every three hours and not to last less than 30 minutes each, and in the event of the presence of two or more children, not less than one hour. Breaks for nursing a child are included in work time and are paid at the level of the average wage. However, as was noted above (see paragraphs 80-81), violations of labour law occur, and discrimination against women in the workplace relationships does take place.

83. Motherhood falls under the special protection of the State. Maternity leave for pregnancy and birth are set at 70 (and in the event of a multiple pregnancy, 84) calendar days before the birth and at 70 (in the event of a multiple pregnancy, 86, and in the event of the birth of two or more, 110) calendar days after the birth, with payment of benefits in accordance with State social insurance.

The law regarding the benefits paid to citizens with children has been reformed more than once in the course of the period under question. New types of benefits have appeared, and the range of recipients has been expanded (benefits for child care may now be received both by mothers as well as by fathers, girls, and grandmothers). For the care of a child up to 1.5 years of age, the amount of monthly benefits for working women has been significantly increased. Since 2007, nonworking women have begun to receive fixed benefits for the care of a child.

84. In the area of work, guarantees associated with workers’ carrying out their family obligations have been preserved and expanded. Thus, the right to time off for caring for a child aged up to three years while preserving the job and the position is provided for one of the spouses in accordance with their choice (guardians, adoptive parents, and other persons who in fact care for the child); the aforementioned persons also have the right to work part-time or at home and to preserve the right to receive benefits in accordance with State social insurance; the time off for caring for a child is counted as part of general and uninterrupted seniority, as well as for seniority within a specialty. The rule is guaranteed in accordance with which, upon the request of a husband, annual time off is provided to him during the period when his wife has time off for pregnancy and birth, regardless of the length of time he has in uninterrupted work at the employer in question. Workers who have adopted a child (or children) are afforded time off of 70 calendar days (from the day of the adoption), and in the case of the simultaneous adoption of two or more children, they receive 110 calendar days from the date of their birth. Upon request, they are afforded time off for caring for a child up to the age of three years. In the event of the adoption of a child (or children) by both spouses, time off is provided to one of the spouses at their discretion.

Parents (guardians, trustees) who have disabled children may upon their written declaration be afforded four supplementary paid days off per month.

Persons having family obligations, assuming valid reasons related to family circumstances, may have unpaid time off, the duration of which is determined by agreement between the worker and the employer.

By collective agreement, annual supplemental unpaid time off may be established of a duration of up to 14 calendar days for workers having two or more children up to age 14, disabled children up to age 18, single mothers who are raising a child up to age 14, and fathers raising a child up to age 14 without a mother.

The employer is obliged on the basis of a written declaration of the worker to provide unpaid time off of up to five calendar days in cases of the birth of a child, a marriage, or the death of a close relative.

The employer is obliged to provide workers who have family obligations with equal payment for their labour, to facilitate their participation in the administration of organizations that satisfy everyday needs that are associated with their fulfilling their work obligations, to implement mandatory social insurance, to provide compensation for injuries that are caused workers in connection with carrying out their work responsibilities, and to provide compensation for psychological injury in accordance with the procedures established by law.

The rights of persons with family obligations are protected in the event that the numbers or the makeup of the personnel of an organization is reduced.

Tax law stipulates tax preferences on the income of physical persons (standard tax deductions) for the maintenance of each child (or children) up to age 18 (pupils at day schools, graduate students, interns, university students, and other students up to age 24) at the amount of 600 rubles. Widows (and widowers), single parents, guardians or trustees are afforded a tax deduction of double that amount.

85. Taking into consideration that for working mothers who are combining their family obligations with work activity, a well-developed, accessible system of preschool institutions has great significance, measures are being undertaken for developing a network of children’s educational institutions. For the period under discussion, the problem of access of preschool institutions has become worse. In the 1990s, in connection with the reduction in the birth rate, the network of preschool educational institutions was reduced by 40 per cent. At the beginning of 2002, the number of preschool institutions was 50,000 and that had been reduced to 46,200 by the beginning of 2007 (in urban areas it was 26,400, in rural areas, 20,100). In 2006, 58.3 per cent of children of preschool age were being provided various kinds of preschool education.

In the context of increasing the birth rate, the question arose of expanding the network of kindergartens and day-care centres. In many entities of the Russian Federation, programmes for developing pre-school education have already been established as an integral part of the regional educational system. In order to provide broadly accessible pre-school education, the actual number of places in pre-school institutions is being increased, internal resources are being utilized for the development of the educational system, and various models of pre-school education are being designed and implemented.

86. To provide access to the services of preschool institutions and to reduce the material expense for parents for keeping a child enrolled in them, beginning in 1 January 2007, a limit of the amount of parents’ payment for the services of preschool institutions has been introduced. Now the amount of the parents’ payment for keeping their child in preschool institutions may not exceed 20 per cent of the expense for the maintenance of the child, and 10 per cent of the expense for maintenance of the child for parents who have three or more minor children. For the maintenance of children who have developmental difficulties, no payment is collected. Financing the expenditures associated with providing compensation is an expensive obligation of the entities of the Russian Federation. At the same time for the purpose of the material support of families having children, compensation for portions of the parents’ payment for keeping the child in educational institutions has been introduced at the amount of 20 per cent of the parents’ payment made for the first child’s attending the preschool educational institution, 50 per cent for the second child, 70 per cent for the third and succeeding children. The right to receive compensation is granted to one of the parents (or legal representatives), who have made their parental payment for keeping the child in the corresponding educational institution. The novelty of this form of support can be seen in the fact that for the first time the recipient of services of a preschool educational institution is supported, i.e., the parents of a child of preschool age. During nine months of 2007, compensation was paid to parents of more than 3.9 million children.

87. A large role in creating conditions for the simultaneous satisfaction of family obligations along with work is played by the organization of relaxation and health for children during school vacations. Annually, more than 10 million children are in paediatric rehabilitation institutions through organized forms of rest and recuperation. The recuperation of children and adolescents is carried out throughout the year. Basic financing (around 50 per cent) is provided from the social insurance fund of the Russian Federation. The percentage of the parental payment for travel has remained constant at 10-15 per cent of the total cost.

88. The solution of numerous family problems, including the prevention of family difficulties, the prevention of the neglect and homelessness of children, and the adaptation and re-adaptation of minor children are facilitated by the system of social services for families and children that is active in the Russian Federation (see paragraph 37). In 2007 alone, the services of the aforementioned institutions were used by around 12 million persons, including more than 5.5 million minors and 4.1 million families (including 1,955,900 underprivileged families, 1,057,200 single-parent families, 490,500 families with multiple children, 367,500 families with children who have health restrictions, and 4,900 families of refugees and persons requiring resettlement).

89. In accordance with the Conception of demographic policy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025, as confirmed by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation in 2007, a significant package of measures has been adopted for facilitating the combining of family obligations with professional activity.

They include the long-term development of the system of providing benefits in connection with the birth and education of children, including their regular reconsideration and indexation for inflation, the strengthening of the stimulating role of supplemental measures of State support for families with children, and the creation of mechanisms of supplemental support for families of various types (single-parent, multiple-child, those engaged in the raising of children who are without the protection of parents, and those with disabled children, etc.), the creation of conditions for increasing access to housing, developing access to mortgage credits, encouraging the employment of the general population, and creating favourable conditions for satisfying both family and professional obligations, etc.

90. Women as well as men have an inalienable right to health care. The State provides citizens with health care regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, social origin, official status, place of residence, a relationship to religion, beliefs, membership in social groups, or other circumstances. The State guarantees citizens with protection from all forms of discrimination that are caused by the presence in them of any illnesses. Persons who are guilty of violating this provision are liable as stipulated by law.

Citizens have the right to regularly receive accurate and prompt information regarding factors promoting the preservation of health or exerting a negative influence, including information regarding the public health and epidemiological safety of a residential district, rational norms for nutrition, regarding manufacturing, work, services, and compliance with public health norms and rules, and other factors. This information is made available to agencies of the State and agencies of local government in accordance with their jurisdictions via the mass media or directly to citizens.

In the event of illness, the loss of work capacity, and other cases, citizens have the right to medical and social assistance, which includes preventative, diagnostic, intensive-care, prosthetic-orthopaedic and prosthetic-dental assistance, as well as measures of a social nature for caring for the sick, those unable to work, and the disabled, including paying benefits for the temporary incapacity for work. Medical and social assistance is provided by medical and social workers and other specialists in institutions of State, municipal, and local systems of health care, and also in institutions of the social welfare system for the general population.

Citizens have the right to free medical care in State and municipal systems of health care in accordance with the law of the Russian Federation, the law of the entities of the Russian Federation, and the normative legal acts of the agencies of local government. The guaranteed amount of such assistance that is made available to citizens is determined in accordance with the programme of State guarantees for providing citizens of the Russian Federation with free medical care (which is confirmed annually). On this basis, the State agencies of the entities of the Russian Federation are developing and implementing territorial programmes which foresee providing supplemental amounts and types of medical care from the budgetary means of the entities of the Russian Federation, including supplemental provision for medications. In accordance with the programme, the following are provided free of charge: emergency medical care, out-patient polyclinic care, inpatient care including for difficulties with pregnancy, birth, and abortions, prevention of abortions, and during the post-natal period. Free medical care is financed in the context of the basic programme of mandatory medical insurance, and also through budgetary funds of all levels.

Citizens have the right to supplemental medical and other services on the basis of programmes of voluntary medical insurance, and also through the plans of private enterprises, institutions, and organizations, their own personal funds, and other sources that are not prohibited by law of the Russian Federation.

Citizens have the right to the discounted provision of prostheses, orthopaedic and corrective devices, hearing aids, means of transport, and other special devices. The categories of citizens having this right and also the conditions and procedures for providing them with discounted prosthetic-orthopaedic and prosthetic-dental assistance is determined by the law of the Russian Federation and the law of the entities of the Russian Federation.

Citizens have the right to expert medical consultations, including independent ones which are conducted on the basis of a personal application in specialized institutions.

Working citizens have the right to benefits in the event of a quarantine, should they be removed from work as the consequence of an infectious disease among persons in their surroundings. If a quarantine affects minors or citizens who have been designated by a procedure established in law as incompetent, the benefit is issued to one of the parents (or other legal representative) or other member of the family, according to the procedure established by law of the Russian Federation.

91. Each citizen has the right, in accordance with medical opinion, to free consultations in family planning and in the medical and psychological aspects of family and married relations, as well as to genetic and other consultations and research in institutions of the State or municipal systems of health care with the purpose of preventing possible consequences of illnesses in progeny. A family upon the agreement of all of its adult members residing together has the right to select a general practitioner physician (family doctor), who will provide them with medical care at their place of residence. Families having children (especially single-parent ones raising disabled children and children who have been left without parental care), have the right to social assistance in the area of the preservation of health of citizens, as established by the law of the Russian Federation and the law of the entities of the Russian Federation.

One of the parents or another member of the family designated by the parents has the right, in the interest of treating a child, to be with him or her in the hospital for the entire time of his or her stay regardless of the age of the child. A person who is with the child in the hospital within the State or municipal system of health care is issued a form for incapacity to work. Benefits in the event of a quarantine for taking care of a sick child aged up to seven years are paid to one of the parents (or other legal representative) or another member of the family for the entire period of the quarantine, or for either outpatient treatment or a joint stay along with the child in the hospital, but benefits for caring for a sick child older than seven is paid for a period of not more than 15 days, provided that a longer period is not required by medical opinion.

92. Special attention is paid to pregnant women. The State affords pregnant women the right to work in conditions that correspond to their physiological needs and the state of their health. Every woman during pregnancy, as well as during and after the birth, is provided with specialized medical care in institutions of the State or municipal system of health care within the context of the programme of State guarantees for providing citizens of the Russian Federation with free medical care. The focus of this is a well-developed, multi-part network of therapeutic and preventative institutions, including houses of birth, perinatal centres, gynaecological clinics, medical assistant and obstetric clinics, consultation-diagnostic centres, offices of home-based medical care, etc. In the Russian Federation obstetric assistance is provided by 204 independent houses of birth, 127 perinatal centres, including 15 as multi-departmental hospitals, 2,322 obstetric departments in the system of municipal and State institutions of health care. Therapeutic and preventative assistance is provided by family planning centres (356), gynaecological clinics (1,667), and medical assistant and obstetric clinics (40,031).

Women during their pregnancy and in connection with giving birth to the child, as well as during a period when they are caring for sick children up to the age of 15 have the right to receive benefits and paid time off according to the procedure established by law. The guaranteed length of paid time off during pregnancy and birth is determined by the law of the Russian Federation. The procedure to provide high-quality nutrition to pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers, and also children up to three years of age, including through special nutrition centres and stores upon the prescription of doctors, is established by the law of the entities of the Russian Federation.

93. During the period in question, questions concerning the level of prioritization of safeguarding motherhood and childhood have been resolved by means of targeted programmes. The Conception for safeguarding the reproductive health of the general population of Russia in 2000-2004 and the corresponding plan of events of the federal targeted programme “Safe motherhood” (1995-2002) are being implemented. Questions of improving the medical care provided to women have been reflected in the national plan of action for improving the status of women and for increasing their role in society for 2001-2005, the federal targeted programme “Children of Russia” for 2003-2006 (and the subprogramme “Health of the child”).

Since 2004, the main activity for preserving women’s health has been accomplished in conditions of modernizing the administrative structure of the sector, modernizing the system of mandatory medical insurance, reforming the system of medical training, and creating a system of quality control in health care. The work was aimed at improving the service of safeguarding motherhood and childhood, creating on this basis more favourable conditions for increasing the access to and the quality of medical care, including that provided to women and children, through developing maternity homes and improving the medical care given to women during pregnancy and birth.

Regarding paragraphs 399 and 400 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

94. At the beginning of the period in question, a worsening in the health of the general population was observed generally, and specifically with regard to women and children. Among the causes for this were the crisis conditions in society, the disturbance in the functioning of the system of health care, the weak material provision, the deterioration of equipment, and the lack of provision for medical workers due to the low salaries. The condition of the health of the general population began to negatively influence the demographic and social economic indicators. In order to break through a negative situation, a programme of modernizing health care was undertaken, increasing the access to and the quality of medical and social assistance, and preserving motherhood and childhood. The strategic goals and the priority State tasks in this direction were established in annual messages of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly (2005-2007), the main ones of which were promoting access to high-quality medical care, reviving preventive medicine, providing public information for healthy lifestyles, increasing the prestige of motherhood and fatherhood, creating conditions for the birth of healthy children, and developing contemporary maternity homes. The majority of the aforementioned tasks have been addressed within the context of the priority national project, “Health”.

95. A special place in the aforementioned project is occupied by questions of preserving the health of pregnant women and children, including reducing the maternal death rate and strengthening the health of mothers. During the period in question, serious efforts were made to reduce this indicator (see paragraph 93). Thus, during the last 10 years, the indicator for maternal mortality fell by one half, from 44 per 100,000 births (in 1998) to 22 (in 2007). The average rate of decline in the indicators of maternal mortality is about 8 per cent. In the structure of the maternal death rate, the percentage of those dying after an abortion fell by a factor of two from 22.8 per cent (in 1998) to 11.9 per cent (in 2007), and after an extra-uterine pregnancy, from 7.1 per cent to 3.1 per cent, respectively. Against the structure of total mortality of the general population of the Russian Federation, the percentage of maternal mortality expressed in a percentage during 2007 was 0.017 per cent.

96. The programme “Birth certificate”, which was developed in the context of the priority national project “Health”, is a highly-recommended programme for supporting the operation of maternity homes, for attracting supplemental investments, and for improving the quality of services provided to pregnant women and children.

“Birth certificate” is an official document and is issued a woman after 30 weeks of pregnancy (and for a multiple pregnancy, after 28 weeks). The appropriate institutions receive supplemental financing for treating pregnant women in accordance with the programme “Birth certificate”. The funds received are directed at improving the quality of the activities of the network of pre-natal clinics and maternity homes, including increasing the salaries of doctors and average medical personnel, who provide medical care to women during pregnancy, and for improving the material and technical basis for maternity homes.

In 2007, the cost of a birth certificate was 10,000 rubles. Additional funds are directed at paying for the outpatient observation of the child during the first year of life, at providing pregnant women with the necessary vitamins and medications, and at expanding the staffs of houses of birth and of paediatric clinics near the places of residence of children.

In the course of implementing the programme “Birth certificate”, a mechanism was created to foster the commitment of doctors in prenatal clinics to the regular and high-quality examinations of pregnant women. Obtaining modern diagnostic equipment significantly expanded the possibilities for the diagnosis of complications in pregnancies and births, and for evaluating the condition of the foetus. The number of pregnant women who have been given prenatal screenings has increased (through ultrasound and biochemical approaches), the proportion of women who are registered during early stages of pregnancy has increased, and the amount of inpatient medical care has also risen (for daytime inpatients).

Supplemental financing for the operation of maternity homes as a result of the introduction of birth certificates amounted in 2006 to 9.1 billion rubles and in 2007 to 13.5 billion, which made it possible to strengthen the material and technical basis for maternity homes, and to increase the financing for medical workers in State and municipal health-care institutions that provide assistance during pregnancy and birth.

As a result of implementing the programme “Birth certificate”, services were financed for providing medical care to 1,450,300 women at the outpatient, clinical stage, which was 8.9 per cent more than in 2006, and during birth to 1,449,300 women, which was 12.6 per cent more than in 2006, and for the outpatient observation of the child during the first year of life, 504,200 services were provided.

97. For the purpose of the long-term improvement of the quality and accessibility of medical services in this area, in 2008 two perinatal centres were brought on line. Eight regional perinatal centres were planned to be brought on line in 2009, and 10 district and three federal perinatal centres in 2010. The access of women to high-tech (expensive) forms of medical care, which is provided free of charge, has been expanded.

98. Resolving the difficult medical and social problems of abortion in recent years in Russia has been occurring in the context of the Conception for implementing the right to reproductive choice, the preservation of reproductive health, and family planning. Abortion has been recognized as a serious problem in safeguarding the health of women.

Measures to prevent abortions and to reduce the number of abortions, their complications, and maternal mortality after abortions have been guided by many normative and methodological documents. The foundations of the law of the Russian Federation regarding the preservation of the health of citizens (1993) have determined the legal foundations for medical activity in family planning and in regulating the reproductive function of the human being. Abortion and its prevention are included in the list of types of medical care that are made available to the general population on the basis of the programme of mandatory medical insurance.

By a normative departmental act of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation (Minzdravcotsrazvitiya of Russia), in 2003 the scope of qualified medical care in the provision of abortions was confirmed as determined by the WHO standard, including the provision of effective consultation and information, psychological assistance and support, the application of modern technology of abortion (interrupting pregnancy at early stages, pharmacological methods, adequate disease prevention), contraception, and recovery after the abortion. One of the basic criteria for the quality of the activities of the agencies and institutions of health care at all levels, is making qualified medical care accessible for preventing abortions, their complications, and post-abortion maternal mortality.

The safeguarding of the reproductive health of women, especially young women, is served by the youth centres and clinics that have been developed during the period under discussion, medical pedagogical schools, centres for preserving reproductive health and recuperation, centres of medical social assistance, crisis centres, confidential services, which provide multi-part medical, psychological, and social assistance for difficulties of safeguarding reproductive health and preventing unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, AIDS, etc. Important work in safeguarding reproductive health, informational campaigns for safe motherhood, responsible relationships to one’s own health, and medical, psychological, and social assistance to women and adolescents are also made available by family planning and reproduction centres. As a result, a pronounced tendency towards a reduction in the number of abortions is noted in all age groups.

The indicator of the number of abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age fell from 55.4 (in 1999) to 39.0 (in 2005).

The analysis of the frequency of abortions in various age groups has shown that the greatest number of abortions (51.7 per cent) was conducted in ages 20-29, and 20.1 per cent in ages 30-34. The proportion of abortions in women of late reproductive age in 2007 amounted to 18.5 per cent. Regardless of the reduction of the absolute number of abortions in the age group of up to 14 years at 34.3 per cent, in the group of ages 15-19 years at 27.5 per cent, the percentage of abortions in girls up to 14 years and girls of 15-19 years remains quite high (0.06 per cent and 9.6 per cent of the overall number of abortions at all age groups in 2007, respectively). In this way, regardless of the positive tendencies, the number of abortions in the Russian Federation continues to exceed the indicators in economically developed countries, which in many respects is caused by the low proportion of women who make use of effective means of contraception. According to information from statistical record keeping, in 2007 only 27.7 per cent of women of childbearing age in the Russian Federation made use of contemporary methods of contraception, including 14.3 per cent using intrauterine contraception and 13.4 per cent using hormone contraception, which is significantly lower than the analogous indicator in many European countries and insufficient for the further reduction of the number of abortions.

Regarding paragraphs 397 and 398 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

99. In accordance with the recommendation 15 of a general character of the Conception, work has been conducted to counteract the spread of HIV/AIDS in Russia, including the development of measures for preventing the transmission of HIV infection from mother to child.

The aforementioned problem is not losing its seriousness. The greatest concern is caused by the problem of the transmission of the HIV infection from mother to child, which remains a critical one. According to statistics of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Development of Russia, in 2007 in Russia 397,208 cases of HIV infection were registered, among whom the proportion of women was 135,957, including 2,816 children of ages from zero to 14 years and 1,253 children aged 15 to 17 years, inclusive.

The proportion of women among early-stage HIV-infected patients has increased annually. In 2007 it was 45.8 per cent (21,545 persons) as opposed to 43.1 per cent in 2006.

The increase in the number of HIV-infected women, largely occurring among women of childbearing age, has led to the undiminished increase of HIV-infected pregnant women. In 2007, 13,110 HIV-infected pregnant women were registered, of whom 60.1 per cent of the women (7,880) had a pregnancy that resulted in a birth, whereas in 2006 it was 53.6 per cent of the women (6,990 out of 13,049), and in 2005 it was 52.3 per cent (with 6,711 out of 12,836, respectively). In this way, during the last three years, an ever greater number of HIV-infected women have made the decision to continue their pregnancy and give birth.

Outpatient observation and the correct guidance of an HIV-infected pregnant woman, which is being carried out jointly in institutions for safeguarding motherhood and childhood and in centres for preventing and fighting HIV/AIDS in accordance with the valid normative documents, are to a significant degree a guarantee for carrying out all necessary preventative measures to protect the future child from HIV infection. The percentage of HIV-infected pregnant women who proceeded to give birth without outpatient observation in gynaecological clinics in 2007 rose in comparison with 2006 and amounted to 18.3 per cent (1,477 out of 8,089) whereas in 2006 it was 16.7 per cent (1,157 out of 6,943) of the total number of HIV-infected pregnant women who concluded their pregnancy by giving birth.

In 2007, 7,884 children (live) were born of HIV-infected mothers, in 2006 the number was 7,016 children, and in 2005 it was 6,711 children. Over the last three years a tendency has been noted of a reduction in the number of “rejected” children, who were born of HIV-infected mothers, the proportion of which in 2007 in comparison with 2006 fell from 11.4 per cent (in 2000) to 3.6 per cent (in 2007).

100. The prevention of the perinatal transmission of HIV infection is one of the public health priorities of the Russian Federation. Significant results have been achieved in preventing the transmission of HIV infection from mother to child. During the period in question, the frequency of transmission of HIV from mother to child in the Russian Federation has been reduced by more than two times: from 19.4 per cent in 2001 to 7.5 per cent in 2005.

This has been aided by improvements in the cooperation among the various medical services, including obstetrics-gynaecology and paediatrics, with centres for the prevention of and fight against AIDS and social institutions that are directed at providing a multi-pronged approach to providing medical and social assistance to HIV-infected pregnant women, women in childbirth, and mothers and children. Financing for the events aimed at preventing the transmission of HIV from mother to child has been carried out in the context of the federal targeted programme “Anti-HIV/AIDS”, and beginning in 2006 in the context of the priority national project, “Health”.

In 2006, events were carried out that were aimed at the prevention of HIV infection, hepatitis B and C, their discovery and treatment, and supplemental immunization for the general population in the context of the national calendar of injections. The application of preventive measures that were recommended as the standard and the provision of anti-retrovirus medications in the context of implementing the national priority project “Health” made it possible in 2007, in contrast to 2006, to increase the use of anti-retrovirus methods of preventing the perinatal transmission of HIV infection. In 2007, anti-retrovirus prevention was conducted with 81.4 per cent of women during pregnancy (in 2006, it was 73.5 per cent), and with 92.3 per cent of women at the time of birth (in 2006, it was 89 per cent) and with 97.9 per cent of new births (in 2006, it was 95.2 per cent). Overall, the three-stage anti-retrovirus prevention (during pregnancy and birth, and with newborns) treated 79.9 per cent (6,303) mother-child pairs (whereas in 2006, it was 61 per cent, and in 2005 it was 57 per cent).

101. Agencies for promoting the employment of the general population of the Russian Federation have joined in the work of preventing HIV/AIDS. In 2004-2005, in the context of the project of the International Organization of Labour (MOT) entitled “Multi-part strategy to counteract the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases among youth in the Russian Federation”, employment services in many regions have approved various forms of cooperation with centres for the prevention of and fight against AIDS to raise the level of awareness among workers in the employment services regarding the problem of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases and the adoption of a tolerant relationship to HIV-infected persons and those with AIDS. Technologies of preventive work have been developed for youth within the system of basic professional education.

Since 2003, a Coordinating Council has been working for the prevention of the transmission of HIV-infection from mother to child.

102. The rights of citizens with children to receive benefits were established by the federal law “On State benefits to citizens with children” (1995). In 2003, the law on benefits was improved in the direction of increasing the amount of the benefits and in expanding the types of benefits that are available to families (see paragraph 83).

103. The rights of citizens, regardless of gender, to receive loans, grants, and credits are guaranteed by current Russian law. Concrete guarantees exist to receive credits for the purchase of a residence, and mortgage credits are being developed. Specifically, by Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation the rules have been confirmed for the allocation of funds (or parts of funds) of maternal (familial) capital for the improvement of housing conditions, including for the obtaining (construction) of housing in residential cooperatives, including those under construction and those allied with savings plans. In addition, the funds of maternal (familial) capital may be allocated for paying for a down payment in receiving credits or loans, including mortgages, for the purchase or construction of housing, to pay off major debt, or to pay interest on credits or loans, including mortgages. It is important that such a variant is possible even in cases where the family took out the credit before receiving the right to maternal capital.

104. In the context of the federal targeted programme “Housing” for 2002-2010 (and the subprogramme “Providing housing for young families”), confirmed by a Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation in 2001, measures have been approved for providing young families, where the age of the spouses does not exceed 35 years, with subsidies for obtaining housing, including for paying the down payment on mortgages, credits, or loans for obtaining housing or the construction of individual housing units. Measures have also been approved for creating conditions that assist young families in accumulating their own funds, or supplemental finance funds from banks and other organizations that provide mortgage credits and loans for obtaining housing or constructing individual housing units. Mortgage credits may also be received by young single-parent families, which consist of one parent and one or more children, or by young families that are recognized to require improvement in their housing conditions and that have income or financial resources for paying the price for housing, which somewhat exceeds the amount of the subsidies offered. Young families and young specialists residing in rural areas are afforded the one-time opportunity to improve their housing conditions through the use of various forms of State support from the funds of the federal budget, including subsidies.

105. Improving the health of women, encouraging them in a systematic involvement in physical culture and sports, is one of the conditions for observing the rights of women.

The network of physical-culture, health, and sports clubs in which women can take part is expanding. At the present time of 16.6 million persons systematically engaging in physical culture and sports, 33 per cent are women (5.5 million persons). Annually all-Russian, regional, and territorial physical culture, sports, and healthful competitions and events are carried out (in more than 101 types of sports), the participants of which are girls and women of various ages and levels of physical preparation.

The number of types of sports in which women can participate along with men has increased.

Every year, the all-Russian physical-culture and sports festival “Businesswoman” takes place, as well as the all-Russian festival of female sports entitled “Beauty. Grace. Ideal”. Great attention is paid to the development of healthful aerobics, which is the most effective and accessible method for women of various age categories. The great variety of forms of healthful aerobics has given new impetus to the development of a network of physical culture, health, and sports clubs for women and families.

Traditionally, the programme of many multi-part all-Russian competitions has included the starts of family teams.

Physical culture and sports are among the most effective means for the complete or partial rehabilitation of people from various degrees of disability to normal social activity. A significant role in this is played by the all-Russian competitions and the festivals of the disabled with the support of social organizations, in which disabled women take active part.

106. Russian women athletes have successfully participated in the Olympic Games, as well as in international and European competitions.

The number of women occupying leadership roles in sports has increased. For the first time in 20 years, a woman has been named to the position of Deputy Chairman of the federal agency for physical culture and sports (Rossport). In Rossport, women occupy leading positions as directors and deputy directors of administrative bodies and departments.

107. An important contribution to stimulating and developing the activity and social initiative of women and in the formation of their spiritual life in support of their creative activity has been made by institutions of culture and leisure. Today in our country, 49,500 institutions of the culture-and-leisure type are functioning. In clubs 283,700 groups of amateur popular creativity are working, bringing together 3,623,300 persons.

Access to participation in the work of club groups, massive events, is open to all age and social groups, regardless of gender. The number of women participants in the collectives of folk art and in amateur associations has been around 70 per cent.

In the regions of Russia, centres (homes) of crafts and folklore have been created. Women take active part in the work of groups and studios of folk arts and crafts and in the decorative and applied arts.

Regarding paragraphs 401 and 402 of the remarks and recommendations of the Committee with respect to the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation

108. The situation of rural women remains difficult. They have been negatively impacted by processes of structural change associated with the improvement of land relationships, the development of multiple-structures in the economy of the sector, the activation of the individual, and the breaking up of agricultural organizations into smaller units.

Rural women have fewer opportunities for development, which is associated with the absence of sufficiently well-paid work, the insufficient quantity in rural areas of medical institutions, maternity homes, kindergartens, schools, cultural and leisure institutions, and a developed transport network. The level of poverty in the villages is higher.

Women in villages have shorter life spans than those in the city. Over the course of many years, the loss of young people and of qualified personnel from rural localities has been observed.

109. For purposes of resolving problems of the village that have been accumulating for decades, a federal targeted programme “Social development of the village by 2010” and the Strategy for the consistent development of rural territories was adopted and confirmed in 2006. They contain measures for reducing rural poverty, for increasing incomes from agriculture, and reducing the difference in the standard of living between rural and urban populations. Initially, these have been measures for the State support of the social sphere (providing children’s preschool institutions, schools, outpatient clinics, sports facilities, and culture-and-leisure institutions), for the support of the engineering infrastructure of the village (providing gas, electricity, drinking water, automobile roads, and telephone lines), for the support of non-agricultural types of activity in rural localities, and for developing the labour market and stimulating the processes of the development of self-regulation in rural localities.

110. For the purpose of providing employment to rural populations, it has been planned to preserve 130,600 jobs in social facilities and engineering infrastructure, and to create an additional 234,700 jobs, including in the areas where predominantly female labour is applied. Thus in the networks of general-educational institutions it is proposed to preserve and create 22,600 and 18,300 jobs, respectively; in rural cultural institutions 8,500 and 3,800 jobs, respectively; in the area of health care, physical culture and sports 26,900 and 13,300 jobs, respectively; and in the area of the development of gasification the intention is to preserve 31,200 jobs and to create an additional 22,800 jobs.

111. At the same time, new conditions of management have permitted portions of rural populations to create and develop peasant (farming) enterprises and rural households, in which the greater number of women labour.

Measures for the support of personal auxiliary holdings and for providing young specialists with accessible housing in the village have been envisaged as a priority national project “Development of agricultural industry complex”, which has been implemented since 2006, mostly on the basis of stimulating the creation of agricultural consumer cooperatives and systems of discount credits. According to the results, more than 3,800 agricultural cooperatives were created in the country in 2007. Small farms have been issued around one and a half million credits for a total sum of 90 billion rubles. In rural localities, 1.6 million m² of housing have been introduced for 32,500 young specialists and their families. The obligations for subsidizing all credits have been financed from the federal budget entirely.

112. For the purpose of providing the villages with qualified experts and of attracting young specialists and young families to live in the villages, a programme entitled “Providing housing to young specialists (or their families) in the villages”, which is being implemented in the context of a priority national project “Development of the agricultural industrial complex”, envisages the construction of affordable housing. In the course of 2006-2007, 1,392,900 m² of housing have been constructed and activated, and more than 31,600,000 young specialists (or their families) have improved their housing conditions. The housing policy that has been carried out has made it possible to begin the formation of effective personnel potential in the agricultural industrial complex, and it will provide an impulse to the development of a labour market and an increase in the standard of living for those who live in rural areas, it will promote improvement in the status of rural women, and it will expand access to the services of education, health care, and the labour market.

113. The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes the equality of citizens before the law, regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property or official status, place of residence, relationship to religion, beliefs, membership in social organizations, or other circumstances.

The civil legal capacity commences for a citizen at birth and ceases upon death. Women equally with men are afforded the entire spectrum of civil rights and duties. The State guarantees the legal capacity of citizens. No one may be limited in his or her legal capacity and freedom of action except in cases and under procedures set out by law.

Citizens are equal before the courts. The court system which was set up by the Constitution and the laws regarding the creation of courts is unique and is designated to defend the rights of all citizens, of women as well as men (see paragraphs 6-7).

114. Citizens, both women as well as men, may own property under the rights of ownership, inherit and bequeath property, engage in entrepreneurship and any other activity not prohibited by law, create juridical persons independently or together with other citizens and juridical persons, undertake any transactions not prohibited by law and participate in obligations, choose a place of residence, have the right of authorship of scientific productions, literature, art, inventions, and other results of intellectual activity that are protected by law, and have other property and personal non-property rights.

In accordance with the Land Code (2001), persons having parcels of land as property have the right to sell it, give it, encumber or rent it, dispose of it in any other way, rightfully use at their own discretion everything that is located above and below the surface of said parcel, erect on it buildings and facilities, undertake its reconstruction or demolition, and permit other persons to build on one’s own plot of land. Plots of land and the immovable property located on them may be furnished by their owners to other persons for perpetual or time-bound use, including for rent.

In accordance with the new Housing Code (2004), citizens (women and men), as owners of residential premises may realize the rights of ownership, use, and disposal as residential premises owned by them in accordance with their assignment or pre-assignment for personal residence and the residence of members of one’s own family. Housing premises may be rented on the basis of a contract. Members of the family of the owner, residing in residential premises that are owned by him, have the right to use such premises under conditions stipulated by the housing law.

115. Women as well as men have the right to undertake entrepreneurial activity, to receive loans and subsidies in banks for the organization and development of their own business, to create juridical persons independently or together with other citizens or juridical persons, to undertake any transactions that are not prohibited by law, and to participate in obligations. Women actively make use of the opportunities made available to them and are engaged in small businesses. According to expert estimates, in Russia women make up 25-30 per cent of small-business entrepreneurs. In this connection, measures for the development of small and midsize business touch the interests of a significant number of women. The efforts of the State to support small business at the present time are concentrated on creating and developing institutions that provide for the functioning of small business both in the city as well as in the village (business incubators), developing a system of credits for small businesses, including through the development of micro-financing of a sector of the economy, gradually reducing the costs for small businesses for the administration and organization of the business, and increasing the “survivability” of small businesses.

116. Limitations on individual rights, which are included in the meaning of legal capacity, are permitted as measures of punishment as established by sentences, or by the determination of a court in a criminal case, in the form of denying a right to occupy specific positions or to engage in a specific activity, or in the form of loss of the right to freely move about the territory of the country (exile or expulsion), but only for a predetermined period within limits established by law.

117. In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and with international acts regarding human rights, all citizens of the Russian Federation, both women as well as men, have the right of freedom of movement, of selecting their place of residence and place of domicile within the boundaries of the Russian Federation.

Limitations on the rights of citizens of the Russian Federation regarding their freedom of movement and their choice of place of residence and domicile within the boundaries of the Russian Federation are permitted only on the basis of law. For the purpose of providing necessary conditions for citizens of the Russian Federation to realize their rights and liberties, and also for them to fulfil their obligations before other citizens, a registry of citizens of the Russian Federation has been created according to place of residence and place of domicile within the boundaries of the Russian Federation. For women who are working immigrants, who have permission to work on the territory of the Russian Federation, for women refugees and those needing resettlement who have the appropriate status, freedom of motion, the choice of place of residence and place of domicile on the territory of the Russian Federation is not limited in any way, with the exception of cases that are stipulated by the law of the Russian Federation for foreign citizens or persons without nationality.

118. Fundamental aspects of this article are explained in detail in the prior periodic report.

1. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 9 October 2007, No. 1351 “On confirming the Conception of a demographic policy for the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025”.

2. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 28 June 2007, No. 825 “On evaluating the effectiveness of the work of the agencies of the executive branch in the entities of the Russian Federation”.

3. Labour Code of the Russian Federation (Federal law of 30 December 2001, No. 197-F3, in the version of 06.30.2006, with changes from 07.11.2006).

4. Code of Criminal Procedural of the Russian Federation (Federal law of 18 December 2001, No. 174-F3).

5. Code of the Russian Federation on administrative violations of law (Federal law of

6. Tax Code of the Russian Federation (part two) (Federal law of 5 August 2000, No. 117-F3).

7. Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Federal law of 14 November 2002, No. 138-F3).

8. Land Code of the Russian Federation (Federal law of 25 October 2001, No. 136-F3).

9. Housing Code of the Russian Federation (Federal law of 29 December 2004, No. 188-F3).

10. Federal law of 9 February 1999, No. 24-F3 “On introducing modifications and additions to Article 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”.

11. Federal Law of 9 March 2001 Number 25-F3 “On introducing modifications and additions to the Criminal Code to the Russian Federation, the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, and other legislative acts of the Russian Federation”.

13. Federal law of 15 December 2001, No. 166-F3 “On the provision of pensions in the Russian Federation”.

14. Federal law of 15 December 2001, No. 167-F3 “On mandatory pension insurance in the Russian Federation”.

15. Federal law of 17 December 2001, No. 173-F3 “On work pensions in the Russian Federation”.

16. Federal law of 28 December 2001, No. 181-F3 “On introducing modifications to the federal law” “On State benefits to citizens with children”.

17. Federal law of 11 February 2002, No. 17-F3 “On the budgetary fund for social insurance of the Russian Federation for 2002”.

18. Federal law of 31 May 2002, No. 62-F3 “On citizenship of the Russian Federation”.

19. Federal law of 25 July 2002 “On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation”.

20. Federal law of 8 February 2003, No. 25-F3 “On the budgetary fund for social insurance in the Russian Federation for 2003”.

21. Federal law of 8 December 2003, No. 161-F3 “On bringing the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and other legislative acts into accord with the federal law” “On introducing modifications and additions to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”.

22. Federal law of 8 December 2003, No. 162-F3 “On introducing modifications and additions to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”.

23. Federal law of 26 April 2004, No. 26-F3 “On the ratification of the Conception of the United Nations against transnational organized crime and the supplemental Protocol against the illegal importation of migrants on land, sea, and in the air, and the Protocol on preventing and eliminating trafficking in humans, especially women and children, and on punishments therefor”.

24. Federal law of 19 June 2004, No. 52-F3 “On the ratification of the Optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women”.

26. Federal law of 20 August 2004, No. 119-F3 “On State protection of victims, witnesses, and other participants in criminal legal proceedings”.

27. Federal law of 29 December 2004, No. 206-F3 “On introducing modifications to article 12 of the federal law “On State benefits to citizens having children”.

28. Federal law of 22 August 2004, No. 122-F3 “On introducing modifications to legislative acts of the Russian Federation and the recognition as null and void of several legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with the adoption of the Federal laws “On introducing modifications and additions to the federal law”, “On general principles of organization of legislative (representative) and executive agencies of State power in the entities of the Russian Federation”, and “On general principles of the organization of local government in the Russian Federation”.

29. Federal law of 1 April 2005, No. 28-F3 “On introducing modifications to the Code of Criminal Administration of the Russian Federation”.

30. Federal law of 4 April 2005, No. 32-F3 “On the Social Chamber of the Russian Federation”.

31. Federal law of 18 May 2005, No. 51-F3 “On the elections of deputies to the State Dumas of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation”.

32. Federal law of 21 July 2005, No. 93-F3 “On introducing modifications to legislative acts of the Russian Federation on elections and referendums and other legislative acts of the Russian Federation”.

33. Federal law of 22 December 2005, No. 180-F3 “On individual questions of calculating and paying benefits for temporary inability to work, for pregnancy and birth, and the amounts of insurance provision according to mandatory social insurance for workplace accidents and job-related illnesses in 2006”.

34. Federal law of 22 December 2005, No. 181-F3 “On introducing modifications to article 15 of the federal law “On State benefits to citizens having children”.

35. Federal law of 22 December 2005, No. 178-F3 “On introducing modifications to article 12 of the federal law “On State benefits to citizens having children”.

36. Federal law of 22 December 2005, No. 173-F3 “On the budgetary fund for social insurance in 2006”.

37. Federal law of 22 December 2005, No. 180-F3 “On individual questions of calculating and paying benefits for temporary inability to work, for pregnancy and birth, and the amounts of insurance provision according to mandatory social insurance for workplace accidents and job-related illnesses in 2006”.

38. Federal law of 9 January 2006, No. 12-F3 “On introducing modifications to the Code of Criminal Administration of the Russian Federation”.

39. Federal law of 30 June 2006, No. 90-F3 “On introducing modifications to the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, recognizing as null and void on the territory of the Russian Federation several normative legal acts of the USSR and as having lost legal effect several legislative acts (provisions of legislative acts) of the Russian Federation”.

40. Federal law of 5 December 2006, No. 208-F3 “On introducing modifications to chapter 23, part two, of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation”.

41. Federal law of 5 December 2006, No. 207-F3 “On introducing modifications to separate legislative acts of the Russian Federation in portions of the State support for citizens having children”.

42. Federal law of 19 December 2006 “On the budget of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation for 2007”.

43. Federal law of 20 December 2006, No. 255-F3 “On the provision of benefits for temporary inability to work, and for pregnancy and birth for citizens who are subject to mandatory social insurance”.

44. Federal law of 29 December 2006, No. 256-F3 “On supplemental measures of State support for families having children”.

45. Federal law of 21 June 2007, No. 194-F3 “On introducing modifications to individual legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with the establishment of the obligation of general education”.

46. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 25 February 2000, No. 162 “On confirming the list of heavy jobs and jobs with toxic or dangerous working conditions, for which the use of women’s labour is prohibited”.

47. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 17 September 2001, No. 675 “On confirming the federal targeted programme “Housing” for 2002-2010 (subprogramme “Providing housing to young families”).

48. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 11 October 2001, No. 719 “On the procedure for providing time off for workers (women or men) who have adopted a child”.

49. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 13 November 2001, No. 790 “On the federal targeted programme ‘Preventing and fighting social diseases’ for 2002-2006”.

50. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 3 October 2002, No. 732 “On the federal targeted programme ‘Children of Russia’ for 2003-2006”.

51. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 3 December 2002, No. 858 “On confirming the federal targeted programme ‘Social development of the village up to 2010’”.

52. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 6 May 2003, No. 255 “On planning and financing the completion of the task of providing State guarantees for providing citizens of the Russian Federation with free medical care, and monitoring its realization”.

53. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 11 April 2005, No. 205 “On minimal standards for nutrition and of the material everyday provision for persons sentenced to prison, and on standards of nutrition and of material everyday provision of those suspected, or accused of committing crimes, who are in investigatory isolation cells of the federal penal service and federal security service of the Russian Federation, during peacetime”.

54. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 28 July 2005, No. 461 “On the Programme of State guarantees for providing citizens of the Russian Federation with free medical care for 2006”.

55. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 22 April 2005, No. 249 “On conditions and procedure for providing funds of the federal budget designated for State support during 2006 of small business, including peasant (farmer) holdings”.

56. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 30 December 2005, No. 852 “On the procedure for the financing in 2006 of expenditures associated with paying for services of State and municipal institutions for health care or medical care, afforded to women during pregnancy and (or) birth”.

57. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 31 December 2005, No. 869 “On the financing in 2006 of supplemental medical examinations for workers handling toxic and (or) dangerous manufacturing elements”.

58. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 31 December 2005, No. 870 “On providing State and municipal institutions of health care in 2006 from the means of the federal budget with diagnostic equipment and antiretrovirus medications for the purpose of the prevention, discovery, and treatment for persons infected with human immunodeficiency viruses and hepatitis B and C, and with equipment and material expenses for neonatal screening”.

59. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 31 December 2005, No. 868 “On the procedure for providing in 2006, from the budget of the Federal Fund for mandatory medical insurance to territorial funds of mandatory insurance, subsidies for providing supplemental outpatient care for citizens who worked in State and municipal institutions in the areas of education, health care, social welfare, culture, physical culture and sports, as well as in scientific research institutions”.

60. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 31 December 2005, No. 869 “On the financing in 2006 of supplemental medical examinations for workers employed in jobs involving toxic and (or) dangerous manufacturing elements”.

61. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 31 December 2006, No. 876 “On the procedure for financing the provision in 2006 of expenditures for payment of services for the supplemental clinic system for working citizens and the provision for them of emergency medical care, from funds from the budget of the federal fund for mandatory medical insurance to the fund for social insurance of the Russian Federation”.

62. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 20 March 2006, No. 140 “On the transfer in 2006 to the property of municipal entities of diagnostic and antiretrovirus medications for the purpose of the prevention, discovery, and treatment for persons infected with human immunodeficiency viruses and hepatitis B and C, and of equipment and materials for neonatal screening in institutions of the State and municipal system of health care”.

63. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 9 June 2006, No. 356 “On the procedure for providing in 2006 subsidies from the federal budget to the budgets of the entities of the Russian Federation for monetary payments to medical personnel in medical assistant and obstetric clinics, doctors, medical assistants and medical nurses of emergency medicine”.

64. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 17 August 2006, No. 507 “On monetary payments in 2006 to doctors, medical assistants and medical nurses of emergency medicine of federal State health-care institutions under the aegis of the federal medical and biological agency”.

65. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 30 December 2006, No. 869 “On the procedure for financing in 2007 expenditures associated with payments to State and municipal health-care institutions (and in their absence, to medical organizations which in accordance with the procedure established by law of the Russian Federation contain State and (or) municipal orders for services for medical care provided to women during pregnancy during birth and in the postnatal period, and for outpatient observation of the child during the first year of life”.

66. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 30 December 2006, No. 885 “On the programme of State guarantees for providing citizens of the Russian Federation with free medical care for 2007”.

67. Resolution of Rosstat of 27 December 2005, No. 108 “On confirming the statistical tools for the organization of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia of statistical observation of persons who have applied to social service institutions for families and children”.

68. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 11 January 2007, No. 3p “On the recommended forms of documents used by the territorial agencies of the Government of the Russian Federation in implementing the federal law “On supplemental measures of State support for families with children”.

69. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 13 March 2007, No. 54p “On introducing modifications to the Resolution of the administration of the Government of the Russian Federation of 01.11.2007, No. 3p”.

70. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 2 August 2007, No. 496 “On introducing modifications to the provision regarding the activity of agencies and organizations of foreign States in adopting children on the territory of the Russian Federation, and monitoring its implementation”.

71. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 21 March 2007, No. 172 “On the federal targeted programme ‘Children of Russia’ for 2007-2010”.

72. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 12 December 2007, No. 862 “On rules for allocating funds (portions of funds) of maternal (familial) capital to improving housing conditions”.

73. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 29 December 2007, No. 944 “On the procedure for providing in 2008-2010 subsidies from the federal budget to budgets of the entities of the Russian Federation for the support of children in adoptive families (guardians) and foster families, and for paying for the labour of foster parents”.

74. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 29 December 2007, No. 987 “On the procedure for financing the provision in 2008-2010 of expenditures for paying State and municipal health-care institutions for services of medical care provided to women during pregnancy, during birth, and in the postnatal period, and also for the outpatient (preventative) observation of children, which is provided during the first year of life up to three months on an outpatient basis”.

75. Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of 14 December 2005, No. 1734-p (on the construction of perinatal centres).

	2005			2006			2007
	Men	Women	Men		Women	Men		Women
Total general population	66 603	76 871	66 164		76 590	65 849		76 372
Including the ages (years):
Working**	45 845	44 373	46 056		44 272	46 037		44 115
Older than working***	8 430	20 731	8 175		20 934	8 182		21 169
Urban population	48 150	56 569	47 775		56 330	47 559		56 219
Including the ages (years):
Working**	33 875	33 643	33 906		33 443	33 823		33 261
Older than working***	5 866	14 910	5 719		15 122	5 768		15 373
Rural population	18 453	20 302	18 389		20 260	18 290		20 153
Including the ages (years):
Working**	11 970	10 730	12 150		10 829	12 214		10 854
Older than working***	2 564	5 821	2 456		5 812	2 414		5 796

* In individual cases, insignificant divergences between the total and the sum of the parts are explained by a rounding off of the data.

	2005			2006			2007
	Men	Women	Men		Women	Men		Women
Total general population	100.0	100.0	100.0		100.0	100.0		100.0
Including the ages (years):
Working*	68.8	57.7	69.6		57.8	69.9		57.8
Older than working**	12.7	27.0	12.4		27.3	12.4		27.7
Urban population	100.0	100.0	100.0		100.0	100.0		100.0
Including the ages (years):
Working*	70.3	59.5	71.0		59.4	71.1		59.2
Older than working**	12.2	26.3	12.0		26.8	12.1		27.3
Rural population	100.0	100.0	100.0		100.0	100.0		100.0
Including the ages (years):
Working*	64.9	52.8	66.1		53.4	66.8		53.8
Older than working**	13.9	28.7	13.3		28.7	13.2		28.8

Age in years	Women	Men
0-4	2.6	2.7
5-9	2.2	2.3
10-14	2.4	2.5
15-19	3.5	3.7
20-24	4.4	4.5
25-29	4.0	4.0
30-34	3.7	3.7
35-39	3.5	3.4
40-44	3.6	3.3
45-49	4.5	4.0
50-54	4.2	3.5
55-59	3.7	2.9
60-64	2.0	1.4
65-69	2.9	1.7
70-74	2.4	1.3
75-79	2.1	0.9
80-84	1.4	0.4
85-89	0.4	0.1
90-94	0.1	0.0
95-99	0.0	0.0
100 and older	0.0	0.0

	Number of the general population*			Births			Deaths
Years	Women	Men	Women		Men	Women		Men
2002	77 562	67 605	677		720	1 082		1 250
2003	77 473	67 491	716		761	1 093		1 273
2004	77 144	67 024	730		773	1 055		1 240
2005	76 871	66 603	708		750	1 059		1 245
2006	76 590	66 164	719		761	1 018		1 149
2007	76 372	65 849	781		829	985		1 096

* In this and in following tables in this chapter, statistics refer, for 2002, to the census on 9 October and for other years to the estimate on 1 January of the corresponding year.

Year	Per 1,000 of the general population
Births	Deaths	Natural growth
2000	8.7	15.3	-6.6
2001	9.0	15.6	-6.6
2002	9.7	16.2	-6.5
2003	10.2	16.4	-6.2
2004	10.4	16.0	-5.6
2005	10.2	16.1	-5.9
2006	10.4	15.2	-4.8
2007	11.3	14.6	-3.3

Years	Total population
Women	Men
1999	72.4	59.9
2000	72.3	59.0
2001	72.2	58.9
	71.9	58.7
2003	71.8	58.6
	72.3	58.9
	72.4	58.9
	73.1	60.6
	73.9	61.4

Number of the general population having money incomes lower than a subsistence wage according to basic age groups

Percentages of the total number of the general population of the corresponding age group

	2005	2006	2007
Total general population	17.7	15.2	13.4
Including:
Children up to 16	22.1	19.0	17.4
Of whom children at the age of:
7 years	17.4	15.1	13.9
From 7 to 16 years	25.0	21.7	20.1
Young adults aged 16-30	18.0	15.3	13.3
Of whom:
Men aged 16-30	17.3	14.6	12.8
Women aged 16-30	18.7	16.1	13.8
Working-age persons older than 30	18.3	15.7	13.7
Of whom:
Men aged 31-59	16.9	14.4	12.6
Women aged 31-54	19.8	17.0	14.9
Population older than working age – total	11.9	10.4	9.2
Including:
Men aged 60 and older	11.5	10.2	9.2
Women aged 55 and older	12.1	10.5	9.2

Distribution of the general population with money income less than a subsistence wage by basic age groups (percentages)

	2005	2006	2007
Total general population	100	100	100
Including:
Children up to 16 years	21.1	20.6	20.9
Of whom children aged:
Up to 7 years	6.5	6.7	7.2
From 7 to 16 years	14.6	13.9	13.7
Young adults aged 16-30	25.2	25.1	24.9
Of whom:
Men aged 16-30	12.2	12.0	12.1
Women aged 16-30	13.0	13.1	12.8
Persons of working age older than 30	39.9	40.2	39.9
Of whom:
Men aged 31-59	18.8	19.0	18.9
Women aged 31-54	21.1	21.2	21.0
General population older than working age – total	13.8	14.1	14.3
Including:
Men aged 60 and older	3.8	3.9	4.0
Women aged 55 and older	10.0	10.2	10.3

	2007	2006

Women
Up to 20	12.2	12.4
20-24	57.1	56.5
25-49	87.7	87.6
50-54	82.6	82.2
55-59	52.8	49.6
60 and older	13.5	11.5
Men
Up to 20	16.5	16.5
20-24	65.2	66.1
25-49	93.3	92.2
50-54	86.4	87.0
55-59	75.5	75.5
60 and older	23.5	22.5

	Women	Men	Distribution by gender, per cent
	Women	Men	Women	Men
Employed in the economy – total
Thousands of persons	35 110	35 704
Percentages	100	100	49.6	50.4
Including:
Employed by others	94.4	92.5	50.1	49.9
Self-employed	5.6	7.5	42.2	57.9
Of whom:
Employers	1.1	1.8	37.3	62.7
Members of industrial cooperatives	0.04	0.1	28.0	72.0
Self-employed	4.4	5.5	43.8	56.2
Assisting in family business	0.1	0.1	41.8	58.2

	2002			2007
	Women	Men	Women		Men
Total	55.4	63.9	59.1		67.9
Including ages, in years:
Up to 20	10.0	13.5	9.1		12.7
20-24	52.3	61.7	50.8		57.8
25-29	75.4	84.0	78.9		89.7
30-34	78.2	84.4	80.1		88.4
35-39	82.0	85.6	87.2		89.1
40-44	83.5	84.6	86.0		87.6
45-49	81.9	83.9	86.0		87.3
50-54	76.1	79.2	79.3		82.5
55-59	45.6	68.1	51.5		73.3
60 and older	11.9	22.5	13.1		22.9

Wages of women and men by types of economic activity investigated as of the end of 2007

	Relation of wages of women to wages of men (per cent)	Proportion of women of the total number of workers (per cent)
	Relation of wages of women to wages of men (per cent)
Total	63	55
Mining	76	23
Processing	68	44
Production and distribution of electrical energy, gas, and water	81	34
Construction	79	19
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of automobiles, motorcycles, household appliances, and objects for personal use	69	64
Hotels and restaurants	73	77
Transportation and communications	70	39
Transactions with immovable property, rent, and provision of services	79	47
Scientific research and development	70	50
Education	89	79
Health care and provision of social services	85	84
Activity for the organization of leisure, entertainment, culture, and sports	64	64

Victims of workplace accidents according to type of economic activity in 2007

	Thousands of persons			Distribution by gender, %			Per 100,000 working persons
	Women	Men	Women		Men	Women		Men
Total	18	48	28		72	168		361
Including:
Agriculture, hunting, and forestry	3	8	26		74	318		535
Mining	0.3	4	7		93	107		447
Processing	7	19	27		73	215		446
Production and distribution of electrical energy, gas and water	0.5	2	19		81	83		175
Construction	1	6	8		92	160		442
Transportation and communications	2	5	33		67	174		209
Other types of activity	4	4	52		48	111		232

Victims of fatal workplace accidents according to types of economic activity in 2007

	Thousands of persons			Distribution by gender, %			Per 100,000 working persons
	Women	Men	Women		Men	Women		Men
Total	169	2 817	6		94	2		21
Including:
Agriculture, hunting, and forestry	27	475	5		95	3		33
Mining	4	402	1		99	2		50
Processing	54	598	8		92	2		14
Production and distribution of electrical energy, gas, and water	5	201	2		98	1		17
Construction	17	574	3		97	5		42
Transportation and communications	32	332	9		91	2		14
Other types of activity	30	235	11		89	1		13

	Women	Men		Urban population, per cent			Rural population, per cent
			Women		Men	Women		Men
Total unemployed
In thousands	1 975	2 871
Percentages	100	100	46.6		53.4	46.5		53.5
Including the age in years:
Up to 20	8.5	9.4	42.9		57.1	46.2		53.8
20-29	31.7	32.6	43.3		56.6	48.8		51.2
30-39	20.7	21.8	46.2		53.8	43.7		56.3
40-49	24.1	22.5	49.0		51.0	47.4		52.6
50-59	13.2	12.2	53.0		47.0	42.1		57.9
60 and older	1.7	1.5	48.9		51.1	69.6		30.4
Average age. Years	34.8	34.3	35.5		34.0	34.0		34.8

Level of unemployment by age groups and place of residence as of the end of 2007, in percentages

	Total
	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men
Total	5.3	6.0	4.1	4.7	9.3	9.6
Including the age in years:
Up to 20	25.5	22.9	23.7	24.9	28.7	20.1
20-29	7.6	7.8	5.3	6.2	15.5	12.4
30-39	4.6	5.4	3.9	4.3	7.4	9.1
40-49	4.5	5.2	3.4	3.9	7.6	8.4
50-59	3.5	3.9	2.8	2.8	6.0	7.1
60 and older	2.7	2.6	3.2	3.1	1.2	0.6

	Women	Men	Distribution by gender per cent
	Women	Men	Women	Men
Unemployed – total
Thousands of persons	1 975	2 271
Percentages	100	100	46.5	53.5
Including:
Discharged due to layoffs or reductions in staff, liquidation of the company, personal reason	19.0	16.4	50.2	49.8
Discharged at worker’s own request	19.3	25.0	40.2	59.8
Discharged due to the end of a term, seasonal work, or contract	5.0	12.0	26.6	73.4
Other reasons	24.9	19.0	49.4	50.6
No previous jobs	31.8	27.6	50.0	50.0

	Women	Men	Distribution by gender, per cent
	Women	Men	Women	Men
Unemployed – total
Thousands of persons	1 975	2 271
Percentages*	100	100	46.5	53.5
The types of job search used:
State employment service	37.6	28.9	53.1	46.9
Commercial employment service	4.0	3.2	52.4	47.6
Placing classified advertisement, responding to same	18.1	16.7	48.5	51.5
Friends, relatives, acquaintances	57.6	61.1	45.0	55.0
Direct approach to administration of the employer	24.8	28.5	43.2	56.8
Other ways	12.3	13.2	44.8	55.2

* No totals are given because an unemployed person may make use of more than one type of job search.

Unemployed persons by age groups and family situation as of the end of 2007 in percentages of the total

	Total	Including the ages, in years
	Total	Up to 20	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60 and older
Unemployed – total
Women	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Including:
Registered marriage	40.3	3.4	22.6	54.9	58.4	50.4	44.1
Unregistered marriage	9.7	1.5	11.6	10.3	12.0	6.5	...
Widowed	5.2	...	1.4	3.9	5.5	15.7	33.8
Divorced	10.7	...	5.5	11.5	14.6	21.1	17.3
Separated	3.5	1.4	1.5	4.6	5.6	4.0	4.8
Never married	30.5	93.7	57.5	14.8	4.0	2.3	...
Men	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Including:
Registered marriage	36.4	...	14.3	37.9	59.1	74.8	68.2
Unregistered marriage	7.1	...	4.6	11.9	8.4	8.9	2.6
Widowers	1.6	...	...	0.2	2.9	4.8	21.4
Divorced	8.4	...	1.4	12.6	19.2	6.7	6.7
Separated	2.1	...	0.8	5.2	2.1	1.4	1.2
Never married	44.4	100	78.9	32.2	8.2	3.3	...

	Women	Men	Distribution by gender, per cent
	Women	Men	Women	Men
Unemployed – total
Thousands of persons	1 975	2 271
Percentages	100	100	46.5	53.5
Including searching for work, months:
Less than 1	8.3	12.6	36.6	63.4
From 1 to 3	17.9	21.0	42.6	57.4
From 3 to 6	14.5	14.3	46.9	53.1
From 6 to 9	7.3	7.4	46.2	53.8
From 9 to 12	10.4	7.9	53.6	46.4
12 and more	41.7	36.8	49.5	50.5

In 2007, the average duration of a job search was 8.9 months for women and 8.0 months for men.

Unemployed persons by duration of job search and place of residence as of the end of 2007, in percentages

7.5 months for women and 7.0 months for men, and in rural populations it was 10.9 months for women and 9.4 months for men.

	Women	Men	Distribution by gender, per cent
	Women	Men	Women	Men
Unemployed – total
Thousands of persons	1 975	2 271
Percentages	100	100	46.5	53.5
Including those having education:
Higher professional	14.0	9.3	56.8	43.2
Incomplete higher professional	3.6	1.5	67.0	33.0
Secondary professional	22.4	15.7	55.4	44.6
Beginning professional	14.9	21.8	37.4	62.6
Secondary (complete) general	34.4	35.4	45.9	54.1
Basic general	10.1	14.7	37.4	62.6
Beginning general and lacking same	0.5	1.6	20.4	79.6

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Number of obstetric-gynaecologists, thousands	42.0	42.2	42.6	42.8	42.9	43.5	43.6
Number of beds for pregnant women and newborns, thousands	87.8	85.9	85.0	83.7	81.9	82.3	82.0
Number of beds for gynaecological illnesses, thousands	92.2	87.1	84.6	82.3	81.7	79.1	76.7
Number of women’s clinics – obstetric-gynaecological departments (offices), thousands	7.9	7.6	7.6	7.7	7.7	7.4	6.8
Number of medical assistant and obstetric clinics, thousands	44.3	43.9	43.6	43.4	43.1	42.3	39.8
Number of paediatricians, thousands	69.9	69.6	69.3	68.6	68.6	69.8	69.4
Number of paediatric hospitals**	433	426	420	409	407	382	365
Number of beds for paediatric patients, thousands	229.1	224.1	214.0	210.4	200.3	194.9	190.2
Number of beds in paediatric inpatient wards, thousands	73.6	91.2	83.1	81.3	69.6	67.6	-
Number of paediatric clinics and outpatient offices, thousands***	7.9	7.6	7.6	7.5	7.3	6.1	4.7
Per 10 thousand women:
Number of obstetrician-gynaecologists	5.4	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.7
Number of beds for gynaecological patients	11.9	11.3	11.1	10.8	10.7	10.4	10.0
Per 10 thousand women (aged 15-49):
Number of beds for pregnant women and newborns	22.2	21.6	21.4	21.2	20.9	21.1	21.2
Per 10 thousand children (aged 0-14):
Number of paediatricians	28.7	30.0	31.2	31.9	32.0	33.4	33.3
Number of beds for paediatric patients	94.1	96.6	96.2	97.8	93.5	93.3	91.3
Number of beds in paediatric inpatient wards	29.8	31.4	36.6	36.6	32.7	32.4	-

Illness caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) registered as ill with the illness indicated

Level of education of women and men, according to data of the national census

	2002
	Thousands of persons			Distribution by gender per cent
	Women	Men	Women		Men
Total population aged 15 and higher	65 893	55 407	54		46
Including those having Professional education:
Higher education (including postgraduate education)	10 766	8 613	56		44
Incomplete higher	2 018	1 722	54		46
Secondary	19 052	13 877	58		42
Beginning	6 661	8 706	43		57
General education
Secondary (complete)	10 938	10 338	51		49
Basic	8 882	7 813	53		47

Number of students by type of State and municipal educational institution as of the end of 2007

	Women	Men	Distribution by gender, per cent
	Women	Men	Women	Men
Number of students – total
Thousands of persons	11 849	11 369
Percentages	100	100	51	49
Including:
Institutions of general education	56.1	58.7	50	50
Institutions of beginning Professional education	3.7	7.2	35	65
Secondary specialized educational institutions	9.7	10.1	50	50
Higher educational institutions	30.0	23.3	57	43
Graduate students	0.5	0.7	43	57
Doctoral students	0.0	0.0	4	96

	Persons			Distribution by gender, per cent
	Women	Men	Women		Men
Total	63	487	14		86
Including by parties:
“Russia United”	44	271	14		86
“Communist Party of the Russian Federation”	4	53	7		93
“Liberal Democratic Party of Russia”	4	36	10		90
“Russia of Justice: Homeland/Pensioners/Life”	11	27	29		71

Proportion of women and men in the total number of the general population Number of the general population: 142,221,000 persons
Women: 76,372,000 persons	Men: 65,849,000 persons
Age in years

Year	Total population	Urban population	Rural population
2000	1.195	1.089	1.554
2001	1.223	1.124	1.564
2002	1.286	1.189	1.633
2003	1.319	1.223	1.666
2004	1.340	1.247	1.665
2005	1.287	1.197	1.589
2006	1.296	1.199	1.611
2007	1.406	1.283	1.798

Year	Total	Per 100,000 live births
2000	503	39.7
2001	479	36.5
2002	469	33.6
2003	463	31.9
2004	352	23.4
2005	370	25.4
2006	352	23.8
2007	354	22.0

Looked for work, in months		City			Village
	Women		Men	Women		Men
Up to 3	33.4		38.7	16.2		26.5
3-6	18.1		17.1	9.4		10.3
6-12	18.8		15.3	16.3		15.2
12 and more	29.7		28.9	58.2		48.0

	Total thousands of persons			Per 100,000 of the general population of the relevant gender
	Women	Men	Women		Men
2000	17	61	22.4		90.0
2005	85	150	111.7		227.5
2006	82	155	129.5		234.7
2007	99	169	129.5		256.3

United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women - State Party Reports

Russian Federation - Combined 6th and 7th periodic reports of states parties [2009] UNCEDAWSPR 2; CEDAW/C/USR/7 (8 March 2009)

I. Introduction 4 II. Review (by article) of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Discrimination against Women, with reference to the concluding remarksregarding the results of the consideration of the fifth periodic report 4

Total

Total

Total unemployed

Total

Including by parties:

“Russia United”

“Communist Party of the Russian Federation”

“Liberal Democratic Party of Russia”

I. Introduction 4
II. Review (by article) of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women, with reference to the concluding remarks
regarding the results of the consideration of the fifth periodic report 4