The 9th Kyiv Dialogue took place in Kyiv
Discrimination against women is a systemic problem in Ukraine and there is a lack of mechanisms to protect women’s rights. This according to the participants of the 9th Kyiv Dialogue “Gender Policy: Successes, Failures, Prospects” which took place on March 5-6. The conference was sponsored by the International Renaissance Foundation’s European Program, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Greens/European Free Alliance Group in the European Parliament, German Federal Foreign Office,and the OSCE.
In his opening remarks, IRF Executive Director Yevhen Bystrysky said: “If civil society organizations are determined to defend gender equality, they will not succeed without a united front against all forms of discrimination. It’s not enough to fight just for equal rights for women in Ukraine while certain political circles are spinning the issues of preserving the traditional family, gender inequality and juvenile justice into one populist slogan that they are using against gender equality.” He noted that one of the most successful anti-discrimination initiatives has been the Coalition for Combating Discrimination in Ukraine that was formed with assistance from IRF and unites more than 40 NGOs. Yevhen Bystrytsky also pointed out that the Expert Council on Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality working with the Representative of the Ombudsman for Observance of Rights of Child, Nondiscrimination and Gender Equality includes representatives of IRF.
According to conference participants, women account for 54% of the population of Ukraine, but less than 10% of members of the Verkhovna Rada, ranking Ukraine 115th worldwide. June Zeitlin, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Gender Issues, stressed that Ukraine is one of a few countries where women are very poorly represented in parliament. “Progress is so slow that it will take more than 50 years to close the gender gap in Ukraine,” she said.
In Ukraine 98% of domestic violence victims are women. They seek help only after 35 violent episodes. A woman will endure domestic violence for seven years, on average, before leaving her spouse or partner.
Contacts:
Kyiv Dialogue
Mykhailo Banakh
banakh@irf.ua
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The essential role of the European Program lies in promotion of Ukraine’s European integration, combining external pressure of the EU with the domestic one of the Ukrainian civil society, and thus contributing to promotion of open society values in Ukraine.
