against Women

Sixty-second session

26 October-20 November 2015

Note : The present document is being circulated in English, French, Russian and Spanish only.

* CEDAW/C/62/1 .

**The present document is being issued without formal editing.

Item 4 of the provisional agenda*

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties

under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination

of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

List of issues and questions in relation to the eighth periodic report of the Russian Federation

Addendum

Replies of Russian Federation **

[Date received: 29 June 2015]

Constitutional, legislative and institutional framework

1.On the status of the draft law on equal rights of men and women

Consideration of the draft law on state guarantees of equal rights and freedoms for men and women and of equal opportunities for their attainment was postponed indefinitely by decision of the Council of the State Duma of 23 January 2012 (after consultation with the special-purpose State Duma Committee for Family, Women and Children). The status of the draft law has not changed since the submission of the periodic report of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Committee.

A definition of discrimination is contained in Article 5.62 of the Russian Federation Code of Administrative Offences, which was introduced in 2011 (see para. 10 of the Eighth Periodic Report of the Russian Federation, p. 4/56).

2. On the murders of journalists

In addition to the information provided regarding the murders of women journalists, we can report that nine murders of representatives of the mass media were recorded in 2014, and one of them was the murder of G.A. Koshcheyeva, the managing editor of a rayon newspaper in Kirov Oblast. Identified and detained was the victim’s cohabitant, who committed the crime as a result of jealousy. The murder of a women journalist in the Republic of Khakassia was recorded in 2015. An array of investigative measures are being performed to solve the case and arrest the individual involved in the commission of the crime. The principal theory is that the murder did not involve the professional activities of the victim, but was committed during a robbery.

On the activities of non-governmental organizations that have the status of “ foreign agent ”

According to Ministry of Justice statistics, 4,108 Russian non-profit organizations in 2014 received a total of more than 70 billion rubles in funding from foreign sources, which was almost twice the foreign funding received in 2013. The registry of “foreign agents” includes 52 organizations, which constitute 1.3% of the total number of NPOs funded from abroad; 15.2% of the organizations in the registry are in Moscow, 6.4% are in Moscow Oblast, 5.4% are in St. Petersburg, and 3% are in Krasnodar Kray.

A number of women’s organizations have the status of “foreign agent”:

The Women’s League Kaliningrad Regional Public Organization of Informational and Legal Programmes; the Novgorod Women’s Parliament Public Regional Movement; the Samara Centre for Gender Research City Public Organization; the League of Women Voters St. Petersburg Human Rights Public Organization; the Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg Regional Human Rights Public Organization; the Environmental Protection! — Women’s Council Kaliningrad Regional Public Organization; the Women of the Don Union Regional Human Rights Public Organization; and the Centre for Social Policy and Gender Research Autonomous Non-Profit Scientific Research Organization (Saratov), which has ceased to exist in connection with liquidation.

The status of “foreign agent” presumes the mandatory presence of foreign funding and political activity, but, in practice, such a status can only be avoided if there is a complete absence of foreign funding.

The absence of a strict interpretation, as well as of a straightforward definition, of the concept of “political activity”, results in educational events and publications of NPOs being regarded as political in a number of cases.

Experts have reckoned that procuratorial authorities and the Ministry of Justice have enunciated some 70 different kinds of “political activity” among the 52 organizations in the registry.

In particular, NPOs’ conduct of outreach-and-awareness campaigns and training events has been labelled “political activity”, as have the participation of NPO leaders and members in the work of public councils and public oversight commissions, an organization’s anticorruption vetting of draft laws, environmental protection activities, the implementation of initiatives to create tolerance, participation in the arrangement and conduct of public hearings, the filing of various requests with government authorities, the publication by NPOs of educational and human-rights literature and periodicals and the performance of research and activities in the field of prevention and health care.

As indicated in the 2014 report of the Commissioner on Human Rights in the Russian Federation, criteria must be formulated for including non-profit non‑governmental organizations in the registry of “foreign agents” on the basis of a standard definition of all the types of activity that fall under the category of “political”, so as to preclude a selective approach to categorizing NPOs as “foreign agents”.

For purposes of removal from the registry of non-profit organizations that perform the functions of foreign agents, the appropriate additions have been made to the Federal Act on Non-Profit Organizations in cases in which foreign funding is terminated.

Legal complaint mechanisms

3.Clarifications of the prevailing legal mechanisms are given in additional information submitted in defence of the preceding report of the Russian Federation (para. 4). Clarifications of the rules for applying to the Commissioner for Human Rights and ombudsmen in 51 entities of the Russian Federation are given in paragraphs 21-24 of the Report.

National machinery for the advancement of women

4. On the authority of the State Duma Committee for Family, Women and Children

Within the competence of the State Duma Committee for Family, Women and Children are questions involving the upgrading of the law in the sphere of family, maternity and childhood:

Family Code of the Russian Federation;

Federal Act No. 81-FZ of 19 May 1995 on State Benefits for Citizens with Children;

Federal Act No. 159-FZ of 21 December 1996 on Social Assistance for Orphans and Children Lacking Parental Support (Additional Guarantees);

Federal Act No. 143-FZ of 15 November 1997 on Civil Status Records;

Federal Act No. 124-FZ of 24 July 1998 on the Rights of the Child in the Russian Federation (Fundamental Guarantees);

Federal Act No. 120-FZ of 24 June 1999 on the Framework for the System for the Prevention of Child Neglect and Juvenile Delinquency;

Federal Act No. 44-FZ of 16 April 2001 on a State Databank on Children Lacking Parental Support;

Federal Act No. 256-FZ of 29 December 2006 on Supplemental Measures of State Support for Families with Children;

Federal Act No. 48-FZ of 24 April 2008 on Guardianship and Foster Care (with regards to guardianship and foster care for minors);

Federal Act No. 436-FZ of 29 December 2010 on the Protection of Children from Information Threatening to Their Health and Development; and, inter alia, other federal laws under which the State Duma names the committee responsible for their preparation for review by the State Duma.

The organizational structure of the Committee of the sixth convocation (2011-2015) includes the following:

(1)subcommittee on demography,

(2)subcommittee on pre-school and additional education,

(3)subcommittee on minors and the protection of their rights,

(4)subcommittee on large families and the problems of children with disabilities,

(5)expert council,

(6)interdepartmental working group for monitoring law on the protection of children against information detrimental to their health and development,

(7)interdepartmental working group for monitoring law involving the provision of housing accommodations to orphans and children without parental support, as well as individuals from among orphans and children without parental support [sic].

In accordance with State Duma Rules, subcommittees study draft laws and other documents and materials beforehand in their own sessions and prepare suggestions for Committee session.

The activities of State authorities are supported by financial resources envisaged in federal law on the current Federal budget.

5. On the activities of special bodies that address gender equality issues

A Coordinating Council for gender problems has been formed at the interdepartmental level. The Council is an advisory body created by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection to analyse areas of development for ensuring gender equality in the Russian Federation and to generate suggestions for integrated measures for ensuring gender equality and implementing international obligations in that area, as well as to engage public organizations in the formulation and implementation of State policy for ensuring equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women in the Russian Federation. In addition to representatives of federal executive bodies, the Council’s membership includes representatives of public and academic organizations.

The activities of the Council are geared to producing coordinated approaches to the solution of gender equality problems and to fulfilling international obligations under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, including those associated with the formulation of suggestions for the creation of legislative initiatives ensuring equality between men and women and the support of the initiatives of public organizations. Among the principal objectives of the Council is the preparation of suggestions for upgrading regulatory acts pertaining to equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women.

Within the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection is a department for formulating State policy in the area of demographic policy and matters of gender equality. Within the department’s competence are participation in the drafting of federal laws, regulatory acts of the president and government, and other documents that are associated with improving the demographic situation and ensuring gender equality and that require a decision of the government, and the continued tracking of such documents to ensure their subsequent passage;

•Participation in the formulation of suggestions regarding statutory regulation and in the coordination of activities in matters involving improvement of the demographic situation and the achievement of the practical realization of the principle of equal rights and equal opportunities between men and women in society;

•analysis and evaluation of the observance of the principle of the equality of men and women and — together with structural subdivisions of the Ministry, the Federal Service for Labour and Employment, State extrabudgetary funds, and federal executive bodies — formulation of suggestions geared to upholding, in practical terms, the principle of gender equality;

•provision of organizational and technical support of the activities of the Coordinating Council for gender problems;

•participation, within the scope of its competence, in developing international cooperation in the area of demographic development and gender equality, and interaction, also within the scope of its competence, with international organizations;

•arrangement of the preparation of analytical materials and reports on the Russian Federation’s fulfilment of its international obligations formalized in international instruments, including the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, the ILO conventions, and other documents that contain the Russian Federation’s international obligations on matters of demographic development and the upholding of the principle of gender equality;

•consideration, within the scope of its competence, of the written requests of federal authorities, the authorities of constituent entities and of bodies of local self-government, deputies of the Federal Assembly and of the legislative bodies of constituent entities and local self-government, and citizens and organizations with regard to matters of demographic policy and the achievement of gender equality.

Temporary special measures

6.Temporary special measures to eliminate the continuing underrepresentation of women, including in political life and in the decision-making process, have not been put in place legislatively.

Citizens of the Russian Federation, men and women alike, enjoy, equally, all the opportunities made available by the Constitution for participation in socio-political life and in the activities of political parties and public organizations (see also paragraph 11).

Stereotypes and harmful practices

7. On the Framework for State Family Policy

The Framework for State Family Policy in the Russian Federation for the Period to 2025 was approved by Russian Federation Government Order No. 1618-r of 25 August 2014.

The Framework consists of seven sections that include general approaches and an analysis of the condition of the Russian family; the goals, principles, objectives and priority areas of State family policy; the stages and mechanisms of the implementation of the policy at the regional level, the anticipated resources and the expected results. Among the fundamental principles of the Framework is the equality between men and women in the achievement of a fairer distribution of family duties, as well as in opportunities for self-realization in the labour sphere and in public activities.

Among its main objectives is the prevention of trouble in the family, cruelty in the family and neglected and homeless children.

The State Family Policy in the Russian Federation for the Period to 2025 will be implemented via the following: statutory regulation; account taken of the objectives of State Family Policy in federal and regional budgeting and the budgeting for extrabudgetary funds and in the drafting of State programmes; and improvement of the system of statistical reports that reflect, inter alia, the main trends in the life of the family and the development of family policy.

Government Order No. 607-r of 9 April 2015 approved the action plan for 2015-2018 for the implementation of the first stage of the Framework for State Family Policy in the Russian Federation for the Period to 2025.

The plan includes actions aimed at developing the economic self-reliance of the family and creating the conditions necessary for the family to autonomously determine its social function; at developing a system of State support of families, including in terms of the birth and upbringing of children; at creating mechanisms for supporting families in need of better housing; at developing the life-protective function of the family and creating conditions for ensuring the health of family members, including with regard to the prevention of abortions; at enhancing the importance of family life, preserving spiritual and moral traditions in family relations and family upbringing, and providing assistance in the realization of the educational and cultural potential of the family; at providing social support for families with disabled children; and at preventing family trouble and neglected and homeless children.

On the eradication of negative stereotypes, including through the use of textbooks

In accordance with the Federal Act No. 273-FZ of 29 December 2012 on Education in the Russian Federation, the unity of the learning community is brought about by federal State education standards (hereinafter, State standards).

The Ministry of Education and Science has approved State standards for primary general, middle school, and secondary general education that have undergone professional and public expert assessment.

A State standard is a “framework” document that contains key educational guideposts: requirements for results in terms of the assimilation of the principal education programme, and requirements for structure and for the conditions for its implementation. Orienting itself on those requirements and on a principal education programme model, each school on its own, with the participation of State and public administrative bodies (board of regents, parents’ council and, inter alia, student representative bodies), develops its own education programme, with consideration given to specific features, as well as to personnel, logistical and other capabilities.

State standards for general education are geared to instilling various personal attributes in the graduate, including the graduate’s awareness of and acceptance of traditional family values and his acknowledgment of his responsibility to family, society, and the State, as well as respect for the opinions of others and the ability to reach mutual understanding and work successfully with others. State standards contain requirements for the results of the assimilation of the principal education programme, and those results must, among other things, reflect a responsible attitude toward the creation of a family on the basis of conscious acceptance of the values of family life.

According to the State standard for general education, a responsible attitude among students toward the creation of a family can be formed with the following:

mandatory school subjects (the world around us, social studies, literature, biology and, inter alia, fundamentals of health and safety);

additional school subjects (such as “Fundamentals of the Family and Family Life”, “The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations”, and “The Ethics and Psychology of Family Life”) offered by a given school;

optional and elective school subjects offered by a given school, including those involving psychology and ethics topics;

extracurricular student activities (discussion clubs; psychology circles; and research projects, including local-history projects geared to studying positive examples of families of various generations);

programmes for the personal development and socialization of students on the basis of the fundamental national values of Russian society, such as patriotism, social solidarity, civic-mindedness, the family, health, labour and creativity, science and, inter alia, education (social events and projects promoting the family as a national treasure and meetings with interesting people, including people who set a positive example in terms of family life).

Thus, State standards make it possible for educational organizations to instil spiritual and moral values in the students and to form a gender-sensitive culture via programmes with mandatory school subjects, via additional school subjects and elective courses and via extracurricular activities, as well as in programmes for the personal development and socialization of the students.

The textbook is one of the tools enabling the implementation of an education programme.

Educational activities can use textbooks from the federal list of textbooks recommended for use in the implementation of State-accredited education programmes for primary general, middle school, and secondary general education.

The federal list of textbooks includes textbooks recommended by the Research and Methodology Council on Textbooks, which was created by the Ministry of Education and Science, on the basis of positive expert findings from the results of scientific, pedagogical, social and ethnocultural and regional expert assessments.

The pedagogical assessment, in its evaluation of the conformance of a textbook’s content to the State standard for a given education level, establishes that the textbook’s content contains nothing that contradicts the Constitution or federal law. It establishes that the content promotes patriotism; love and respect for the family, the Fatherland, one’s people and one’s region; and an attitude of tolerance of representatives of different religious, ethnic, and cultural groups. The assessment also establishes that the content teaches inter-ethnic and interfaith dialogue.

The social assessment establishes that the content of the textbook is of a character-building nature, promotes personal development, and creates the conditions for the self-definition and socialization of the student on the basis of socio-cultural and spiritual and moral values, as well as rules and norms of behaviour in the best interests of the individual, the family, society and the State.

The ethnocultural and regional assessment establishes that the textbook reflects basic ethnic Russian values, the regional and ethnocultural features of Russian Federation constituent entities and their diversity, the unity of the ethnic cultures and peoples of Russia, and the polycultural nature of Russian society.

Violence against women

8. On the draft law on the prevention of domestic violence

The draft law on the prevention of domestic violence was reviewed in session in April 2015 by the Government’s Commission on Legislative Drafting Activities. At the end of the Commission, objections of a legal and a technical nature were enumerated, and it was concluded that the Government supports the draft law, provided that it is amended to address the objections.

On draft law No. 14704-6

The draft federal law No. 14704-6 on amendments to the Russian Federal Code of Criminal Procedure and the Russian Federal Correctional Code (on the provision of information to juvenile victims regarding the release from penal institutions of persons who had committed crimes of a sexual nature against them) was removed from consideration by the Council of the State Duma of the RF Federal Assembly.

At the same time, Federal Act No. 62-FZ of 30 March 2015 on Amendments to the Russian Federation Code of Criminal Procedure and the Russian Federation Correctional Code regarding the Matter of the Participation of Victims in Hearings by a Court of Questions involving the Serving of a Sentence made amendments to Article 42 of the RF Code of Criminal Procedure according to which the victim, on the basis of a judgment or decision issued by the court with regard to a request filed by the victim or his or her guardian or representative before the close of argument, is entitled to receive information regarding the arrival of the offender for incarceration at the facility where he will serve his sentence, including when the offender is being transferred from one correctional facility to another; regarding travel by an offender outside the prison; and regarding an offender’s prison release date, as well as to be informed of the court’s hearing of release-from-punishment questions that involve serving the sentence, of a respite of a sentence, or of the replacement of the unserved portion of a sentence with a lesser penalty.

Human trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

9.Countering trafficking in persons, including women and children, is one of the areas of cooperation in the intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements on cooperation in fighting crime concluded with more than 60 countries.

A result of that cooperation is the speedier transmission of information on detected criminal activity and on the results of investigations performed in other States and the conduct of joint operations targeting participants in international crime groups engaged in human trafficking.

A typical example of such cooperation is the conduct of joint operations by the RF Ministry of Internal Affairs and law-enforcement authorities of Greece targeting an international crime group specializing in trafficking in persons for their subsequent sexual exploitation abroad.

Law-enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Moldova carried out joint operations against an international crime group whose participants were engaged in human trafficking in the Moscow region. The criminals recruited young women in Moldova and, under the pretext of providing them employment in food-service establishments in the Moscow region, transported them to Russia, took their documents, and, under the threat of violence, forced them into prostitution.

The joint operations freed six native Moldovan women who had been illegally held by the organized crime group participants and apprehended two Republic of Moldova nationals who were on an inter-State wanted list for commission of crimes under Article 165(3) (human trafficking) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova.

As a result of the activities of Russian Federation law-enforcement agencies associated with countering human trafficking, crimes covered by the following were recorded in 2014:

Art. 127 of the RF Criminal Code (illegal imprisonment) — 465 cases, which is fewer by 6.4% than the number for the same period of the previous year;

Art. 127.1 of the RF Criminal Code (human trafficking) — 25 cases, which is fewer by 62.1% than the number for the same period of the previous year;

Art. 127.2 of the RF Criminal Code (use of slave labour) — 7 cases, which is fewer by 46.2% than the number for the same period of the previous year.

As indicated in the Periodic Report submitted, questions of human trafficking were examined twice in the Governmental Commission for the Prevention of Infringement of the Law in 2014 and 2015. As a result, specific instructions were given to federal executive agencies with regard to detection and prevention, as well as the provision of assistance to crime victims.

10. On penalties imposed on female prostitutes

Administrative liability is established for engaging in prostitution, as well as a fine of from 1,500 rubles to 2,000 rubles.

The enticement of a person into prostitution through the use or threat of force, blackmail, destruction of or damage to property or deception, qualifies as a criminal offence (Art. 240 of the Criminal Code). A person who is coerced into prostitution by an offender is a victim and is not subject to administrative liability.

Measures to prevent prostitution include raising the standard of living of the citizenry, reducing unemployment and expanding the range of professions on the labour market; raising the overall level of ethics and morality; introducing and improving on an ongoing basis sex education in educational institutions; and developing services that provide social assistance and rehabilitation.

Participation of women in political and public life

11.More than 113,000 socially oriented non-profit organizations are in operation in the Russian Federation. Increasingly, women’s public associations are taking the form of socially oriented NPOs and are the most responsive, mobile structures capable of addressing important questions constructively.

The core activities of women’s public associations are geared to increasing women’s influence on the process of societal development; ensuring that women and men have equal status; eliminating gender asymmetry in the political sphere; advancing women into power structures from the local and regional levels to the federal level; providing assistance in the solution of major public, educational, environmental and socio-economic problems facing society; elucidating the professional and business qualities of women; helping women to create their own businesses; strengthening the role of women’s non-governmental organizations in the development of small and medium-sized businesses; fighting against occupational discrimination at enterprises; helping women to create their own businesses [sic]; creating conditions for communication and mutual support; providing psychological assistance to women suffering hardship; advocating for the rights of persons who are the victims of any kind of violence; protecting the interests of children; providing financial assistance to single mothers; and, among other things, providing humanitarian, charitable and educational assistance.

Non-governmental organizations are given federal, regional, and municipal grants (or subsidies).

The RF Ministry of Economic Development provides subsidies for the support of NPOs throughout the country and direct subsidies to non-profit organizations for the expansion of NPO activities and best practices, for the implementation of educational and advisory programmes and for the provision of methodological assistance to organizations of the non-profit sector.

Subsidies to constituent entities of the Russian Federation are disbursed on a competitive basis within regions to support non-profit organizations that provide services in the social sector and that implement socially important projects.

Some 239.4 million rubles were allocated for competition-based support of NPOs in 2015.

Women are participating in political parties.

In the leadership structures of the leading political parties represented in the State Duma, women account for 10-30%: they constitute 26% in the General Council of the United Russia party (20% in the Central Committee of United Russia, and 30% in the Supreme Council), 34% in the Central Council of the Just Russia party, 10% in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and 10% in the Supreme Council of the Liberal Democratic Party.

According to data of the Central Electoral Commission, women head nine of the political parties that have a right to participate in elections: the all-Russia Women’s Dialogue; the Russia-wide People’s Party for the Women of Russia; the all-Russia Agrarian Party of Russia; the Russia-wide political party Will; the all-Russia International Party of Russia; the political party Union of Townspeople; the Native Party; the Russia-wide Political Party Dignity; and the Party of the Spiritual Transfiguration of Russia.

Equal opportunities for occupying leadership posts at all levels of State administration have been in place since 2008 with the creation of a federal pool of managerial personnel — a database of highly professional and promising staff members of federal executive bodies, state agencies of constituent entities, and State corporations and organizations.

A list of State corporations and organizations is drawn up by the RF Government. The pool includes promising personnel duly recommended by the director (chief executive) of a given State agency or organization.

A consolidated database of civil-service vacancies has been created: http://gossluzhba.gov.ru/Vacancy.

Eligible for participation in competitions for vacant posts are Russian Federation citizens who are at least 18 years of age, who speak the State language of the Russian Federation, and who meet the qualification requirements established by RF law on civil service for the vacant civil service post. The qualification requirements include the following: requirements in terms of candidate’s length of time in civil service or length of time working in a specialty, level of education, and professional knowledge and skills.

Employment

12. On limitations on the use of women ’ s labour

The State has established health-protection measures that apply to all workers on the job, as well as special considerations for regulating labour that stem from the nature of work, working conditions and, inter alia, the psychophysiological features of the body of a worker (women and minors, for example).

The psychophysiological features of the body of a worker are taken into account when certain limitations are established on the use of women’s labour in connection with the need for special protection of women from harmful workplace factors that have an adverse effect on the woman’s body, primarily on reproductive function.

The principle of legal equality cannot be implemented without taking into account the universally recognized social role that women play in procreation, which requires that the State establish for women additional guarantees, including in labour relations, that are aimed at protecting maternity. Thus, in accordance with acts of international law, the adoption of special measures to protect maternity is not regarded as discriminatory (Article 4(2) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women); measures taken to protect women in certain types of work, for reasons inherent in their physical nature, must not be regarded as discriminatory (Article 10(3) of the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of 7 November 1967); nor shall any distinction, exclusion or preference in respect of a particular job based on the inherent requirements thereof be deemed to be discrimination (Article 1(2) of ILO Convention No. 111 concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation).

The first and third paragraphs of Article 253 of the Labour Code restrict the employment of women in heavy work, work in harmful and/or dangerous conditions and underground work — i.e., in conditions that have an adverse effect on a woman’s body — and are intended to shield the woman’s reproductive health from the effects of harmful workplace factors.

In drawing up the List of Factories, Jobs, and Occupations with Harmful and/or Dangerous Working Conditions in which the use of women’s labour is limited, the Government acted on the basis of an assessment of the working conditions and the extent and consequences of a female worker’s exposure to them and took into account factors of occupational risk for women as a result of the directed action of certain workplace factors on reproductive function, such as whole-body vibration and hazardous chemicals (SanPiN 2.2.0.555-96. 2.2. Occupational Health. Hygiene Requirements for Women’s Working Conditions. Health Rules and Standards, approved by Decision No. 32 of 28 October 1996 of the State Committee of the Russian Federation Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspectorate), i.e., on the basis of objective criteria, which precludes an arbitrary restriction of the use of women’s labour at jobs included on the List and is a guarantee of their right to fair working conditions (Article 2 of the RF Labour Code).

At the same time, paragraph 1 of a note to the List establishes that women’s labour can be used at the jobs (occupations and positions) on the List if the employer creates safe working conditions, which must be confirmed by the results of workplace certifications and positive findings of State expert studies of the conditions of work and the State committee of the sanitary and epidemiological inspectorate of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

Thus, neither Article 253 of the Labour Code nor the List of Factories, Jobs, and Occupations with Harmful and/or Dangerous Working Conditions in which the Use of Women’s Labour is Limited establishes an absolute ban on the use of women’s labour in the types of jobs on the List, but restricts the use of women’s labour until the workplace factors that are harmful to a woman’s body are eliminated at the specific workplace.

The problems associated with ensuring safe working conditions, preventing accidents in the workplace, and reducing job-related morbidity and the personnel and economic losses associated with them continue to be rather acute and are exerting a substantial effect on the condition of the labour market in the Russian Federation. In that connection, measures to ensure the safety of the working population are being implemented in an integrated, consistent fashion.

In 2013 and 2014, the institution of the special assessment of working conditions was put in place. Adopted were federal acts No. 426-FZ on the Special Assessment of Working Conditions and No. 421-FZ on the Introduction of Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in Connection with the Adoption of the Federal Law on the Special Assessment of Working Conditions, both of which entered into force on 1 January 2014.

With the adoption of those laws, the Russian Federation introduced a single procedure for assessing working conditions that makes it possible not only to objectively identify and assess the working conditions in each workplace, but also to ensure the proper level of economic incentive for employers to improve working conditions and safeguard the lives and health of employees in the workplace.

At the legislative level, additional Pension Fund insurance contribution rates are differentiated for employees working in harmful conditions in accordance with the class (subclass) of working conditions established on the basis of the results of the special assessment of working conditions. The guarantees and compensation for individuals working in harmful (hazardous) conditions are established on the basis of the results of the special assessment (higher wages, additional paid vacation and shorter working hours).

Stipulated with an eye to protecting employees’ rights is the preservation of the guarantees and compensation in place as of December 2013, provided that the individuals are employed in harmful (hazardous) working conditions. An employer that improves the working conditions and reduces the level of harm is given a greater discount in terms of the rate for its compulsory social insurance premium against industrial accidents and occupational diseases.

Needless administrative barriers to business have been remove — a procedure has been introduced for declaring the conformance of working conditions to State regulatory requirements for labour safety. At the same time, the administrative and criminal liability of employers for the violation of labour safety requirements has been increased.

Monitoring of the practices in the application of the law on the special assessment of working conditions has been set up with an eye to identifying any need to refine or amend individual provisions of the law.

Based on the results of the measures taken by the Government to break negative trends in labour safety, the year 2014 is seeing a decline in the number of fatalities in connection with accidents in the workplace. The number of serious accidents was 17% below that of 2013. The number of fatalities in connection with accidents in the workplace was 20% lower in 2014 than in 2013.

13. On the extension of compulsory social insurance to foreign citizens

Beginning 1 January 2015, Federal Act No. 407-FZ of 1 December 2014 on Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in Matters involving Compulsory Social Insurance in Case of Temporary Incapacity for Work and in Connection with Maternity established for foreign workers temporarily residing in the Russian Federation the right to receive insurance coverage in the form of temporary disability benefits, provided that their employers pay premiums for them to the Russian Federation Social Insurance Fund over a period of at least six months before the month of the occurrence of the insured event (that is, unlike RF citizens, who have the right to temporary disability benefits beginning on the first day of work under a labour contract, foreign citizens temporarily residing in the Russian Federation acquire that right solely upon the expiry of six months of premiums having been paid for them into the Russian Federation Social Insurance Fund).

In accordance with that federal law, employers pay into the Social Insurance Fund premiums that constitute 1.8% of the pay received by foreign citizens temporarily residing in the Russian Federation (with the exception of highly skilled specialists) and that are withheld from such pay beginning on the first day of work of such individuals in the Russian Federation, regardless of the date on which the contract was entered into (the rate for premiums paid to the Social Insurance Fund for Russian Federation citizens, as well as for foreign citizens permanently or temporarily residing in the Russian Federation is set at 2.9%). [sic]

The right to receive maternity allowances (the maternity benefit, the lump-sum benefit for childbirth, the monthly benefit for care of a child under the age of one and a half years) will be afforded to foreign citizens as it is now, after they acquire the status of temporarily or permanently residing in the Russian Federation. Those measures make it possible to provide a minimum level of protection to migrant workers if they become ill.

Health care

14. On the sample survey of the reproductive health of the population, including on the use of contraceptive agents

One may review the results of the 2011 National Reproductive Health Survey conducted by the Federal State Statistics Service and the RF Ministry of Health in conjunction with the UNFPA, the Department of Reproductive Health and Research, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta [Georgia], USA) at the official site of the Federal State Statistics Service, via the following link: http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/zdrav/zdravo-2011.pdf.

According to the results of the study, Russia is a country with a high prevalence of contraceptive use, which is indicated by the high percentage of women of reproductive age who made use of contraception either at the time of the study (52%) or in the past (31%). In all, 83% of all women aged 15-44 years used, at that time or another in their lives, some sort of method of contraception, and virtually all of them (81%) had at one time or other used a modern method (condoms, oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices, tubal ligation, injections or spermicides). In addition, 59% of the respondents had at one time or other used traditional methods (rhythm method or coitus interruptus). The lowest percentage of those who had used some form of contraception was found in women 15-19 years of age (28%), which, in all likelihood, is due to the fact that most of them had not yet had sexual contact. By the age of 25-29, more than 90% of those surveyed had already used some method of contraception, and virtually all of them had experience with modern methods. Among the women who, at the time of the survey, were married, 55% used a modern form of contraception, and, when traditional methods were included, the percentage of users of all methods was 68%. Analysis of the effect of place of residence on the use of contraception shows a slightly higher prevalence in cities, particularly in Moscow, than in rural areas.

In general, the Russian women were completely satisfied with the method of contraception they were using at the time of the survey; nonetheless, 18% of the women would have preferred using a different method. The methods to which the respondents gave preference over those they were using at the time included the intrauterine device in almost half of the cases (45%) and the pill in more than one-fourth of the women (29%). Less than 5% of the women opted for female sterilization or the use of injectable contraceptives over the method they were using at the time.

Overall, 8% of the women who took part in the survey had an unmet need for contraceptives; if those who used traditional methods are added to them, 17% of the women had an unmet need for modern methods.

Based on the study’s estimate, the actual number of users of modern methods of contraception in Russia in 2011 was 10.5 million. The number of potential users of modern methods in Russia exceeds 15 million.

According to the data of the RF Ministry of Health, 24.4% of women of fertile age are using modern contraceptive agents (hormonal and intrauterine contraceptives).

On reduction of the number of abortions

Federal Act No. 323-FE [sic] of 21 November 2011 on the bases for protection of the health of citizens in the Russian Federation has determined the legal foundations for medical activity in family planning and in regulating the reproductive function of the human being. According to Article 56 of that law, “Every woman shall make her own decision regarding maternity. Artificial termination of pregnancy shall be performed at the woman’s request if there is informed voluntary consent. Artificial termination of pregnancy may be performed at the woman’s request up to the twelfth week of pregnancy.

Artificial termination of pregnancy may be performed up to the twenty-second week of pregnancy for social indications and at any time for medical indications.”

With an eye to ensuring the accessibility, quality, safety and prevention of abortion, financial support for medical assistance in the termination of a pregnancy is included in the Programme of State Guarantees of Free Medical Assistance for Citizens and is implemented with compulsory medical insurance funds.

Measures geared to preventing abortions and protecting reproductive health are implemented in women’s counselling centres, obstetrics-gynaecological offices, family planning and reproduction centres and centres for the protection of family health and reproduction, as well as health and social care offices and centres for the health and social support of pregnant women suffering hardship.

In recent years, the Russian Federation has seen a steady, upward trend in the reduction of the number of abortions. According to the data of the Federal State Statistics Service, over the period of 2011-2014, the total number of abortions dropped by 21.6% (to 900 in 2014 from 1,200 in 2010). Over the period of 2011-2013, the number of abortions per 1,000 women of fertile age dropped by 12.5% (to 28 in 2013 from 32 in 2010). Ministry of Health data indicate that the number of abortions has declined by 45.5% among girls aged 14 or under (to 300 in 2014 from 600 in 2010) and by 52.3% among girls aged 15-17 (to 9,100 from 19,000).

In the period of 2010-2014, an upward trend is noted in the reduction of the absolute number of abortions among females with their first pregnancy — they dropped by 33.8%; abortions for social indications dropped by 89.0%; abortions for unspecified reasons, by 27.4%; criminal abortions, by 84.6%. The percentage of medically induced abortions increased (to 10.1% of all abortions in 2010 [sic] from 3.7% in 2010).

The reduction in the number of abortions was the result of systematic work done to prevent them.

For the purpose of developing social and psychological care for women, social worker and psychologist positions have been introduced in women’s counselling centres, and their basic functions are to provide medical and psychological support and social and legal assistance to women, to provide medical and psychological support to minors, to prepare women for family life, to implement measures to prevent pregnancy terminations, to raise awareness among women of the need to carry a pregnancy to term and to provide further support during pregnancy.

In the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the number of women’s counselling centres with medical and social assistance offices increased to 856 in 2014 from 419 in 2011.

An important component in the complex of measures aimed at the prevention and reduction of abortions is the creation of centres for providing medical and social support to pregnant women suffering hardship, the main objective of which centres is to provide medical, social and psychological assistance to women with unplanned pregnancies in order to give them a positive alternative to abortion. A total of 385 such centres are in operation at this time; some 150,000 women turned to them in 2014.

On protecting the health of women migrant workers, Roma women, indigenous and minority women and, inter alia, women prisoners

Article 19 of Federal Act No. 323-FZ of 21 November 2011 on the Bases for the Protection of Public Health in the Russian Federation has established the right of every individual (regardless of sex or age) to the guaranteed amount of medical care provided free of charge under the programme of State guarantees for providing citizens of the Russian Federation with free medical care, as well as to the receipt of fee-based medical and other services, including under a voluntary health insurance policy.

The right to medical care extends to migrant workers, Roma, indigenous and minority peoples and, inter alia, prisoners.

The right of foreign citizens residing in or visiting the Russian Federation to medical care is established by RF law and relevant international treaties to which the Russian Federation is a party. Stateless persons permanently residing in the Russian Federation enjoy the right to medical care on equal terms with RF citizens, unless otherwise specified by international treaties to which the Russian Federation is a party.

Under Article 26 of the law, pregnant women and women during childbirth or in the postnatal period who are being detained, are being held in custody or are serving a sentence consisting of restraint, arrest, incarceration, or administrative arrest have the right to medical care, including, if necessary, in medical facilities of the State or municipal health-care system in accordance with RF law, including in maternity and child welfare medical facilities.

Lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women

15.Federal Act No. 135-FZ of 29 June 2013 introduced amendments to Article 5 of the Federal Act on the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development and to certain other legislative acts of the Russian Federation in order to protect children from information encouraging the rejection of traditional family values.

Information that negates family values, encourages non-traditional sexual relations and produces a lack of respect for parents and/or other family members is information that is harmful to the health and/or development of children.

Article 6.21 of the Russian Federation Code of Administrative Offences establishes liability for the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations to minors that takes the form of the dissemination of information aimed at producing among minors non-traditional sexual attitudes, an attraction to non-traditional sexual relations and a perverted notion of the social equality of traditional and non‑traditional sexual relations or the touting of information on non-traditional sexual relations that evokes interest in such relations if such actions do not contain a criminally punishable act.

The provisions of that article are aimed at enforcing, specifically, Article 5 of Federal Act No. 436-FE [sic] of 29 December 2010 on the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development.

Aspects of the constitutionality of Part One of Article 6.21 of the RF Code of Administrative Offences were the subject of an RF Constitutional Court hearing.

In accordance with the legal position of the Constitutional Court set forth in the Court’s Ruling No. 24-P of 23 September 2014, Part One of Article 6.21 of the RF Code of Administrative Offences was declared to be not unconstitutional since its purpose — as understood under constitutional law and within the framework of current laws and regulations — was to protect the family and childhood, which are recognized as key assets in the Constitution, and to prevent harm to the health and moral and spiritual development of minors, and it did not envisage interference with individual autonomy, including self-determination of sexual identity, was not intended to prohibit or officially censure non-traditional sexual relations, did not hinder impartial public discussion of the legal status of sexual minorities or the use by their representatives of any means not prohibited by law to express their views on these issues and to protect their rights and legitimate interests, including organizing and conducting public events, and did not provide for a broad interpretation of the prohibition it establishes, which applies only to the public dissemination of information aimed at promoting non-traditional sexual relations among minors, or, depending on the circumstances, imposing them.

Moreover, the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse of 25 October 2007, which was ratified by the Russian Federation, obliges the State to take legislative and other measures to include in the programmes of primary and secondary school education information on the risks of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, as well as on the means of protection adapted to the special developmental features of the children; this information, provided in collaboration with parents, where appropriate, shall be given within a more general context of information on sexuality, and special attention is devoted to situations of elevated risk, especially those involving the use of new information and communication technologies (Article 6).

The information — if it is free of propaganda, i.e., is not intended to form preferences associated with the choice of non-traditional forms of sexual identify, and if it employs an individualized approach that takes into account the special features of the mental and physiological development of the children in a given age group and the nature of the specific question at hand — can be provided by specialists such as educators, medical professionals and psychologists.

On cases of the dismissal of teachers b ecause of their non-traditional sexua l orientation

Article 81(8) of the Labour Code establishes that if an employee who performs educational functions does something immoral that is incompatible with that person’s remaining on the job, the labour agreement with that person may be cancelled at the discretion of the employer.

At the same time, education workers in such cases have the right to defend their professional honour and dignity (Article 47(3)(13) of Federal Act No. 273-FZ), and the presumption of innocence extends to them, as it does to other citizens (Article 14 of the RF Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 1.5 of the RF Code of Administrative Offences), that is, they are considered innocent until their guilt in the crimes or administrative offences is proven and established by the final verdict or decision of a court.

The case is well-known in which a music teacher was dismissed under Article 81(8) of the Labour Code when her employer learned of her non-traditional sexual orientation.

The teacher turned to the advocacy group Vykhod [Out], which handles matters involving the defence of sexual minorities, and went to court to be reinstated in her position and paid for the forced absence. The Kirov District Court of St. Petersburg denied her claim on the basis of an analysis of the plaintiff’s social media page, where there were photographs of the teacher with her girlfriend, as well as other evidence. The teacher’s representatives intend to contest the decision in higher courts.

In 2014, as in previous years, no complaints of discrimination and violation of a Russian citizen’s constitutional rights on the grounds of sexual orientation have been filed with the Commissioner on Human Rights in the Russian Federation, and no large-scale violations of the rights of citizens belonging to sexual minorities have been seen in the Russian Federation.

Indigenous and minority women

16.Living in 32 constituent entities of the Russian Federation are 48 peoples who are categorized as indigenous or minority peoples.

Federal Act No. 82-FZ of 30 April 1999 on Guarantees of the Rights of Indigenous Minority Peoples in the Russian Federation established the legal framework for the guarantees of individual socio economic and cultural development among the indigenous minority peoples of the Russian Federation, irrespective of the gender of their representatives, and the protection of their ancestral habitats, ways of life, livelihoods and crafts.

Accordingly, Article 8 of that federal law defines the rights of minority peoples, coalitions of minority peoples and the individuals belonging to minority peoples to protect their ancestral habitats, ways of life, livelihoods and crafts.

Paragraphs 8 and 9 of Article 8(2) of the federal law enshrines the right of individuals belonging to minority peoples to receive social services in the manner established by RF law, as well as to receive free medical care in State and municipal health-care facilities under the Programme of State Guarantees of Compulsory Medical Insurance.

As to the question of the rights of the women of minority peoples to land, territories and resources addressed here in paragraph 16 of the List of Questions, it should be noted that Article 8(1)(1) of the federal law establishes the right of all representatives of minority people, for purposes of defending their ancestral habitats, ways of life, livelihoods and crafts, to avail themselves, free of charge, in the places of their ancestral inhabitance and their traditional livelihood, of the various kinds of terrain necessary for their traditional livelihood and their traditional crafts and the commonly occurring mineral resources in the manner established by federal law and the law of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Minority peoples are also vested with the right to participate in the monitoring of compliance with federal law and the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation regarding protection of the environment in connection with the industrial use of lands and natural resources and the construction and modernization of commercial or other kinds of facilities in traditional habitats.

Guarantees of the access of minority peoples to participation in political and public life and to decision-making by authorities are established, inter alia, by paragraphs 5 and 7 of Article 8(1) of the federal law, which stipulate the right of minority peoples to participate, through their authorized representatives, in the drafting and adoption by State authorities of the Russian Federation, State authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and bodies of local self-government of decisions in matters involving the protection of the ancestral habitats, ways of life, livelihoods, and crafts of minority peoples and their right to participate in the formation and activities of councils of representatives of minority peoples in the executive bodies of constituent entities of the Russian Federation and bodies of local self-government.

The RF presidential decree No. 168 of 31 March 2015 formed the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs.

The Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs performs functions involving the formulation and implementation of State ethnic policy, statutory regulation, and the provision of State services in the State nationalities policy; the guarantee of inter‑ethnic concord, the ethnocultural development of the peoples of the Russian Federation and the protection of the rights of ethnic minorities and indigenous minority peoples of the Russian Federation; the interaction with ethnic and cultural autonomies and other institutions of civil society; the development and implementation of State and federal special programmes in the area of inter-ethnic relations; the monitoring of the implementation of State nationalities policy; the prevention of any forms of discrimination based on racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic identity; and the fulfilment of the ethnocultural needs of citizens belonging to various ethnic communities in terms of the efficient use by constituent entities of the Federation and by municipalities of State support funds stipulated for the ethnocultural development of the peoples of Russia.

Women and peace and security

17.The Russian Federation is not a party to any armed conflict. We feel that national action plans for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) Women and Peace and Security should be drafted on a voluntary basis and, primarily, by those States that are in an armed conflict or in post-conflict peace-building.

Individuals who are victims of emergencies or armed ethnic (inter-ethnic) conflicts are provided, free of charge, social and welfare services on an in-patient or day basis or at home by social service organizations; temporary lodging in a specialized social-services facility; and, also free of charge, medical care in treatment facilities of the RF Ministry of Health (federal State facilities).

For refugees from Ukraine, including those from combat zones, the Russian Federation has an “open door” policy that enables them to resolve their legal status in the Russian Federation under both Federal Act No. 4528-1 of 19 February 1993 (the Refugees Act) and Federal Act No. 115-FZ of 25 July on the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation.

Since 1 April 2014, a total of 984,273 citizens from southeastern Ukraine have entered the Russian Federation and, as of 18 May 2015, have not left.

At present, 424 temporary accommodation facilities that are housing 25,272 persons, 8,060 of whom are children 18 years old or under, have been set up in the territory of 72 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In the period from the beginning of 2014 through 18 May 2015, a total of 1,071,334 Ukrainian citizens have applied to territorial offices of the RF Federal Migration Service for a determination of their legal status (of them, 353,691 have applied for asylum; 176,568, for a temporary residence permit, which does not include persons who have received temporary asylum; 367,032, for patents; and 174,043, for work permits), including 141,383 Ukrainian citizens in near-border regions of the Russian Federation.

Over the span of that period, 353,691 persons have filed requests for recognition as refugees or applications for temporary asylum, and of them:

5,957 have requested refugee status, including 137 in 2015. In the near-border regions of the RF, 671 have requested such status, 11 of them in 2015. A total of 287 have been recognized as refugees, including 102 in the near-border regions;

347,734 have applied for temporary asylum, 80,805 of whom have applied in 2015. In the near-border regions, 66,455 have applied, 14,229 of them in 2015. Temporary asylum has been granted to 327,800 persons, including 50,861 in near-border regions.

The determination of the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation involves no discrimination of any kind, including discrimination based on sex. Particular attention is given to women and children, with account taken of their special vulnerability. Women and girls constitute 51% of the total number of Ukrainian citizens who have received asylum.

All victims of the armed conflict in Ukraine who are in the Russian Federation are given emergency medical care, including psychological assistance. Many child patients from the Lugansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine are given high-tech medical care.

Marriage and family relations

18. On the inheritance of property in an unregistered marriage

Paragraphs 267-270 of the Eighth Periodic Report indicate that property questions involving spouses in an unregistered marriage are resolved in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Paragraph 272 of the Report indicates that disputes regarding the division of property of persons in family relations without State registration of the marriage are resolved not according to the rules of the RF Family Code, but according to Article 252 of the Civil Code “Division of Property under Tenancy in Common, and Apportionment of Shares”, which establishes the rules for dividing property under Tenancy in Common.

Paragraph 264 of the Report indicates that the correlation between marriage and divorce has improved since 2006. Accordingly, there were 576 divorces per 1,000 marriages in 2006, but only 566 per 1,000 marriages in 2014.

The State Family Policy of the Russian Federation is geared to promoting and preserving the values of family and marriage (see paragraph 7).

Amendment to paragraph 1 of Article 20 of the Convention

19.The possibility of conducting, on a national level, the procedures necessary for acceptance of the amendment to paragraph 1 of Article 20 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women remains under study.