Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention
Eighth periodic report of States parties due in 2014
Russian Federation *
[Date received: 4 August 2014]
* The present document is being issued without formal editing.
Introduction
The report on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was prepared by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation in accordance with article 18 of the Convention, as well as with the Guidelines for the Preparation of Reports of States Parties to the Convention (CEDAW/C/7), the resolution of the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly “Strengthening and Enhancing the Effective Functioning of the Human Rights Treaty Body System” (A/RES/68/268) and the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women based on consideration of the combined sixth and seventh periodic report of the Russian Federation on the implementation of the Convention.
This report uses information provided by the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Education and Science; the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the Ministry of Economic Development; the Ministry of Agriculture; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Culture; the Ministry of Sport; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Federal State Statistics Service; the Russian Federation Federal Assembly State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children; and the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation.
The report contains specific information on the implementation of provisions of articles of the Convention (in keeping with the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women based on consideration of the sixth and seventh periodic report); data on legislative, administrative and other measures taken in the Russian Federation with an eye to implementing the provisions of the Convention; and information on progress made in the advancement of women and on the remaining obstacles to the elimination of discrimination against women. A list of legal and regulatory acts adopted in 2010-2014 for the advancement of women is provided, as are statistical data on gender issues.
Used in the drafting of the report were research, analytical overviews and State reports prepared for sessions of the Russian Federation Government. The draft report was discussed in the Coordinating Council on Gender Problems of the Russian Ministry of Labour, which included representatives of women’s public organizations, and is located on the official site of the Russian Ministry of Labour under the rubric of “Gender Policy”. The length of the report is 19,571 words.
Overview (article-by-article) of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in keeping with the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women based on consideration of the combined sixth and seventh periodic report of the Russian Federation
Part I
Article 2
Paragraphs 10 and 11 of the concluding observations
1.Under Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, generally accepted principles and norms of international law and international treaties to which the Russian Federation is a party are an integral part of the RF legal system. If an international treaty to which the Russian Federation is a party establishes rules that differ from those provided under the law, the rules of the international treaty shall prevail.
2.That principle is also enshrined in the 15 July 1995 Federal Law No. 101-FZ on International Treaties of the Russian Federation, according to which international treaties to which the Russian Federation is a party, as well as generally accepted principles and norms of international law, are, under the RF Constitution, an integral part of the Russian Federation legal system.
3.Under article 31 of this federal law, international treaties to which the Russian Federation is a party are to be performed in good faith in accordance with the conditions of the treaties themselves, the norms of international law, the RF Constitution, this federal law and other legislative acts of the Russian Federation.
4.Performance of an international treaty by the Russian Federation commences at the time the treaty enters into force for the Russian Federation.
5.The Convention is an integral part of the legal system of the Russian Federation and takes effect in its territory at the time of ratification.
(а)
6.The State guarantees equality of human and civil rights and liberties, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, language, origin, property or employment status, place of residence, religion, beliefs, affiliation with public associations or other circumstances. All forms of restriction of civil rights on the basis of social, racial, ethnic, language or religious affiliation are prohibited. The provision to the effect that “men and women have equal rights and liberties and equal opportunities for their realization” has been formalized (paras. 2 and 3 of Article 19 of the RF Constitution), and thus the observance of women’s rights is an autonomous subject of constitutional regulation, and that observance is effected in conjunction with the entire system of rights and liberties. The words to the effect that men and women also have equal opportunities for the realization of those rights and liberties are aimed at achieving women’s full exercise of the rights and liberties and true equality.
Paragraphs 12 and 13 of the concluding observations (on a gender equality law)
7.The draft law was passed by the State Duma on 16 April 2003 on first reading. The text of the draft law is found on the official site of the State Duma Committee for Family, Women and Children: http://asozd2.duma.gov.ru/work/ dz.nsf/ByID/F3D6BDD031BFF0D7432571BB0056AD60?OpenDocument
8.During the work of the fifth convocation of the State Duma, the draft law was reworked by the Expert Panel created by the Committee for Family, Women and Children, was brought before specialists and the general public for discussion numerous times and was discussed at round tables in the State Duma and the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation. The specialists and spokespersons for the public who took part in the discussion were unable to reach common ground on the main provisions of the draft law or on the question of moving the bill forward. The revised version of the draft law produced by the Expert Panel as consistent with paragraph 13 of the concluding recommendations was not supported by the RF Government, because it duplicated prevailing norms of the law, and no place was found for it in the system of Russian law.
9.In 2012 and 2013, the State Duma and the Government of the Russian Federation received increasingly numerous communications “against” the passage of the draft law from individuals and public organizations perceiving it as a threat to traditional family values. The public expressed strong objection to the draft law’s use of the term “gender”, which, in the public’s opinion, has no analogue in the Russian language. Work to achieve public consensus on the draft law will continue.
(b)
10.Russian Federation law contains a definition of discrimination, which also applies to discrimination on the grounds of sex. In 2011, the Russian Federation Code of Administrative Offences added a new article ― article 5.62. Discrimination: “Discrimination, that is, violation of human and civil rights, liberties, or legal interests on the basis of sex; race; colour of skin; ethnicity; language; origin; property, family, social or employment status; age; place of residence; religion; beliefs; or affiliation or non-affiliation with public associations or any social group”.
11.Sanctions against discrimination are imposed by the RF Criminal Code and the RF Code of Administrative Offences.
12.Criminal liability is set in the form of a fine in the amount of 100,000-300,00 rubles or an amount equivalent to wages or other income for 1-2 years or in the form of loss of the right to hold certain posts or to engage in certain activities for up to 5 years or in the form of up to 480 hours of compulsory community service or up to 2 years of job-centred work or up to 5 years of correctional centre work or incarceration for the same amount of time. Administrative liability is set in the form of a fine ― 1,000-3,000 rubles for an individual and 50,000-100,000 rubles for legal entities.
(с)
13. The constitutional principle of equality of men and women does not exclude legislative differentiation of statutory regulation of those categories of individuals, which is recognized in case law of the Russian Federation Supreme Court. For example, the Court ruled in 2001 that the establishment of different ages for retirement on an old-age pension and the establishment of the requisite length of service for the award of an old-age pension on common grounds and on a preferential basis are not at variance with the principle of equality of men and women, and it found in 2007 no violation of the principle of gender equality in the ban established in the RF Criminal Code on the imposition of life sentences for women.
14. The constitutional principle of gender equality, in terms of its normative content, excludes discrimination of women to the same extent that it excludes discrimination of men. That aspect of gender equality has also been reflected in case law of the RF Constitutional Court. Accordingly, the Court in 2005 declared article 28 (1) (1) of the Law on Labour Pensions to be discriminatory and inconsistent with the Constitution in the Law’s establishment for mothers of persons disabled since childhood conditions for the award of a labour pension for old age before the achievement of pension age, because the Law excluded the possibility of the early award of a labour pension for old age to fathers of persons disabled since childhood who raised such persons without mothers until they were 18 years old.
(d)
15.Provisions banning discrimination are contained in virtually all sector statutes (article 3 of the Russian Federation Labour Code, article 2 of the Federal Constitutional Law on the Russian Federation Referendum; article 4 of the Federal Law on the Civil Service of the Russian Federation; article 8 of the Federal Law on Political Parties; article 4 of the Federal Law on Service in Bodies of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and Amendment of Certain Legislative Enactments of the Russian Federation; article 3 of the Federal Law on Education in the Russian Federation; and, inter alia, article 4 of the Federal Law on the Foundations of Social Services for the Public in the Russian Federation).
(е)
16.In response to numerous requests from pregnant women regardingnon-payment of maternity benefits by the insurer (employer) and in accordance with the Convention, the Federal Law on Mandatory Social Insurance for Temporary Disability and Maternity was amended. The following were added to the list of grounds for the award and payment of maternity benefits and monthly child care benefits that are paid directly by territorial offices of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation: termination of activities by the insurer as of the day the insured requests benefits; inability of insurer to pay benefits in connection with insufficient funds on its account in a lending institution and use of the priority list specified by the RF Civil Code for debiting funds from an account; and absence of the possibility of ascertaining the location of the insurer or its property, against which recovery proceedings may be instituted if there is a court decision that has entered into force establishing non-payment of benefits to the insured by the insurer. Those changes have made it possible to dramatically reduce the number of complaints of pregnant women. Refinement of the mechanism for protecting women’s rights continues in 2014.
17.The Russian Federation State Duma, in third reading, passed a draft law that amends the Federal Law on Mandatory Social Insurance for Temporary Disability and Maternity. The amendments enshrine the right of insured persons (primarily pregnant women) to receive free legal assistance from the territorial office of the Social Insurance Fund that is needed to obtain insurance coverage. This pertains mainly to cases in which women with young children, through the fault of their employer, failed to receive temporary disability and maternity benefits due to them and the monthly child care benefit and were forced to go to court. The draft law introduces provisions that enshrine the right of insured persons to obtain free legal assistance in the preparation of applications, complaints, petitions and other documents of a legal nature, as well as, if necessary, representation of their interests in court. Free legal assistance will be provided especially for establishing with a court decision non-payment by the employer of temporary disability and maternity benefits and the monthly child care benefit when there is no possibility of ascertaining the location of the employer and its property against which recovery proceedings may be instituted.
18.In 2013, amendments were incorporated into the Russian Federation Law on Employment in the Russian Federation that specify administrative liability for dissemination of discriminatory information regarding vacancies. Specifically prohibited is dissemination of information on available jobs and vacant posts that contains data on any kind of direct or indirect restriction of rights or on the establishment of direct or indirect advantages stemming from sex; race; colour of skin; ethnicity; language; origin; property, family, social or employment status; age; place of residence; religion; beliefs; affiliation or non-affiliation with public associations or any social group, or other circumstances that have nothing to do with the business proficiency of employers. Administrative liability involves imposition of an administrative fine of 500-1,000 rubles on individuals, 3,000-5,000 rubles on officials and 10,000-15,000 rubles on legal entities.
Paragraphs 14 and 15 of the concluding observations (visibility of the Convention)
19.Information on the Convention is located on the official site of the Russian Ministry of Labour (http://www.rosmintrud.ru/ministry/programms/8), including on its Optional Protocol and the procedure for filing complaints with the UN Commission on the Status of Women (http://www.rosmintrud.ru/docs/others/44).
20.In 2011, the Russian Federation President approved the Basic Principles of the State Policy of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Legal Literacy and Awareness of the Public and adopted the Federal Law on Free Legal Assistance in the Russian Federation. The law establishes basic guarantees of the exercise of the individual’s right to free competent legal assistance in the Russian Federation, the legal bases for the formation of governmental andnon-governmental systems of free legal assistance and the legal bases of activities associated with informing and educating the public with regard to its rights, with a focus on the disadvantaged, the disabled, families with children, orphans and children with no parental support. The documents indicated are aimed at improving the legal culture and developing civil society (see paras. 40-42).
Paragraphs 16 and 17 of the concluding observations (legal complaint mechanisms)
21.The procedure for filing with the Ombudsman is governed by the Federal Constitutional Law of 1997 on the Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation. One may contact the Ombudsman through its official site: http://ombudsmanrf.org/component/content/article/70/1460-2011-06-20-11-58-01.
22.A considerable portion of the activities of the Ombudsman involves legal education in human rights and the forms and means for protecting them. Individuals are given explanations of the forms of protection they may use and which administrative, judicial and other offices they may apply to, and they are provided other legal advice. Assistance is given to individuals, including women, who wish to exercise their constitutional right to contact international human rights bodies (the European Court, the UN Human Rights Committee, etc.).
23.In 2013, upwards of 22,000 complaints of violations of human rights and liberties were filed with the Ombudsman. More than half (59.1 per cent) involved violation of personal (civil) rights and liberties. Of those, 72 per cent consisted of complaints involving violations of the right of access to courts and to a fair trial. The share accounted for by complaints devoted to the exercise of the right to dignity dropped by 3.6 per cent. One of every six complaints of violation of personal rights pertained to detention conditions in pre-trial detention facilities and correctional facilities. The Ombudsman received no complaints from women of discrimination against them.
24.The Ombudsman did work to protect the socio-economic rights of women (the right to remuneration for labour, and the right to a fair wage) employed in the budget sphere (nurse’s aide, nanny, cleaning lady and, inter alia, custodian) and to protect the right of pregnant women and individuals with family responsibilities to the full and timely payment of maternity benefits and the monthly child care benefit.
Article 3
25.The comprehensive advancement and development of women is guaranteed by the RF Constitution, under article 2 of which, the individual and his/her rights and liberties are of supreme value. Recognition, observance and protection of human and civil rights and liberties are the duty of the State. Section II of the Constitution (Articles 17-64) is fully devoted to human rights and liberties and enshrines a broad list of values to be safeguarded. Fundamental rights are inalienable, belong to every individual from birth and are directly applicable. Rights and liberties are recognized and guaranteed in accordance with generally recognized principles and norms of international law.
Paragraphs 18 and 19 of the concluding observations (national machinery)
26.The national machinery for gender equality includes the State Duma Committee for Family, Women and Children and federal executive agencies and executive agencies of Russian Federation entities that, within the framework of their competence, are responsible for a given range of social issues.
27.Active in a number of RF entities are gubernatorial commissions and councils for issues involving the status of the family, women and children or for demographic or family policy that address gender equality issues. In Saint Petersburg, for example, the Coordinating Council for the Implementation of Gender Equality Policy operates within the government of Saint Petersburg (http://gov.spb.ru/helper/social/gender/). Gender perspectives are taken into account in the formation of demographic and family policy and employment and security policy and in the activities of political parties and trade union organizations. The commission on women’s affairs has been active in the Chechen Republic since 2003, and its work includes elevating the role of women in the Chechen Republic and actively participating in the restoration of Chechnya and bringing life back to normal.
28.In 2011, the 22 March 2011 Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development order No. 227 created the Coordination Council for Gender Issues in whose work participates concerned federal executive agencies and women’s non-governmental organizations whose authority has been approved by the20 December 2012 Russian Federation Ministry of Labour order No. 611 in connection with the division of the Ministry of Health and Social Development into the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Health. Pertinent information can be found on the Russian Ministry of Labour site: http://www.rosmintrud.ru/ ministry/programms/8).
29.In the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, a division for demographic policy and gender equality issues has been formed within the Department of Demographic Policy and Social Protection.
30.With an eye to furthering the gender education of civil servants and research in that area, gender issue specialists are being trained in more than 150 science and academic organizations.
31.The International Centre for Gender Budgeting and Management for Countries of the CIS has been created in the Russian Presidential Academy of the National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). Pertinent information may be found at http://www.genderbudgets.ru.
32.To conduct gender research at the federal level, the Russian Ministry of Labour employs the mechanism of government procurement of the performance of applied research for the needs of the Ministry. Gender research has been conducted at the federal level at various times, for example ― “Socio-economic Indicators of Gender Equality” (2002); “The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Russian Federation Law” (2003); “Assessment of the Russian Federation’s Implementation of the Provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on the Basis of the Convention’s Assessment Methodology for Countries of Central Europe and Eurasia” (2013) ― and the results are being used by the Ministry in practical work and in the preparation of the Russian Federation’s periodic reports on the implementation of the Convention.
33.The country has assembled a statistics database that characterizes the status of women and men in all spheres of the life of the society, and the database is the basis of gender analysis that makes it possible to take into account the traits of women and men as specific sociodemographic groups in the development of an optimal sociodemographic policy and an employment policy and, inter alia, in the realization of the principle of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men.
34.Principal gender statistics (number of women and men; age structure; expected life span; morbidity rate; level of education; training of skilled personnel and specialists in education institutions of primary, secondary and higher professional education; employment of women and men in the economy by type of economic activity and in federal agencies and agencies of Russian Federation entities by level of authority and in local self-government agencies; level of wages of employees; and other data characterizing the status of women and men in Russia) are reflected in the compendium Women and Men in the Russian Federation, published by Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service) every two years. In addition, gender statistics are published in the Rosstat compendia Demographic Annual of Russia, Labour and Employment in Russia, E conomic Activity of the Populace, Social Status and Standard of Living in Russia, Family in Russia, Health Care in Russia and Education in Russia. Pertinent information can be found at the Rosstat website, in the section “Publications” (http://www.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_main/rosstat/ru/statistics/publications/catalog/doc_1138887978906).
35.In 2011, the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction was acceded to; in 2012, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified, and the Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children was acceded to; in 2013, the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography were ratified.
36.Regarding expansion of workers’ rights and their protection, a number of ILO conventions were ratified: No. 173, concerning the protection of workers’ claims in the event of the insolvency of their employer; No. 187, concerning the promotional framework for occupational safety and health; No. 132, concerning annual holidays with pay; and No. 135, concerning protection and facilities to be afforded to workers’ representatives in the undertaking.
37.Assuming the obligations to implement international treaties, the Russian Federation, in addition to that, is also observing the mechanism for monitoring and reporting provided for by international instruments. As a participant in many of the above-mentioned documents, the Russian Federation is endeavouring to fulfil in full international obligations it has assumed.
38.The Russian Federation’s stance on matters of gender equality is asserted in documents associated with the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action and, inter alia, the ILO conventions.
39.The Russian Federation is endeavouring to take into account, to the fullest possible extent, all the recommendations voiced by committees of the United Nations, ILO, OSCE and other international organizations on the basis of the results of consideration of reports on the fulfilment of international obligations, including in the area of gender equality.
40.For purposes of broader possibilities for the exercise of human rights in all spheres of life, Russian law is constantly being refined. In that context, since 2011, in order to ensure that public opinion is taken into account in the preparation of draft federal constitutional laws, all draft constitutional laws and federal laws that are under preparation and affect main areas of State policy in the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation have been put out for public discussion. A special site has been set up on which citizens who take part in the public discussion of a draft law can review the observations and suggestions made with regard to the draft law.
41.The year 2012 saw the establishment of the obligation of federal authorities to publish information on draft legal and regulatory enactments under preparation and the results of the discussion of them.
42.Accordingly, after broad public discussion, the federal law on the police, which is aimed at establishing effective procedural guarantees that police officers observe human rights and liberties and at strengthening public monitoring of police activities, was adopted, as was the federal law on the bases for protection of the health of citizens in the Russian Federation; the law on free legal assistance, which provides State guarantees of the exercise of the right of the individual to obtain free competent legal assistance throughout the Russian Federation; the law on education in the Russian Federation; the law on protection of the health of individuals against the effects of second-hand tobacco smoke and the consequences of the use of tobacco; and, inter alia, the law on the bases for social services for the public in the Russian Federation.
Paragraph 15 of the concluding observations
43.Within the framework of the implementation of transparency and openness of court activities, since 2010 access has been provided to information on the activities of the courts in the Russian Federation. Interested parties can obtain information on the operation of the Russian court system and its staff, including on cases pending in courts of general jurisdiction, arbitrazh courts and the Constitutional Court. Texts of judicial acts can be found on the Internet.
44.Since 2009, development has been under way at existing institutions of the national court system of juvenile technologies (special courts for dispensing justice to minors). At present, juvenile technologies in their work use courts of general jurisdiction of 52 Russian Federation entities. Judges who have professional competence not only in matters of law, but also in pedagogy, sociology, adolescent psychology, criminology and victimology are brought in to hear cases of minors.
45.Prevailing criminal and criminal procedure law of the Russian Federation provides effective guarantees of enhanced protection of the rights of minors: an individual who has not reached the age of 14 at the time of the commission of a crime cannot be arraigned on criminal charges; when punishment for a minor is being prescribed, conditions of the minor’s life and upbringing are taken into account, as are the level of mental development, personality features and the influence exerted by older individuals; the minor’s age is regarded as a mitigating factor; a minor who commits a misdemeanour or a crime of medium gravity can be discharged from criminal liability if it is deemed that rehabilitation can be achieved by application of compulsory educational measures; the lawful representatives of a minor accused of a crime can participate, along with defence counsel, in the investigation and hearing of the case against the minor, and the participation of the representatives is allowed from the time of the first questioning of the minor as a suspect or accused; when a minor under the age of 16 is questioned, the participation of a counsellor or a psychologist is mandatory.
46.The process of humanizing punishment under criminal law continues. The possibility of pre-trial restraint measures such as house arrest, bail and restrictions that do not involve isolation from society have been expanded considerably. A new form of punishment ― correctional-centre work performed by the convicted individual in specially created correctional centres ― was introduced in 2014.
47.Particular attention is devoted the use of measures of restraint that take the form of remand in custody for women who have minor children.
48.When petitions are filed with a court to select measures of restraint involving remand in custody of such suspects or accused, the court should possess information confirming that the children will be under the care of close relatives or other persons or will be housed in children’s institutions.
49.Widely used for pregnant women and women with children under the age of 14 is postponement of serving the sentence until the child reaches the age of 14, which is aimed at protecting the rights of the child and guaranteeing the child’s upbringing. When the child reaches the age of 14, the court releases the convicted person from serving the sentence or the remainder of the sentence and expunges the record, or it replaces the remainder of the sentence with a milder form of punishment.
50.Probation offices, in collaboration with territorial guardianship authorities, monitor compliance with the conditions of the deferment of the serving of the sentence in terms of the fulfilment by the convicted women of their responsibilities in the rearing of and care for the children. If the woman fails to fulfil those responsibilities, measures are taken to protect the rights of the children.
51.Law enforcement agencies have expanded cooperation with human rights organizations, the mass media and community leaders. Public oversight of the protection of human rights in detention facilities has been introduced. Active in 79 RF entities, public monitoring committees are endowed with the right to visit detention facilities (including women’s colonies) without the need for special permission and to talk with persons on remand regarding protection of their rights.
52.The Russian Federation Public Chamber and social councils of federal authorities are helping to expand constructive dialogue between the public and the authorities.
53.Functioning under the Russian Federation President is the Council on Civil Society and Human Rights, which includes representatives of the most authoritative non-governmental organizations. Of the 61 council members, 18 (30 per cent) are women.
54.Problems affecting human rights and liberties are addressed in the curricula of secondary schools and higher learning institutions. The course “Human Rights” is taught in 40 Russian higher learning institutions. Special human rights courses are taught in some of those higher institutions.
55.Courses on gender issues are taught in 150 higher learning institutions of the Russian Federation. In the course of instruction, special focus is placed on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action, the Millennium Declaration and other documents in the field of gender equality.
56.The judicial community has been informed of international instruments that have been incorporated into the Russian Federation legal system and is employing them in its work.
57.Analysis of case law shows that most of the cases involve violation of the rights of pregnant women and women who have children. The bulk of the disputes are elicited by articles of labour law pertaining to the procedure for the dismissal of pregnant women. Based on generalized facts of the violation of women’s rights, the RF Constitutional Court hands down a decision that is binding on the courts in their hearings of analogous cases.
58.Accordingly, with its 22 March 2007 Decision No. 4-P, the Constitutional Court declared the norm for the maximum maternity leave benefit that was in place up to 2007 to be discriminatory and inconsistent with the Constitution. Since 2007, based on that Decision, there has been no ceiling on the maximum maternity benefit. The Court’s 13 October 2009 Decision No. 1072-O-O clarified the application of the provisions of labour law regarding pregnant women (dismissal, and payment of benefits). For purposes of ensuring the uniformity of the application by the courts of the law governing the labour of women, persons with family obligations, and minors and for clarifying questions arising in the courts in connection with the hearing of labour disputes involving those people, the Plenum of the Russian Federation Supreme Court published the 28 January 2014 Resolution No. 1 on the Application of the Law Governing the Labour of Women, Persons with Family Obligations, and Minors with the pertinent clarifications.
59. To expand the opportunities of women in the social and labour spheres, measures are being taken in all RF entities with the aim of enabling women to handle both child rearing duties and employment and arranging for vocational training (re-training) of women on maternity leave until their child reaches the age of 3. Quarterly monitoring is under way, and a report is submitted to the Russian Federation President; in the sphere of education, programmes are conducted in which mothers 23 years of age or younger are receiving free training in courses at 50 higher learning institutions in 51 RF entities, with the intent to create opportunities for those women to receive higher education. A large-scale information campaign regarding the programmes has been set up.
60.In the context of implementation of the Framework for the Demographic Policy of the Russian Federation, efforts are under way to upgrade State benefits and to effect other measures of support for families, including in connection with the birth of second, third and subsequent children. Actions are being taken to provide land parcels to families with children and to assist in improving living conditions (see para. 212).
61.To provide access to facilities and services in the top priority spheres of life for disabled persons and other limited mobility groups, the State programme “Accessible Environment”, approved by the 15 April 2014 Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 297, is being implemented.
62.The socio-economic status of the elderly is monitored on an annual basis. The State programme “Social Support for the Public”, approved by the 15 April 2014 Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 296, is being implemented.
63.In 2012, the following gender-oriented decrees of the Russian Federation President were adopted.
64.The 7 May 2012 decree No. 599 on measures to implement State policy in the field of education and science, which aims to achieve 100 per cent preschool education accessibility by 2016 for children aged 3-7; an increase to 37 per cent by 2015 of the share accounted for by employed persons aged 25-65 who have undergone skill upgrades and/or professional training in the total number of persons of that age group employed in the field of economics; ensure by the end of 2013 implementation of measures to support teachers who work with children from disadvantaged families; by 2020, increase to 25 per cent from 3 per cent the share accounted for by secondary vocational education and higher vocational education institutions whose buildings are outfitted to accommodate students with physical disabilities.
65.The 7 May 2012 decree No. 598 on improving State policy in the sphere of health care. The decree sets the following goals to be achieved by 2018: reduce mortality rate to 649.4 per 100,000 population for circulatory system disease; to 192.8 per 100,000 for neoplasms (including malignant neoplasms); to 11.8 per 100,000 for tuberculosis; and to 10.6 per 100,000 for highway accidents; to reduce the infant mortality rate to 7.5 per 1,000 live births; to continue to implement efforts to produce a healthy lifestyle among Russian Federation citizens, including popularizing the culture of a healthy diet and physical fitness, preventing alcoholism and drug abuse and discouraging the use of tobacco;
The 7 May 2012 decree No. 597 on steps to implement State social policy sets the following goals: increase real wages 1.4 to 1.5-fold by 2018; bring wages of teachers of general education institutions, teachers of pre-school educational facilities, vocational training instructors and supervisors of primary and secondary vocational education institutions and employees of cultural institutions up to the average wage in the region; bring wages of physicians, instructors of higher vocational education institutions and research associates up to a level equivalent to 200 per cent the average wage in the region; in the period 2013-2015, create up to 14,200 special jobs for disabled persons; by 2018, raise the average wage of social workers, including medical social workers, junior medical personnel (personnel who play a support role in the provision of medical services) and mid-level medical (pharmaceutical) personnel (personnel who play a support role in the provision of medical services) to the equivalent of 100 per cent of the average wage in the region; bring the average wage of medical workers who have a higher medical (pharmaceutical) education or other higher education and who provide medical services (who effect the provision of medical services) to a level 200 per cent the average wage in the region. Women constitute the overwhelming majority of those employed in the spheres of education, health care and social protection;
The 7 May 2012 decree No. 606 on measures to implement demographic policy of the Russian Federation under which, since 2013, there has been co-funding of monthly monetary payment to families in need of support in connection with the birth of a third or subsequent child in RF entities that are experiencing unfavourable demographic conditions and whose aggregate birth rate is below the average for the Russian Federation;
The 7 May 2012 decree No. 600 on measures to provide Russian Federation citizens with accessible and comfortable housing and improve the quality of housing-and-utilities services which calls for reducing, by 2018, the interest rate on residential mortgage loans (in rubles) to a level of no more than 2.2 per cent, increasing the number of residential mortgage loans issued to 815,000 a year, developing the economy class housing market and, inter alia, providing free land parcels on which to build a home to families with three or more children.
Overcoming poverty
66.Women who have children encounter poverty more often than do women without children. In general, women in the age range 31-54 account for 21 per cent of the total indigent population, whereas men in the age range 31-59 account for 18.9 per cent. Young families are in a special risk group, because the birth of a child lowers their standard of living considerably.
67.To help families with children overcome poverty, work is continuing to develop a system for State support of citizens, to enhance the targeting of social assistance provided by entities of the Russian Federation and municipal structures.
68.The introduction of a system of social contracts in connection with the provision of State assistance in accordance with the 25 December 2012 Federal Law No. 258-FZ on Amendment of the Federal Law on State Social Assistance is helping to enhance the accessibility of operating resources and the earning of income, including for women.
69.The social contract is meant to encourage vigorous action on the part of women and men in overcoming hardship in Russian Federation entities.
70.The essence of this process consists in the fact that, if a social contract is entered into and an individual social adaptation programme is adopted, regional agencies offer greater material support to indigent families and indigent citizens who live alone who want to overcome poverty.
71.Recipients of social contract-based assistance move to a higher standard of living as a result of steady independent sources of monetary or in-kind income: their social responsibility is enhanced, the family’s labour potential is more fully realized, and the welfare mentality is less a driver of their behaviour. At the end of the term of the social contract, family income has increased 1.5 to 2-fold.
72.The individuals assume the obligations to carry out the measures of the social adaptation programme specified by the contract, to include finding work, undergoing occupational training, developing a private subsidiary farm or working for themselves to produce goods and services.
73.Government authorities of Russian Federation entities and local self-governing bodies are providing assistance to individuals who have entered into a social contract, in the form of State services involving employment, social welfare and other measures of State support.
74.The best outcome associated with the new process is produced by the integrated approach to the social adaptation programmes for indigent families with children. In their development, particular attention is devoted to efforts to find jobs for unemployed, able-bodied family members, primarily women. The use of the social contract process helps increase the income of women and their families and move them out of poverty.
75.Russian Federation entities offer assistance to indigent individuals and families suffering hardship. They consist of both material assistance (money) and in-kind assistance (foodstuffs and goods), including assistance in obtaining fuel and water, as well as other types of assistance put in place by RF entities autonomously and in different form, depending on the category of population ― disabled persons, retirees living alone, large families and, inter alia, orphans or other such persons.
76.The measures taken prevented increase in the indigent population with incomes below the subsistence minimum and the number of unemployed during crisis and post-crisis periods. Real personal disposable incomes rose.
77.If in the year 2000 the population with income below the per capita subsistence minimum consisted of 42.3 million people (29 per cent), in 2012 it consisted of 17.7 million (12.5 per cent). The growth rate for real personal disposable income was 103.5 per cent for the first 10 months of 2012 (100.8 per cent in 2011, 105.1 per cent in 2010 and 103.1 per cent in 2010). A decline is noted in the percentage of the indigent population accounted for by women aged 31-54: it was 30.2 per cent in 2002, and 27.7 per cent in 2012.
Other measures of support for families and children
78.On 1 January 2013, the monthly benefit was set at 5,500 rubles fornon-working able-bodied persons caring for a disabled child under the age of 18 or a group I person disabled since childhood (parent [adoptive parent]) or guardian [or caregiver]) and 1,200 rubles for other persons.
Tax deductions
79.Under the Russian Federation Tax Code, beginning 1 January 2012 the standard tax deduction per child per month of the tax period for the parent, spouse of the parent, adoptive parent, guardian, caregiver, foster parent or spouse of the foster parent supporting the child or children was increased as follows: 1,400 rubles for the first child; 1,400 rubles for the second child; 3,000 rubles for the third and each subsequent child.
80.A tax deduction of 3,000 rubles is also provided for each child if the child is under 18 and is disabled or if the child is a full-time student, a PhD student, a resident physician, an intern, or a student under the age of 24 if the student is a group I or II disabled person.
81.A tax deduction is provided for each child under the age of 18, as well as for each full-time student, PhD student, resident physician, intern, undergraduate or cadet under age 24.
82.The tax deduction is doubled for a single parent (foster parent), adoptive parent, guardian or caregiver.
83.The tax deduction may be doubled for one of the parents (foster parents) if they so choose, on the basis of an application from one of the parents (foster parents) to surrender his/her receipt of the tax deduction.
Support of entrepreneurship among women, including rural women
84.Under the subprogramme “Development of Small and Medium-Sized Business” of the Russian Federation State programme “Economic Development and the Innovation Economy”, approved by the 15 April 2014 Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 316, a complex of different measures has been provided to support small and medium-sized businesses, including peasant (farm) enterprises, which women’s and family entrepreneurial entities can take advantage of, including measures such as the following:
Provision of grants to beginning entrepreneurs;
Support of social entrepreneurship;
Subsidization of entrepreneurs’ costs associated with leasing of equipment;
Subsidization of the costs of small businesses that are modernizing production (reimbursement of some of the costs for equipment and for payment of loan interest);
Provision of guarantees on obligations of small and medium-sized business entities;
Provision of microloans;
Access to services provided by organizations of the infrastructure for the support of small and medium-sized business entities (business incubators, technology parks, industrial parks, cluster development centres and, inter alia, engineering centres);
Arrangement of special educational programmes for small and medium-sized business entities.
85.Women with children under the age of 3 are a priority for the programme in terms of a number of the above measures.
86.Accordingly, women’s entrepreneurial entities can, on a priority basis, obtain grant support of up to 300,000 rubles for reimbursement of expenses associated with State registration of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur and commencement of entrepreneurial activities.
87.Within the framework of the implementation of measures to develop social entrepreneurship, women’s entrepreneurial entities who have children under the age of 3 can obtain support of up to 600,000 rubles for implementation of projects, including socially important projects such as provision of such services as social welfare, health care, physical fitness and popular athletic activities.
88.In addition, within the framework of activities of the centres for social innovations, women entrepreneurial entities are provided with consulting and educational services, including assistance and support of social projects and the conduct of seminars, master classes and workshops and lectures on social themes.
89.Plans call for expansion of support for women’s and family entrepreneurial entities through competitive screening of the RF entities, to whose budgets small and medium-sized business subsidies are being given in 2014.
Article 4
90. See paragraphs 7-9 (on the draft law on equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women in the Russian Federation). Labour law stipulates special measures that arise out of the Government’s special concern for persons in need of enhanced social and legal protection. It specifically states that differences, exclusions, preferences and limitations of the rights of workers as a result of federal law requirements that are appropriate to that type of labour are not discriminatory.
Article 5
(а)
Paragraphs 20 and 21 of the concluding observations (stereotypes and cultural practices)
91.The activities of Chechen Republic authorities, who devote a great deal of attention to the status of women in Chechen society and in work with the family, could serve as an example of the eradication of obsolete customs. Such activities involve, primarily, reduction in the number of divorces in young families and overcoming outmoded traditions such as bride abduction (kidnapping). Religious leaders and public organizations have been recruited for that work. Bride abduction contravenes Islam, Russian law and Chechen traditions. The goal has been set to eradicate such practices. The Spiritual Governance for Muslims of the Chechen Republic conducts religious awareness-building work to prevent cases of bride abduction. The Republic’s institutions of higher learning are sites of meetings between religious leaders and students, and extensive public awareness work is done in those meetings to explain that coercion and violence for entry into marriage have nothing to do with the religion of Islam. The Ministry of Foreign Relations, National Policy, Press and Information has opened a direct SMS message line for Republic residents on the problem of the abduction of girls.
92.Work is also under way in the Republic to eliminate phenomena such as the “blood feud”. More than 700 imams and qadis [judges] from cities, rayons and other population centres took part in the work, which identified 177 families engaged in blood feuds. Thanks to efforts of a special commission, reconciliation was achieved with 165 families. In some families, the feud had been going on for several decades.
93.A draft Framework for the State Family Policy for the Period to 2025 has been developed, and underlying it are principles asserting the equality of families and all their members in terms of the right to support, regardless of sex, social status, ethnicity, place of residence or religious beliefs; the responsibility of each family for upbringing and individual development of children and for maintenance of their health; equality of 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; partnership between the family and the State and collaboration with public associations, charitable organizations and, inter alia, business persons.
94.The draft Framework is geared to developing the economic self-sufficiency of the family; creating the conditions for the harmonious sharing of family duties, vocational training and economic activity of the parents; creating conditions for ensuring the health of family members; creating a mechanism for facilitating improvement of housing conditions for families in need of better housing; developing a system of State support of families, including in terms of the birth and upbringing of children; strengthening social institution of the family and enhancing the worth of family lifestyle, responsible parenthood, motherhood and fatherhood; and preventing trouble in the family, cruelty in the family and, inter alia, neglected and homeless children.
95.Implementation of the Framework involves awareness-building and outreach efforts geared to generating responsible fatherhood, motherhood and parenthood and the introduction of family education programmes for men to involve them in family activities and in the upbringing of children; and for resolving conflicts and dealing with hardships, programmes for support of the activities of parents councils and family clubs both by the State and by business.
96.As indicated in the preceding report, the Order of Parental Glory has been instituted for parents (adoptive parents) who have commendably raised or are raising seven or more children, and the Medal of the Order of Parental Glory, for parents (adoptive parents) who have commendably raised or are raising four or more children. The lump sum monetary award that comes with the Order of Parental Glory has been raised to 100,000 rubles (it was 50,000 rubles until 2013).
Paragraph 22 of the concluding observations (violence against women)
97.The number of crimes involving violence against women is trending downward. There were 191,200 such crimes in 2010 and 165,800 in 2013. With each report of the violation of the rights and legal interests of a woman, law enforcement authorities conduct appropriate investigations. To prevent such crimes, the police work to identify persons who commit such violations in the context of family and domestic relations, chronic alcoholics and disturbed persons who are a direct danger to those around them. Timely preventive measures are taken with that category of individuals. Doing preventive work with individuals who commit such violations in the context of family and domestic relations and who present a danger to those around them is an important area of activity of internal affairs authorities. Such individuals are registered, and preventive work is done with them. Practical measures aimed at preventing crime and administrative offences were considered at a division of the Russian Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs in May 2012. It was noted that the measures being taken enable police officers to monitor the status of crime-prone situations and the day-to-day environment in a housing sector. RF Ministry of Internal Affairs authorities on an ongoing basis conduct research on the causes of violence in the family and domestic sphere and how to prevent it, as well as to, inter alia, an assessment of the social consequences of violent crime. Such information is sent to territorial subdivisions of internal affairs authorities to make their work more effective.
98.To provide assistance to victims of violence, the National Crisis Centre Network has been formed, which includes governmental and non-governmental crisis centres created by women’s organizations; the All-Russia Crisis Hotline has been opened for individuals who have been targets of domestic violence; training seminars and elective classes have been conducted for students of Moscow police colleges and the All-Russia Institute for Skill Upgrades for Members of the Russian Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs for district police chiefs; and recommendations have been prepared for law-enforcement officers on preventing domestic violence, for distribution among district police.
99.Under the jurisdiction of social protection authorities are multispecialty centres for social assistance for the family and children. They provide to all victims of violence who are in need a varied complex of social services, including psychological, legal, social welfare and sociomedical assistance.
100.According to data for 2013, assistance was provided to women by 389 centres for social assistance for the family and children, 15 centres for psychological and educational assistance for the public, 905 integrated centres for social services for the public, 21 women’s crisis centres and 3 crisis centres for men.
101.There are 176 in-patient facilities with 4,153 beds at centres for social assistance for the family and children, 126 in-patient facilities with 2,379 beds at integrated centres for social services for the public, and 18 in-patient facilities with 427 beds at women’s crisis centres.
102.There are 2,310 hotlines in operation in RF entities, including 119 in centres for social assistance for the family and children, 13 in centres for psychological and educational assistance for the public, 149 in the integrated centres for social services for the public and 14 in women’s crisis centres.
103.Since 2010, with the assistance of the Foundation for the Support of Children Suffering Hardship, a consolidated all-Russia children’s hotline has been in operation to assist abused children.
104.Russian Federation entities have created services for monitoring socially at-risk families; the institution of family case managers; social district services called upon to identify, register and monitor families in which proper conditions for raising and supporting children are not in place; mobile emergency response teams; and services that provide emergency psychological and social assistance to the family and children through telephone or Internet consultation with specialists. The work of such services is geared to assisting the family and children in situations involving domestic violence and performing social rehabilitation, monitoring and welfare.
Paragraph 23 of the concluding observations (law on violence against women)
105.Within the framework of implementation of the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, a working group has been formed to prepare a draft federal law on the prevention of domestic violence. The draft law was reviewed by federal executive authorities, who provided comments and suggestions and was discussed at conferences in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, at hearings in the State Duma and at a session of the Human Rights Council under the Russian Federation President. The text of the draft law is being refined to take into account the comments made.
106.The reference in article 23 to article 134 of the RF Criminal Code as an illustration of how Russian criminal law is lenient on criminals who have perpetrated violence against young girls is incorrect, since the description of article 134 does not include an act of coercion.
107.The Russian Federation Government introduced into the State Duma of the Federal Assembly draft federal law No. 14704-6 on amendments to the RF Code of Criminal Procedure and the RF Correctional Code, which is geared to informing victims of a sexual crimes and their families of whether the individual being prosecuted is being freed temporarily or permanently.
Paragraphs 24 and 25 of the concluding observations (violence against women in the Northern Caucasus)
108.The destabilizing factor in the Northern Caucasus Federal Okrug remains criminal activities of members of religious extremist groups. At the same time, the number of crimes against the person in the Northern Caucasus Federal Okrug dropped in 2013 to 11.9 per cent lower than that for 2012, with murder and attempted murder dropping by 2.6 per cent, premeditated infliction of grievous bodily harm by 5 per cent and rape by 15.1 per cent.
109.In the Chechen Republic, the number of crimes against the person in 2013 dropped by 2.9 per cent compared with the figure for 2012, with the number of murders and attempted murders dropping 18.2 per cent and the number for premeditated infliction of grievous bodily harm 38.5 per cent. The promptness with which Chechen Republic internal affairs authorities responded to reports of the commission of crimes against women, including minors, rose. Accordingly, after receiving on 9 February 2013 a report of the finding of the corpse of a minor, L.R. Vidrayeva, born in 2003, police officers conducted an investigation that established by 10 February 2013 that Sh.A. Dogzhiyev, born in 1966, living in the same rayon, had committed the crimes in question. He was subsequently sentenced by the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic to life imprisonment.
110. With support of the Coordination Council for Gender Issues of the Russian Ministry of Labour, in June 2012, Women of the Don Union and the interregional public organization General Lebed Peace Mission held a seminar/meeting on the problem of domestic violence in the Northern Caucasus Federal Okrug. Representatives of executive bodies of RF entities that are part of the Northern Caucasus Federal Okrug, human rights ombudsman offices, and public organizations of the Northern Caucasus Federal Okrug took part in the work of the seminar/meeting.
Honour killings
111.Under Russian criminal law, murder, rape and premeditated infliction of grievous bodily harm are crimes against the person and, in keeping with the requirements of article 4 of the RF Criminal Code, individuals who commit such acts are equal before the law and held liable regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, language, origin, property and employment status, place of residence, religion, beliefs, affiliation with public associations, or other circumstances. The maximum punishment for commission of those acts is life imprisonment or death (at present, under a moratorium). In that connection, no introduction into the RF Criminal Code of additional articles stipulating toughening penalties for murder or violence against women or girls committed in defence of honour or for entry into marriage is planned.
Article 6
Paragraphs 26 and 27 of the concluding observations
112.The following are in effect to counter human trafficking: the 17 September 2010 Cooperation Agreement between the Ministries of Internal Affairs (Police) of Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States on Combating Human Trafficking; the Interstate Programme of Joint Efforts in Fighting Crime for 2014-2018 and the Cooperation Programme of Member States of the CIS in Combating Human Trafficking for 2014-2018 (signed in October 2013 in Minsk during a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States). Countering human trafficking is one of the areas of cooperation in the intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements on cooperation in fighting crime concluded with more than 70 countries.
113.Analysis of results of operational activities of law-enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation associated with countering human trafficking shows that the number of recorded crimes under article 127.1 of the RF Criminal Code (human trafficking) over a number of years remains relatively stable. Against the backdrop of the total number of crimes recorded in the Russian Federation, the share accounted for by crimes committed under article 127.1 of the Criminal Code is less than one-ninth of a per cent.
114.According to Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs data, 103 crimes covered by article 127.1 of the Criminal Code were recorded in 2010 (73 were solved); 50 were recorded in 2011 (39 solved); 70 were recorded in 2012 (70 solved); and 66 were recorded in 2013 (58 solved). The most popular countries to which Russian Federation citizens are taken by transnational organized crime groups engaged in human trafficking for recruiting their victims into prostitution and other sexual exploitation remain Greece, Spain, Malta, Turkey and China.
115.In Moscow in March 2013, a criminal case based on offences covered by paragraph (g) of article 127 (2), article 240 (2) and article 241 (1) of the RF Criminal Code was initiated, and three members of a group were arrested, including its leader, Tran Thi Lan, born 24 March 1970. Thanks to the help of the Moscow division of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Russian Orthodox Church, victims were provided with housing, food and medical assistance over the span of the investigation (which took more than four months), their documents were recovered and they were sent back to their homeland. In January 2014, the criminal case went to court. As a result of the efforts to suppress the activities of the international crime group specializing in human trafficking, five women ― Vietnamese nationals ― were freed.
Assistance to crime victims
116.The root causes of crime associated with human trafficking aresocio-economic. Victims are residents of depressed regions, where unemployment is high. The risk group includes women 18-30 years of age who have a partial secondary education or a full secondary education (sometimes a partial higher education), are from socially troubled families or were raised in children’s homes or boarding schools or are individuals who have fallen on hard times.
117.When such crimes are detected, police are faced with a mix of social issues that involve providing freed victims with a place to stay, food and medical assistance, including psychological assistance, and returning them home. Those problems have to be solved on a case-by-case basis, to include drawing upon the capabilities of IOM and the Russian Orthodox Church.
118.On 30 April 2013, a shelter opened in Saint Petersburg to provide temporary housing for and social rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking; it was set up by the Saint Petersburg Centre for International Cooperation of the Russian Red Cross, with the support of IOM. In the shelter, human trafficking victims, regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation, received psychological, legal and medical assistance and, if necessary, assistance in drawing up documents and returning home.
International cooperation
119.In November 2011, with the support of the United States Embassy and the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development, the first Russian-American Trafficking in Persons Forum was held; a comprehensive survey of the state of affairs in that area was made, and experience associated with work to counter human trafficking was exchanged. John Beyrle, United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation, took part in the forum, as did Luis CdeBaca, Ambassador-at-large in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons of the United States Department of State; Enrico Ponziani, chief of the International Organization for Migration’s mission in Russia; representatives of federal executive agencies of the Russian Federation; and experts from non-governmental organizations of the United States and Russia.
120.With support of IOM, specialists of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Labour, the Procurator-General’s Office, and the Investigative Committee studied the experience garnered by the United States, Great Britain, Italy, China and, inter alia, Azerbaijan in countering human trafficking.
121.In 2013, a meeting on human trafficking took place between the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Labour and the Ambassador-at-large in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons of the United States Department of State, Luis CdeBaca.
Protection of migrant workers
122.The year 2013 saw the implementation of a joint project of the secretariat of the Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings of the Council of the Baltic Sea States: “Countering Human Trafficking for Labour Exploitation through Partnership, Improvement of Prevention and Enhancement of the Organizational Component”.
123.Adopted for purposes of reducing the number of illegal migrants were the Rules for the Determination by Government Authorities of Russian Federation Entities of Needs in Terms of Engaging Foreign Workers, which were approved by a 2014 Russian Ministry of Labour order. The Rules optimize the procedure for determining demand for foreign workers, as well as the adjustment of the demand of RF entities for foreign workers, which facilitates a more timely engagement of foreign workers by employers, thereby reducing their interest in the illegal engagement of foreign workers.
124.A draft federal law on amending certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation on the issue of extending to foreign citizens compulsory social insurance for temporary disability and maternity leave has been prepared. The draft aims to provide a minimum level of social protection to foreign citizens temporarily residing in the Russian Federation in the event of their temporary disability by providing them social guarantees in the form of temporary disability benefits. Adoption of the law will make it possible to include foreign citizens who are temporarily residing in the Russian Federation and who have entered into a labour contract for an indefinite period of time or for a fixed term of at least six months within a calendar year among those covered under compulsory social insurance for temporary disability and to give them the right to receive temporary disability benefits.
125.Since foreign citizens are afforded temporary disability benefits only, the draft law stipulates a reduced rate of 1.8 per cent for the premiums to the Russian Federation Social Insurance Fund that are withheld from the pay received by the foreign citizens temporarily residing in the Russian Federation. 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 its is now, after they acquire the status of temporarily or permanently residing in the Russian Federation.
126. The problem of human trafficking has been examined twice in the Governmental Commission for the Prevention of Infringement of the Law in 2014. The following was ordered by decisions of the Commission: to work out a mechanism for improving the registration of minors who are victims of sexual abuse, with account taken of sex and age and a breakdown by article of the Criminal Code; introduce amendments to legislation that give the right to receive State social assistance to victims of crimes against sexual inviolability, including sanatorium and spa treatment; ensure effective interaction with non-governmental organizations that work in the area of providing social services; implement a project to provide medical and psychological assistance to witnesses and victims of crimes; develop training programmes for specialists (clinical psychiatrists, psychotherapists, medical psychologists and social workers) with regard to the provision of medical and psychological assistance in rehabilitation (crisis) centres, and consider the possibility of opening in Moscow a shelter for human trafficking victims.
Paragraphs 28 and 29 of the concluding observations (exploitation of prostitution)
127.To protect women, children and adolescents against criminal infringement, a complex of measures aimed at making preventive work more effective is under implementation and special investigations are under way to prevent, identify and document unlawful acts against minors and women.
128.On a regular basis, coordinated preventive efforts and special operations against human trafficking and operations to prevent, identify and stop crimes involving the sexual exploitation of women and children and the production and dissemination of pornographic products are being conducted. The latter operations involve preventive raids; monitoring the media and the Internet to detect dissemination of printed material, photographs and videos that are pornographic; tracking individuals previously convicted of sex-related crimes or the distribution of pornographic material; and inspection of facilities that are potential locations for provision of sexual services, exploitation of women and children, or production of pornographic products.
129.In 2013, under article 240 of the RF Criminal Code (recruitment into prostitution), 272 crimes were committed (44.1 per cent fewer than in 2012), and 246 women were identified as victims (39.4 per cent fewer than in 2012).
130.In their work, police are guided by the principle of impartiality, which is enshrined in article 7 of the 7 February 2011 Federal Law No. 3-FZ on the Police, according to which police shall protect human and civil rights and liberties and lawful interests of individuals, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, language, origin, property or employment status, place of residence, religion, beliefs or, inter alia, affiliation with public organizations.
131.Russian Federation entities have experience developing programmes to provide assistance to women engaged in the provision of sexual services. For example, in Kaluga Oblast, at the State health-care facility Kaluga Oblast Centre for the Prevention and Control of AIDS and Infectious Diseases, efforts are under way to prevent HIV infection among the most vulnerable segments of the population (youth aged 15-29, intravenous drug users, individuals who provide sexual services for pay, patients with sexually transmitted diseases and women of child-bearing age). In Saint Petersburg, at the city’s Centre for the Prevention and Control of AIDS, advisory and treatment and diagnostic assistance is provided to HIV-infected individuals and AIDS patients, primarily in the most vulnerable groups (youth aged 15-29, intravenous drug users, individuals who provide sexual services for pay and patients with sexually transmitted infections), and preventive and epidemiological work is being done to combat HIV infection. Operating in Irkutsk Oblast is the centre for the rehabilitation of drug-dependent individuals called the Junction of Seven Roads, where work is done with intravenous drug users and individuals who provide sexual services; training sessions are conducted, as well as outreach programmes. Similar experience exists in other RF entities.
132.To protect the rights of minors against crimes of a sexual nature, federal laws have been adopted geared to protecting children against information that is harmful to their health and development, as well as federal laws that toughen penalties for sexual crimes committed against minors and federal laws regarding administrative oversight of individuals released from incarceration facilities; amendments have been made to laws to prevent trafficking in children, their exploitation, child prostitution and activities associated with the manufacture and circulation of material or objects with pornographic images of minors. A unified automated information system has been created that contains domain names, page selectors of Internet sites and network addresses that make it possible to identify Internet sites containing information whose dissemination is prohibited in the Russian Federation. Fifty territorial offices of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs have created specialized subdivisions for combating crimes against sexual inviolability. The measures being taken have also made it possible to reduce the number of rapes in 2013 by 5.3 per cent in comparison with figures for 2012. The share accounted for by investigated crimes of that category increased by 2 per cent in comparison with 2012 and was 93.4 per cent of the total number of recorded crimes.
Part II
Article 7
133.Women in Russia are active participants in public and political life. They possess the full range of rights in the political sphere, can run for office and be elected, participate in referendums and take part in activities of political parties, associations and social movements. Such is guaranteed them by the RF Constitution and federal laws on basic guarantees of electoral rights and the right to participate in referendums to citizens of the Russian Federation, on political parties, public associations and non-commercial organizations.
134.Russia’s women constitute a large part of the electorate; in all political parties, they make up as much as half the electorate in regional chapters; and they work in public organizations, including charitable and non-commercial organizations.
135.The State administration is highly feminized. Women constitute more than 70 per cent of civil servants. The creation in the country of conditions necessary for unlocking the intellectual, creative and social potential of women and realizing that potential has made it possible to draw a considerable number of bright, highly professional women into politics and into leadership posts in bodies of authority.
136.At present, women occupy the posts of Chairperson of the Federal Assembly; Deputy Chairperson of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly; Deputy Chairperson of the Government; Minister of Health; high executive posts in the Murmansk and Vladimir oblasts and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug; Chairperson of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation; and head of the Russian Federation Central Bank.
137.Many women in RF entities occupy the posts of first deputy governor, deputy governor, head of administration, regional minister, chief of directorate and chief of oblast department.
138.Of members of the Russian Federation Federal Assembly, 14 per cent are women, and there are 14 women (8 per cent) among the 169 members of the Federation Council. The State Duma has 62 women (13.8 per cent of the total number of deputies).
139.The number of women in regional parliaments is gradually increasing. Women make up 22-45 per cent of deputies in 10 regions and 3-10 per cent in 19 regions; in the rest of the regions, the figure fluctuates between 10 per cent and 21 per cent.
Paragraphs 30 and 31 of the concluding observations
140.Underrepresentation of women remains an urgent problem, despite the growth of the number of women in representative bodies. Attempts to legislatively introduce special provisional measures within the draft law on equal rights to boost women’s representation have found no understanding in the society or among deputies. The trend of increasing representation of women at the decision-making level is being effected by placing women in roles supporting management personnel, increasing the level of women’s management training and expanding their participation in the activities of political parties and in business.
141.At present, more than 210,000 non-commercial organizations are registered in the Russian Federation; nearly 50 per cent are public associations, and more than 10 per cent, religious organizations. The number of newly created public associations continues to grow. Women’s organizations constitute one third of non-commercial organizations and they make up as much as one half the members of active public and non-commercial organizations. The women’s movement is growing, as are other non-commercial public organizations, through the formation of horizontal ties and interaction with State structures. Women’s organizations are doing a great deal of social and charitable work to support children, women, the family, the elderly and the disabled; they are doing outreach and conducting conferences, competitions and campaigns against violence in the family, human trafficking and sexual abuse and, inter alia, in support of the family and children. A good portion of the efforts of the women’s movement is directed to gender-based education and parenting and legal awareness. Information on activities of women’s organizations can be found on the Internet, on official sites of the organizations, as well as in print and electronic media. Annually, pursuant to directives of the Russian Federation Government, financial support is provided to non-commercial non-governmental organizations participating in the development of civil society institutions, via awarding grants for implementation of socially significant projects. From 2009-2012, more than 4 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget for those purposes.
142.The Public Chamber has been in operation in the Russian Federation since 2005 to advance and support civil initiatives of nationwide significance and geared to enforcement of constitutional rights, liberties and lawful interests of citizens; to perform public expert reviews (or simply expert reviews) of draft federal laws; and to generate recommendations for State authorities of the Russian Federation. Regional public chambers operate in RF entities. Women account for 16 per cent of the staff of the Russian Federation Public Chamber. Women head two of the 15 Russian Federation Public Chamber commissions: the Commission for Social Policy, Labour Relations and Quality of Life and the Commission for Local Self-Government and Housing-and-Utilities Policy.
Paragraphs 32 and 33 of the concluding observations (female journalists and human rights defenders)
143.Crimes against female journalists are under particular scrutiny by Russian law enforcement authorities.
144.As a result of the successful investigation of a criminal case involving the January 2009 murder of the attorney S. Yu. Markelov and the Novaya Gazeta stringer A. E. Baburova, the Moscow Municipal Court on 6 May 2011 foundN. A. Tikhonov and Ye. D. Khasis guilty of that crime. They were sentenced to different terms of imprisonment. The court established that Markelov was murdered because of his work defending the rights of citizens who adhere to anti-Fascist ideology. A. E. Baburova, who was accompanying Markelov at the time of his murder, was killed because she was a witness to the crime.
145.In an investigation of the October 2006 murder of Novaya Gazeta staff writer A. S. Politkovskaya, investigative authorities filed charges against six individuals, one of whom fully admitted his guilt and is actively cooperating with the investigation to establish the facts in the case.
146.On 9 June 2012, the Moscow Municipal Court found the five defendants in the case guilty and sentenced two of them ― Lom-Ali Gaytukayev and the actual perpetrator of the murder, Rustam Makhmudov ― to life imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. The other accessories to the murder were former staff member of the Moscow Main Directorate of Internal Affairs: Sergey Khadzhikurvanov, who was sentenced to 20 years in a penal colony; Dzhebrail Makhmudov, who received 14 years in a colony; and Ibragim Makhmudov, who was sentenced to 12 years in a colony. Lom-Ali Gaytukayev, who orchestrated the murder of the journalist and was sentenced to life imprisonment, appealed the sentence.
147.Law-enforcement authorities are investigating a criminal case involving the abduction and murder in July 2009 of human rights defender N. Kh. Estemirova. Authorities have questioned more than 1,300 persons as witnesses, conducted more than 100 forensic examinations and examined more than 4,000 filings of individuals and organizations. An international arrest warrant has been issued for the alleged murderer.
Article 8
148.In the Russian Federation, the practice of recruiting women to work in international organizations, including at the intergovernmental level is prevalent. The percentage of women working in international organizations has doubled over the last 10 years. The number of female diplomats is growing. Women of diplomatic rank constitute 13.7 per cent of the total number of diplomatic officials of the Central Office of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In Ministry of Foreign Affairs missions abroad, women of diplomatic rank, including ambassador and minister-counsellor, constitute approximately 9 per cent of the total number of diplomats.
Article 9
149.Questions of Russian Federation citizenship are governed by the RF Constitution, international treaties to which the Russian Federation is a party and the 31 May 2002 Federal Law No. 62-FZ on Russian Federation Citizenship, as well as other Russian Federation legal and regulatory acts adopted in accordance with them (as addressed in detail in the preceding report).
150.In 2012-2014, amendments were made to the Law on Russian Federation Citizenship aimed at conferring Russian Federation citizenship, in a simplified manner, on individuals with a professional education who were native speakers of Russian (from countries of the CIS and countries of the far abroad) or were participants in a State programme to assist in the voluntary resettlement in the Russian Federation of compatriots living abroad, as well as on their family members, children under guardianship and incompetent persons.
Part III
Article 10
151.The year 2012 saw the adoption of the 29 December 2012 Federal Law No. 273-FZ on Education in the Russian Federation, a core legislative act that governs relations in the sphere of education in an integrated fashion, taking into account the current requirements of educational practices, the overall developmental trends of the country and world developmental trends in education. The law enshrines the notion that the right to education is guaranteed regardless of sex; race; ethnicity; language; origin; property, social, or employment status; place of residence; religion; beliefs; or, inter alia, affiliation with public associations. The content of education must facilitate mutual understanding and cooperation between people and nations, regardless of racial, national, ethnic, religious or social affiliation.
152.The Special Federal Programme for the Development of Education for 2011-2015 is under implementation. The purpose of the Programme is to provide access to high quality education that meets the requirements of innovative, socially oriented development of the Russian Federation.
153.Equality of the sexes has been brought about in education. Education at all levels is free, including higher education. Budget-funded admission to organizations of higher vocational education are made available on the basis of the results of competitive screening if the citizen is receiving higher education for the first time. The education system creates conditions for continuous education, including lifelong learning, in accordance with the individual’s needs, capabilities and interests, by means of offering basic education programmes and additional education programmes, providing the opportunity for simultaneous study of several education programmes, as well as taking into account prior education, qualifications and practical experience in terms of studies. The law ensures equal opportunities for obtaining scholarships and other education allowances. Scholarships are constantly growing larger.
154.Girls account for 55 per cent of students in special secondary education institutions and 57 per cent in higher learning institutions. Some 45 per cent of graduate students are young women, as are 47 per cent of doctoral students. The percentage of female students is higher than that of male students in all types of education.
155.Women can attend military training institutions ― the Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, military medical institutes, the Academy of Civil Defence of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation and the Academy of the Federal Security Service (FSB) ― for a limited number of specialties. Women continue to be restricted in their choice of profession, based on the legislatively enshrined principle by which women and minors can only be trained for professions, workplaces and jobs where their labour is permitted.
Paragraphs 34 and 35 of the concluding observations
156.Opportunities for women to make careers in engineering are expanding. The presence of jobs and market demand for engineers are creating conditions for integrating women into this type of professional training. For example, analysis of the Russian IT market indicates that the share accounted for by women among information specialists has grown by 10 percentage points (to 12 per cent in 2012 from 2 per cent in 2008), by 6 points among 1C developers (to 21 per cent in 2012 from 15 per cent in 2008), by 16 points among software testers (to 39 per cent in 2012 from 23 per cent in 2008) and by 27 points among ERP systems introduction consultants (to 41 per cent from 14 per cent).
157.For the preparation offered at training divisions of federal State education organizations of higher learning to women 23 years old or younger with one or more children, see the article and paragraph 58. Child care rooms or groups are being created for young parents at federal institutions of higher learning of the Russian Federation that will make it possible for students who have children to combine learning and parental duties more successfully.
Education for the elderly and the disabled
158.Opportunities are expanding for elderly women and men to receive an education. Conditions are being created for individuals with physical limitations to receive a high quality, non-discriminatory education, as well as to benefit from social development, including through inclusive education.
159.Vocational training, re-training and skill upgrades for the elderly and for individuals of pre-retirement age are offered at training and production facilities of educational institutions of various levels, including through distance education technologies.
160.In addition, at social service centres in more than half of the regions of the Russian Federation “Universities of the Third Age” have been created in which some 10,000 people study each year. In operation at such universities are a “Computer Literacy” department; “Social and Legal”, “Healthy Lifestyle” and “History” departments, as well as an “Athletics” department, whose programmes are geared to physical training and group physical recreation activities, health improvement activities and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle among the elderly. The “Computer Literacy” department offers a course in “State and Municipal Services”, in which attendees acquire skills for using the Portal of State and Municipal Services and official sites of RF entity executive bodies and of municipal entity administrations, as well as electronic portals of regional governments.
Article 11
Paragraph 1
161. Employed as a special law on equal opportunities in the sphere of labour is the RF Labour Code, in which chapter 41 establishes special features governing labour of women and individuals with family duties. Under article 3 of the Labour Code, discrimination in the sphere of labour is prohibited.
Paragraph 2
162.Special features governing labour of women and individuals with family duties (chap. 41 of the Labour Code, arts. 253-264) are set forth in detail in the preceding report.
163.In 2012, amendments establishing equal guarantees to both parents and other legal representatives of a child in connection with cancellation of a labour contract were made to article 261 of the Labour Code: “Guarantees to Pregnant Women and Individuals with Family Duties in Connection with the Cancellation of a Labour Contract”. The revised version of article 261 adds the following categories of protected employees with whom cancellation of a labour contract at the initiative of the employer is prohibited: a parent who is the sole breadwinner for a disabled child under the age of 18; the sole breadwinner for a child under the age of 3 in a family raising three or more young children if the other parent (or other legal representative of the child) is not employed. That amendment was made on the basis of the Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in connection with an appeal by A. Ye. Ostayev, father of and sole breadwinner for three children (see art. 3, para. 58).
164.Insurance coverage under mandatory social insurance for temporary disability and maternity is provided pursuant to the 29 December 2006 Federal Law No. 255-FZ on Mandatory Social Insurance for Temporary Disability and Maternity and the 19 May 1995 Federal Law No. 81-FZ on State Benefits to Citizens with Children.
165.A new mechanism for computing child care benefits was established in 2007, as a result of which the size of benefits was increased considerably and, for the first time, uninsured (non-working) citizens were afforded the right to the benefit.
166.In connection with the transition on 1 January 2010 from the unified social tax to insurance premiums paid to State extrabudgetary funds and the establishment of the principle for computing insurance premiums on earnings not exceeding the established annual limit, the direct limitations of the sizes of the maternity benefit and the monthly benefit for child care to the maximum established in budget laws were abolished. Those benefits are computed on the basis of the insured individual’s actual earnings on which the mandatory social insurance premiums are computed (with account taken of the established cap for the base for the assessment of insurance premiums).
167.As a result of the introduction of those measures, maximum amounts for maternity and child care benefits paid to insured citizens have increased greatly (data on the size of the benefits are given in the statistical annex, tables 51-53).
168.In May 2013, an RF Constitutional Court decision eliminated the difference between sizes of the monthly benefit for the care of a child under the age of one and a half years for individuals dismissed during the period of maternity leave and women dismissed during the period of child care leave. As before, for mothers dismissed during child care leave, the child care benefit is paid in an amount equal to 40 per cent of the average earnings for the place of work (with an average wage for women of 20,000 rubles, that would be 8,000 rubles); but mothers dismissed on the same grounds during maternity leave received those benefits in fixed amounts (in 2013): 2,454 rubles for care of the first child, 4,908 rubles a month for the second and any subsequent child. The changes have resulted in a single approach to calculating the size of benefits for individuals of those categories ― 40 per cent of the average earnings.
169.A federal law has been adopted that stipulates increasing the insurance qualifying period necessary for the award of pensions, in connection with the care by one of the parents for a child until the child reaches the age of one and a half, to four and a half years total to three.
On the implementation of measures aimed at creating conditions that enable women to combine child rearing duties and employment
170.(a)To provide children services and places in kindergartens and nurseries, the system of preschool education throughout the country is being modernized to include construction, renovation and major repair of kindergarten buildings. Some 50 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget to the budgets of RF entities in the form of modernization subsidies. As of 1 January 2014, the number of slots added in kindergartens and nurseries for the entirety of Russia was 401,677, or 111 per cent of the total number of planned additional places. More than 1.245 million children attend kindergarten. In 2013, preschool education services were provided by 44,300 governmental and 1,017 non-governmental kindergartens. A total of 5,982,900 children received preschool education in the governmental kindergartens, and 77,000 in the non-governmental kindergartens. Plans call for eliminating waiting lists for preschool educational institutions by 2016.
171.(b)In 2013, some 8.5 million children enjoyed various forms of leisure and recreation (8.3 million in 2012).
172.(c)Flexible forms of employment are being developed for women. A databank of vacancies (jobs) with flexible features (partial workday, partial workweek, work at home and, inter alia, temporary work) has been formed and is regularly updated. In 2013, among all vacancies announced by employers to employment service offices, there were 31 per cent more vacancies with flexible features than in 2012. Distance employment has grown (the RF Labour Code added a chapter 49.1 “Features of the Regulation of the Labour of Distance Workers”). The build-up of distance employment will make it possible to create a labour market accessible to the disabled, women with children, parents of large families, retirees and students, because, with the Internet and other forms of communication, they will be able to work without leaving home or in other places they choose. Labour law and other acts containing provisions of labour law apply to the distance worker, with account taken of the features of distance work in terms of the entry into and alteration and cancellation of a labour contract, labour management and safety and the establishment of working hours and time off, as well as the interaction of parties to the labour contract electronically.
173.(d)Privileges in the form of various latitudes for women who have children under the age of 18 are included in collective bargaining agreements and regional sector agreements. Regional sector agreements that stipulate various concessions and privileges and the creation of favourable conditions for women constitute around 50 per cent of the total number of regional agreements. Collective bargaining agreements that stipulate concessions and privileges for women constitute 80 per cent of the total number of collective bargaining agreements of organizations.
174.(e)In 2013, some 2,147,600 women applied to employment service offices for assistance in finding work. Some 1,368,700 women, or 63.7 per cent of women who applied, found jobs during the period in question (the figures for 2012 were 1,493,700, or 64.4 per cent). Among women who applied for assistance in finding work, women raising minor children constituted 24.1 per cent, of whom, 52.9 per cent found work. The average duration of women’s unemployment was 5.6 months, the same as for unemployed citizens in general.
175.(f)Vocational training and additional vocational training have been arranged in Russian Federation entities for women on leave to care for a child under the age of 3, based on labour market demand for certain specialties (accountant, computer operator, expert manicurist and pedicurist, barber, cook, salesperson, clerk, nurse, secretary, staff manager, personnel manager and business manager, as well as the courses “1C: Accounting”, “1C: Sales and Warehousing” and “1C: Business Management”). Some 135 million rubles were allocated from the budgets of RF entities in 2013. Participation in skill upgrades and retraining is perceived by women as a tool for professional development and enhanced competitiveness on the labour market.
176.The number of women of this category sent for vocational training and additional vocational training was 9,800 in 2012 and 13,500 in 2013. Some 9,500 completed the vocational training in 2012, as did 13,100 in 2013. In 2014, some 153.12 million rubles were earmarked for vocational training (retraining) of women on leave to care for a child under the age of 3 in the budgets of RF entities. The projected number of participants in such programmes is 12,700 in 2014 and 13,100 in 2015. In general, implementation of the programmes has fostered the growth of employment among women aged 20-49 with children 18 years old or under to a level of 76 per cent of the total number of women of that age, which exceeded the same indicator for the total population by 11.2 percentage points; and a reduction of the level of unemployment among women aged 20-49 with children 18 years old or under to 4.9 per cent of the economically active population, which is 0.6 percentage point below the same indicator for the total population. Vocational training, retraining and skill upgrades provided for women during leave to care for a child under the age of 3 may also be provided for the father of the child if the father is on child care leave.
Paragraphs 36 and 37 of the concluding observations (reducing gender inequality in terms of the incomes of working women)
177. Measures to increase the wages of workers of budget organizations, which employ one out of every five workers (18.7 per cent), most of whom are women, are aimed at reducing gender inequality in income.
178. For example, 12.8 per cent and 15.3 per cent of women in 2011were employed in health care and education, respectively, considerably higher than those figures for men (3 per cent and 3.3 per cent). That said, the average monthly nominal wage paid in budget institutions in 2011 was 17,500 rubles in health care and 15,800 rubles in education, which were 75.1 per cent and 67.6 per cent, respectively, of the average monthly nominal wage paid in the economy as a whole (23,400 rubles).
179.Pursuant to the 2012 Russian Federation Presidential Decree on Steps to Implement State Social Policy, measures are being taken to effect a stepped increase in the wages of budget-sphere workers: by 2018, real wages should be increased 1.4 to 1.5-fold; bring the average wages of vocational training instructors and supervisors of primary and secondary vocational education institutions and of employees of cultural institutions up to the average wage in the region; bring the wages of physicians, instructors of higher vocational education institutions and research associates up to a level equivalent to 200 per cent of the average wage in the region; raise the average wage of social workers, including medical social workers, junior medical personnel (personnel who play a support role in the provision of medical services) and mid-level medical (pharmaceutical) personnel (personnel who play a support role in the provision of medical services) up to the equivalent of 100 per cent of the average wage in the region; bring the average wage of medical workers who have a higher medical (pharmaceutical) education or other higher education and who provide medical services (who effect the provision of medical services) up to a level of 200 per cent of the average wage in the region;
180. As a result of the implementation of the Decree, the average monthly wage of employees of budget institutions of the Russian Federation in the first half of 2013 had already risen by 20.1 per cent in comparison with the same period in 2012 and amounted to 26,200 rubles. The average monthly wage of preschool education workers for that same period increased by 29.9 per cent, to 17,200 rubles. In health care and social services, the average monthly wage grew by 19.3 per cent, to 22,800 rubles. In the sphere of recreation, entertainment, culture and sports, the average monthly wage rose by 22.9 per cent over the period under consideration (to 19,900 rubles). The 26 November 2012 Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 2190-r approved the Programme for the Stepped Improvement of the System of Remuneration in State (Municipal) Institutions for 2012-2018.
On Paring down the List of Heavy-Labour Jobs and Jobs with Toxic or Dangerous Working Conditions for the Performance of Which Women’s Labour is Prohibited
181.The List of Heavy-Labour Jobs and Jobs with Toxic or Dangerous Working Conditions for the Performance of Which Women’s Labour is Prohibited was explained in detail in the preceding report. The law does not establish an absolute ban on women doing heavy or toxic work. The employer may decide to use women’s labour on jobs (in professions or posts) included in the List if safe working conditions have been created, which must be confirmed by a special assessment of the working conditions (previously, certification of the workplace). The procedure attending the special assessment of the working conditions was introduced in January 2013 by a federal law. Penalties in the form of monetary fines and denial of licence (for managers) or monetary fines or suspension of activities (for organizations) are in place for employers that fail to perform the special assessment of the working conditions. (The List of Heavy-Labour Jobs and Jobs with Toxic or Dangerous Working Conditions for the Performance of Which Women’s Labour is Prohibited is provided in annex 3).
Article 12
182.The Federal Law on the Bases for the Protection of the Health of Citizens in the Russian Federation (2011), the State programme “Development of Health Care” (2014) and the subprogramme “Protection of the Health of Mother and Child” have been adopted in the sphere of health care; they have determined the principal directions to be taken in further improvement and provision of medical care to women in 2014-2020. The fundamental goal is to create conditions for provision of accessible and high quality medical care to children and mothers, to improve the health of children and mothers and to lower the maternal, infant and child mortality rates.
183.Within the framework of modernizing health care, steps have been taken to improve the quality and accessibility of medical care for women and children by bolstering the physical infrastructure of health-care facilities (completing earlier begun construction of facilities, performing repairs and acquiring modern medical equipment) and by introducing modern information systems and standards of medical care.
184.A necessary condition for the creation of an effective three-tier system for the provision of obstetric and gynaecological care in the provinces is to create a perinatal centre that makes it possible to have in one facility high perinatal risk pregnant women and newborns and lower maternal and infant mortality rates. Functioning at present in the Russian Federation are 98 perinatal centres ― 58 autonomous centres and 40 centres that are part of multispecialty hospitals. In 2008-2012, with funding from the federal budget, 1 federal and 22 regional perinatal centres were built and commissioned within the framework of the implementation of the national project “Health”.
185.For the further development of perinatal centres, a December 2013 Order of the Government of the Russian Federation approved the “Programme for the Development of Perinatal Centres in the Russian Federation”, which calls for the construction of an additional 32 perinatal centres in 30 RF entities. Financial support for construction is coming from budget resources of the Federal Mandatory Medical Insurance Fund in the amount of 52,655,700,000 rubles and from budgets of RF entities.
186.Implementation of measures to upgrade the provision of medical care to women and children is making it possible to create conditions for full functioning of the three-tier system for providing medical care to women during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period; introduce modern, innovative technologies in perinatology and in the care of pregnant women with severe complications of the gestation process and extragenital pathology; upgrade the skills of medical personnel of all obstetrics facilities of RF entities; and reduce maternal and infant mortality rates in the Russian Federation.
187. In 2011-2013, more than 186 billion rubles, or 28 per cent of total funding for the programmes to modernize health care, were allocated for the development of the obstetrics service and children’s medicine within the framework of regional programmes to modernize health care via subsidies from the Federal Mandatory Medical Insurance Fund and monies from consolidated budgets of RF entities and territorial funds of mandatory medical insurance.
Paragraph 38 of the concluding observations (prevention of abortion)
188.According to data of the Russian Ministry of Health, over the past five years, the total number of abortions has dropped by 24.1 per cent (to 881,400 in 2013 from 1,161,700 in 2009), and the number of abortions per 1,000 women of fertile age declined to 24.5 in 2013 from 30.5 in 2009 (a decrease of 19.7 per cent). Over the period 2009-2013, the total number of abortions was cut by 33.6 per cent in girls 14 years old or under (to 450 in 2013 from 678 in 2009) and by 53.5 per cent in girls in the 15-17 age group (to 11,434 from 24,594). Improvements are also noted in the reduction of abortions in first time pregnancies (72,219 in 2013 from 118,853 in 2009, a 39.2 per cent reduction), unspecified abortions (a 35.8 per cent reduction from the 2009 level) and criminal abortions (reduced by 85.7 per cent), as well as abortions for medical indications (reduced by 5 per cent) and social indications (reduced by 90.1 per cent).
189.To prevent abortions in the Russian Federation, offices for medical and social assistance are being created in women’s counselling centres, and social worker and psychologist positions are being introduced. Women and girls are being given medical and psychological and social and legal assistance, work is being done to prepare minors for family life and to make women and girls aware of the need to carry a pregnancy and further support is being provided during pregnancy. The number of women’s counselling centres with medical and social assistance offices increased to 792 (in 2013) from 419 (in 2011).
190.Centres that provide medical and social support of pregnant women suffering hardship have been put in place. The main objective is to provide medical, social and- psychological assistance to women with unplanned pregnancies in order to give them a positive alternative to abortion. The centres were created during the implementation of regional programmes for modernizing health care in RF entities in the period 2011-2013. A total of 385 such centres are in operation at this time; some 119,000 women applied or were directed to them in 2012, and 202,600 turned to them in 2013.
191.Additional measures aimed at preventing abortion are put in place by the 2011 Federal Law on the Bases for the Protection of the Health of Citizens in the Russian Federation. Specifically, a window of time is set for a woman after she applies to a medical organization for termination of pregnancy, during which she can reflect on her decision and consult with a psychologist and a social worker. If the pregnancy is in weeks 4-7 or 11-12, the woman is given 48 hours to reconsider her decision; if the pregnancy is in weeks 8-10, the woman is given at least seven days. Artificial termination of pregnancy is performed upon a woman’s request if there is informed voluntary consent. The treating physician, after providing notification in writing, is entitled to refuse to perform the artificial termination of pregnancy if it does not directly threaten the life of the patient or the health of others. If the physician provides written notification of refusal to perform the artificial termination of the pregnancy, the official in charge (director) of the medical organization (or subdivision) must arrange for the substitution of the treating physician.
192.Since considerable advances have been made in the treatment of severe extragenital diseases, the list of medical indications for artificial termination of pregnancy has been shortened by more than 70 disease conditions that previously were contraindications for keeping the pregnancy, and the list of social indications for termination has been shortened to 1 ― pregnancy whose onset is the result of a crime under article 131 of the Criminal Code (rape).
Contraception
193.In 2013, the number of women of fertile age whose use modern forms of contraception (intrauterine devices and hormonal contraceptives) was 8.82 million (24.5 per cent), with 12 percentage points accounting for those using intrauterine contraception, and the remaining 12.5 percentage points accounting for those using hormonal contraceptives. The number of women using hormonal contraceptives has grown by 7.1 per cent (to 4.5 million in 2013 from 4.2 million in 2009).
194.In 2014, the “Give me life!” campaign for prevention of abortion continues. A large organizational effort to protect the reproductive health of the public and prevent abortion, particularly among adolescents, is under way in RF entities, with medical organizations collaborating with social welfare, education, youth and public organizations and representatives of various religious faiths.
195.In 2011, for the first time, the Federal State Statistics Service, together with the Russian Ministry of Health, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (United States), performed a survey of the reproductive health of the populace, including aspects of the health of women, the provision of medical assistance during pregnancy and birth, the use of contraception and artificial termination of pregnancy. The results of the study are affording the possibility of obtaining an expanded spectrum of fundamental demographic indicators at the national and regional levels with an eye to developing efforts to improve the quality of medical assistance to women.
Increasing access to medical care, including for rural women
196.With an eye to creating conditions for equal access for women ― primarily those who live in rural areas ― to high quality medical care, the Russian Federation is forming a three-tier system for the provision of medical assistance to women and newborns, the main area of which involves optimization of obstetric bed space by increasing the number of beds outfitted with high-tech medical equipment, are attended by skilled medical personnel and offer the full range of medical care to mothers and newborns.
197.Of fundamental importance to enhancing the accessibility to and quality of medical care is the organization of emergency medical assistance. To that end, RF entities are creating remote obstetric resuscitation/consultation centres that have mobile anaesthesiology/resuscitation obstetric teams equipped with mobile carriers and diagnostic and resuscitation equipment. In 2011-2013, within the framework of programmes for modernizing health care, 38 remote obstetrics consultation centres were created in RF entities. At present, 104 remote obstetrics consultation centres with 122 mobile anaesthesiology/resuscitation obstetrics teams are in operation in RF entities. The technology of remote obstetrics resuscitation/consultation centres is helping to increase accessibility to and the quality of medical care for rural women during pregnancy and birth by bringing high level specialized medical care to pregnant women in critical condition in connection with foetal-maternal disease, birth and the postpartum period (see also paras. 183 and 184).
198.Implementation of the “Birth Certificate” programme continues. The programme is an important measure for providing financial support to State health-care institutions (both urban and rural) that makes it possible to provide additional financial resources for the obstetric assistance system. Over the span of implementation of the programme (2006-2013), additional funding of State and municipal obstetric assistance facilities has amounted to more than 126 billion rubles. Using birth certificate funds, treatment facilities have acquired more than 26,000 pieces of expensive medical equipment. The implementation of the “Birth Certificate” programme has resulted in improvement of the quality of dispensary observation of pregnant women. The frequency of complications of pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period is declining. The percentage of births with no complications is increasing.
199.To upgrade the skills of obstetrician-gynaecologists, neonatologists and paediatricians, 12 training simulation centres were created in 2011-2013 at federal governmental facilities. More than 3,400 physicians ― obstetrician-gynaecologists, neonatologists and anaesthesiologist resuscitation specialists ― underwent training in 2011-2013 at the simulation centres. Plans call for creation of an additional four such simulation centres. Giving specialists who work in obstetrics and gynaecology, neonatology and paediatrics high level manual skills that facilitate timely provision of the full range of requisite medical assistance to pregnant women, women in labour, women who have just given birth and newborn babies will make it possible to improve the quality of medical care for women and children.
Maternal mortality rate
200.The year 2012 saw the largest reduction in the maternal mortality rate in the Russian Federation in the last several years ― 29 per cent for the year (to 11.5 per 100,000 live births, from 16.2). In all, 219 cases of maternal death were registered (295 in 2010; 291 in 2011). In some regions, the maternal mortality rate corresponds to the level seen in economically developed countries (in 2012, the level in 23 RF entities was below 10 per 100,000 live births).
Paragraph 40 of the concluding observations (sexual minorities)
201.Russian Federation law contains no restrictions against persons belonging to sexual minorities. In general, the scope of rights enjoyed by citizens under Russian Federation legislative enactments has nothing to do with affiliation with a sexual minority. Nor does prevailing Russian Federation health-care law limit the rights of citizens traditionally regarded as belonging in sexual minorities to receive free medical care or procure medication under Russian Federation law.
202.The absence in Russian Federation law of provision governing relations associated with the receipt of medical care by persons belonging to sexual minorities ensures the implementation of the principle of non-discrimination against such persons in terms of receipt of medical care or participation in clinical studies of medical drugs.
203.In 2012, the Federal Law on Donating Blood and its Components abolished previous restrictions against persons belonging to sexual minorities donating blood or plasma. Such persons may also donate their gametes (para. 7, art. 55 of Federal Law on the Bases for the Protection of the Health of Citizens in the Russian Federation) and organs and/or human tissue, except for legally incompetent individuals (art. 3 of the 1992 Russian Federation Law on Transplantation).
204.Prevailing Russian Federation law governs relations with social adaptation of individuals who have changed their sex. Accordingly, under article 70 of the 1977 Federal Law on Acts of Civil Status, the change by a person of his/her sex is grounds for amending the registry of acts of civil status, which involves submission by the person of a document of the established form issued by a medical organization that indicates the sex change.
Article 13
(a)
205.The payment of State benefits to families with children is done regardless of the category of the family, its social status, or the financial status of the parents.
206.The system of State benefits paid to citizens with children out of the budgets of RF entities includes the following:
Monthly benefit for a child (provided by all 83 RF entities, but the size of the benefit varies by entity, from 200 to 400 rubles);
Monthly benefit for a child of a single mother (provided by 80 RF entities, and the size of the benefit for a child is generally doubled);
Monthly benefit for children whose parents are evading payment of child support (provided in 78 RF entities);
Monthly benefit for children of large families and for disabled children (provided in 19 RF entities, but the size varies by entity, from 250 to 8,000 rubles);
Monthly benefit to families in which the parents are disabled;
Additional benefit to monthly benefit for children whose parents are serving in the military after being conscripted.
207.Among additional measures provided are the following:
Provision since 2007 of an annually indexed, tax-exempt maternity (family) benefit in connection with the birth of a second or subsequent children; in 2014, it amounted to 429,400 rubles (250,000 rubles in 2007);
Introduction in 2011, in 72 RF entities, in addition to federal maternity capital, of regional maternity capital, funded with resources of the budgets of RF entities amounting on average to 100,000-150,000 rubles. Maternity capital funds are permitted to be used for improvement of housing conditions, for the education of children and, in a number of regions, for the treatment of a child, the education of parents, the acquisition of a vehicle, or the repair of a dwelling or it may take the form of a lump-sum payment;
Introduction on 1 January 2013, in 66 RF entities, of a monthly monetary payment for families in need of support and in which, after 31 December 2012, a third or subsequent child was born. The size of the payment is equal to the subsistence minimum for a child, as determined by the RF entity, on average, 7,000 rubles. Co-funding of those expenditures from the federal budget is provided to 51 RF entities experiencing unfavourable demographic conditions.
208.In all RF entities, large families are given discounts of at least 30 per cent on utilities, free prescription medication for children six years old or under, free intra-city transport (except for taxis), places for children in preschool facilities on a priority basis, free meals for students in general education facilities and free visits to museums, exhibits and amusement parks. Approximately 1 million large families are the recipients of social assistance and social services.
(b)
Exercise of the right to housing
209.Russian Federation housing law is based on the provision of the conditions for the exercise by citizens of the right to housing and its safety and inviolability; the impermissibility of being arbitrarily deprived of housing; the need for unfettered exercise of housing rights; the recognition of the equality of participants in housing relations in terms of possession, use and disposal of living accommodations; restoration of violated housing rights and their protection in the courts; and the integrity of the housing and the use of residential accommodations as intended. Citizens recognized as indigent and in need of residential accommodation are provided such from the municipal housing fund under social rental agreements of unlimited duration.
210.Conditions for expansion of the economy-class rental housing market are taking shape. Amendments have been made to the 2008 Federal Law on Facilitating the Expansion of Housing Construction in order to stimulate the construction of economy-class rental housing. Citizens with three or more children have been given the right to acquire economy-class housing on a priority basis.
211.Funds of maternity (family) capital may be used to improve housing conditions of families with children. To date, since the beginning of the implementation of that measure in 2007, more than 4,822,600 State certificates for maternity (family) capital have been issued. As of 1 January 2014, the total for funds directed to the provision of maternity capital, for all areas of use, was 760.6 billion rubles (expenditures amounted to 42 billion rubles in 2009; 97.1 billion in 2010; 171.6 billion in 2011; 212.4 billion in 2012; and 237.5 billion in 2013). For the provision of maternity (family) capital in 2014, budget appropriations in the amount of 300.9 billion rubles have been approved. Maternity (family) capital funds have been used by more than 2,116,900 families, upwards of 2,015,100 of whom (95.3 per cent) have channelled those funds into improving their housing conditions.
212.A total of 67.1 per cent of them have used the funds to pay principal and interest on credit or loans obtained for purposes of acquiring or building a dwelling. Of the families who have directed the maternity (family) capital funds to improvement of housing conditions without using credit or taking out loans, 73.2 per cent have used the funds for acquiring housing through a purchase and sale contract; 23.5 per cent used the funds for building (or renovating) a free-standing home without hiring a specialized construction organization; about 1 per cent used the funds to hire a specialized construction company to build such a home for them; and 2.3 per cent used the funds for participation in the joint funding of construction, for the admission fee or equity contribution in a housing and savings cooperative, or for the initial contribution to obtain credit or a loan for the acquisition or construction of a dwelling, as well as to pay for the costs for a built (renovated) private residential structure.
213.The year 2010 saw the approval of the special federal programme “Housing” for the period of 2011-2015, which includes a subprogramme “Providing Housing for Young Families”. Implementation of that subprogramme in 2008-2012 revealed annual growth of the number of young families who wish to participate in the subprogramme. Within the framework of that subprogramme, housing conditions were improved for some 38,200 young families in 2008-2010, for 28,000 in 2011 and for 31,700 in 2012. Regional programmes to expand housing mortgage lending have been adopted by В 81 RF entities.
Providing land parcels to citizens with three or more children
214.In 80 RF entities, a free land parcel for construction of a free-standing home, without bidding or preliminary site approval, is available to families with three or more children. The land parcels must have infrastructure facilities and utility systems called for by area planning designs before the parcels are made available to families. In 2012, some 260,000 large families in the Russian Federation declared their desire to obtain a land parcel. That year, 54,600 land parcels were allocated, which met the needs of 21 per cent of those expressing a desire for a parcel. Plans call for providing land parcels with infrastructure facilities to at least 87,000 citizens with three or more children by 2016.
(c)
215.In the Russian Federation, women take an active part in cultural and athletic life. In athletics, there is no discrimination either on the grounds of sex or on racial, religious, political or other considerations. The 2007 Federal Law on Physical Fitness and Sports in the Russian Federation provides the right to free access to physical fitness activities and sports as being necessary for the development of the physical, intellectual and moral capabilities of the individual and the rights for all categories of citizens and segments of the population to engage in physical fitness activities and sports. The law imposes a ban on discrimination and violence in physical fitness activities and sports.
216.The number of women who engage in physical fitness activities and sports exceeds 6.9 million. Women are represented in 134 forms of sport, including employment related, national and other types of sport in the Russian Federation.217.In May 2013, the Russian Federation supported the action plan adopted at the Fifth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (May 2013, Berlin, Germany) to strengthen the integrity of sports and ensure universal access. The Declaration of Berlin emphasizes that participating in sports is one of the fundamentals of every individual, regardless of ethnic, cultural, or social origin, gender affiliation; age; health impairment; economic resources; or sexual orientation.
Article 14
Paragraphs 42 and 43 of the concluding observations
218.A comprehensive solution to rural problems is provided by measures included in the Special Federal Programme “Stable Development of Rural Territories for 2014-2017 and the Period up to 2020”, which was approved by a Russian Federation Government resolution in 2013.
219.Among such measures are steps to improve housing conditions in rural areas, including for young families and young specialists; comprehensive development of population centres in rural areas involving social and engineering infrastructure facilities (development of the network of general education facilities, medical and obstetric centres and/or general practitioners offices, flat-field sports facilities in rural areas, cultural and leisure facilities, gas infrastructure development, water supply development and comprehensive development of plots for space effective residential buildings).
220.The use of a comprehensive approach to enhance the comfort level in a rural area helps create favourable conditions for investment activities in the agro-industrial complex and new jobs based on modern technologies in the workplace, to increase the tax base for the budgets of municipal formations and to effect growth of the rural economy as a whole.
221.Some 37,229,000 people live in rural areas: 17,838,300 are men (47.9 per cent) and 19,390,500, women (52.1 per cent). As of 1 January 2013, there were 1,778 women per 1,000 men 60 years of age or older. Of the total number of rural women, 3,509,000 are younger than working age, 9,844,000 are of working age, and 6,038,000 are older than working age. In 2000-2006, the rural population grew smaller because of high mortality rate, low birth rate and migration outflow.
222.Beginning in 2007, the situation improved due to the implementation of demographic policy measures. Births rose almost 1.5-fold, deaths dropped by 16.4 per cent and lifespans increased. In 2007-2013, the rural population responded rapidly and vigorously to the new measures of demographic policy aimed at increasing the birth rate (i.e., increasing the size of benefits and introducing federal and regional maternity capital and a monthly monetary payment in connection with the birth of a third or subsequent child). The rise in rural birth rate itself is effecting population replacement. As a result of the higher birth rate, the rural age structure is becoming more favourable than that of the urban population.
223.In 2013, as a result of a higher birth rate, the positive trend is being maintained in the growth of the percentage of the rural population younger than working age, which will compensate for declining labour potential of rural areas. If, at the beginning of 2011, individuals younger than working age made up 18.8 per cent of the rural population, they made up 19 per cent at the beginning of 2012 and 19.3 per cent at the beginning of 2013.
224.In 2012, rural health-care facilities consisted of 1,216 hospitals, including 734 central rayon hospitals, 68 rayon hospitals and 228 district hospitals; almost 3,000 outpatient clinics and polyclinics, of which 362 were autonomous and 2,591 were branches; and 34,800 obstetric and medical centres. Round-the-clock inpatient facilities had 143,400 beds, and outpatient/polyclinic facilities were able to handle 433,600 visits per shift. Improvement of the quality and accessibility of medical assistance to rural women in the framework of the three-tier medical-assistance system made it possible to achieve reduction in maternal mortality among the rural population over the past five years of 34.1 per cent (13.7 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2013 from 20.8 in 2008).
225.In 2010, in connection with the rise in the birth rate in the village, construction of kindergartens intensified, and continues to this day. Over the span 2001-2012, rural kindergartens accommodating 33,200 children opened; rural kindergartens accommodating 6,800 opened in 2012, which was 6.2 per cent greater than 2011 (2.3-fold greater than in 2000). Some 17,700 autonomous preschool education facilities and 1,500 branches (economically autonomous subdivisions of preschool education facilities and general education facilities) are in operation in rural areas. In addition, preschool education is provided by 5,874 preschool education groups set up in general education facilities. Rural preschool facilities can accommodate 1,342,000 individuals. The infrastructure and facilities of rural preschool institutions are being improved gradually: many now have music and physical education rooms, personal computers, Internet access and e-mail.
226.At the beginning of the 2012/2013 school year, there were 31,900 government and non-governmental general education facilities in rural areas, and 27,200 of them were autonomous, whereas 4,700 were branches.
227.The Law on Education established the possibility of funding underfilled rural education institutions, regardless of the number of students. It established that decisions made to reorganize or eliminate municipal general education facilities located in a rural settlement cannot be allowed without considering the opinion of the residents of the rural settlement. In addition, it established that an expert review of the consequences of reorganization or closing an education facility must be made beforehand.
228.Children are delivered to schools in rural areas by 18,900 vehicles that belong to 14,300 general education schools. Over the past year, the number of schools with vehicles to ferry children and the number of vehicles increased by 2.7 per cent and 5.2 per cent, respectively.
229.Equipment levels and the level of computerization have risen. Almost 77 per cent of rural general education schools have physical education rooms, upwards of 32 per cent have assembly halls, 93 per cent have libraries, 87 per cent have computer rooms, 93 per cent are linked to the Internet, 92 per cent have their own e-mail addresses and 86 per cent have their own websites.
230.Unemployment is dropping in rural areas, and there has been a positive shift in the structure of the economically active rural population of working age. The level of overall rural unemployment has dropped to 8.5 per cent from 9.6 per cent in the economically active age segment and to 9 per cent from 10 per cent in the working age segment. Unemployment among women dropped to 9.1 per cent in 2013 from 10.1 per cent in 2010. At the same time, unemployment among rural residents is twice as high as among urban residents.
231.The number and percentage of poor people in rural areas are steadily trending downward. Nonetheless, rural areas still account for more than 40 per cent of all individuals with incomes below the subsistence minimum. Large families account for a considerable percentage of the indigent. Technology for assisting poor citizens based on the social contract (see art. 3, paras. 66-72) is helping raise the standard of living among citizens living in rural areas.
232.State support of small and medium-sized businesses, including peasant (farm) enterprises, is effected by providing, on a competitive basis, subsidies from the federal budget to the budgets of RF entities to implement regional programmes for support and development of mall and medium-sized business in the context of co-funding of expenditure obligations (see art. 3, paras. 82-87).
233.Grant support is provided for local initiatives of citizens living in rural areas, as are incentives and publicity for achievements in the development of rural territories.
Part IV
Article 15
4
234.The migration attractiveness of the Russian Federation has been earmarked as one of the top priority goals of the Framework for the State Migration Policy of the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2025.
235.Emphasis has been placed on attracting skilled migrant workers according to the needs of the country’s economy. Highly skilled foreign specialists are being favoured: in 2013: they received upwards of 27,200 work permits, and since the introduction of that mechanism in 2010, upwards of 61,500 such permits have been issued. Foreign citizens who are skilled specialists can find jobs in 59 professions (specialties and posts) that do not have quotas.
236.In 2012 and 2013, the number of skilled foreign specialists doing work here grew threefold and amounted to 129,000. Foreign nationals arriving visa-free were afforded the opportunity to work for hire with individuals on patents. More than 1.4 million patents were registered in 2013, and some 4.2 million since the introduction of this permit document.
237.Since the beginning of 2013, under the 2012 Federal Law on Amendments to the Federal Law on the Legal Status of Foreign Nationals in the Russian Federation, migrant workers with a temporary residence permit have been exempted from obtaining a work permit. Nationals from Kazakhstan and Belarus are working without the permits.
238.In 2013, it was rendered possible under the law to place migrant workers on the tax rolls when they request a work permit or patent or when they submit medical documents simultaneously with applications for a work permit (or patent) in the Russian Federation. The law has established the age a foreign national has the right to work in the Russian Federation at 18 years.
239.Equally important is student (training) migration to the Russian Federation, in connection with which a number of measures being implemented are aimed at creating comfortable conditions for migrating foreign students.
240.In 2012 and 2013, for these purposes, legislation was passed streamlining the process for obtaining permits for foreign nationals studying full-time in the Russian Federation, as well as migrants who initially entered the country to study here and streamlining the process for extending a temporary stay until the end of studies for foreign students enrolled in educational institutions. The quota for foreign students in the Russian Federation has been increased to 15,000.
241.An action plan has been developed for updating student (training) migration and academic mobility, including the system for internship and encouraging graduates of vocational education institutions to take jobs in the Far East and Siberia.
242.In 2013, people from 188 countries studied in 875 Russian higher learning institutions in programmes for higher vocational education. The total number of students was some 258,000. The specialties in highest demand were medical, economic, engineering and humanities/social specialties.
Integration of immigrants into Russian society
Paragraphs 44 and 45 of the concluding observations
243.The year 2012 saw the approval of the Framework for the State Migration Policy of the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2025, which devoted attention to humanitarian issues, including creation of a system for adapting and integrating migrants, protecting their rights and liberties and solving social problems.
244.In accordance with amendments to federal laws on the legal Status of foreign nationals in the Russian Federation and on education, as of 1 December 2012, persons in the country visa-free who wish to work in the spheres of housing and public utilities, retail sales and consumer services have been required to have a command of the Russian language, and, on 1 January 2015, a mandatory examination for the Russian language, the history of Russia, and the fundamentals of Russian Federation law will be introduced for migrant workers, as well as foreign nationals receiving a temporary residence permit, a residence permit, or a work or patent permit, highly skilled specialists excepted.
245.In 2013, more than 34,400 individuals filed with migration authorities of Russia after having submitted documents, including 15,400 certificates, confirming that they have a command of Russian, in order to obtain a work permit in the above-indicated spheres.
246.Particular attention is devoted to arranging courses in the Russian language for foreign migrants. At present, 311 courses are in place in the country for the study of the Russian language by foreign nationals, 112 of which are free of charge. Migration authorities are advising foreign nationals in matters of Russian migration law within the framework of the activities of multifunctional centres created in all RF entities and provide State (municipal) services. Over the first three months of 2014, some 101,200 consultations were provided for foreign nationals and stateless persons. Such consultations involve the use of printed matter (handouts for the migrants), as well as graphic materials and Internet addresses. The rooms are equipped with information racks and document samples.
247.Fifty-three types of handouts on matters of migration law, including two concise dictionaries for migrants with the most often used words and expressions (in the Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek languages) are published and distributed to migrants. Representatives of national associations and communities are brought in to prepare these documents.
248.In 2013, a project was implemented for the creation of centres for the adaptation and integration of foreign migrants in Tambov and Orenburg. Year-long integration training courses were organized at those centres for migrant workers from CIS countries.
249.A community liaison office of the Red Cross is working in Saint Petersburg at the Unified Migration Centre. In 2013, in Moscow, the Community Liaison Centre of the Red Cross was opened for migrants in the passport/visa building. The activities of the community liaison centre are geared to providing legal, medical and social support to the most vulnerable categories of migrants, including women.
250.In the area of facilitating the adaptation and integration of migrants, a great deal of attention is being focused on interfacing with civil society institutions, public and religious organizations and the scientific community.
251.A permanent interface has been set up with 1,453 national associations (constituencies) that are helping migrants compensate for the lack of communication, as well as resolve problems with State structures and local residents, not to mention internal conflicts. Meetings are held on a regular basis with representatives. In 2014, 1,149 such meetings took place.
252.For working with migrants, 133 agreements have been entered into with religious organizations both at the federal and regional levels on interfacing in the area of adaptation and integration of migrants ― 82 with eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church, 44 with Islamic organizations, 2 with organizations of the Armenian Apostolic Church, 3 with Buddhist organizations and 2 with Judaic organizations. The Russian Orthodox Church has helped open 33 Russian language courses, and the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims, 7. In the context of agreements with the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims, classes have been arranged for migrant workers in which labour rules in the Russian Federation are explained, as are changes in migration law.
253.To enhance legal and social protection of migrants, a draft federal law on asylum in the Russian Federation is being prepared which calls for completely replacing the prevailing 1993 Federal Law on Refugees. Provisions of the draft law will apply to foreign nationals and stateless persons, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, social origin, religious beliefs, or political convictions. It should be noted that in the decision to grant asylum, Russian migration authorities must take into account the sociopolitical situation in the country from which the asylum-seeker comes and, specifically, the status of women in, for example, Muslim countries.
254.Proposals have been introduced in the Russian Federation Government to provide access of foreign nationals and their family members to social, medical and education services as a function of legal status.
255.A draft federal law on social and cultural adaptation and integration of foreign nationals in the Russian Federation has been prepared and is undergoing interdepartmental harmonization.
256.To strengthen inter-ethnic relations, a State programme to assist in the voluntary resettlement in the Russian Federation of compatriots living abroad is being implemented, as are the Special Federal Programme “Strengthening the Unity of Russian Nation and the Ethno-Cultural Development of Russia for 2014-2020”, the Russian Federation State Programme “Development of the Northern Caucasus Federal Okrug for the period up to 2025”, the “Comprehensive Action Plan for the Socio-Economic and Ethno-Cultural Development of the Roma in the Russian Federation for 2013 and 2014” and the “Socio-Economic and Ethno-Cultural Development of the Russian Germans for 2008-2012”.
Paragraphs 46 and 47 of the concluding observations
257.Chapter 48 of the RF Labour Code “Special Features of the Regulation of Workers Employed by Individual Employers” is devoted to the employment of domestic workers. Articles 303-309 of chapter 48 detail the special features of the labour contract entered into by the worker and the individual employer and establish the duration of the contract, the working hours and time off, the possibilities associated with the employer’s amending the terms of the labour contract determined by the parties, the termination of the contract and the resolution of individual labour disputes. Also established is the list of documents verifying the period of employment with individual employers.
258.In 2013, with the support of UN-Women, the International Centre for Gender Budgeting and Management for Countries of the CIS, which was created in the Russian Presidential Academy of the National Economy and Public Administration, performed Russia’s first ever study involving identification of the status of the needs and requirements of domestic workers in Russia and Kazakhstan. The following domestic workers took part in the study: housekeepers, nannies, babysitters, cleaning ladies, security guards, drivers, dacha workers and cooks (450 people), 90 per cent of whom were women.
259.The study showed that domestic labour is a competitive, well-paid, rapidly development sphere of employment. The domestic labour market functions almost completely on oral agreements between worker and employer. The absence of a written contract is, in most cases, the result of a conscious choice by the migrant serving as the domestic worker. Upwards of 64 per cent of domestic workers are satisfied with the work and working conditions. Those who are not satisfied are dissatisfied with the wages, long workdays, heavy physical labour or other circumstances.
260.The relationships between domestic workers and employers are generally strong: 80 per cent of domestic workers noted that they have never been cheated. Those not satisfied noted cases in which they were promised to be paid, but were not, or were paid less than promised, or the work did not correspond to the agreement.
261.Some 93.6 per cent of domestic workers never experienced sexual harassment at work. Others noted that they had encountered harassment on the part of the employer, other family members or other families, or on the part of outsiders. After the results of the study are tallied, they will be delivered to Russian Federation executive-branch authorities.
Article 16
Paragraphs 48 and 49 of the concluding observations (polygamy in the Northern Caucasus)
262.The Russian Federation Family Code does not allow legal marriage between individuals at least one of whom is married to someone else. In July 1999, then President of Ingushetia, Ruslan Aushev, issued a decree that allowed polygamy in the republic; but the validity of the decree was suspended by a decree of Russian Federation President B. Yeltsin on grounds that it contravened the RF Family Code. In 2006, 2007 and 2009, the President of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, made numerous proposals to allow polygamy, but his stance found no support in parliament.
263.Over the period between the Russian national censuses of 2002 and 2010, the total number of families in the Russian Federation remained virtually unchanged. There were some 41.7 million families in 2002, and 40.7 million in 2010. At present, 43 per cent of families (17.3 million) have children under the age of 18. The most prevalent, as before, is the family with one child (67.5 per cent), followed by families with two children (26.7 per cent). There are a little more than a million large families, and 75 per cent of those are families with three children.
264.Of families with minor children, 67 per cent are complete families (the children have both parents). In 2002, the figure for complete families was 70 per cent. The correlation between marriage and divorce has improved since С 2006. Accordingly, there were 576 divorces per 1,000 marriages in 2006, but only 545 per 1,000 marriages in 2013.
265.The number of couples in an unregistered marriage continues to grow. Increasingly fewer children are born out of wedlock: in 2009, such children constituted almost 25 per cent of the total number of children born; whereas they made up 23.8 per cent in 2012.
266.An unregistered marriage (de facto cohabitation without registration of the marriage as prescribed by law) does not result in joint property of the spouses that must be divided if the cohabitation relations are terminated. The provisions of family law do not extend to property acquired by cohabitants in an unregistered marriage. Such property is not community property. Ownership depends on whose name it is in. Individuals living in an unregistered marriage cannot enter into the marriage contract specified by the RF Family Code.
267.Property relations of spouses are governed by the RF Civil Code and the RF Family Code. The property of spouses amassed in the context of a registered marriage belongs to them under joint ownership (para. 1 of art. 256 “Joint Ownership of Spouses” of the Civil Code and para. 1 of art. 33 of the Family Code).
268.Individuals living in an unregistered marriage may not apply conditions of joint ownership to property they have amassed (para. 3 of art. 244 of the Civil Code “Concept of Joint Ownership and Grounds for it to Arise”), but they may agree to extend to that property (or to part of it) the conditions of tenants in common (para. 4 of art. 244 of the Civil Code).
269.Living together and maintaining a common household creates the presumption that the cohabitants have the will to establish conditions of tenants in common for the property that, together (with common funds), they amass while in the de facto marriage or that constitutes a household item (such as a dacha plot or domestic furnishings). If property was acquired not in connection with their living together (such as in the process of the performance of business activities or creative activities by one of the cohabitants), then to declare it common property requires the clearly expressed will of the parties to establish joint ownership.
270.In a registered marriage, it makes no difference which of the spouses is registered as owner of an object; whereas in a de facto marriage, ownership, unless there is evidence to the contrary, is regarded as belonging exclusively to the person registered as owner.
271.Unlike a lawful spouse, a de facto spouse is not the heir apparent (para. 1 of art. 1142 of the Civil Code “Heirs Apparent”). The de facto spouse may be declared heir under the law only as a dependent of the legator unable to work, i.e., if the spouse was incapable of working as of the day of the commencement of succession and, for at least one year before the death of the legator, was a dependent of the legator and lived with the legator (para. 2 of art. 1148 of the Civil Code “Inheritance by Dependents of the Legator Unable to Work”).
272.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 article 38 of the 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 (see art. 5, paras. 101-107).
Paragraphs 51 and 52 of the concluding observations
273.Information on fulfilment of the Beijing Platform for Action can be found on the official site of the Russian Ministry of Labour http://www.rosmintrud.ru/ docs/mintrud/protection/85; the report “Russia in 2015 and After: Monitoring of the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals” is published at http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/russia_nhdr_2010_en.pdf; information on the fulfilment of individual provisions of the Convention, the Beijing Platform for Action and the MDG was officially presented at the fifty-third, fifty-fifth and fifty-eighth sessions of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the OECD Council meetings, the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international organizations.
Paragraph 54 of the concluding observations
274.Russia signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008 and ratified it in 2012. The ratification instrument was delivered on25 September 2012 for deposit with the United Nations Secretary-General. The Convention entered into force for the Russian Federation on 25 October 2012.
275.The RF is actively collaborating with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Careful checks are performed for each case of a disappearance, and the results are given to the Working Group.
Progress achieved
276.In accordance with the Convention, work was done in the principal areas for the improvement of the status of women. During the crisis, stability was maintained, as was the level of material prosperity achieved, through the categorical fulfilment of public social obligations. Pensions, benefits and other social payments were indexed as prescribed, which made it possible to prevent an increase in the numbers of the poor, especially among retirees and families with children.
277.Work has gotten under way on the stepped rise in wages in sectors of the budget sphere, which will help to narrow the gap between women and men in terms of labour remuneration.
278.Opportunities have been expanded for employment for women by the introduction of programmes for training and upgrading the skills of women on leave to care for a child under the age of three.
279.New measures for supporting families with children have been introduced in the provinces of the Russian Federation (regional maternity capital; monthly monetary payment in connection with the birth of a third or subsequent child; and provision, free of charge, of land parcels for the construction of a home).
280.New social technologies are being developed to work with families in which there is domestic violence, and a pertinent draft law is being prepared.
281.Interdepartmental coordination of activities involving prevention of human trafficking has been strengthened, and a system to help victims of human trafficking is being set up.
282.Special State and federal programmes aimed at improving segments of the population, including women, have been adopted in various spheres of activity. Implementation of the programmes is being monitored. The situation with the disabled, the elderly and rural residents is changing for the better.
Existing problems and further actions
283.Still unresolved is the possibility of a law on gender equality. Work will continue in terms of building public consensus on that question and strengthening interdepartmental coordination in the field of gender equality.
284.Work will continue to lower the maternal mortality rate and the number of abortions and to expand the accessibility and improve the quality of medical services for women, including rural women.
285.In the sphere of education, work will continue to ensure access to preschool education for children from the age of one and a half years to seven years and to create conditions enabling women to better mix family duties and work.
286.Work will continue on draft legislation in the area of preventing domestic violence and setting up a system for providing comprehensive assistance and developing social services for women and children, as well as for men who are guilty of domestic violence.