GENDER POLICY IN UKRAINE AND RUSSIA AS AN INDICATOR OF POLITICAL REGIME TRANSFORMATION

Abstract

The article analyses the legal framework for changes in gender policy in Ukraine and Russia since the collapse of the USSR. A comparative approach reveals and explains significant differences in the readiness of the two countries to move towards comprehensive implementation of gender equality norms in the areas of family, gender and sexual orientation. It proves that the promotion of ‘traditional values’ as an apology for the patriarchal family and homophobia in Russia, and the legal entrenchment of this conservative course, is a marker of the processes of de-democratisation and consolidation of the authoritarian regime. In Ukraine, on the other hand, we trace the process of gradual liberalisation of gender culture, which is reflected in the expansion of the anti-discrimination legal framework, the consolidation of a culture of gender parity, and the growth of tolerance towards people of different sexual orientations. It is established that the peculiarities of the evolution of gender policy in Ukraine and Russia are a projection of general political processes that reflect trends in the expansion or curtailment of democratic norms and institutions, and therefore can serve as an indicator of the transformation of political regimes.