A few weeks ago, I met with the Director and Gender Advisor of the Department of Family and Youth in Kharkiv Oblast to ask about their current programs and opinion on the needs of women in Kharkiv. The Director described Kharkiv as a leader in women’s rights and gender programs. The city is home to the leading law academy that developed Ukraine’s law on violence against women and there over 100 organizations working in Kharkiv region on issues pertaining to women (although only around 20 of these organizations are very active). Within the Department there are 13 staff and the budget for gender programs is 200,000 grivnas ($40,000 U.S.). Next year they hope to raise it to 500,000 grivnas ($100,000 U.S.).
One of the most significant steps taken recently to improve the status of women is the creation of the ‘Coordination Unit of Equal Rights of Men and Women’ by Kharkiv’s governor. This initiative is based on concepts put forth in the new Gender Equality law (see below for more information) to improve cooperation between NGOs, police, health care workers and government officials. While the task force has only been together for two months and its ability to function effectively is still in question, the Department Director stressed the importance of the governor making gender equality a priority.
Last year, one of the programs supported by the Department was in partnership with “Krona” a Kharkiv-based NGO for women’s empowerment. The campaign, called СТОП СЕКСИЗМ! (Stop Sexism!) included around 50 posters of media and advertising from around Ukraine for furniture, alcohol, household products, etc. that showed sexist, discriminatory attitudes towards women. “Stop Sexism” traveled to four universities this past year and next year they hope to expand the program in terms of both program money and number of universities covered. Over 600 people visited the display and it was featured in reporting of a local TV station. Many of the students and teachers were not familiar with the term ‘sexism’ so that was a substantial part of the discussion.
Krona recorded reactions to the display which mainly included comments that the images were “upsetting” 
and inappropriate and also that it was a difficult trend to change. A few people commented that they heard this was an issue Europe has been struggling for a long time. (The day after I heard about the campaign, I picked up the new copy of Kharkiv’s bi-monthly magazine that gives updates on the city, activities, restaurants, etc. The new edition “Kharkiv – Sexy: Watch, Play, Experience” features two naked women on the cover holding each other and replica street signs with warnings on them.
I spoke with a woman yesterday who visited the display and has been very active in the non-governmental sector in Kharkiv. Her opinion is that sexism, while a negative and definitely present theme in Ukrainian society, is not a major problem for women. As times change, and more people in Ukraine travel abroad and more foreigners and foreign companies enter, the standards people will accept also change. One example she gave from the display was of a company’s billboards for traveling to Egypt. In Ukraine the image was of a young, beautiful and almost naked woman. In Lithuania the image was a middle-aged, beautiful woman who looked very free and content. Overtime, she felt Ukrainian society would change their opinions and companies would respond in the way they advertise and the images they use.
Photos are from Krona's website: http://www.krona.org.ua/index_ru.htm
Comments