Women's Rights in Russia: Training Non- Lawyers to Represent Victims of Domestic Violence

Abstract

Prior to 1918, a vibrant feminist movement flourished in Russia. With the onset of Communism, however, this movement waned. During the Soviet era, social groups and movements that did not conform with official Communist ideology were not allowed to exist. Although Communism itself began as a feminist ideology, the Soviet regime perpetrated the subordination of women. Since 1990, feminism and women's rights organizations have reemerged with a vengeance. Today there are over 650 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on women's human rights issues, primarily violence against women.