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PARLIAMENTARY HEARINGS ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN UKRAINE (PART I) by MARTHA BOHACHEVSKY CHOMIAK On July 13, 1995, the Ukrainian Rada held parlia mentary hearings on the status of women in Ukraine as preparations for the Beijing conference to assess the extent to which the provisions of the Nairobi documents are being realized. Although women constitute more than 55% of the population of Ukraine, they make up less than 3% of its legislature and not quite 1% of its government administration. The hearings marked a new level of public awareness on the role of women in society and in politics in Ukraine. All representatives of the women’s organizations who testified, with one ex ception, raised genuine concerns of women’s legal sta tus and de facto opportunities in contemporary Ukraine. Their measured demands contrasted sharply with the cant of some socialist deputies who, during the hear ings, presented the women with a bouquet of flowers, an act that jarred sharply with the tenor of the discus sions before the packed House, galleries, and diplo matic and press sections. The parliamentary socialist majority, especially the speaker of the house, Oleksan- der Moroz, had tried to dismiss or at least to postpone the hearings. The socialist women deputies, however, enrolled the support of the entire house, especially of the democrats, and the hearings were held. Women had been among the first groups to organ ize and stage public demonstrations during the period of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Traditional inter ests of women (such as welfare, family issues, health care) pushed them into public activities that had politi cal repercussions. Hence, the women’s movement in Ukraine in the 1990’s must be viewed within the context of regeneration of political and community activities. In the last months of the existence of the USSR, women’s organizations outside the control of the Party mounted mass demonstrations that challenged the practices of the Soviet army.1 The Women’s Community (Zhinocha Hromada), at first connected with the mass democratic movement Rukh, staged the most visible mass women’s demonstration in Ukraine in Kiev on March 8, 1991. Its aim was to underscore the political demands of women and to stress that a continuation of a show holiday on International Women’s Day was no longer an adequate response on the so-called women’s issues. Aided by the strong support of the Committee of Mothers of Soldiers, with the cooperation of the Committee of Families with Many Children (a society of mothers who have more than five children) and Mother-86 (a group of mothers whose children were born at the time of the Chornobyl disaster and immediately afterwards) as well as the Union of Women of Ukraine, this rally was the largest independent women’s gathering in Kiev.2 The primary goal of the women was not an abstract state, nor a geopolitical argument for breaking the monopoly of a superpower. The women were united in their common world! The tremendous after effects of the Chornobyl explosion of 1986 are only beginning to surface. These effects will be felt for centuries to come. There are high levels of different types of cancer, serious birth defects and a high amount of premature births with serious risk to mothers and newborns. There is contamination of food production in the rivers and fields. These consequences are extremely serious to wo men’s health and should be addressed at this confer ence. We urge that in the Platform of Action for the Fourth World Conference on Women specific objectives and actions be taken to promote the full and equitable participation of women in global action towards sustai nable development at all levels and strategic objectives and actions for risk prevention and health promotion and education to counter the most serious of toxic hazards that are threatening women’s, men’s and plane tary health: toxic chemicals, biological and radioactive contamination. We feel that no new technology should be applied unless there is concomitant technology to deal with any emergencies be they nuclear, chemical or biological. We recognize that it is primarily women and child ren that suffer the greatest long term effects of radia tion poisoning, chemical and industrial waste pollution which cause yet unknown problems for generations to come and which poison scarce land, water and lives tock, producing not only biological aberrations, but also severe economic burdens. The fear of health conse quences and the lack of adequate medical care have affected women’s choices regarding family planning and child rearing in this region. As we begin to accept that the good of the people should be the overwhelming priority of any technical development, we must address the nuclear and chemi cal waste issue with great urgency. We appeal to the member states of the United Nations to offer concrete and practical solutions to these serious environmental problems caused by man himself! Thank you for your consideration! ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛИСТОПАД 1995 21
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