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24 “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛЮТИЙ 2010 refashion itself as a genuinely independent stat e from a Soviet Republic, so its women had to create women ’ s organizations that would enable them to participate in the international women ’ s movement. From the initial United Nations First International Conference of Women in Mexico in 1975 to the Fourth conference in Beijing in 1996, the path for women in Ukraine was one of growing self - awareness, assimilation of alternative terminology and conceptualizations to those used by the Soviets, and the creation of new organizations. 4 Within the Soviet Union, on ly those women ’ s organizations authorized by the party had been permitted; none of them were specifically Ukrainian . 5 Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, tried to muster active women ’ s support for his cause by authorizing the establishment in 1987 of a separate Council of Women of Ukraine (Rada Zhinok Ukrainy). 6 It was headed by Maria A. Orlyk, closely connected with the Party apparatus, and did not gain new support for Gorbachev. 7 When women mobilized , it was in response to abuses in the army perpetrated against their sons. Mothers of draftees were the first activists in the late 1980s to form an effective pressure group. Awareness of the brutalities against Soviet draftees was made more acute by the fact that soldiers served in republics other than the one from which they stemmed and were cut off from informal contact with civilians . 8 Because the soldiers found little recourse for their grievances in the vast Soviet Army, women organized themselves into the Com - mittee of Soldiers ’ Mothers (Komitet Soldatskykh Materiv) to defend their sons. The Committee originated in Moscow and the first mass demonstra - tions were held there in 1989. Although the Mothers ’ Committees were strong in Ukraine, which had borne a heavy burden of the unpopular war in Afghanistan and which used recruits to clean up the nuclear waste at Ch o rnobyl, the most visible of its activists were not connected to any of the so - called Ukrainian nationalist groups. The organization drew media coverage but was not accused of nationalism or of political sabotage. 9 The Committee of Mothers held its first All - Union Congress in September 1990 in Moscow , demanding that Gorbachev create a Presidential Inquiry Commission to investigate the abuses. Gorbachev au thorized the Commission only in November, but limited its competence so as not to undermine the military. In August 1990, within days of the proclamation of the sovereignty of Ukraine, the Committee of Mothers of Soldiers in Ukraine, headed by Liudmyla D. Trukhmanova and actively supported by Valentyna Artamonova, held a mass rally in Zaporizhzhia, a city not known for its Ukrainian nationalism. That was an important factor because the activities of women could not be dismissed as merely expressions of nati onalism. 10 When the mothers realized they were helpless before the whole Soviet military - industrial complex, they reasoned that a national army, close to home would be more likely to reform. It was not the case of patriotism driving the women to support th e national army, but women deciding that a national army would protect their sons from abuse better than the All - Union one ever could. Later, political motivation was read into the activities: T he differences [between Ukrainian and Russian women] were cle ar in the manner in which the Ukrainian faction reacted to the conclusions of the Presidential Commission. As the co - chair of the Ukrainian Committee, Valentyna Artamo - nova, pointed out, the investigation convinced the Ukrainian women that their sons would never be safe from abuses in a Soviet army. “We mothers finally realized that the Soviet Union is such a huge state that such atrocious actions could take place and it would be impossible to prove anything. . . . And so we began the struggle for our indep endent state and for our army.” 11 Service in the military placed young men at risk ; disregard of ecological safety endangered all children. The disastrous ecological conditions, of which Ch o rnobyl was merely the most publicized example, made many mothers aware of the connection between the policies of the regime and the welfare of their children. (To be continued in next month’s issue.) NOTES 1. Even simple information about items of house - hold convenience will strengthen the revolution of rising expe ctations that doomed the Union of the Soviet Republics. 2. The disproportion between the sexes is higher than in most other countries. Demographers suggest that this is due not only to the losses of Ukraine in the thirties and forties, but because of the high rate of early mortality of males. See Pyrozhkov, S.I., N.M. Lakiza - Sachuk, 1. V. Zapatima, Ukraiina v demohrafichnomu vymiri: Mynule. Suchasne. Maibutne No. 35, Natsionalnyi instytut stra - tehichnykh doslidzhen Kyiv, 1995, p. 15. 3. N.M Lakiza - Sachuk , Deformirniushchee vlianie sovremennogo planirovaniia semii v Ukraine na osnovy Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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