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16 “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 2010 as gu ests . 19 Women distrust ed a uni fied organizati on that could serve as a means for various agencies in the gover nment to claim control over the women ’ s moveme nt. 20 In addi tion to the Committee of Soldiers ’ Mothe rs, with their activity on the wane, there were thre e major women ’ s org anizations. All view e d the situa tion in Ukraine from different perspectives. The Rada - Leag ue - Confe deration had been satisfied with the Sovi et regime, especially during its perestroika phase that gave women a chance to engage in acti vities to supplement their income. It did lit tle t o promot e Ukraine ’ s indep endence. The Women ’ s Union f rom its inception primarily, although not excl usively, focused on issues relating to Ukraine ’ s nati onal independence. Women ’ s Comm unity stre ssed political and national rights and active coope ration of al l women ’ s org anizations. All women ’ s org anizations in Ukraine t ook for g ranted the re sponsibility of the government for basic social welf are of the whole population, especially for women and children. Maternity leave, childcare, benefi ts for more than one chil d were not qu es - tioned , and cuts in these services were vigor ously prote sted. ( To be c ontinued in next month’s issue .) NOTES 12. Wes tern publications in Ukrainian introduced some of the women to women's studies and to community acti vities. Ruk h act ivists were willing to organize public meet ings for American women to talk to Ukrainian audienc es. 13. Tex t of the by - laws of the Women’s Union (Soiuz Ukrai nok), copy in the possession of the author. 14. “Re spublikanska rada zhinok,” Visti z Ukrainy, No., 1987, p. 2. Valentyna S. Shevchenko, who served as the premi er of Ukraine and V.A. lvashko, the Secretary of the Centr al Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and Gorbac hev Party stalwart, helped organize the Council. Late r, charges were made t hat the Women’s Councils were used t o launder party coffers, see Samostiina Ukraina, no. 13 (Sept ember) 1991, p. 3. By the fall of 1991, with the approa ch of the referendum on independence and the presi dential elections, Orlyk used the Council to revivify the old pa rty lines and to keep women in an organizational struc ture. 15. Ma rch 8 as I nternational Women’s Day was the idea of Klara Zetkin; it is still deeply resented by nationalist Ukrai nians who see it as exclusively a socialist Russian event. 16. A cynic al male reporter noted that “Ukrainian, Russi an, Belorussian, Jewish, Bulgarian, Korean women chante d how difficult it is to live in slavery, and in unison humbly r epeated the words of ‘Our Father’.” Gennadii Kyry ndiasov, “Choho khoche zhinka, toho kh oche Boh,” Vechi rnii Kyiv, 11 March, 1991. The title of the article trans lated one of the slogans of the meeting: “The will of the woma n is the will of God.” The leaflets calling for mass parti cipation sought to speak to women’s altruism. The hunger st rike of the s tudents of October 1990 was still fresh in peo ple's memories, and the renewed wave of student unrest was also met with sympathy. The organizers remi nded Kyivan women of the selfless dedication of the student demonstrators who wanted nothing for th emse lves — only a better government for the country. The phrasing of the le aflet was as emotional as it was awkward. Women were exhorted to “insist [on the election of] wise statesmen who wo uld not force you out with your children to parade, mere ly because t here w as no order countermanding the parade ; who will assure you a life and not mere existence (who kno ws what decree will fall on your head tomorrow); who wi ll not send your children to fight into far off lands (75 young m en from Ukraine are prisoners of war i n Pakistan). In al l critical moments the word of Woman became law. So forg et your home burdens for an hour, come to the center of Kyiv , add your voice to that of the students.” This leaflet was s igned by the Women’s Community of Rukh and by the Comm it tee of Soldiers’ Mothers. 17. Vol odymyr Skania, “Povernemo im sviato,” Holo s Ukrainy, March 12,1991; also Stanislav Iatsenko, “Zov sim ne sviatkovy mitynh,” Molod Ukrainy, March 12, 1991. To unde rscore its political character, the meeting was held a t the O ctob er Square, renamed Independence Square, which, since the hunger strike of the students in October, 1990 tha t resulted in the resignation of Vitalii Masol, the Prim e Minister of Ukraine [the only such case in the history of the whole USSR] became the ve nue for major political demons trations. 18. The w omen drafted an open letter to the Women of Afgha nistan asking for compassion for captive soldiers and as suring the Afghans that Ukraine had not supported the invas ion of their country and would like to liv e in p eace with it. T he leaflet, passed at the meeting, was later widely circ ulated. 19. Vis ti z Ukrainy No. 7, February, 1991, published a sta tement of Soiuz Ukrainok that its aim is the struggle for an inde pendent Ukraine, and hence they found it imposs ible to coo perate with Orlyk’s organization. The Women’s Comm unity in turn, called in flowery terms for that cooper ation. 20. The f act that the Ukrainian representation to the UN co nference on women in Beijing was headed by a male (Iva n Kuras) as well as the highh anded fashion in which Suzan Stanik (in May, 1997) simply announced the chair of the Adv isory Committee of Civic Organizations she had conv ened, riled most of the women’s organizations. Tamara Hlushe nok, Women’s Union, interview in Kyiv, June. 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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