UN Authority Figures

UN Commission on the Status of Women: Russian Federation

Only 2% of Russian women who suffer domestic violence complain to the police. Photo: Russian journalist Anna Zhavnerovich, whose complaint of domestic abuse was ignored by police.
Source: Russia and India Report, April 15, 2015

Mission of the Commission on the Status of Women: "The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women... The CSW is instrumental in promoting women's rights, documenting the reality of women's lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women." (Commission on the Status of Women website, "Overview")

Term of office: 2016-2020 (reelected to term 2020-2024)

Russian Federation's Record on Women's rights:
"Other problems reported during the year included: ... violence against women, limits on the rights of women... Human rights groups noted authorities often did not act to address widespread reports of physical abuse of women... Domestic violence remained a major problem. There is no significant domestic violence provision in the criminal code and no legal definition of domestic violence... According to NGOs police were often unwilling to register complaints of domestic violence and frequently discouraged victims from submitting them... According to human rights groups, so-called honor killings of women...continued. Human rights groups further reported that so-called honor killings were underreported and rarely prosecuted because of community collusion to cover up such crimes... women continued to face bride kidnapping, polygamy, forced marriage (including child marriage), legal discrimination, and enforced adherence to Islamic dress codes. There were cases in some parts of the North Caucasus where men, claiming that kidnapping brides was an ancient local tradition, reportedly abducted and raped young women, in some cases forcing them into marriage... The law does not specifically prohibit sexual harassment in the workplace, which remained a widespread problem."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2015, Russian Federation)