Progress Publishers
Moscow
[1] __TRANSL__ Translated from the RussianAuthors: L. G. BALAKHOVSKAYA, N. A. BEREZHNAYA, Y. P. BLINOVA, S. S. GILEVSKAYA, R. 0. KHALFINA, E. Ye. NOVIKOVA, Ye. M. SHIBARINA, R. S. SMIRNOVA, N. I. TATARINOVA, A. L. YEFIMOVA
Edited by N. A. KOVALSKY (Chief Editor) and Y. P. BLINOVA
JKEHIUHHbl Ha
__COPYRIGHT__ First printing 1975 ... 11101---890 ,
W 014(01)-756°
CONTENTS
FOREWORD ............... 5
WOMEN'S RIGHTS TODAY........ 7
WOMEN IN SOCIALIST SOCIETY
WOMEN IN THE USSR........... 25
The October Revolution and the Emancipation of Women............ 25
Women's Participation in Social Labour . . 36 Women and State Administration .... 46 The Woman and the Family....... 51
THE SOLUTION OF THE QUESTION OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN OTHER SOCIALIST COUNTRIES ................ 62
The Formation of the World Socialist System as the Decisive Factor in Women's Emancipation ............ 62
The Role of Women in Economic and Cultural Life .............. 69
The Working Woman and the Family ... 80 Political Equality in Action....... 92
The Women of Socialist Countries in the Struggle for Peace, Friendship and Cooperation Among Peoples of the World 96
WOMEN IN THE DEVELOPED CAPITALIST COUNTRIES
The Problem of Female Labour...... 111
The Participation of Women in Government,
Social and Political Activity...... 130
The Status of the Women in the Family . . 147
The Part Played by Women in Advanced Capitalist Countries in the Fight for Social Progress, Democracy and Peace . . . 165
[3]THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN TFIE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
PROBLEMS OF SOCIAL LIBERATION OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES . . . 205
The Position of Women in the Countries of
Asia and Africa............ 210
Problems of Working Women in Latin America 234
WOMEN OF THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
IN THE NATIONAL LIBERATION STRUGGLE 241
African Women in the Struggle for National
Independence ............ 242
The Women of South Asian Countries in the
Anti-imperialist Struggle ....... 2.r)4
The Women's Movement in the Middle East 264
Women in Southeast Asia Fighting for Their
Rights and National Independence . . . 268
Women of Asia and Africa in the Struggle for Unity................ 275
The Working Women of Latin America in
the Liberation and General Democratic
Movement ............. 285
WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION
The Founding of the Women's International
Democratic Federation ........ 301
In Defence of Woman's Rights as Mother, Worker and Citizen.......... 308
In Defence of Children ......... 314
For Peace Throughout the World..... 319
In Support of the Struggle for Winning and Consolidating National Independence Against Neocolonialism ........ 322
CONCLUSION ............... 331
[4] __ALPHA_LVL1__ FOREWORDThe second half of the 20th century is an age of tumultuous scientific and technical progress and of outstanding discoveries and inventions. People are exploring space, are flying to the moon and are penetrating the depths of the oceans.
Against the background of these wonderful achievements,;humanity's unresolved social problems stand out with particular starkness. One of these problems is the status of women, who nowadays comprise half of the world's total population and one-third of its workforce.
It is perfectly obvious that the part played by women in all spheres of life today is constantly on the increase. But it is no less obvious that in many countries women remain subject to inequality and oppression. This has a harmful effect both on their own status and on the social climate of the society in which they live. After all, the status of women acts as a kind of barometer registering the amount of democracy in any state. As Charles Fourier commented the degree 5 of woman's emancipation is the natural measure of the general emancipation.
But what is the status of women in modern society---in the socialist, developed capitalist and developing countries? This question forms a complex problem on many levels, affecting all aspects of social life---the economy, politics and ideology. Therefore, the authors have aimed to show the most important tendencies in the international women's movement and to present an objective picture of the status of the woman in society and in the family.
The authors have approached their analysis of the status of women in the world today from the standpoint of Marxist-Leninist theory, the effective doctrine that has revealed the true causes of the inequality of women in a class society, and has shown how they are to be emancipated.
Women Today is an extremely topical work, appearing as it does in 1975, which has been declared by the UN General Assembly to be International Women's Year.
V. V. Nikolayeva-Tereshkova
Chairman,
Soviet Women's Committee
The question of the status and role of the woman in society has long been of interest to thinkers, scholars, writers and public figures belonging to the most varied philosophical and political trends. Many academic and artistic works have been written on the subject and many lively debates have been held.
Marxist theory links the solution of the question of women's rights with the class struggle of the working class for revolutionary transformations and socialism. Marxists consider that only in a society in which there is no private ownership of the means of production and no exploitation of one class by another and in which the social equality of all people, both de jure and de facto, has been achieved, will women really become emancipated and be able to participate in all spheres of material and spiritual life on a par with men. This thought can be traced throughout many works by Marx, Engels and. Lenin.
Stressing the indissoluble link between the complete emancipation of women and the victory 7 of socialism, Lonin pointed out that the social emancipation of the working people was impossible without the social emancipation of women. He wrote: "The proletariat cannot achieve complete liberty until it has won complete liberty for women."'^^1^^
He regarded working women as an important force in the struggle for the fundamental restructuring of society. According to Lenin, "There can be no socialist revolution unless very many working women take a big part in it. ...The experience of all liberation movements has shown that the success of a revolution depends on how much the women take part in it."^^2^^
Lenin saw the most important condition for the genuine emancipation of women to lie in their participation in the building of a new society. He said that "to effect her complete emancipation and make her the equal of the man it is necessary for the national economy to be socialised and for women to participate in common productive labour. Then women will occupy the same position as men".^^3^^
A woman's participation in social production encourages the all-round development of her personality and the growth of her social activity, and assists the moulding of her world outlook. However, it is essential to implement the equality between men and women in social production, bearing in mind the need to protect the labour of women due to their particular physical capabilities and their performance of the vital social function of motherhood. "...When _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 372.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 28, pp. 180, 181.
~^^3^^ Ibid., Vol. 30, p. 43.
8 socialists speak of equality,'' Lenin explained, "they always mean social equality, equality of social status, and not by any means the physical and mental equality of individuals."^^1^^In Lenin's view, the state and society must shoulder the responsibility for creating conditions which liberate the woman from generally unproductive domestic labour. Lenin saw the key to this complex problem to lie in the development of a network of child-care centres and also in the development of the public services. He considered that within the framework of the socialist restructuring of society it was necessary to do the utmost to emancipate women from housework, which was "the most barbarous and the most arduous work a woman can do. It is exceptionally petty and does not include anything that would in any way promote the development of the woman."^^2^^
Lenin further declared that it was impossible to solve the problem of the complete social equality of women or to convert them into active participants in the building of the new society without involving them in state administration and without developing their social and political activities. He insisted that "working women must take an increasing part in the administration of socialised enterprises and in the administration of the state".^^3^^
Moreover, Lenin stressed that it was insufficient to grant women political rights; it was necessary to create conditions that allowed them to take part in the management of society.
_-_-_~^^1^^ Ibid., Vol. 20, p. 146.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 30, p. 43.
~^^3^^ Ibid., p. 371.
9Lenin regarded the socio-economic and political equality of women as the main basis for their equality in the family. He came out decisively against laws which debased the woman and gave men privileges in matrimonial legislation and as regards children and family property.
While attributing decisive significance to the role of socialist revolution in the emancipation of women, Lenin did not, however, consider that socialism could immediately abolish the vestiges remaining from thousands of years. Speaking in 1920 of the principal task of the women's working-class movement, he declared: "The chief thing is to get women to take part in socially productive labour, to liberate them from domestic slavery, to free them from their stupefying and humiliating subjugation to the eternal drudgery of the kitchen and the nursery. "This struggle will be a long one, and it demands a radical reconstruction both of social technique and of morals. But it will end in the complete triumph of communism."^^1^^
Lenin developed the theoretical propositions concerning the social emancipation of women and led the drive to give practical effect to the solution of the question of women's rights in the Soviet Republic, devoting a great deal of attention to the development of the international women's movement and expressing his thoughts and wishes concerning its development.
Lenin's propositions on social emancipation of women are internationalist in character. As experience in the USSR has shown, their practical implementation leads to the solution of the question of women's rights. The October _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 409.
10 Revolution, accomplished under the guidance of the Leninist Party, swept away all the legislative obstacles to the elimination of the inequality of women, and created real conditions for their fruitful participation in the building of socialism and communism. Guided by the Marxist-Leninist teaching, the Soviet state consistently carried out a whole complex of measures designed to achieve the complete and real equality of women with men. These measures were initiated during the very first days of the new state's existence.The teaching of Marx, Engels and Lenin on the question of women's rights was further developed in the documents of the international communist movement. The Communist and Workers' Parties are constantly evolving and are making creative use of the stipulations of Marxism-Leninism, bearing in mind the specific historical and socio-economic conditions of their respective countries.
The socio-economic and political shifts that are constantly occurring in the world influence the change in the position of women in production, in public life and in the family. However, the degree of their participation in the life of society is not the same everywhere. It depends on the level of economic, political, social and cultural development in the various countries and, primarily, on their social system.
In the countries of the world socialist system, in which the exploitation of man by man has been abolished, women have received equality with men and the real possibility of taking part in all spheres of the life of society. Their right to labour is guaranteed by the whole social.and economic system of socialism. The policies of the socialist states are designed to see that conditions 11 are created which allow women to combine their participation in production and in state and public life with their role as housewives and as the upbringers of children.
The successes of the countries belonging to the world socialist system in economic and cultural construction and their achievements in conferring equal rights on women act as a stimulus to women the world over in their struggle for social and national emancipation.
In the developed capitalist countries the governments have juridically proclaimed the equality of women with men, but have not ensured its real and complete implementation. Women are subjected to discrimination as regards employment, pay, general and vocational education, and as regards civic, public and political life. As they struggle for true equality the working women of these countries merge with the workers' and general democratic movement, and constitute an important part of the revolutionary forces of modern times.
As for the developing countries, once they had secured political independence, they were faced by the urgent task of involving women in the sphere of social production, of raising their general educational and cultural level and vocational training standard, and of improving their working and living conditions. During the years of national consolidation a series of major socio-economic transformations were carried through in these countries, which encouraged the emancipation of women. However, the heavy legacy of the colonial past, the low level of economic development, the influence of the foreign monopolies, and neocolonialism are hampering the involvement of women in the sphere 12 of social production and state activity. Women in these countries are waging a struggle for their emancipation as members of democratic women's organisations.
When analysing the women's movement, it is necessary to bear in pind not only the features of the social systems in various countries, but also the differentiation in the class interests of women, which in present circumstances does not constitute an insurmountable obstacle to cooperation and unity in the struggle for their rights. Marxists have always emphasised the unity of the class interests of men and women in the struggle for social progress. Women do not form an independent class, but are a component part of each class, and, despite their outward similarity, their demands cannot be completely identical. This explains why different political parties approach the question of women's rights in different ways, in accordance with their particular ideological and political orientation. In order to conduct practical work among women, the parties set up, in addition to women's sections, mass women's organisations which, to a greater or lesser extent, are under the influence or even under the direct control of these parties. This gives rise to the heterogeneity of the women's movement and to the variety of the trends active in it.
The status of women and their struggle to secure full rights are constantly kept in mind by today's international communist and workingclass movement. The International Meetings of Communist and Workers' Parties held in 1957, 1960 and 1969 assigned to Communists the world over the task of intensifying their work among the female masses as a vital condition 13 for the peoples' successful anti-imperialist struggle.
Guided by these decisions, the Communist Parties of many capitalist countries devote a great deal of attention to work among women. They are striving to involve them in the active struggle against exploitation and for social and democratic changes. Relying on Marxist-Leninist propositions dealing with the question and creatively developing them in application to the conditions of class struggle in the specific historical situation, the Communist Parties are regarding the movement for women's emancipation as a vital component of the struggle for peace, democracy and socialism. They are struggling for the real right of women to work, equal pay and improved working conditions, for the creation of a broad network of consumer service establishments and children's institutions, for benefits to large families, and for a change in the juridical and actual status of the woman in the family, and so on.
At the initiative of the Communists, conferences and seminars are held for women workers, peasants and students, as well as conferences for female Party activists, at which the current problems of the women's movement are discussed. While involving women in the movement to satisfy the demands that are closest to their hearts, the Communists explain and prove, using concrete examples, that the problems associated with the status of women cannot be completely solved without struggling against the omnipotence of the monopolies and for democratic and social renewal.
Despite the differences between them, the bourgeois, Right-wing reformist and 14 ecclesiastical conceptions of the question of women's rights all fundamentally ignore or underestimate the class and social roots of this question. This complex problem, which involves the social and political system of society, is reduced by bourgeois investigators to the question of relationships between man and woman, while the cause of women's inequality is said to reside in the outdated views that men hold of the role of women. The most reactionary of them go even farther and advocate theories showing the supposed biological inferiority of women, their mental backwardness, and so on.
The whole course of social development shows the flimsiness of these views. Under the influence of certain transformatory factors, which have accelerated the process of the involvement of women in the life of society, the views held by modern bourgeois ideologists on the issue of women's status have undergone some evolution, and this has affected the stand and nature of the demands advanced by bourgeois feminist organisations.^^1^^
Many of them have included in their programmes such important social demands as the real access of women to public and political life, the provision of employment for the female workforce, equal opportunities to gain an _-_-_
~^^1^^ Feminism---a bourgeois women's movement aiming to provide women with equal rights with men within the framework of a capitalist state, arose in the second half of the 19th century. The main feminist organisations to be set up in the early 20th century were the International Council of Women, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the International Alliance of Women---Equal Rights---Equal Responsibilities, Open-Door International for the Economic Emancipation of the Woman Worker, and so on.
15 education and qualifications, and also questions connected with the preservation of peace. While continuing to hold feminist and pacifist positions, bourgeois ideologists stress that they are in favour of reform within the existing system and are struggling against war in general. Referring to the low level of activity by women in public and political life, they rightly observe that the degree of this activity does not correspond to the level of their participation in production. However, they see the reasons for this to lie either in the women themselves (women are said not to be ialerestcd in politics), or in men (who, it is claimed, do not allow women to indulge in politics). Although proposing for the solution of this question such undoubtedly necessary measures as the provision of equal opportunities for women to obtain an education, the greatest possible liberation from housework, and so on, they pass over in silence the need for radical measures affecting the social basis of capitalist society.Under the influence of the fundamental changes that are taking place in the world today, a section of the feminist movement is cooperating with the democratic women's movement over such issues as world peace, the implementation of women's economic, political and civil rights, the health, upbringing and education of children, and so on. A whole series of international feminist women's organisations took part in such major international women's forums, convened at the initiative of the WIDF, as the World Congress of Women (Copenhagen 1953), the World Congress of Mothers for the Defence of Children from War, for Disarmament and International Friendship (Lausanne 1955), the International 16 Assembly of Women on the 50th Anniversary of International Women's Day (Copenhagen 1960), the World Congress of Women (Moscow 1963) and the World Congress of Women (Helsinki 1969).
The position adopted by Social-Democrats over the question of women's rights is assuming a definite importance, given the conditions of today. Socialists on the far Left share the stand taken by the Communists over the issue of women's rights, indissolubly linking the struggle for the emancipation of women with the struggle for social transformations. A different position is taken by Right-wing Social-Democrats. While admitting that the issue of women's rights in the capitalist countries is unresolved, they pass over in silence the dependence of this question on the social and economic structure of society, and also on the political course adopted by the governments of their countries. Right-wing Socialists recognise the struggle for the economic and civil reforms that affect the status of women in society and in the family, but only within the framework of the existing system. This applies chiefly to the aims of the leadership of a number of Socialist and Social-Democratic parties which have representatives in government coalitions. As for the rank-and-file membership of these parties and the working people who sympathise with them, the majority of them sincerely desire unity with the Communists in the struggle to meet the vital needs of working women.
Female members of the Social-Democratic parties and also the women's organisations that are influenced by these parties in 24 countries have come together to form the International __PRINTERS_P_17_COMMENT__ 2---0912 17 Council of Social-Democratic Women (ICSDW), which in turn forms part of the Socialist International. The ICSDW has a membership of some 2 million women, and its efforts are directed towards publicising the ideas of "democratic socialism".
The position adopted by religious organisations over the issue of women's rights also deserves attention. This is particularly true of the Catholic organisations, which are the most massive and influential organisations among women in the capitalist countries. In recent years their position has undergone substantial changes.
The new approach adopted by the Catholic Church towards the problems of the working class and working women is dictated by the socio-economic and political changes in the world and by the development of the world revolutionary process, which has also had an effect on working Catholics. Forced to reckon with the mood of the masses and to adapt to their demands, the Vatican has revised a number of items in its social doctrine as regards women, which was, for instance, reflected in Pope John XXIII's encyclical PaceminTerris(l963) and also in the material emerging from the Second Vatican Council (the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World Today, 1965, etc.). These documents, in effect, say the following: previously the Catholic Church completely rejected the participation of women in productive and public life, seeing their vocation to be only maternal and household cares, whereas nowadays it admits the possibility and even the necessity of involving women in public life and, primarily, in production.
18The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World Today contains, in addition, the appeal for the jobs of working mothers to be made easier. "The entire process of productive work,'' the document states, "must be accommodated to the needs of the human person and the nature of his life, with special attention to domestic life and of mothers of families in particular, taking sex and age into account.''
Nevertheless, the position of the Catholic Church over the question of women's rights is marked by inconsistency and contradiction. Miny churchmen approach the problem of women's work very circumspectly, reluctant to break away from the traditional conservative idea that a woman's place is at home. Official Church documents constantly stress that a woman's first duty is to the home and the family.
The most Left-wing circles in the Catholic movement, notably several Christian trade union organisations affiliated to the ICL,^^1^^ have included in their programme the struggle for the right of women to work and for their equal right to education and to wages on a par with men's, and are championing the enhancement of the role of working women in productive and public life.
Most of the currently active mass Catholic women's organisations are affiliated to the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations (WUCWO), which has a total membership of 36 million women. The official aim of the organisation is to further the activities of Catholic women for the benefit of human society, to _-_-_
~^^1^^ The International Confederation of Labour (ICL)--- an international centre principally uniting Christian trade unions.
__PRINTERS_P_19_COMMENT__ 2* 19 study, in a Christian spirit, questions that are of world-wide significance, to represent Catholic women in public opinion and international organisations, to coordinate the activities of Catholic women's organisations and to maintain links between them.The modern democratic women's movement is an inseparable part of the working-class and general democratic movement in the developed capitalist countries and of the national liberation movement in the developing countries. A great part in the international democratic women's movement is played by women in the socialist countries. Representatives from the various social strata of society and of various professions participate in it, holding different political views and religious convictions, but all recognising and supporting the programme of the democratic women's organisations that are united in the Women's International Democratic Federation.
The WIDF is one of the most massive of the international women's organisations and operates in close cooperation with other women's organisations and also with young people's and trade union organisations and peace supporters of various ideological and political orientation. Particularly important is the WIDF's cooperation with the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) over the problems of working women. These problems constitute the nucleus around which all the other forces in the democratic women's movement rally. Today the democratic women's movement is not just a reserve, but is an initiative and influential force that manifests itself actively in the working-class national liberation and general democratic movement.
20The problems arising from the status of women are currently of interest to more than just progressive opinion. Intergovernmental organisations are also involved in them. This is shown by the fact that nearly all the UN organisations deal in one way or another with the various aspects of women's rights. In November 1967, the UN General Assembly adopted a Declaration on Elimination "of Discrimination Against Women. This document recognises that in many countries there are still unsolved problems regarding the status of women. Various documents in defence of women's rights---declarations, conventions, resolutions and recommendations---are regularly prepared by the UN Commission on the Status of Women and are adopted by the UN General Assembly. They have a certain effect on the legislation of individual states. The laws of a number of countries are brought into line with the main stipulations of these documents, which helps to improve the status of women.
It would be wrong, however, to overestimate the part played by international organisations in resolving the social problems faced by women. The emancipation of women from exploitation, from national and racial oppression, and from all forms of suppression and inequality in society and in the family depends, above all, on the activity and maturity of the working class, as well as the working women themselves, who, supported by the popular masses and guided by the Communist and Workers' Parties and the democratic public organisations, are struggling against imperialism and colonialism, and for social progress and peace.
Various social strata that are opposed to the 21 external and internal policies of the monopolies rally round the working class in this struggle. The front of the anti-monopoly struggle is being extended, drawing its fighters from the peasantry, the intelligentsia, the students and the urban middle and petty bourgeoisie.
``The large-scale actions by the working class and the working masses,'' the Resolution of the 24th GPSU Congress on the Report of the CPSU Central Committee states, "herald fresh class battles which could lead to fundamental social changes, to the establishment of the power of the working class in alliance with the other sections of the working people."^^1^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, Moscow, 1971, pp. 214--15. 23
22 __ALPHA_LVL1__ WomenThe question of women's rights in the Soviet Union was resolved through a fundamental restructuring of the old society with the active participation of the women themselves. The Bolshevik Party founded by Lenin, which guided the October Revolution and consolidated the new social system, viewed the question of women's rights as one of the most important social problems that the triumphant Revolution had to solve.
In order to appreciate the colossal amount of work that had to be done in this field, one must recall the status of women in tsarist Russia.
In pre-Revolutionary Russia women had no electoral rights whatsoever. The head of the family was the husband. Deprived of any rights and oppressed in the family as well as in society at large, women had no access to education or to qualifications, and were unable to participate in political or cultural life.Of the women employed in hired labour 55 per cent worked as domestic servants, and 25 per cent worked as farm labourers for the big landowners and kulaks (rich peasants). 25 Only 13 per cent were employed in enterprises or on building sites (and even then on work requiring little skill), and 4 per cent were in educational or health establishments. A mere 17 per cent of all women were literate, and only a handful managed with great difficulty to fight their way into the academic world.
The working day at enterprises lasted for 13--14 hours and was the longest in Europe. Women did the same jobs as men, but were only paid 75 per cent or even 50 per cent as much. There were no labour laws affording women any protection. The peasant woman was no better off: she had no rights whatsoever, not even the right to a plot of land. She worked for the kulak or the landowner from dawn to dusk.
The infant mortality rate in pre-Revolutionary Russia was enormous: 43 per cent of all children died before they reached the age of five. There were hardly any maternity and child protection institutions. A woman's average life expectancy was 33 years (now 74).
Life was particularly hard for women in the Central Asian areas of the country. Here feudal and even clan relations prevailed. Polygamy was practised, as well as the marrying off of minors and the buying and selling of brides. Forced seclusion and the wearing of the yashmak cut women off completely from the outside world.
Guided by the Marxist-Leninist theory that the social emancipation of women is part of the question of social emancipation in general, and bearing in mind the specific features of the question of women's status, the Bolshevik Party strove to raise the political awareness of women, to involve them in the revolutionary movement of the proletariat and to turn them into fighters 26 for their own emancipation. "Anyone who has the slightest knowledge of history,'' Marx wrote, "knows also that great social upheavals are impossible without women's ferment."^^1^^ For this reason, the Bolshevik Party made use of all available forms and methods of work, and gave women a political education, raising their consciousness and involving them in revolutionary struggle.
The years of hard struggle against the autocracy and capitalism in the underground and in open political struggle, in prisons and in exile saw the rise of a whole galaxy of outstanding professional women revolutionaries, who combined in themselves implicit devotion to the cause of the revolution, unfaltering courage, broad knowledge and the ability to work with the masses.
Nadezhda Krupskaya, Maria Ulyanova, Anna Yelizarova, Inessa Armand, Alexandra Kollontai, Konkordia Samoilova, Yelena Stasova, Klavdia Nikolayeva, Sofia Smidovich, Feodosia Drabkina, Raissa Zemlyachka and many others tirelessly spread Leninist ideas among the women workers and peasants, and drew them into the Party and the revolutionary movement.
As a result of the activity of the Bolshevik Party and of the whole pre-Revolutionary political development, many working women of Russia became active participants in class battles, the 1905 revolution, the February revolution and the October Revolution of 1917. They took part in the strike movement, in revolutionary demonstrations and in armed uprisings, and they acted as organisers, fighters, agitators, scouts, messengers and nurses.
_-_-_~^^1^^ Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Werke, Band 32, S. 582.
27On October 25 (November 7), 1917, the Great October Socialist Revolution was triumphant and women made a considerable contribution to the victory.
The building of the new society began in extremely difficult circumstances. Thefourbloody years of the First World War (1914--1918) had undermined the country's economy. Sparked off by counter-revolutionaries, the Civil War broke out (1918--1920). In order to stifle the Revolution, 14 foreign states fell upon the young Soviet Republic in an armed intervention. A great deal of intensive work and the mobilisation of all forces were required of the Soviet people in order to defend their revolutionary gains. Despite all this, the breakdown of the old social relations and the creation of new ones were accomplished during the very first days after the victory of the October Revolution.
Alongside such major matters as ending the war and concluding peace, abolishing landownership and transferring the land to the peasants, establishing control over production and over the distribution of material wealth, the question of the social emancipation of women was also being decided.
The first Soviet Decrees on Peace and Land, which were signed by Lenin, were very much in the interests of women. The Decree on Land enabled a peasant woman to obtain as much land as a man. A whole series of further decrees were enacted containing special points affecting women. The decree establishing an 8-hour working day dated October 29 (November 11), 1917, prohibited the employment of women for night work. The social security regulations of November 14 (27) provided for maternity benefits, 28 payable 8 weeks before the birth and 8 weeks after it. The decree on pay established a minimum wage level irrespective of sex. The decree on rates of pay upheld the principle of equal remuneration for equal work for both men and women. December 18 (31), 1917, saw the adoption of a decree on civil marriage giving men and women equal rights in marriage and in the family. The first Constitution of the RSFSR (July 1918) institutionalised the equality of women and their political and civil rights.
Summing up all that had been done by Soviet power immediately after its establishment, Lenin said: "In this field, not a single democratic party in the world, not even in the most advanced bourgeois republic, has done in decades so much as a hundredth part of what we did in our very first year in power. We really razed to the ground the infamous laws placing women in a position of inequality.... But the more thoroughly we have cleared the ground of the lumber of the old, bourgeois laws and institutions, the clearer it is to us that we have only cleared the ground to build on but are not yet building."^^1^^
It only took a few months to abolish the old laws and adopt new ones which recognised the full equality of women, but it took years and years to resolve the fundamental problems involved in providing women with equal rights.
It was only possible to accomplish the social emancipation of women through the development of productive forces, the socialist industrialisation of the country and the collectivisation of agriculture, and the all-round development of _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 29, pp. 428--29.
29 culture, i.e., through the building of a new, socialist society. To a considerable degree, the success of socialist construction depended on the participation of the women themselves in it. It formed a single interconnected and indissoluble process. A vast amount of work was required to train women for active participation in production, state and socio-political life.The first thing to be done was to abolish illiteracy and semi-literacy. At the same time it was also necessary to provide women with the opportunity of undergoing vocational training and raise their skills, and to involve them in sociopolitical and state affairs.
In accordance with a decree passed by the Council of People's Commissars on December 26, 1919, the elimination of illiteracy and semi-- literacy in the case of people aged between 8 and 50 became a task for the whole of the state and the people. Tens of thousands of schools and centres for the elimination of illiteracy were opened. The individual teaching scheme whereby a person who could read and write gave instruction to someone else who could not was very popular. Illiteracy among women had been largely abolished by 1939.
The doors of all educational establishments were opened to women. In order to help working people to obtain a higher education, workers' faculties were established under the auspices of higher educational establishments, and they prepared working men and women for entry to institutes and universities. Factory apprenticeship, vocational schools and individual on-job training were, during the early stages, the principal forms taken by the training of women for skilled work. Alongside the Party and the 30 Government, the trade unions, the young people's and cooperative organisations dealt with all these issues.
A large part in the involvement of women in production and socio-political affairs was played by the sections for work among women (women's sections) that were set up in mid-1919 under the auspices of the CC RCP(B) and all lower Party bodies.
The women's sections carried out broad political and educational work among women. They organised meetings, congresses and conferences at which all the vital questions concerning the life and work of women were discussed. They were concerned to improve the working and living conditions of women in town and country, and made checks to see that the laws and provisions protecting female labour were carried out. The women's sections took part in the discussion of draft laws affecting the interests of women, were themselves the initiators of many government decrees, and tabled their suggestions during the examinations of state budgets and economic development plans.
Meetings of women's delegates were held under the direct control of the women's sections. The delegates were elected for one year from representatives of women workers, office employees, peasants and housewives. Papers and talks on political topics were given at the delegates' meetings, and practical questions concerning the functioning of Soviet institutions were discussed. Each delegate was assigned for practical work to a particular Soviet institution, a nursery school or a cooperative shop. After their practical work many delegates took up permanent employment at the places they had been assigned to. 31 In this way, women were introduced to social activity.
Soviet power also took steps to assist mothers in the upbringing and care of children and to lighten their housework. A network of childcare centres was gradually built up, and the foundations were laid for setting up consumer service establishments.
In the eastern part of the country work among women had to take account of the local peculiarities. In addition to meetings, conferences and the work of delegates' meetings, women's clubs and various other centres were founded. Here women were taught to read and write, were given production training and received medical advice. They were introduced to public life and culture, and were taught how to look after children and run a home properly.
The twenties saw the birth of a movement that came to be known as khujum (offensive) in the republics of Central Asia. It really was an offensive on feudal customs and prejudices. Most women threw off their yashmaks and horsehair nets---the symbols of slavery---and burnt them on bonfires.
The battle for a new way of life for women was a hard one and was accompanied by many sacrifices. But the battle was won by Soviet power and the Leninist national policy.
The Soviet press played a great part in women's political education and their involvement in study and production .Special leaflets and brochures were published, as well as a series of popular books called the "Library of Women Workers and Peasants''. In the central, provincial and many local papers there was a page called the "Working Woman's Page''. The Woman Worker, 32 The Peasant Woman, Woman Communist and other, later women's magazines strove constantly to educate women and gradually raise their political and cultural level.
As a result of the enormous amount of work performed by the Communist Party and Soviet power, and by all the mass organisations of the working people, the role of women in production and in all spheres of the life of society gradually grew on the basis of a general growth in the economy and the culture of the young Soviet state, hand in hand with the building of socialism.
In 1936, a new Constitution of the USSR was adopted, reflecting the victory of socialism in the country and confirming the fundamental rights of women. Article 122 of the Constitution reads as follows:
``Women in the USSR are accorded equal rights with men in all spheres of economic, government, cultural, political and other public .activity.
``The possibility of exercising these rights is rensured by women being accorded an equal right with men to work, payment for work, rest and Heisure, social insurance and education, and by ; state protection of the interests of mother and ichild, state aid to mothers of large families and unmarried mothers, maternity leave with full pay, and the provision of a wide network of maternity homes, nurseries and kindergartens.'' This Article of the Constitution reflects all the ;social gains that affect the status of women.
The status of women changed radically with 'the victory of socialism. The participation of women in social production, culture and politics increased so much that no comparison with the past is possible.
__PRINTERS_P_34_COMMENT__ 3---0912 33The growth was qualitative as well as quantitative. At enterprises women began to work as skilled workers, foremen and engineers. By the beginning of 1941, 43,000 women engineers were employed in the national economy. Many women became production managers.
The collectivisation of agriculture enabled women to occupy an equal place alongside men in agricultural production. In 1940, there were 19 million women working on collective farms, with 100,000 of them in charge of agriculture machinery, 40,000 running livestock farms, over 14,500 leading brigades and more than 14,000 working as collective farm chairmen and deputy chairmen.
A new Soviet intelligentsia grew up, a considerable section of which was composed of women. By the beginning of 1941, 36 per cent of all graduates in the country were women, and they formed the majority of teachers and public health workers.
Many women pioneered the public movement for shock work and for mastering machinery and new professions.
The women fliers Valentina Grizodubova, Polina Osipenko and the navigator Marina Raskova achieved fame during the prewar years when they made their heroic non-stop flight in the plane Rodina from Moscow to the Soviet Far East. They were the first women to be made Heroes of the Soviet Union.
Women began to play a part in state administration. At the 1937 elections to the USSR Supreme Soviet---the country's highest organ of state power---189 women deputies were elected; hundreds of thousands of women were elected to local and republican government bodies.
34The Soviet people's Great Patriotic War against nazi Germany and imperialist Japan was a stern test of the durability of the whole Soviet system. The war years showed the extent to which the part played by the Soviet woman in the country's economic and political life had increased, and made clear the growth in her awareness and moral qualities. During the war Soviet women were able to shoulder the main burden of labour, as well as the responsibility for the efficient and uninterrupted work of the home front, without which victory in the fight against fascism would have been unthinkable. Women took the place of men in enterprises, on transport, on building sites, in scientific institutions and in educational establishments. They were also the decisive force in agriculture.
Soviet women distinguished themselveis not only by their selfless labour in the rear, but also by their heroic struggle on the front and in partisan detachments. Over a million women took part directly in military operations against the enemy. The names of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya,
Liza Chaikina, Maryte Melnikaite and many other heroines have forever been inscribed in the chronicle of the Soviet people's struggle. For their courage and bravery 320,000 women were decorated with military Orders and medals. 91 women were made Heroes of the Soviet Union. After the war the Soviet people were faced by the task of healing the serious wounds inflicted by the fascist invaders, rehabilitating thousands of towns and villages, raising from the ruins tens of thousands of factories, power stations, schools and hospitals, ensuring the peaceful development of all spheres in the life of the people, and __PRINTERS_P_35_COMMENT__ 3* 35 continuing the building of socialism. Millions of Soviet women took part in the struggle to accomplish the postwar tasks and to complete the building of a socialist society.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Women's ParticipationThe decisive condition for women's real equality with men is their participation in social labour. The growth of women's involvement in social labour gives rise to social and economic consequences, the chief of which is the change in the role of women in society and in the family. Their new role in society arises from the fact that female labour has become one of the most important factors in socialist construction. The active participation of women in social production furthers the all-round development of their personalities and helps to mould their general outlook. Her separate earnings make the woman independent of her husband, who used to be the sole breadwinner.
This enhancement of the role of women in social labour is in the interests both of society as a whole and of its individual members.
The main feature of the use of female labour in social production under socialism is that the employment of women takes place under the conditions generated by public ownership of the means of production and by a planned economy. As a result, favourable conditions are created for women to work outside the home. This enables women to fully exercise their right to work, which is guaranteed by the whole socio-economic system of socialist society.
36Scientific and technological progress is creating new and broader possibilities for the growth of women's economic activity and for raising the efficiency with which female labour is used. The effect of scientific and technological progress currently extends far beyond industry and is revolutionising personal as well as social work. The objective preconditions for increasing the employment of women in social production are prepared, on the one hand, by the reduction in the use of hard manual labour as a result of mechanisation and automation, and the expansion and emergence of new sectors of material production, as well as the non-productive sphere, and, on the other hand, by the spread of mechanical devices, chemical products and various other commodities that make housework less labourconsuming. Since the economy is planned and the production relations are socialist, scientific and technological progress in both the USSR and other socialist countries has always exerted and is exerting a positive influence on female labour, expanding the framework in which it can be used while at the same time avoiding the negative consequences that are characteristic of capitalist production (unemployment, increased migration, etc.).
In the Soviet Union substantial strides have been made in the past two decades in the use of female labour in social production. The numbers of working women have been increased, as has the share of female labour as a whole, and there have been changes in its sectoral and professional distribution. The proportion of women among workers and office employees rose to 51 per cent in 1974, as compared with 47 per cent in 1960 and 46 per cent in 1955. Between 1955 and 37 1974 inclusively the numbers of women workers and office employees rose by almost 28 million and in 1974 amounted to 51.2 million.
Scientific and technological progress has also caused changes in the distribution of the female workforce between the various sectors of the economy and, primarily, between the key sectors of material production.
The numbers of women employed in industry have more than doubled over the past 20 years. The growth in the numbers of women has proceeded at a more rapid pace than the growth in the numbers of men, which has led to a heightened share of female labour in this particular economic sector: in 1974 women constituted 49 per cent of the industrial workforce, as opposed to 46 per cent in 1965.
Substantial changes in the employment of female labour have also occurred in individual industries. This is particularly true of engineering---the material basis of the technical modernisation of the whole economy, which is called upon to accelerate scientific and technological progress. The development of the engineering industry as a whole is proceeding through the organisation of new areas of technology (which in turn give rise to new sectors and enterprises), and also through the development of old sectors and the modernisation and expansion of existing enterprises. The numbers of women employed in engineering are rising steeply. At present about one-third of all the women employed in industrial production work in engineering.
The growth in the employment of women is occurring in such engineering industries as electrical engineering, the bearings industry and other industries that have only been making use of the 38 female workforce for a relatively short period of time. This was made possible thanks to the mechanisation and automation of a number of production processes. In fact, in these areas women are preferred to men, since in a number of vital operations, such as assembly and fitting, which call for close attention, accuracy, dexterity and care, women usually handle the work better than men: the quality of the finished goods is usually higher, there is less wastage, and productivity is raised.
The light industry, which is traditionally regarded as a "women's sector'', has yielded first place to engineering and now comes second as regards the numbers of women employed in it.
Most of the women employed in the light industry work in sewing and knitted-goods industries. Their high numbers here result from the nature of the production process.
In addition to those already listed, women are employed in all sectors of industry in which the use of female labour is legally permissible.
Great changes have also taken place in agriculture. This sector of the economy has moved down into second place as regards its employment of a female workforce. The main agricultural spheres employing women at the moment are plantgrowing and livestock raising.
Female labour is also widely employed in the sphere of public health, education, trade and public catering. All these sectors employ a high proportion of women, and this tendency is on the increase. The following table reflects the process.
The further development of these sectors results from public demand and is characterised by significant progressive quantitative and 39 Percentage of personnel formed by women 1960 T974 Public health, physical education and social security . . , ...... 85 70 66 85' 73; 70 Education and culture .,,,,.. Trade, public catering, material and technical supply and sale, purchases qualitative changes which have enabled women's labour to be employed on a wide scale (extension of the network of vocational training, increase in the number of jobs, training of skilled personnel, etc.). Yet there is another, subjective side: when women choose to make their careers in the health and education services, their inclinations and habits gained in looking after the sick and bringing up children come into play here.
Soviet women also occupy a worthy place in various branches of modern science. Socialism has provided them with the broadest opportunities here. According to the latest data, 49 per cent of the people employed in science and scientific servicing are women.
Women play an enormous part in the development of culture and art. They perform a great deal of varied work in libraries, houses of culture, clubs, recreation parks, theatres and cinemas, museums, exhibitions, and so on. Women occupy an honourable place among performers and producers, artists and sculptors.
One feature of the current stage in the scientific and technological revolution is the substantial structural changes in the aggregate social labour--- 40 less use of simple labour and a considerable increase in the application of skilled labour. This process is taking place in the qualitative structure of both male and female labour.
Fundamental qualitative changes have occurred in the professional structure of female personnel. The main feature here is the acquisition of professions calling for skilled and highly skilled work in both old and new industries and professions. The numbers of women with a higher or complete or incomplete secondary education have increased more than in the case of men. In 1974, as compared with" 1939, the numbers of women with a higher education increased from 5 per 1,000 women to 45, or 9 times, while the numbers" of'men rose from 11 to 58*per 1,000 men, or"5.3 times. The numbers of women with a complete or" incomplete secondary education increased from?85 per 1,000 women to 459, or 5.4 times, while the numbers of men rose from 116 to 519, or 4.5 times. The proportion of people having a higher or secondary education (complete or incomplete) has become the same among working women and men.
In 1973, the Soviet economy employed ^ million women specialists with a higher or specialised secondary education, or 59 per cent of the total number of specialists. The numbers of women in this category were 14 times as large in 1973 as in 1940, and 79 times the 1928 figure. Women make up 31 per cent of all Soviet engineers, 40 per cent of the country's agronomists, livestock specialists and veterinary surgeons, 64 per cent of its economists, 70 per cent of its doctors ^"and 71 per cent of its teachers.
The comprehensive programme of scientific and technological progress that was envisaged by the Soviet economic development plan for 1971--1975 41 is being successfully implemented. The basis of the programme is the development and application in production of fundamentally new instruments of labour, new materials and progressive technological processes. All this will serve as the foundation for the further expansion of suitable jobs for women in social production and for the improvement of women's skills.
Obviously, the equal participation of women in the economic and other spheres depends to a considerable extent on the level and quality of their education and professional training. In order to provide women with the opportunity of receiving a general or specialised education on a par with men, and skilled or highly skilled work, the principle has been introduced in the USSR, and is backed up by the authority of the state, that the content of syllabi and the length of study time should be the same for all citizens, irrespective of their sex, nationality, and so on. This principle is binding at all stages in the educational system---from the elementary stage to the highest level. Women's genuine equality with men as regards general and professional education is ensured by compulsory 8-year schooling, the broad development of secondary general, vocational, specialised secondary and higher education, maximal development of evening classes and correspondence courses,the provision of all forms of instruction free of charge, the system of state grants for students, the use of native languages as the teaching medium in schools, the organisation of free production training in factories and on state and collective farms, and so on. In accordance with the Directives of the 24th CPSU Congress for the Five-Year Economic Development Plan for 1971--1975, the 42 transition to universal secondary (10-year) education is now nearing completion.
During the schooling process boys and girls acquire the same amount of knowledge that they need both to continue their education at a higher level and for practical work in various fields.
The training of skilled workers whose labour can be used in all sectors of the economy is carried out in urban and rural vocational schools and in evening (shift-system) vocational schools and their various branches. Both young men and young women are admitted to all these educational establishments on the same criteria. The only professions for which girls are not trained are those which are injurious to the female body. This restriction arises from the need to protect the health of the future mother.
The period from 1950 to 1970 saw an increase in the numbers of young people entering various vocational schools. The total number of entrants increased by 4.8 times, and the numbers of girls by almost 16 times. The percentage of girls among the students more than trebled.
The comprehensive mechanisation and automation of production processes that are being carried out in the USSR give broader scope for the employment of women and make new demands on the level of their skills. Accordingly, the pace of technological progress has made it necessary to extend the training of women workers in a number of professions, particularly those involving the supervision and control of automated processes in various sectors of the economy.
At the beginning of 1969 the USSR Council of Ministers passed a decision "On the Broader Involvement of Women in Skilled Agricultural Work''. As a result, 3-year agricultural 43 vocational colleges were set up to train skilled agricultural workers from pupils leaving the 8-year schools. These colleges train skilled workers in agricultural production, mainly young women. At the same time, modifications to farm machinery are being considered so as to make it easier for women to use.
The training and raising the skills of factory and office workers in enterprises, institutions and organisations also take place through individual, team and course instruction. This form of training is particularly important for those women whose spare time is limited hy family concerns.
Every year the specialised secondary and higher educational establishments produce a large number of highly qualified specialists. The proportion of women studying at higher and specialised secondary educational establishments can be seen from the following table, which shows the percentage of women students as of the beginning of the academic year:
Higher educational establishments Specialised secondary schools 1960/61 1973/74 1960/61 1973/74 Women as a percentage of the student 43 50 47 53 Breakdown according to type of institution:' Industry, building, transport and communications .... Agriculture 30 27 49 39 32 61 33 38 75 40 36 85 Economics and law . 44 Higher educational establishments Specialised secondary schools 1960/61 1973/74 1960/61 1973/74 Public health, physical education and 56 63 56 68 84 76 88 81 Education, art, cinematography ....At present women occupy a considerable place among the students attending educational establishments training staff for industry, building, transport, communications and agriculture, and are predominant in institutions preparing specialists in public health and physical education, education and art, economics and law.
During the five-year period from 1971 to 1975 some nine million people graduated from higher and specialised secondary educational establishments. Particularly prominent here is the training of specialists in new fields of science and technology. Matters relating to the improvement of all forms of education came up for detailed examination at the USSR Supreme Soviet Session held in July 1973. The work of improving all stages in the educational process is continuing.
The next phase in the country's development will be noted by the further use of female labour in social production. The basis for this will be provided by scientific and technological progress, the growth in the volume of industrial and agricultural output, the intensification of industry, agriculture and other sectors of material production, the broad development of services, and so on. 45 All this will enable Soviet women to apply their capabilities to many different fields and will help to ensure their more harmonious development.
Women and State Administration
The participation of women in social and productive labour is of great significance to the growth of their social activity and to the enhancement of their role in socio-political and state life. Making the point that it is important to involve the masses in politics and state administration, Lenin wrote: "But you cannot draw the masses into politics without drawing in the women as well."^^1^^
In his work The Tasks of the Proletariat in Our Revolution Lenin also stresses that women must take part in all social affairs. "Unless women are brought to take an independent part not only in political life generally, but also in daily and universal public service, it is no use talking about full and stable democracy, let alone socialism."^^2^^
These instructions of Lenin's are being constantly implemented. Every year sees a growth in the numbers of women deputies who are elected to all the organs of state power. The female electorate take an active part in elections, nominate deputies, carry out a great deal of organisational and agitation work in their support, and work in electoral commissions.
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 32, p. 161.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 24, p. 70.
46The following figures convey some idea of the participation of women in the work of elected organs of state power:
Numbers of Women Elected to Local Government Bodies
Year Total number of women deputies Women deputies as a percentage of all deputies 1939 422.3 33.1 1947--48 482 1961 741.3 41.0 1967 875.3 43.0 1971 992.6 45.8 1973 1,039 47.4 1975 1,063.6 48.1 Numbers of Women Elected to the USSR Supreme Soviet Year Total number of women deputies Women deputies as a percentage of all deputies 1952 348 25.8 1958 366 27.0 1962 390 27.0 1966 425 28.0 1970 463 31.0 1974 475 31.3The numbers of women deputies elected to the Supreme Soviets of the Union republics are also growing. In 1959, there were 1,718 of them elected, or 32 per cent of the total number of deputies, whereas in 1975 there were 2,158, or 35.4 per cent of the total number.
47There are over a million women deputies to all elected bodies, and they take an extremely active part in state administration, posing and resolving numerous questions affecting the lives of Soviet people. This is clear evidence of the genuine democracy of socialist society.
Law is an important sphere of state activity in which Soviet women play a very active part. A total of 2,934 women have been elected as people's judges, 34.0 per cent of the total number of judges. People's assessors include 310,000 women, or 4'J.(> per cent of all people's assessors. High government, Party and trade union posts are open to Soviet women. In five autonomous republics women occupy the position of chairmen of the presidiums of the Supreme Soviets. In eight Union republics they are deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers. There are women who are ministers, deputy ministers or departmental heads of ministries in every Union and autonomous republic. Thousands of women work as chairmen, deputy chairmen and secretaries of the local Soviets of Working People's Deputies. All in all, women occupy 63 per cent of all posts in the various bodies of state administration and economic management. They display a vast amount of initiative, care and creative energy in the satisfaction of the needs of the working people, and concern for young people and children.
Over three million women are members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the guiding and directing force in Soviet society (in all, the CPSU has 15 million members). Many of them are in charge of Party organisations and carry out a great deal of organisational and educative work among both Party members and non-Party 48 people, rallying them to accomplish the tasks facing the country.
The role of women in such mass organisations as the trade unions is particularly great. Women constitute half of the trade union membership and are elected to all the governing bodies of the unions. Ihus, women form 34.5 per cent of the membership of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions.
Women participate actively in cooperative and youth organisations. A great contribution to public life is made by the women's councils that have been formed in enterprises, institutions, and collective farms, and by the women's commissions attached to the trade unions and those working under the various societies for friendship and cultural relations with foreign countries.
An organisation as massive as the Union of Soviet Friendship Societies is headed by Nina Popova, a winner of International Lenin Prize "For the Promotion of Peace Among Nations'', a Deputy to the USSR Supreme Soviet and a member of the CC CPSU. The Chairman of the Soviet Women's Committee is the first, and as yet the only, woman cosmonaut, Valentina Nikolayeva-Tereshkova, a Hero of the Soviet Union, a deputy and member of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet and a member of the CC CPSU.
Working in organs of state power, the Party, the trade unions, the cooperative societies and youth and women's organisations, women participate on a broad scale in the country's administration and, together with men, deal with all the most important matters in state, production and socio-political life.
__PRINTERS_P_49_COMMENT__ 4---0912 49After her trip to the Soviet Union in August 1972, Baliia Karam, a public figure from the Arab Republic of Egypt, stated: "1 cannot help admiring the energy, patience and selflessness with which Soviet women have handled the equality problem. We are inspired by the example set by Soviet women, and we are determined to follow in their footsteps. I shall never forget my trip to Uzbekistan, where 1 met many women in authority. I went to Tashkent and Samarkand and saw women in these towns taking part in the life of their country, and I saw how many of them were headmistresses, professors and political leaders.''
Speaking at one of the meetings held to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of the USSR, the former President of the Women's International Democratic Federation and a prominent public figure in Finland, Hertta Kuusinen, who died in 1974, said: "During these happy days we are delighted to see the profound changes ilia I have occurred in the lives of Soviet women. Enslaved under tsarism, exploited twice over, illiterate and deprived of all rights, I hey have been transformed into most advanced, cultured persons, the equals of their men colleagues, active builders of their own lives and the lives of new generations in their country, which has been forever liberated from oppression and exploitation. You have become an example for millions of women in other countries, and a symbol of the emancipated woman, who is capable of employing her talents and her energy for the benefit of the people....''
50 __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Woman and the FamilyWomen's participation on a par with men in the production and public life of the country and also in state administration affects the modern family. The economic independence of women and their social activities are of great importance to the emergence of now family relations. A new type of family is gradually taking shape and a new atmosphere of happiness and self-- confidence is being created in it, which helps to make children industrious, socially active and respectful towards their parents.
During the very first days of its existence, Soviet power repealed all the laws that placed women in a dependent, subordinate position in the family and granted them the same rights as men and recorded them in the legislation dealing with the family and matrimony. In 1920, Lenin said: "The Soviet government is the first and only government in the world to have completely abolished all the old, despicable bourgeois laws which placed women in a position of inferiority to men, which placed men in a privileged position, for example, in respect of marital rights and of children. The Soviet government, the government of the working people, is the first and only government in the world to have abolished all the privileges of men in property questions, privileges which the marriage laws of all bourgeois republics, even the most democratic, still preserve."^^1^^
The principles on which the family is to be built as the primary cell of a socialist society were reaffirmed in the Fundamentals of Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics on _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 371.
__PRINTERS_P_51_COMMENT__ 4* 51 Marriage and the Family, which were upheld by Ihe June 1968 Session of the Supreme Soviet.This legislation is intended to strengthen the Soviet family, which is founded on the principles of communist morality. Family relations are based on the voluntary conjugal union of a man and a woman and on feelings of mutual love, friendship and respect, entirely free of material considerations. Both partners have equal parental rights and bear equal responsibility for the upbringing of their children. At the same time, the law provides thorough protection for the interests of mother and child.
The economic independence of the woman, who regards herself as an individual and as an equal partner in marriage and family life, is extremely important to the implementation of Soviet legislation on marriage and the family. Marriage has ceased to be a source of material provision for a woman. Relations between the marriage partners are equal in economic as well as legal terms.
The moulding of a new kind of man is a vital task of the family in a socialist society. Although the state shoulders a considerable part of the work involved in the upbringing of children and the education of all the members of society, the family is not released from its educative functions. Parental responsibility for the upbringing of children as citizens of the new, socialist society is constantly increasing.
The working woman performs several social functions. As a worker she takes part in the production of the material and cultural values that are necessary for the existence of society, as a citizen she shares in the state and socio-political life of the country, and as a mother she gives life to the new generation and nurtures it.
52Socialist society creates conditions for the woman which enable her to reveal her fullcapabilities in social labour and in public life, and, at the same time, to discharge her maternal duty.
With this in view, the Soviet state is implementing a complex of measures designed to protect the labour and health of women and to protect motherhood. It shoulders an enormous part of the responsibility for the care of children and their upbringing, and is taking steps to lighten women's domestic chores.
In addition to general stipulations on the protection of the labour of all working people, Soviet legislation also makes special provision for labour protection in the case of women, bearing in mind their physiological peculiarities and maternal functions. The law forbids the employment of women for hard and unhealthy work, including work underground, in hot workshops and in some workshops of the chemical industry; it also prevents them from working as divers, wagon couplers, and so on.
In order to protect women's right to work and to protect motherhood, the law makes it impermissible for a woman to be refused work or dismissed owing to pregnancy. It also obliges the management to transfer women to lighter work for the duration of pregnancy, if this is necessary for health reasons, with the continued payment of their average earnings, and also to grant them paid maternity leave for a total of 112 calendar days. In cases of difficult childbirth this leave is extended. If a woman who has recently given birth wishes, she can extend her leave for up to a year at her own expense. Her job is kept open for her and her work record is 53 maintained. For a year after the birth of a child, a mother is given two 30-mimite paid breaks in order to feed the child, and they form part of her working day. These and a whole series of other measures to protect motherhood that are implemented at the place of work create favourable conditions for the work of women in town and country.
Various medical establishments have been set up to care for the health of mother and child. They consist of maternity homes, and the maternity sections of hospitals, maternity consultation centres, children's clinics, gynaecological departments and hospitals. Moreover, all medical care, including one's stay in a maternity home or in hospital, is free of charge.
Before the Revolution only 5 or 6 women in every 100 received medical assistance during childbirth, but nowadays practically all mothersto-be are provided with this service. In 1972, there were 223,000 beds for expectant mothers, attended by doctors or midwives, which is 30 times as many as there were before the Revolution.
Every year sees a growth in the number of children's clinics, maternity medical centres and other such establishments which monitor the health of pregnant women, mothers and children. In pre-Revolutionary Russia there were only 9 children's and maternity consultation centres, whereas in 1973 nearly 22,000 maternity consultation centres, children's clinics and out-patient clinics were functioning.
As a result of the concern shown by the state for mother and child and of the achievements of Soviet medicine, death during childbirth has been almost completely eliminated.
54Considerable resources from the state budget are earmarked for the payment of grants to single mothers and mothers of many children, as well as for allowances for children in low-income families.
Social security in the USSR is provided at the expense of the state and the collective ffrms. Here loo women (collective farm workers, as well as factory and office workers) receive a number of benefits and privileges. In order to be eligible for old-age pensions, women may be five years younger than men and may have worked five years less. Women have the right to a pension at the age of 55 and after a 20-year record of work. The necessary work period is ako being shortened in the case of disablement pensions. In a number of professions the pension age and the necessary work-record requirements are even lower. For instance, in the 22 leading professions in the textile industry and light industry (weavers, spinners, winders, etc.) women are eligible for a pension at the age of 50. Mothers of many children enjoy additional benefits as regards pensions.
The measures designed to protect labour and motherhood extend beyond the question of combining women's work with their maternal commitments. Once a child is born, the woman is faced by the problem of looking after it, and the amount of housework increases. How is social labour to be made compatible with these commitments?
The socialist state comes to the mother's aid.
In his article "A Great Beginning" Lenin wrote in 1919: "The real emancipation of women, real communism, will begin only where and when an all-out struggle begins (led by the proletariat \vielding the state power) against this petty 55 housekeeping, or rather when its wholesale transformation into a large-scale socialist economy begins.... Public catering establishments, nurseries, kindergartens---...here we have the simple, everyday means, involving nothing pompous, grandiloquent or ceremonial, which can really emancipate women, really lessen and abolish their inequality with men as regards their role in social production and public life."^^1^^
Following Lenin's behests, the Communist Party and the Soviet Government have performed a colossal amount of work in this field too. It is the setting-up of a broad network of child-care centres and service facilities that enable women to combine their work for the benefit of society with the upbringing of children and the running of a home.
In 1974, some 11 million children attended round-the-clock creches and nursery schools in towns and villages. In addition, about 5 million children were looked after in seasonal children's institutions. Moreover, all these establishments are very accessible, since parents contribute very little towards the upkeep of the children. The amount payable by parents is determined in accordance with family income, but does not in any case exceed 12 rubles 50 kopeks a month for a child's attendance at a nursery school and 10 rubles at a creche. Some families, primarily large ones, pay nothing at all. Average contributions by parents amount to between 15 and 25 per cent of the cost of the child's maintenance. The remainder is paid by the state.
Universal secondary (10-year) education is being established in the USSR. In the 1973/74 _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 29, p. 429,
56 academic year, for instance, 5.3 million young people left the 8-year school, and 92 per cent of them are continuing their studies in secondary schools or in other teaching establishments that provide secondary education. All in all, over 49 million pupils attend general education schools of all types. In 1974, new schools providing 1.6 million places were opened, as were pre-school establishments offering 420,000 places.It must be stressed that all forms of education, including higher education, are free of charge in the Soviet Union, and that thestudentsattending higher' and specialised secondary educational establishments and vocational schools receive grants. This means that all forms of education and training for a profession and speciality are within the reach of children, irrespective of the material position of their parents.
The organisation of children's holidays during the summer is carried out on a broad scale. In 1974, some 20 million children and teen-agers spent their holidays in Young Pioneer and school camps, children's health homes or excursion centres, or were taken by children's institutions to the countryside for their summer holidays.
In order to provide greater assistance to families as regards the bringing up of children, boarding-schools, extended-day schools and groups (in which after their classes the pupils have dinner, rest and do their homework under the supervision of teachers until the end of their parents' working day) and various outdoor children's centres are being set up. In 1974, there were 6.8 million children in extended-day schools and groups, or 7 per cent more than in 1973.
There are over 4,000 Young Pioneer Palaces and Houses in the country, 1,278 Young 57 Techniclans' and Young Naturalists' Stations, some 200 parks for children, 143 children's theatres (nearly a third of all the theatres in the country), more than 7,000 special libraries for children and over 170,000 libraries attached to general education schools. All these institutions organise children's leisure, help to reveal and develop their abilities and bring them up in the spirit of humanism and friendship among peoples.
The immense educative importance of the book is well known. The year 1973 saw the publication in the Soviet Union of 2,827 different book titles for children in a total of more than 363 million copies, which is 50 times as much as was published in tsarist Russia in 1913. Twenty eight children's newspapers and over 40 children's magazines appear regularly in the USSR with a total circulation of 34 million copies. There are also regular radio and television broadcasts for children.
Not only the slate, but also the public at large deal with matters concerning the family and school, the upbringing of children and the training' of young people. The trade unions, women's councils, the Young Communist League and the Young Pioneer organisation carry out a great deal of educative work among children. In recent years special councils have been set up in many enterprises for assisting the family and school.
In order lo help parents with the complex task of bringing up children, Ihe pedagogical education of parents lias been organised on a broad scale. There is the magazine Semya i Shkola (Family and School), suitable literature is published, special cycles of lectures are given, in addition to radio and television broadcasts, and 58 universities of culture and pedagogical knowledge have been set up for the benefit of parents.
Thus, the task of bringing up children in the USSR is the common cause of parents, schools, pre-school and out-of-school establishments, public organisations and the state. They are all closely interconnected and jointly tackle the task of bringing up the rising generation in the spirit of the lofty ideals of communism.
During the years of Soviet power a great deal has been done to lighten women's housework. A broad network of cheap canteens, restaurants, cafes, snack bars and various other public catering establishments selling ready-to-eat or ovenready foods has been set up. Each enterprise, institution or educational establishment has its own canteen or snack bar. In fact, over 80 million people use canteens, cafes or snack bars every day. Between 1971 and 1974 the number of places in workers' canteens alone increased by over 1.4 million. The network of public catering enterprises is constantly growing, thus lightening women's housework.
In order to develop public utilities for the benefit of the family, a Ministry for Public Utilities has been created in each republic and does a great deal to further develop the network of laundries, repair and sowing workshops, dry cleaners, points from which household equipment can be hired, at-your-servicc agencies, and so on. In 1974, the services rendered to the population were 9.5 per cent up compared with 1973, and 12.3 per cent up in rural districts. The number of service establishments rose by' 2,000 units during the year.
New housing is planned in such a way that each residential district contains all the necessary 59 facilities---schools, nurseries and creches, a Young Pioneer House, food shops, canteens, service centres (providing all kinds of services---sewing, repairs, dry cleaning, etc.), a clinic and a chemist's.
A great contribution towards lightening women's housework is made by good living accommodation with all the modern conveniences--- an up-to-date kitchen, central heating, gas, electricity, running water, plumbing, and so on. House building, which is now proceeding at a rapid pace, provides all these conveniences. Since the mid-sixties nearly half of the Soviet population (over 100 million people) have moved to new accommodation or have had their living conditions improved. The year 1974 saw the construction of 2,250,000 well-appointed flats and private houses. Over 11 million people moved house. In 1974 alone, 148 towns and urban-type communities and about 10,000 villages were given a mains gas supply. Gas was supplied to 3.8 million flats, including 1.5 million in rural areas.
At the 24th Congress of the Communist Party (March-April 1971) the CC CPSU General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev said: "The aim of the Party's policy is that Soviet women should have further possibilities for bringing up their children, for taking a larger part in social life, and for recreation and education, and that they should have greater access to the blessings of culture. All these are important tasks, and the new five-year plan will be a noteworthy stage in their iniDlementation.''
The Ninth Five-Year Economic Development Plan adopted by the 24th Party Congress and subsequently implemented with great success 60 made a sizable contribution to the improvement in the well-being of Soviet people, the enhancement of their living conditions and the development of the cultural life of the whole of society. The outlook for the country's development reflects the general line of the Communist Party for a boost in the well-being of Soviet people and their cultural growth in the context of the scientific and technological revolution, which will undoubtedly promote the even greater development of the Soviet woman's personality and her active participation in all the spheres of the building of communism.
[61] __ALPHA_LVL2__ THE SOLUTION OF THE QUESTIONAfter the triumph of the OcLoher Revolution in Russia, which exerted an enormous revolutionising influence on the working people in the capitalist and colonial countries, the capitalist system began to lose one country after another. The second country to embark on the construction of socialism was Mongolia, in 1921, an anti-- imperialist and anti-feudal revolution took place in Mongolia, and in 1924 Mongolia was proclaimed a people's republic.
After the Second World War a series of countries parted company with the capitalist system. Once free of the nazi yoke, the peoples of Central and Southeast Europe gained their liberty and national independence, and set out on the road towards socialism.
Following many years of armed struggle against the landowners and the compradore bourgeoisie, as well as against the foreign imperialists, the Chinese people overthrew the Kuomintang government and took power into their own hands. The People's Republic of China was proclaimed 62 on October 1, 19'iil. Also after lengthy struggle the Korean People's Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam embarked on the path of socialist development.
The year 1959 saw the triumph of the revolution in Cuba---the first socialist revolution in the Western hemisphere.
It is interesting to sec how the lives of women altered during the building of socialism and how the complex question of women's status was resolved.
A vital pre-condition for the revolutionary changes in the countries which embarked on the path of socialism was the struggle of the Communist and Workers' Parties to unite and organise all the democratic forces during the Second World War.
At the beginning of the war the countries of Central and Southeast Europe were occupied by nazi Germany. The nazis enslaved these peoples, introduced forced labour in factories and exterminated millions of people. The masses rose up with the working class against fascism and militarism. This gave rise to the anti-fascist popular fronts. Women made an invaluable contribution to the activities of these fronts and to the antifascist Resistance movement. Thousands upon thousands of women in Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia and Albania fought in partisan detachments and worked in the underground, constantly exposing themselves to mortal danger. They used to shelter partisans and Resistance fighters, supplied them with food, clothing and footwear, tended the sick and wounded, and distributed underground newspapers and leaflets.
The women of China, Korea and Indochina 63 played an active part in the national liberation struggle against the Japanese.
The people of Vietnam headed in the direction of socialism during their determined struggle against the colonisers---first the French and then the American imperialists. Women were always among those who either with arms in hand or through selfless work in the rear struggled for the freedom and national independence of the Vietnamese people. Throughout the years of struggle they displayed unprecedented heroism, valour, resourcefulness and self-sacrifice. Under enemy fire they threaded their way along narrow trails in order to deliver ammunition and food to those who were fighting, repaired damaged bridges and roads, dug air-raid and bomb shelters and acted as commanders and crews of anti-aircraft units and as nurses. At the same time, they raised and educated their children and did their utmost to keep them healthy.
With the support of the USSR and other tocialist countries and with the help of all the peace forces, the Vietnamese people brought the war in Vietnam to an end and secured the withdrawal of the American aggressors. The women of Vietnam, like the whole Vietnamese people, stand on guard of their gains.
During the liberation struggle both in Europe and in Asia progressive women's organisations arose, and they performed a great deal of political and educational work among women, organised them for the struggle against foreign invaders and taught them to hate all kinds of oppressors and exploiters. The experience acquired during these years formed the basis for all the subsequent activities of the women's organisations in the socialist countries of Europe and Asia.
64The important role played by women during the liberation struggle enhanced their authority in socio-political life. Consequently, it was a vital necessity after the liberation that the new role of women in society and the family should be acknowledged constitutionally, legislatively and practically.
The triumph of people's revolutions in a number of countries in Central and Southeast Europe and in Asia was accompanied by fundamental reforms which changed the status of women. People's power effected important social changes in these countries. The peoples received democratic rights and freedoms. Agrarian reform was carried out in the countryside. In addition to the solution of these problems, the first steps were taken towards ending the inequality between women and men.
First of all, it was necessary to give effect to women's basic rights---the right to work, education and an equal status in society and in the family. Legislation was passed ensuring women's labour and political rights, and the protection of mother and child, and regulating marriage and the family.
Thus, immediately after the liberation of Poland from the riazi occupation the manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation was proclaimed on July 22, 1944, during the early stages of the people's democratic revolution---the first act which established the power of the working people of town and country in Poland. The document affirmed the complete equality of women.
One of the basic laws adopted by people's power in Bulgaria after its victory on September 9, 1944, was the law published on October 16, __PRINTERS_P_65_COMMENT__ 5---0912 65 1944, on the equality of women. H sol in motion a revision of ali the old laws which discriminated against women. Women's equality was confirmed by Article 72 of the Bulgarian Constitution adopted in December 1947. Article 36 of the new Constitution (May 1971), which women had a hand in drafting, states that "in the People's Republic of Bulgaria women have the same rights as men".
Article 14 of Rumania's Labour Code declares: "In the Socialist Republic of Rumania women are provided with broad opportunities for upholding... their complete social equality with men. They receive equal pay for equal work, and this is guaranteed by special measures. Women are guaranteed the right to occupy any post or do any job in accordance with their training, so that they can make their contribution to the development of material production and creative cultural work, and, at the same time, the necessary conditions for the upbringing of children are ensured.''
Radical changes in the lives of women have also occurred in the Asian countries that have embarked on the building of socialism.
As a result of the triumph of the August Revolution of 1945, all the laws relating to women that the Democratic Republic of Vietnam inherited from the old system were abolished. Under the colonial and feudal regime the women of Vietnam possessed no rights. 95 per cent of the women could neither read nor write, and so they worked mainly as domestic servants and as daylabourers on plantations and at factories, where they were cruelly exploited. The woman was a slave in society and in the family.
Thanks to the revolution, Vietnamese women were granted equal rights with men in all spheres of the country's life. Article 24 of the DRV's 66 Constitution defines women's rights in the following terms: "Women in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam enjoy equal rights with men in all aspects of life: political, economic, cultural, social and family.
``For equal work women enjoy equal pay with men. The State ensures that women workers and office employees have fully-paid periods of leave before and after childbirth.
``The State protects the rights of mother and child, and provides kindergartens.
``The State protects marriage and the family.''
The basic rights of working women that are established in the constitutions of the socialist countries have been further developed and made more specific in a whole series of labour codes and other legislative acts and decrees.
This has enabled women to participate on terms of complete equality in the rehabilitation of their countries' war-ravaged economies, in the implementation of agrarian reform and in the organisation of state and cultural life.
However, the first steps along the path of socialist development, and also the experience of the Soviet Union have shown that the true equality of women and their full-fledged participation in all spheres of social life can only be achieved when women are enabled to receive an education and training for skilled jobs and to raise their cultural and political level (it should be remembered that in a number of countries---Mongolia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, Vietnam, China, Korea and Cuba---many women were illiterate). It was necessary to set up and constantly expand the network of children's institutions and public utilities that lightened women's housework, and to help them bring up children.
__PRINTERS_P_67_COMMENT__ 5* 67From the very J'irst steps in the building of a new society people's power paved the way materially for guaranteeing women's equality: industrial enterprises and educational establishments, cheap and good-quality housing, and children's institutions were built, services were developed, and so on. At the same time, practical effect was also given to women's real equality in state and public life. A large amount of ideological and educative work was carried out among the population.
A similar situation obtained in the People's Republic of China up to the 1960s, when as a result of the failure of the "Big Leap" there was a cutback in the employment of women, which did much to revive a feudal attitude towards women.
The period of the "cultural revolution'', which dislocated economic and socio-political life in the country, had a negative effect on the status of women in China. Founded in 1949, the AllChina Democratic Women's Federation, which was supposed to complement the state bodies in upholding the interests of women and involving them in the country's productive and socio-- political life, actually ceased its activities throughout the period. In 1966, its ties with the international democratic women's movement were also broken off.
Press reports indicate that women in China are still in an inferior position. Despite the fact that the PRC ratified the International Labour Organisation's Convention No. 100 Concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, there is still a difference in the payment of men and women. The magazine Hungchi, the ideological organ of 68 the Communist Party of China, commented that there were many instances when "the most industrious and dexterous of women are paid no more than 70--80 percent of the wages received by men''.
The Chinese press shows that such views as "a woman cannot do the same work as a man'', "two women cannot replace one man'', and so on, are very widespread. Frequently, particularly in rural districts, parents do not send girls to school, believing that "reading, writing and a speciality are no use to them'', since girls "will just get married and become housewives, so it's better to make use of them on housework or on unskilled work in production than to give them an education".
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Role of Women in EconomicThe achieved levels of productive forces and production relations vary in each socialist country. The questions of women's participation in the social labour force vary as well. But a common goal for all socialist countries is achieving the most auspicious balance between a woman's family obligations and participation in the social production, creating a harmonious personality so that women could play an active role in the construction of a new society. Among the conditions assuring a productive role for women in the constructive process have been the realisation of their right to work and equal pay, the state's concern for mothers, and the improvement in the standard of living.
A common feature of all socialist countries is that the number of women participating in the 69 national economy has increased regularly at a dramatic rate. This increase has been accompanied by progressive changes in the professional structure of women's labour and in the distribution of women among the branches of economy. Women have played an increasing part in leading branches of the national economy. A greater percentage of women are occupying positions that require high-level skills.
In the Bulgarian People's Republic, for example, an ever increasing number of women are helping to create material and spiritual values. In 1972, 68 per cent of all able-bodied women were employed, while 14 per cent were enrolled in educational and training institutions. In 1971, the number of women workers and office employees had reached 1,265,000; this was 3.3 times greater than the corresponding figure for 1956. In 1973, 45 per cent of the total number of the workers and office employees were women, while they accounted for about 49 per cent of those working in agricultural cooperatives.
The greatest number of women are employed in industry. More than half this number are emnloyed in machine-building, metal-working, light industries, and in the food industry. The growth of the number of women employed in radioelectronics, in the elcctrotechnical industry and in the instrument-making industry is especially rapid.
Women are employed in construction, transport and various other areas of material production. In the public servicing women workers predominate.
There has been significant improvement in the educational level of women and in their professional level and skills. In 1972, women made up 70 65.7 per cent of all secondary school graduates, 48.2 ner cent of all graduates of technical schools, and 47.3 per cent of those who graduated from higher educational institutions.
In 1973, women specialists constituted 38.7 per cent of all specialists with a higher education and 55.5 per cent of specialists with a secondary education. 30.4 per cent of all research workers are women.
Today, Bulgarian women direct factories and institutions; they nlay an active nart in all facets of the country's life. In 1972, 17 per cent of all directors and deputy directors of enterprises, institutions and organisations were women; women made up 17.4 per cent of the chief specialists and their assistants.
Considering the requirements of social production and the needs of women themselves, the Politbnreau of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party passed a resolution on March 6, 1973 "On Increasing the Part Played by Women in Constructing an Advanced Socialist Society''. The resolution provides for a complex of measures designed to establish conditions which will ensure that women participate with maximal productivity in socialist construction; to ease their domestic chores, etc.
The nature of women's participation in social production has also changed in the Hungarian People's Republic. At present, 66 per cent of all able-bodied women are employed, 8 per cent are in school, 18 ner cent are occupied with domestic responsibilities. The percentage of women workers has increased from 36 per cent in 1960 to 43 per cent in 1973. Participation of women in various spheres of activities has also changed, 30 per cent of all actively working 71 women are employed in industry, 12 per cent in trade, 22 per cent in public health, education and public servicing; and 22 per cent in agriculture.
Due to scientific and technological progress and the social division of labour, women have been able to work in a growing number of fields, to go beyond the framework of traditional ``female'' occupations. Women's professional qualifications have been raised; they are participating to an ever greater degree in positions requiring higher skills. Increasing numbers of women receive a higher education. Women now constitute 39 per cent of all graduates of higher educational institutions.
Such fundamental transformations in the character of employment and qualifications of women were made possible in the Hungarian People's Republic, as in other socialist countries, by a system of measures designed to raise the educational and professional qualifications of women. The state offers considerable benefits for women to improve their skills---preferred working time, training courses, consultation facilities, and many other advantages. The 10th Congress of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (1970) envisaged measures for improving labour conditions and the living standard of women in connection with its directives for the 1971--1975 stale plan.
In the German Democratic Republic 84 per cent of all women are either enrolled in school or are working. They make up 49 per cent of the labour force. Most are employed in industry. In light industry, 65.5 per cent of all workers are women, in electrotechnical industry, 46.3 per cent, and in the chemical industry, 42.8 per cent. 72 At the end of 1973, 52.5 per cent of all female workers and office employees had completed courses at professional training institutions. In 1973, women students constituted 45.3 per cent of all those studying in institutes of higher education.
Striking successes have been achieved in the vocational training of women. These are the result of governmental measures instituted to train women workers.
The system for training skilled women workers is constantly being improved. The decision of December 12, 1972, for instance, established additional benefits and guarantees designed to stimulate vocational training and to develop the skills of women who work full-time. Skilled female workers are trained at the enterprises on the basis of agreements between the women and the administration. Such agreements include mutual rights and obligations; they set the duration of the training period, allow women to be partially freed of work while earning the same average wage, and guaranteed completion of training in such instances as temporary inability to work, a sick child or pregnancy (in such cases the training is only temporarily halted). Directors of various enterprises and organisations are obliged to offer each woman who has completed a training course a position that corresponds to her training and skills. In the instruction period practical training is largely integrated with the work process. Should the woman's earnings decrease due to underfulfilment of the assigned work in a newly acquired speciality, she will be awarded the difference in her wages.
In the Polish People's Republic the percentage of women workers has climbed from 31 per cent in 1946 to 46 per cent. Women constitute 38.6 73 per cent of all workers in industry, 43.6 per cent in science, 68 per cent in education, and 74 per cent in public health.
It is characteristic of the contemporary development of production that women strive to work in new areas and professions, both in those which have developed as a result of scientific and technological progress and in those that were earlier relegated to men.
Widespread training programme has enabled Polish women to hold an increasing number of jobs requiring advanced skills and to occupy positions of responsibility and leadership. Women constitute 38 per cent of all persons who have completed a higher education, and 53 per cent of those who have completed a specialised secondary education.
Poland, like other socialist countries, provides free education for persons of either sex. The government makes every effort to encourage girls to seek professional training. In recent years many such benefits have been provided, with particular emphasis on training specialised technicians.
In the Socialist Republic of Rumania women have been quickly absorbed into the labour force. Almost 82 per cent of all able-bodied women in Rumania work. In 1973, women made 44.7 per cent of the total employed population. At the same time they constituted almost one-third of all workers and office employees, as compared to 13 per cent in 1938. Women comprised 32.4 per cent of industrial workers, about 60 per cent of agricultural workers, 71.6 per cent of workers in the public health and social public services, and 62 per cent of all workers in the educational and cultural sphere.
74In addition to traditional areas such as the clothing, textile and food industries, a growing number of women, particularly young women, are being trained and employed in such areas as electrical engineering and electronics, machinetool construction, the chemical industry, the optic industry, as well as many other fields.
Systematic measures aimed at raising the educational level of the entire population, including women, have substantially altered the professional status of female personnel. Now 44.5 per cent of all students are women, including 65.8 per cent of those in medicine, 64.2 per cent in pedagogy, 48.5 per cent in economics, and 27.7 per cent in the technical sciences.
In the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic women account for a significant percentage of the increase in the working population; they comprise 48.5 per cent of all employed persons, i.e., almost half of the country's actively employed population. The overwhelming majority of women are employed in industry. Almost one million women are employed in various kinds of work not concerned with production.
Significant progress has been achieved in women's education. Girls comprise 64 per cent of all students in secondary schools and 58 per cent of those enrolled in specialised training schools, as well as 40.6 per cent of all students in higher educational institutions. In 1973, 22 per cent of all specialists with a higher education, 55 per cent of all specialists with a full specialised secondary education and 24 per cent of those with a specialised secondary education were women. There are entire industries where women specialists considerably outnumber male 75 specialists. The number of women doctors, lawyers, teachers and representatives of various areas of science and culture has noticeably increased.
The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, like other socialist countries, has put the principles of women's equality into practice by actively including women in the process of building socialism.
In the postwar period, the number of working women in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia increased. Today women make up 35 per cent of the labour force. However, the figure varies for the different republics, from 18.8 per cent in the Kosovo region to 43 per cent in the Republic of Slovenia.
Many progressive reforms have been adopted in the area of education. The training of highly skilled female personnel is a matter of great concern. The number and proportion of women with a secondary and higher education continues (o grow. Yugoslavia, like other socialist countries has instituted a uniform programme of co-- education on all levels.
In the Democratic Republic of Vietnam women are involved in various spheres of activity. More than 60 per cent of workers involved in agricultural production are women. In the state sector of the economy, the percentage of women workers has climbed from 5 per cent in 1955 to 43 per cent in 1973. Women comprise 54 per cent of all those employed in the field of education; 58.2 per cent of those employed in public health; 58.9 per cent of those employed in the field of commerce; from 25 to 38 per cent of workers in various branches of heavy industry, transport, construction, and communications; and 65.7 per 76 cent of workers in light industry and 60 per cent in food industry.
The number of female employees in scientific and technical positions, many of them trained in the USSR and in other socialist countries, has also grown. While only a few individual women worked in science and technology in the mid1950s, today almost 100,000 women have completed a special secondary or higher education. The number of women who have completed a higher education and earned a higher degree has risen 10 limes since 19(51. This figure includes women who 15 years ago worked at positions requiring minimal skills. Today women make up one-third of all skilled workers. Such facts demonstrate the progress made by the republic in involving women in the social labour. Remarkable results have been achieved despite wartime conditions.
In the Mongolian People's Republic women make up over 46 per cent of all workers in industry and 51 per cent of all able-bodied members of agricultural cooperatives. From 70 to 90 per cent of those employed in industrial and dairy combines, clothing and textile factories, and many other industrial concerns are women.
Fundamental changes in the culture and education of Mongolian women occurred during socialist construction. Women now total 44.4 per cent of all persons with a general education, 24.5 per cent of all specialists with a higher education, and 37.6 per cent of persons with a secondary specialised education. 46 per cent of all teachers are women, as well as over 40 per cent of those employed by cultural and artistic institutions. 25 per cent of agricultural specialists who have earned a higher scientific or scholar degree are women.
77As in all socialist countries, women receive free education in various schools, vocational schools, secondary specialised and higher educational institutions.
Women are likewise actively participating in social labour in the Korean People's Democratic Republic. Today some two million women have jobs, making up 50 per cent of the industrial labour force and 60 per cent of all agricultural workers.
As women reach higher cultural level and master more advanced technical skills, they have begun to take a greater part in various branches of industry, particularly in mechanical engineering and chemistry, where automation has reached a more advanced level compared with other industries.
Over 130,000 women engineers and technicians are employed in various sectors of the economy. Many of them work as directors of various enterprises, as chairmen of agricultural cooperatives and in other positions of leadership.
In the Korean People's Democratic Republic, a secondary education is now obligatory. Both women and men are given a general and technical education. The development of adult education programmes and supplementary courses offered to acquaint workers with the latest developments in science and technology have led to a significant improvement in women's cultural level and technological skills.
Cuba's revolution, just as the revolutions in other socialist countries, created conditions facilitating the total emancipation of women; for it eradicated the old exploitational order and cleared the way for the development of new attitudes. Each year the sphere of occupations open 78 to women expands and women acquire new skills and responsibilities. State planners aim to attract 100,000 women annually to the spheres of production and consumer services.
Women's education is a matter of great concern. 38 per cent of those enrolled in technical schools are women; they make up 48 per cent in secondary medical institutions, 45 per cent in secondary agricultural institutions, 27 per cent in economic schools, and 63 per cent at the central teacher training school. Half of all students at higher educational institutions are women.
All socialist countries continue to actively integrate women in the social labour, to encourage and expand the quantitative and qualitative growth of female labour, to provide new opportunities for women through improved training programmes and new scientific and technological developments.
The fullest participation of women in industry and culture has been achieved through numerous economic and social measures initiated both by the states and by Communist and Workers' Parties in accordance with each country's specific conditions. The successful resolution of the women's question is based on the planned socialist economy, on the socio-economic policy of the government, which guarantees equal labour and educational rights for all citizens, regardless of sex; and strives to provide the maximal satisfaction of the material and spiritual needs of all citizens.
Today, the women of socialist countries work in branches of the economy previously closed to them, in newly opened fields and professions. Their gifts and skills are employed in every 79 possible area. They arc able lo oblain virtually unlimited education. One might say that a new woman has appeared---the active builder of a socialist society. It would, however, be unrealistic to think that all the problems have been solved, that there are no difuculties to overcome, that new problems will never arise.
The solution to the question of women's status is a process in which new problems are constantly being met and resolved. Future successes are guaranteed by the progressive socialist economic system, by the activities of the parties governing socialist countries, and by the striving of women themselves to take part in constructive labour aimed at ensuring peace and prosperity in socialist countries, where women have been given equal rights and where conditions encourage them to combine socially beneficial labour with their family obligations.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Working Woman and the FamilyIn socialist countries motherhood is recognised as a social function of tremendous importance. With the benefit of the Soviet Union's experience in this sphere effective measures are implemented to ensure that motherhood and childhood will be protected, that children will be properly raised and educated, and that working and living conditions will improve. These measures allow women to participate in social labour while fulfilling their family and civic responsibilities. The measures form an integral part of the national state programmes and are financed by the state. In rural areas collective agricultural concerns also contribute to these goals.
80The rights of mother and child are guaranteed in the constitutions and laws of socialist countries. Maternity leave is regulated by laws, which also prescribe favourable working conditions for women: when pregnancy occurs a woman is allowed to do lighter work while retaining her former average salary; she is given paid maternity leave beft re and after confinement and (if she iO desires) she is granted an additional period of unpaid leave with the right to return to her place of work (in certain countries a woman receives financial aid during this period); during the first year after the birth of the child the woman is allowed a shorter working day (while retaining her wages); if the child becomes sick she is allowed to stay at home and is paid as if on a sick leave; children receive state financial aid. Laws also stipulate a number of privileges and special forms of aid to single mothers and mothers with many children.
Taking into consideration a woman's physiology, the law does not allow to engage women in heavy labour, which are specified in legislative acts.
A number of privileges are stipulated for women on old age pensions, with supplementary privileges for mothers with several children.
The laws of socialist countries stipulate and guarantee the growth and improvement of medical institutions network: maternity homes, maternity consulting centres, pediatric and gynaecological clinics and hospitals, dispensaries, rest homes for mothers and children, free medical care.
In the Mongolian People's Republic 92.4 per cent of all women give birth in maternity homes, and all women receive free medical care. In __PRINTERS_P_81_COMMENT__ 6---0912 81 cities and aimak (district) centres there is a system of district medical inspection for children one year old or less, in which doctors provide systematic medical examinations for children in their homes. Comfortable, modern rest homes are provided for women belonging to agricultural associations; they can spend their leave time here both before and after giving birth. During the past five years financial assistance for women with several children has increased by 50 per cent.
In Bulgaria medical assistance is provided in 98.6 per cent of all deliveries (in 1948, by comparison, the figure was only 49.1 per cent). The rate of death of mothers in childbirth has been reduced to 0.5 per thousand, and since the advent of socialism the infant mortality rate has been reduced 500 per cent---to 27 infant deaths per thousand births. In 1972, there were 2,576 children's and gynaecological clinics. This is five times more than the number in 1939. From the time of birth to adulthood, all children and adolescents are kept under periodical medical observation. During the period of pregnancy and childbirth a woman is given paid leave for 120 to 180 calendar days, depending on how many times she has given birth. In addition she receives a six- to eight-month leave, receiving financial assistance equivalent to the minimum wage. If she wishes she may remain on leave without maintenance until the child is three years old, the period being reckoned as part of her total time spent on the job.
The results of a seven-year programme of research and observation involving 350 thousand children aged 1 to 18 have recently been published in Rumania. The study indicates that as a result 82 of improved health care for children and the rising living standard of families, children in individual age groups are now on the average 2.75 inches taller and 15.6 pounds heavier than children in respective age groups seven years ago.
In Hungary women receive a five-month maternity leave with full salary maintenance. They may extend their leave of absence until the child is three; during this period they receive 600 forints per month. Their job is held for them during their absence. A family receives additional financial aid after the birth of the second child.
In Czechoslovakia paid maternity leave extends for 26 weeks. In Czechoslovakia the grants that are paid to the parents after each child is born and the subsequent monthly payments were increased. Supplementary monthly aid for a family with two children is 430 crowns, for a family with three children---880 crowns, and for a family with four children---1,280 crowns. An additional 2,000 crowns is provided after the birth of each child.
In the Democratic Republic of Vietnam a network of committees has been set up for motherand-child protection. There is also an operating Institute for the Protection of Mothers and Children and a Child Health Institute. There is a well developed network of medical establishments throughout the country, including maternity stations and maternity homes. In regions that underwent the severest bombing attacks maternity homes were functioning deep underground. From 1955 to 1972 the number of pediatricians, obstetricians and gynaecologists increased twentyfold. The rate of death in childbirth was 20 per thousand in 1945; today it is 0.95 per thousand. Infant mortality has been reduced to 1.2 per __PRINTERS_P_83_COMMENT__ 6* 83 cent---30 Limes lower Llian in 1945. We should remember that these reductions were achieved during the long years of struggle against colonialism.
In pre-revolutionary Cuba only 20 per cent of childbearing women received medical attention. In 1973, 87 per cent of children were born in maternity homes. Midwife stations have been established in even the most outlying regions of the country.
Thus we see that socialist slates are deeply concerned about the welfare of mother and child. A significant portion of the budget of these countries is devoted to the development of institutions serving mothers and their children, providing them with maintenance and free medical care, paid maternity leave and financial assistance for their families.
Women's participation in social labour means that her domestic tasks and the raising of children should be made easier. In providing aid to working married women socialist states are considering the interests of the family as a whole, coordinating tasks which face the working woman and the family as the smallest, but at the same time most basic social unit.
In the past several years socialist countries have sponsored sociological studies, international and national forums on the problems of working women and the family. In examining what sort of influence a woman's outside work has on her family, a number of sociologists assert that such work separates a woman from her family, from her duties as a wife and mother. Others (and they constitute the majority) are convinced that participation in the social labour helps a woman to develop, allows her to assert her personality, 84 to enhance her authority in the family, gives her moral satisfaction, and consequently makes it easier for her to fulfil her family role. What is important, these sociologists say, is not how much time a woman devotes to her family and children, but how that time is used.
Many sociologists believe (and one must a