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Representatives from various ethnic and religious communities of Odessa came together to discuss an important social problem, our society’s attitude to women and their role.  It is even more relevant for Ukraine, as it undergoes the crucial phase between ruining the soviet mentality and adopting the Western values. Quite often the values are practiced here, which have taken deep root in the West, but are not intrinsic in our culture.

Power officials and members of women’s public organizations gathered at the round table on 17 May, to get acquainted with each other and set up coordination of their actions in promoting public recognition of the social role of woman.

City administration of Odessa was represented by Mr.Albert Beizhanov, head of the Internal Policy Department; Mrs.Yaroslava Reznikova, head of the Department on Nationalities and Religions Affaires. Public organizations were represented by “Al-Masar”, an organization incorporated in the All-Ukrainian Association of Public Organizations (AAPO) “Alraid”, the Association of Artistic Intelligentia “Assambleya” and the International Women’s Association “Lady Diamond”, and members of the Uzbek community of Odessa. Also, the round table was attended by Mrs. Yelena Stoyanova, principal of the Odessa boarding school No 1.

At the official level, emphasis is made on woman’s independence rather than on the need of mutual respect in the community. Woman is believed to be able to stay alone with children, as women in Ukraine are said to be strong enough to endure everything, but nobody says what must be said, that man must help woman and support her creative and independent personality. 

Attempts are made to promote the idea of juvenile justice via gender programs. This institute permits inspectors who have passed a minimal training course to interfere with family matters and offer advice on settlement of controversial situations.  As we can already seen in practice in pilot regions, instead of assisting a family in finding job or dwelling construction, or rendering financial support, services like this prefer to take children off from parents, turning them in this way into orphans.

The role of public organizations, whether Christian or Muslim ones, is important in this matter, and their coordinated action aiming to resist this arbitrary rule is required. Instead of repeatedly saying about woman’s capacity to do everything and live alone, we must insist that children should be brought up in good families.

Guests were delighted that Muslim families do not leave children and care about elder ones irrespective of material problems faced by a family, and spoke out about the need to seek ways to spread this experience across the Ukrainian community.

The independence period made Ukrainian women acquire many qualities and behavior models that are rather specific for man. Yet, a mother, when rocking a cradle, brings up the future of the world. Unless Ukrainian mothers have the feeling of protection and safety, of support from husband and other family members, their seemingly private problems will constitute a vast and common problem for the whole Ukrainian people. Women should be supported and helped in developing their nature-given talents and inclinations rather than forced to turn into a male-female hybrid. 

 

As this support comes from neither community nor state power now, public organizations joint their effort for more successful and extensive work in this field. Apart from offering a good chance to exchange working experiences, the round table held at the Odessa Cultural Center could lay the basis for close and productive cooperation in future.

reporter.