Women of Russia
Женщины России
LeaderAlevtina Fedulova
Founded1993

Women of Russia (Russian: Женщины России, romanized: Zhenshchiny Rossii, abbreviated ZhR) was a political bloc in Russia.[1]

History

The party was established in the autumn of 1993 by merger of three women's groups, the Union of Women of Russia (the dominant force),[2] the Association of Russia's Women Entrepreneurs and the Union of Women of the Navy. The Union of Women of Russia had looked at the manifestos of 30 parties due to contest the December 1993 parliamentary elections and was unhappy about the lack of attention to women's issues. After writing to the parties and only receiving three, superficial responses, and amid concerns that the party lists contained few women, the decision was taken to form the party.

In the elections the party surprisingly received 8.1% of the proportional representation vote, the fourth-highest share,[3] and won 23 of the 450 seats in the State Duma.[4]

In the 1995 elections the party was expected to pass the 5% electoral threshold,[5] but received 4.6% of the vote, failing to win any of the proportional seats, and only winning three seats. In 1996 the party split when its co-founder, Ekaterina Lakhova, left the party to form the All-Russian Socio-Political Movement of Women of Russia, whose name was often intentionally shortened to "Women of Russia" to attempt to lure away support.[6]

In April 1999 it was announced that the ZhR would not run in the December 1999 elections, instead becoming part of the Fatherland – All Russia bloc, which Lakhova had also joined. However, the party withdrew from the bloc in September in protest at the lack of women on the party's list[6] to contest the elections independently. However, its vote share fell again to 1.3%, and it lost all three seats. It did not contest any subsequent elections.

The party is today known as the Women's Union of Russia.

Election results

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Rank Status
1993[7] Alevtina Fedulova 4,679,296 4.39
23 / 450
 New 4th Opposition
1995[8] Alevtina Fedulova 3,900,885 2.88
3 / 450
 Decrease 20 5th Opposition
1999[9] Alevtina Fedulova 1,696,434 1.30
0 / 450
 Decrease 3 16th Extra-parliamentary

References

  1. ^ Women of Russia-1 Panorama
  2. ^ Carol Nechmias Politics in Post-Soviet Russia: Where Are the Women? pp206–207
  3. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1650 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  4. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p1656
  5. ^ Nechmias, p208
  6. ^ a b Nechmias, p210–211
  7. ^ "Russia: 1993 Parliamentary elections". University of Essex. Archived from the original on 10 October 2004. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Russia: 1995 Parliamentary elections". University of Essex. Archived from the original on 10 October 2004. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Russia: 1999 Parliamentary elections". University of Essex. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
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