As the Western press gorges itself on the story of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump making numerous sexist comments about women, similar stories involving Ukrainian politicians remain untold.
While Trump has been weathering a media storm after the publication of a 2005 audio tape in which he discusses grabbing women’s genitals, which he dismisses as “locker room talk,” Ukrainian politicians easily get away with making sexist and homophobic comments, and even sexual harassment.
‘Come to my suite’
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri on October 9, 2016. (AFP)
In March, three female lawmakers with the Samopomich Party – Viktoria Voytsitska, Olena Sotnyk, and Iryna Podolyak – filed a claim with the Rada’s regulation committee in which they accused their colleague Oleg Barna of sexual harassment.
Earlier, Sotnyk said that the three lawmakers were unable to sign the petition for government dismissal because Barna, who was collecting the signatures, lost the document. Barna went on the air on Channel 24 to brush off the accusation. He said that if the female lawmakers wanted to add their signatures, they could find him in his hotel room. He offered the room number, too.
Oleg Barna, a member of Ukraine’s parliament. (Volodymyr Petrov)
“Suite 508 – I’m always there in the evening, so come and join me. It will be pleasant and useful for us,” Barna said on air, addressing his female colleagues.
Later Barna claimed that there was no sexism intended in his words, and his colleagues misunderstood him, but the three lawmakers said they were offended by the invitation.
“Respecting every human, regardless of their gender, age, nationality or sexuality, is one of the attributes of the civilized world,” Voytsitska wrote on her Facebook page immediately after the incident.“However, even in the parliament the one faces discrimination and sexism.”
Voytsitska told the Kyiv Post that Barna had not been punished for his statement, as her claim has sunk below a pile of dozens of other complaints being considered by the Rada’s regulation committee. Barna wasn’t available for comment.
Two months before offending Voytsitska and her colleagues, Barna was dismissed from the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko when he manhandled then-Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk from the Rada’s rostrum as he delivered an address in parliament.
Parliament of men
Voytsitska told the Kyiv Post that politicians should set an example of good manners, but right now the parliament reflects the flaws of society. She said that Ukrainian politicians frequently make sexist comments about their female colleagues, and regard this as completely normal.
Moreover, women’s chances of even getting in the parliament are low. Ukraine’s parliament has only 52 women, accounting for only 12.3 percent of the 423 seats. In comparison, the European Union countries have an average of 23 percent female lawmakers.
“The parties’ leaders just don’t want to include more women. Politics in Ukraine is still a man’s job,” Svitlana Zalishchuk, lawmaker with Petro Poroshenko Bloc, told the Kyiv Post.
Radical Party lawmaker Ihor Mosiychuk and Petro Poroshenko Bloc lawmaker Svitlana Zalishchuk argue in the parliament on July 3, 2015. (UNIAN)
Zalishchuk was one of the authors of the state financing of political parties bill, approved by the Rada in 2015, which ruled that the parties with 30 percent of women as members can claim a 10 percent increase in state funding.
No equality
Ukraine took 67th place among 142 countries in the Gender Inequality of the World Economic Forum annual ranking in 2015, which is 11 points lower than in 2014, when Ukraine took 56th place.
Gender equality in Ukraine is still at an early stage, according to Inna Turkenya, the gender expert of the Female Leadership Academy.
“The level of discrimination against a woman depends on her occupation. Men can’t stand women with a lot of money and power,” said Turkenya.
Furthermore, Turkenya said, many women in Ukraine are still not aware of the fact that sexism and humiliation in the workplace is unacceptable.
“Ninety percent of women think sexist comments are jokes. It is normal for a male colleague to slap your butt, because ‘he’s joking or showing interest this way,’” said Turkenya.
She said this was because of the stereotypes that still exist in Ukrainian society: a woman must first and foremost be a beautiful and sexy homemaker, while men are seen as leaders and breadwinners.
Assault attempt
Victoria Siumar, now People’s Front Party lawmaker and deputy secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, first came to the Verkhovna Rada as a young journalist almost 20 years ago. She remembers that day well.
She was going to interview a male lawmaker who was the head of one of the Rada’s committees.
“Behind the closed doors of his office, he openly asked if we could have sex,” Siumar told the Kyiv Post.
The lawmaker recalled that the man even wanted to force himself on her, but she threatened to make a scandal. Siumar refused to name the politician, saying that he is no longer a member of the Rada.
Poroshenko Bloc lawmaker Zalishchuk has also been subjected to offensive comments from her colleagues. In 2015, her friend and another lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko had a conflict with Radical Party lawmaker Ihor Mosiychuk. Mosiychuk called Leshchenko “a bearded woman” because of his open support for LGBT rights. When Zalishchuk came to his defense, Mosiychuk labeled her “a mouthy tradeswoman” and accused Leshchenko of “hiding under a woman’s skirt.”
Mosiychuk told the Kyiv Post that he didn’t regret his words.
Signs of improvement
But there are signs that at least some Ukrainian politicians are getting better at recognizing the need for gender equality.
Voytsitska recalled a closed meeting of the government, at which she was supposed to read a report to Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman together with a male lawmaker from the Poroshenko Bloc.
“(The male lawmaker) said ‘ladies first’ and proposed that I report first. But Groysman interrupted him, saying there are no ladies or gentlemen in the Rada, we are all parliamentarians,” said Voytsitska.
