A law regulating the equality of the sexes and addressing domestic and sexual violence may appear in Russia soon, the country's health and social development minister told a UN commissioner on Wednesday.
"We are now revising the present-day legislation to draw up a new unified legal act that would defend the interests of women," Minister Tatyana Golikova said.
She added that the law would be called "On state guarantees of equal rights and freedoms for men and women and equal opportunities for their realization."
In late January, women took to the streets across Russia in protest against a new system of maternity leave payments, which would have been based on salary levels for the previous two years, instead of one year as was previously the case. Opponents of the new system say it was likely to result in lower maternity leave payments as the economic crisis saw salary levels drop in Russia in 2009.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin subsequently ordered a revision of the law and women were allowed to choose the time period on which payments would be calculated.
MOSCOW, February 16 (RIA Novosti)
