Address: 5/1 Yunosti Street, Moscow, 111395, Russia.
Contact persons:
Tatyana Zabelina, PhD (History), Yevgenia Issraelyan, PhD (History) - co-directors
Julia Zhdanova, M.A. (Sociology) - Coordinator.
telephone: 7 (095) 374-82-95;
fax: 7 (095) 177-73-31;
e-mail: julia@ufg.ru

The Centre for Women, Family and Gender Studies was set up in June, 1993 as a non-governmental non-profit volunteer organization within the Moscow Youth Institute. The Centre's goals are:

• to develop curricula and provide trainings and workshops for students, educators and experts; to prepare curricula and printed resources on the following issues: "Women's Studies in Russia and Abroad"; "Women with Special Needs"; "Gender Studies", "Women's Human Rights", "Violence Against Women".
• to initiate an educational outreach program on these issues, sending speakers to institutes, NGO's, schools and universities;
• to organize regular seminars and trainings on the above-mentioned issues;
• to collect, distribute and translate scholarly and educational literature in this area;
• to participate in the undertakings of the Russian Association of Crisis Centres and the NIS/USA Women's Consortium.

In October 1993, the Centre for Women, Family and Gender Studies organized the first international seminar "Women, Youth and Violence", sponsored by the Canadian Embassy in Moscow. It also took part in the organization of trainings on domestic violence and self-defense for women, in cooperation with the Moscow Centre for Sexual Assault Recovery "Sisters", and co-sponsored the conference "Women Against Violence" (September, 1995). It organized the short-term School for Students and Faculty of Medical Schools: Treatment of Women, Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault" (April, 1996).

Members of the Centre have spoken at many national and international conferences on women studies, youth and violence issues, and have also published many chapters and articles on women in Russia and abroad.

This Centre works in cooperation with the Network of Interdisciplinary Women's Studies in Europe (NOISE), Women Studies Centres in Russia and abroad.

The Centre published a handbook for social workers and the personnel of sexual assault recovery Centres and shelters in Russia/NIS, entitled "How to Start and Manage a Women's Crisis Centre" (1995) and guidelines for nurses, entitled "Family Violence" (1996), sponsored by the Canadian Embassy. The authors of the Center took part in the creation of the Russian adapted version of the manual for women "Our Human Rights" by Julie Mertus (published in Russian in 1996).

Members of the Center have a lot of experience in organizing trainings on women's issues and have good contacts among women's studies experts, educators and NGO activists all over the country and abroad. In 1996-1997 we successfully held several trainings for grassroots women's organizations (in Tver, Tiumen Region, Moscow Region, etc.). In Tver it was sponsored by the League of Women Voters Educational Fund (USA), in Siberia - by the local authorities and women's NGOs and in the Moscow region - by the Consortium of Women's NGOs.

The members of the Centre are involved in the Gender and Culture Program undertakings of the Central European University (Dr. Zabelina participated in the Summer University Session on Gender and Culture in July, 1996 and in the program of the the Seminars on Gender/Culture/Representation; J. Zhdanova is a member of the research group on Shopping Tourism which cooperates with CEU).

The Center is planning to conduct sociological research on the topic of "Young Women of Russia in the Transitional Period", a training program entitled, "To Female Youth About Women's Rights", to organize research on prostitution and the trafficking of women in Russia and NIS, and to develop curricula on Women and Violence Issues, Gender Studies for health professionals, social workers, psychologists and others.

Unfortunately, our Centre is not supported financially on a permanent basis. All our projects were realized due to target grants. We would very much appreciate any financial contribution to our projects and future undertakings.

Tatyana Zabelina,
Yevgenia Issraelyan