Editing Women's rights (section)

===== Russia =====

By law and custom, Muscovite Russia was a patriarchal society that subordinated women to men, and the young to their elders. [[Peter the Great]] relaxed the second custom, but not the subordination of women.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: 4 Volume Set|last = Smith|first = Bonnie G|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-19-514890-9|location = London, UK|pages = [https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/443 443–44]|url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/443}}</ref> A decree of 1722 explicitly forbade any forced marriages by requiring both bride and groom to consent, while parental permission still remained a requirement. But during Peter's reign, only the man could get rid of his wife by putting her in a nunnery.<ref name=":3" />

In terms of laws, there were double standards for women. Adulterous wives were sentenced to forced labor, while men who murdered their wives were merely flogged.<ref name=":3" /> After the death of Peter the Great, laws and customs pertaining to men's marital authority over their wives increased.<ref name=":3" /> In 1782, civil law reinforced women's responsibility to obey their husbands.<ref name=":3" /> By 1832, the Digest of laws changed this obligation into "unlimited obedience".<ref name=":3" />

In the 18th century, the Russian orthodox church further got its authority over marriage and banned priests from granting divorce, even for severely abused wives.<ref name=":3" /> By 1818, the Russian senate had also forbade the separation of married couples.<ref name=":3" />

During [[World War I]], caring for children was increasingly difficult for women, many of whom could not support themselves, and whose husbands had died or were fighting in the war. Many women had to give up their children to children's homes infamous for abuse and neglect. These children's homes were unofficially dubbed as "angel factories". After the [[October Revolution]], the Bolsheviks shut down an infamous angel factory known as the 'Nikolaev Institute' situated near the Moika Canal. The Bolsheviks then replaced the Nikolaev Institute with a modern maternity home called the 'Palace for Mothers and Babies'. This maternity home was used by the [[Bolsheviks]] as a model for future maternity hospitals. The countess who ran the old Institute was moved to a side wing, however she spread rumours that the Bolsheviks had removed sacred pictures, and that the nurses were promiscuous with sailors. The maternity hospital was burnt down hours before it was scheduled to open, and the countess was suspected of being responsible.<ref>{{cite book |last=Porter |first=Cathy |date=1987 |title=Women in Revolutionary Russia |location=Great Britain|publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=39 |isbn=0-521-31969-2}}</ref>

Russian women had restrictions in owning property until the mid 18th century.<ref name=":3" /> Women's rights had improved after the rise of the [[Soviet Union]] under the Bolsheviks.<ref name=":3" />

Under the Bolsheviks, Russia became the first country in human history to provide free abortions to women in state-run hospitals.<ref name="Porter 1987 43">{{cite book |last= Porter |first= Cathy |date= 1987 |title= Women in Revolutionary Russia |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9Wu1AAAAIAAJ |location= Cambridge |publisher= Cambridge University Press |page= 43 |isbn= 0-521-31969-2 }}</ref>