Preserving the institution of the family

State support plays an important role in the process of strengthening family values, including social programmes and initiatives aimed at improving the living conditions of families, improving their well-being and protecting the rights of children and parents. These were the conclusions reached by participants in the session ‘Preserving the Institution of the Family’, which was held as part of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

The Forum is organized by the Roscongress Foundation with support from the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.

KEY CONCLUSIONS

Russia emphasizes the protection and promotion of family values

“We must have certain principles, such as the need to strengthen the family, the inadmissibility of arbitrary interference by anyone in the affairs of the family. Ensuring the unhindered exercise by family members of their rights, the voluntary marriage union of a man and a woman, the recognition of the equality of rights of spouses in the family, the priority of family upbringing of children. <...> A strong family is the support and backbone of everyone. Raising children in the spirit of love for their country, respect for each other, intergenerational continuity and awareness of the irreplaceability of motherhood and fatherhood is our primary task,” Vsevolod Vukolov, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.

“Today, Russia has set ambitious development goals. We realize that achieving them is impossible without the family. <...> The family is a school of love, self-sacrifice, mercy, generosity, care for one’s neighbour. In the end, it is a school of self-renunciation. It is the institution of the family that develops all these qualities in a person and that our opponents are trying to destroy,” Anna Shafran, Head of the Directorate of Analytical Radio Programs of the Zvezda Media Holding, “ZVEZDA” the Russian Armed Forces Broadcasting Company.

“The most important thing in every person’s life is family. It should be preserved in every possible way,” Olga Alexandrova, Rector, All-Russian State University of Justice.

PROBLEMS

A ban on abortion procedures in private clinics is needed to reduce the number of abortions

“One of the acute problems affecting the reproductive potential is medical abortions committed at the will of women. According to official statistics, more than 500,000 abortions are performed annually. If we also take into account non-surgical abortions, this figure will be even higher,” Maria Kiseleva, Deputy, Moscow City Duma; Three -Time Olympic Champion in Synchronous Swimming.

“We cannot talk about demographic growth if the number of abortion centres in the region is several times higher than the number of maternity centres that help to manage pregnancies. This situation must be changed. The Russian Orthodox Church has repeatedly come forward with the initiative to move abortions from private clinics to public ones. In public clinics, we can see a woman having an abortion. <...> The pharmaceutical business, which makes money on medical abortions, sabotages this initiative. We understand why: medical abortions are mostly performed in private clinics,” Fedor Lukyanov, Chairman, Patriarchal Commission for Family Affairs and Protection of Motherhood and Childhood.

SOLUTIONS

Legislation should protect and promote traditional values

“We are actively preparing bills to prevent the spread of Childfree. A trend that says that girls, especially young girls, do not need to give birth, they can do without children. There are many such ideologies, so to speak, of an extremist nature. Today we have prepared these draft laws (draft No. 303039-8 “On Amendments to Articles 2 and 5 of the Federal Law ‘On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development’ and Article 14 of the Federal Law ‘On Basic Guarantees of the Rights of the Child in the Russian Federation’) ...” This should be a tool to protect our values,” Vsevolod Vukolov, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.

“Such an immutable and basic value as life requires clarification. According to domestic legislators, human life can be protected by law only from the moment of birth. Whereas in the view of Russia’s traditional confessions, the traditional religions of Russia, a child in the womb is as full-fledged a human being as a newborn. <...> Today we are gradually working with the medical community to slowly work in this area,” Fedor Lukyanov, Chairman, Patriarchal Commission for Family Affairs and Protection of Motherhood and Childhood.

“We need to conduct a systematic monitoring of the current legislation in order to determine the sufficiency of measures taken to respect the property rights of family members and their protection in such areas as bankruptcy in corporate relations, in housing legal relations and in other social relations with property elements,” Marina Ilyushina, Head of the Department of Civil and Business Law, All-Russian State University of Justice.

“If we summarise the federal and regional support measures aimed at childbirth, in most cases they are focused on the first, second, third birth. This is very important and very important global experience, but, unfortunately, there [is no support, – Ed.] for the fourth, fifth and subsequent children. This support, except for some practices in the regions, is not provided today,” Grigory Saifullin, Project Director, Social Development Practice, Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects (ASI).

* This is a translation of material that was originally generated in Russian using artificial intelligence.

For more information, visit the Roscongress Information and Analytical System roscongress.org.

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