This paper incorporates a combination of historical research and political analysis to assess the changing role of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in Russia in the post-Soviet period until 2012, focusing on how the growing political influence of the Church has impacted women. In order to examine to what extent the Church has been successful in influencing politics, this research analyses one policy area in which the ROC has been a particularly active and arguably successful lobbyist: women’s reproductive health. A second case study on the Pussy Riot trial demonstrates why this event is considered a turning point for church-state relations in the post-Soviet period and highlights the way in which feminist ideology is perceived as a threat to Putin’s regime. Contributing to recent research into the global anti-gender movement, this paper explores the portrayal of feminism as a dangerous and harmful ideology by both the Church and Putin. This rhetoric has intensified since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine; the feminist movement has become a significant source of anti-war activism while the ROC has continued to be a source of legitimation and support for Putin. More recently, numerous women have been charged with ‘radical feminism,’ something which is increasingly equated with extremism. The relationship between the growing political influence of the ROC, the increasing number of attacks on women’s rights, particularly sexual and reproductive rights, and the shrinking space for feminist activism is a vital area of research which this paper aims to address.
