A century ago, the socialist order, rising from the rubble of a dark empire, aimed to truly liberate women for the first time. From 1917 onwards, a succession of decrees ensured equal pay for equal work, introduced the 8-hour working day and banned night work. Women were granted full political rights - the right to vote and be elected for the first time on this scale in the world. Marriage was transformed into a voluntary bond, divorce was made easier, children out of wedlock were recognized as legitimate, and property rights were equalized. The most striking step was taken in 1920: The right to a woman's body was recognized, abortion was legalized and free of charge.
To ease the burden of care, the state opened daycare centers, organized maternity leave, and moved women into factories, schools and management positions. Women became doctors, engineers, teachers, managers; the rates rose rapidly. This was not an individual effort, but part of a social transformation: Women's labor was incorporated into production, the domestic burden was socialized.
Today, in the first months of 2026, the capitalist system shouts the same truth with official data: The female employment rate is .9 (.3 for men). The majority of women are excluded from the labor force and are consented to the system with the label of ’housewife“. Real unemployment, broadly defined, reaches .3 for women - millions of women are either completely unemployed or doomed to precarious, low-paid, flexible work. The burden of care labor has not changed: Children, the elderly and housework are still on women's shoulders; daycare centers are inadequate and support mechanisms are almost non-existent.
This economic dependency directly feeds violence. In 2025, at least 294 women were killed by men, 297 women were found dead in suspicious circumstances - suspicious deaths surpassed murders. Women who want to divorce, who want to make their own way are murdered as ’excuses“. Protection orders remain on paper, sentences are reduced, the home becomes the most dangerous place.
A century ago, under socialist rule, that great step took women out of the kitchen and into social production, valorized their labor, and protected their bodies and futures. Today, capitalism keeps women in the cycle of low wages, the burden of care and the shadow of violence. Equality should not remain on paper; it becomes a reality through participation in social production, socialization of labor and collective protection against violence.
This comparison shows the pain of a transformation that is still incomplete: Unless women's labor is liberated, society cannot be liberated.