MOSCOW, March 2 (RAPSI) – Public Chamber members have proposed establishing the post of women’s ombudsman in Russia, Izvestia newspaper writes on Monday, citing a letter from Public Chamber member Sergei Markov to the president.

Markov writes in his letter that “women’s rights and freedom continue to be infringed upon in Russia” and that “the issue has acquired additional urgency due to recent economic problems.”

Markov cites the proposal of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection that the investment part of the state pension be calculated based on gender, according to which women’s pensions would be smaller than men’s pensions by about 20 percent. Markov also mentioned employer bias toward female applicants.

He added that, according to information from the regions and from Moscow, thousands of women are not paid maternity benefits and monthly payments due to them until the child reaches 18 months.

Markov also writes that “the media regularly report facts of family and street violence and stories of women sent abroad as sex slaves.” He believes that the police are not working hard enough to prevent these latent crimes and disregard the specific psychological traits of female victims.

At the end of his letter, Markov pointed out that a policy approach should be developed at the federal level to address the many female oriented issues. The establishment of a presidential commissioner for women’s rights is obviously an immediate priority, Izvestia writes, citing Markov.