Women’s rights in Ukrainian territories according to Lithuanian statutes and customary law in the 16th century – the first half of the 17th century: a comparative analysis

Abstract

The article analyses the rights of women in the Ukrainian territories in the 16th – first half of the 17th century according to the Lithuanian statutes and customary law. The influence of the Orthodox Church on the marriage life of this period is highlighted, in particular, the attention is focused on the different views of the church and the community on marriage and divorce.

According to the article, women’s personal and property rights were regulated by both certain legal provisions and customary law. In particular, on the basis of Lithuanian statutes, women enjoyed judicial protection, had rights in civil law relations when signing contracts and compensation for damages on an equal footing with men. The author emphasised that only those articles of the Lithuanian statutes that did not contradict the rules of customary law were implemented in practice. Customary law, transmitting the moral experience of generations, continued to have a decisive influence on the exercise of property rights and women’s rights in marriage until the end of the seventeenth century, when women's rights were fully protected.

It is stated that from the second half of the seventeenth century, after the loss of autonomy by the Hetmanate, a period of restriction of property, family and social rights of women begins. The standard of spousal behaviour became the Domostroy, according to the provisions of which the parity between a man and a woman was completely cancelled. The wife's behaviour was clearly regulated, and in case of non-compliance with the proposed regulations, she was punished by both her husband and the church, which was completely contrary to both the Lithuanian statutes and Ukrainian customary law.

It is emphasised that in developing effective mechanisms for ensuring women's rights in modern Ukrainian society, it is necessary to refer to the successful experience of observing women's equality in the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries, when the autonomy and independence of Ukrainian women became their main national features.