Six o'clock in the morning, a housing development in Saint Petersburg. Nastya Satschko quickly completes daughter Victoria for kindergarten. Then the thirty-four-year-old goes on tour, the next four days she is traveling by truck. Her husband takes care of child and household.
Satschko is one of about thirty long distance riders in Russia. Statistics do not exist, but the women in the industry know each other - because officially, Satschko and her colleagues are not allowed to practice this profession. Driving large trucks is reserved for men in Russia. In 1974, the Soviet Union issued a list of professions prohibited for women, which is still valid today.
The reason given was that the health and thus the reproductive capacity of women should be protected. On the list is also the profession of bus and truck driver. Although a small truck up to 2.5 tons are allowed to control women officially, large 20-tonner only if the tour takes a maximum of one working day. Last fall, Employment Minister Maxim Topilin announced that the law should be revised.
Until something changes, Satschko and her colleagues ignore the ban. You do not fancy smaller vehicles or day trips. "It was always my dream to become a truck driver, the smaller vans I found super uncomfortable - you can not even sleep in. When I saw the really big trucks, I was really jealous! I like it very much - that Traveling, visiting cities, getting in touch with people. "
According to his own statements, Satshko drives up to eighteen thousand kilometers a month. Then husband Andrej is responsible for the household. Satschko is the main earner in the family. A rather unusual constellation in Russia.
Stephania Kulaewa, human rights activist and director of the Anti-Discrimination Center 'Memorial' (ADC 'Memorial'), has been campaigning for years with the All Jobs for All Women campaign to end the list of professions banned for women. "The list reflects the conservative stereotypes that still exist in Russia and consolidates the traditional division of roles between women and men." It is still widespread that women should care for the preservation and reproduction of their family.
This is what Satschko's family saw. The trucker grew up in a more conservative home. Her career aspirations initially met with resistance. Her father was against it. "Imagine the gas is out and you're lying down somewhere in the mountains, you do not know what the job means," he said.
"You assume one hundred percent that I'm a prostitute"
Such views are not surprising for activist Kulaewa. "Women are seen primarily as wives and mothers and not as separate entities, and their list of prohibited professions is a testament to their social status as well as their educational and professional prospects," she says.
It was important to design the working conditions in such a way that they were equally safe and harmless to both sexes. But even more important is that women and men are allowed to make the same decisions, for or against a job. There should be no bans based on gender issues.
The trucker Julia Lasarewa also sees it that way. On the large parking lots their appearance regularly causes a stir among the male drivers.
"As soon as I get out, they want to rip me open, ask how expensive I am, and they're one hundred percent guessing I'm a prostitute, and that's not what comes to mind." Lasarewa is probably the best-known trucker in the country. They became famous through YouTube clips, which she publishes regularly. She does not want to fulfill the role stereotypes that prevail in Russia. She prefers to live alone and independently. For five years she has been crossing Russia with her truck, always with her dog's chips.
No shower cubicles for women
Nastya Satschko is under time pressure. The trucker only has eleven hours to reach her destination Kostroma. After a short night, Satschko wants to move on quickly, but a sudden cold snap thwarts her plans. "This ice, I can not get out of here, the wheels are spinning, it's smooth, damned," the trucker curses.
Satschko uses the forced break for a breakfast and a long shower. She rarely has time for that. From the gas cooker to the dinnerware, everything is available in the small cabin.
Showering is a bit more complicated. Because truckers do not have their own shower cubicles on the service areas. Satschko must therefore always check beforehand if a man is taking a shower.
Arriving in Kostroma, Satschko watches the unloading of her truck. "That's what I like best when our Russian men work, but most of them are useless, they drink at home and do not work, but their wives have to work without end." Satshko will remain the main breadwinner of her family. So she hopes for the next load, for the next trip.
"Russia's Truckerinnen - Survival in a Men's World": The report by Anna Sadovnikova you see on Tuesday, January 8, at 19.40 clock on arte.