The political transition period in Russia, starting in the late 1980s under Soviet rule and continuing into the mid-1990s, created a multidimensional set of opportunities for the emerging women's movement. Glasnost reduced censorship, and allowed for open discussions of previously unaddressed issues, including discrimination against women in the labor force, lack of women's representation in high political office, and domestic violence. Meanwhile, the shift from Communist Party rule to a more pluralistic regime increased the relative openness of the political system to autonomous social movements, including the women's movement, and moderated the state's repressive character. Indeed, within a few years of the introduction of glasnost and perestroika, large women's conferences were held, independent of state control, and dozens of women's groups had formed, building on women's transformation of consciousness. These organizations raised controversial issues and spoke out publicly in ways that had attracted harsh repression only a decade earlier.

Yet, from their emergence in the late 1980s, the independent women's groups wishing to influence state policy in a feminist direction faced an uphill battle.