Under the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv they rebuffed the sexist Lukashenko
Several people gathered at the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Kyiv to protest against repression of active women.
The action was timed to coincide with the presidential elections in Belarus, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The event was organized by Amnesty International Ukraine, and members of other NGOs took part in it. The reason for the action was pressure on Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, as well as a statement by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that a woman cannot lead Belarus.
“This situation is not new, but it has opened a new page in history - these are the women of Belarus. The repressions concern not only those men who were visible candidates, possible real competitors of Lukashenko. We see how Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is nominated and we see the pressure that is being put on her. And it has a completely different format.
These are repressions that relate to the fear of losing one’s motherhood. We know that she had to take her children abroad - there was a risk that they would be taken under the so-called. state guardianship.
We see that women who take an active part in opposition protests are subject to pressure and threats of rape. The rhetoric itself that Mr. Lukashenko uses is also important – that the Constitution is not for women and so on,” said Oksana Pokalchuk, director of Amnesty International in Ukraine.
She said that Amnesty International is monitoring the situation in Belarus and has already recognized a large number of people as prisoners of conscience.
“These people are simply put in prison, in a pre-trial detention center, for their point of view. The world community needs to be given full information about what is happening there,” noted Oksana Pokalchuk.
Human rights activist Lyubov Galan spoke about how difficult it is for a woman to be a politician.
“This is connected to the gender issue, hanging over all this is unpleasant, misogynistic and sexist aggression towards women who are protest leaders, campaign leaders. This once again makes us think about the false, double standards of an unequal structure, a patriarchal structure, about how difficult it is to be a female politician or activist,” said the human rights activist.
At the end, the participants of the action staged a performance. One of them, with a box on her head depicting a “prison,” came forward and tore a piece of paper on which were written the words spoken by Alexander Lukashenko “our constitution is not for a woman... it will collapse, poor fellow.”
Another said: “A woman’s place is everywhere. We can realize ourselves in different areas, and she raised a sheet with the inscription “Office of the President.” Still others stated: “I can be a scientist,” I can be a deputy,” I can be a president.”
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