An action against violence against women was held in Moscow
on November 25. The participants demanded from the State Duma
to urgently adopt a law protecting women from domestic violence.
YABLOKOs Gender faction had been conducting such actions
for the third year already on the first day of the UN campaign
"16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women".
Opening the event, Galina Mikhalyova, head of YABLOKOs Gender
faction, quoted terrible statistical data: every year 14,000
women are killed by domestic abusers, 2,000 children commit
suicide and over 50,000 children run from home. "Despite
of this, stereotypes "if he beats me this means he loves
me" have been still very strong in Russia families,
Mikhalyova said. According to her, there has been no state
support to the victims of violence. Mikhalyova also noted
that according to the European standards there should be one
crisis center per 100,000 residents, but in Russia only one
or two crisis centres function in large cities only.
Galina Mikhalyova
The draft law on protection against domestic violence had
been already submitted to the State Duma, and, as expected,
it would be examined at the session in 2013, said the leader
of the Gender faction. However, Mikhalyova expressed her concern
that the draft law may be shelved as the draft law on the
state guarantees for gender equality, which had been in the
Duma since 1995, or the project of creation of an alimony
fund. "Our Duma has been working like a crazy printer
when they have to pass laws restricting the rights and freedoms.
But when it comes to protection of people, the laws are shelved
there for years, " she noted.
Natalia Dmitriyeva
Natalia Dmitriyeva, Co-Chair of the Council for Consolidation
of Women's Movement in Russia, proposed amendments to the
Criminal Code so that to make violence against family members
an aggravating circumstance in the criminal cases.
Larissa Skuratovskaya
Larissa Skuratovskaya, a representative of one of women's
organizations, spoke about the historical origins of the decade
to combat violence against women. On November 25, 1960, three
Mirabal sisters were killed in the Dominican Republic. They
became a symbol of the human rights movement in Latin America,
and their brutal murder triggered an international protest
against all forms of gender violence.
Grigory Semyonov's speech
Grigory Semyonov, deputy of Municipal Assembly of Cheryomushky
district, said that the society in Russia is arranged so that
a woman had to be in the humiliating position. "There
is even a group of female occupations, but why there is such
a division? Wages are very low in the so-called female occupations,
and women can not live on such salaries without the support
of men," Semenov noted. Equality can be either for everyone
or there is no equality, he said.
Vladimir Sirotin
Vladimir Sirotin, an activist from the left forces, quoted
Martin Luther King Jr.: " Injustice anywhere is a threat
to justice everywhere".
See also:
Women's
Rights
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