Press Release, 11.05.2021

On April 28, Olga Radayeva, First Deputy Chair of the Gender Faction of the Yabloko party, took part in an online conference on gender equality organised by Svensk Ungdom (Finland) and Civic Forum (Belarus).

Five speakers shared their experience of defending women’s rights in their countries: Ellinor Juth (Svensk Ungdom, Finland), Marina Korzh (Feminist movement “March Babe!”, Belarus), Olga Radayeva (Gender Faction of the Yabloko party, Russia), Olena Stadnik- Stefurak (European Youth of Ukraine, Ukraine), Ghena Ayach (Future Youth Movement, Lebanon).

The speakers told about their organisations, the situation with women’s rights, positive and negative trends in the field of gender equality in their countries, what problems in the field of gender equality came to the forefront in their countries, which legislative acts contributed to the achievement of gender equality, and which on the contrary, slowed down the process.

Gender equality is one of 17 goals (goal number 5), which the UN sets for the world community in the third millennium: “Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.” In many ways, developments in gender equality have been positive over the past decade. For example, more and more girls and women in the world have been able to get an education, the representation of women in government and politics has grown. However, despite the positive changes, there are still many unresolved problems in the field of gender equality in the world. Thus, according to the UN, discriminatory laws and social norms are still widespread, women are still underrepresented at all levels of political leadership, every fifth woman and girl aged 15 to 49 has experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner within a 12-month period.

Other important issues discussed by the participants were discrimination in hiring, lower wages for women compared to men, time spent on housework and an increase in incitement to hate speech on social networks, and exacerbation of problems during the COVID pandemic.