Press Release, 26.11.2019

On the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, a mass picket was held in Moscow demanding the adoption of the law on domestic violence. Activists of the Yabloko party, including its Gender fraction, took part in the action.

Photo: Kirill Goncharov and Galina Mikhaleva

The picket was organised by the SotsFem Alternative, an independent organisation of socialist feminists who are actively fighting for women’s rights.

Initially, it was planned to hold the action at another place in the centre of Moscow with more capacity as of participants, but the executive authorities of the Central Administrative District of Moscow proposed a different venue, and also reduced the permitted number of participants from 200 to 50 people.

At the same time, the number of picket participants was even more than 200 people. The picket took place without amplification equipment, so the technology of a “live microphone” was used – people standing around the speaker repeated in chorus everything said by the speaker.

Galina Mikhaleva, Chair of the Yabloko Gender Faction, once again emphasised in her speech that Russia remained the only country in Europe where the state did not protect victims of domestic violence, and concluded her speech with a phrase that the protesters chanted several times: “There are many of us and we will win!”

Also on this day, activists of the Yabloko party held a similar action in the centre of Kazan, Tatarstan.

It should be noted that a draft law on the prevention of domestic violence, which provides, in particular,  introduction of the institution of protective orders and temporary shelters for victims, has been already submitted to the State Duma. The Yabloko party demands immediate adoption of this law.