Press release, 09.03.2016

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, YABLOKO’s Gender faction conducted a rally for women’s rights in the centre of Moscow. Left-wing feminists joined the action.

“The conservative turn of our policy deals a heavy blow to women. The latest legislative changes and initiatives are the following: limitation of reproductive rights, decriminalisation of domestic violence, proposals on polygamy legalisation and women’s pension cut as compared to men’s pension. The Russian Orthodox Church agressively insists on returning to traditional roles when women are considered to be only wives and mothers,” head of YABLOKO Gender faction Galina Mikhaleva said.

YABLOKO’s municipal deputy Svetlana Savitskaya spoke about YABLOKO’s campaign against transfer of infant feeding centres to pharmacies.

“Feminism is freedom. But the foundation of today’s authority is obedience, oppression and lies. We must replace the authorities who aim at controlling our body and mind. And to do so we must use the right to vote which was won by suffragettes,” Deputy Chair of Moscow YABLOKO Youth Maria Yefimova commented.

Chair of Moscow YABLOKO Youth Nikolai Kavkazsky called for illumination of sexism within democratic organisations. “Very often representatives of democratic organisations use sexist vocabulary. They use the words which objectivise and stigmatise women. Such habits are popular with the Democratic coalition representatives,” he said.

Member of the Regional Council of Moscow YABLOKO Marina Karavayeva, head of YABLOKO’s School of Active Citizens Tatyana Ovcharenko, journalists Anastasia Zotova and Daria Garmonenko gave their speeches at the rally as well.

The participants of the action also demanded to release Nadezhda Savchenko.

Photographs by Yuri Slinko