INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
In 2023, Russian authorities actively advocated for increased childbearing among women and intensified their stance against abortion while
also promoting the idea that the role of a woman is to be a homemaker.Yet women were also changemakers, with the wives and mothers of
mobilized soldiers becoming a leading voice of dissent toward the end of the year and some women launching bids for the presidency.Here are
Mikhail Murashko criticized the societal expectation for women to pursue their education and careers over families
encouragement from prioritizing education to promoting childbirth to address its demographic challenges."Now, when education comes first in
the value system and family and marriage come second, we have a skew
These values need to be reversed: having children and family should come first
We have our first child at 30, if not 40 years old
RussiaIn recent months, Russia appears to be pushing an anti-abortion agenda with several Russian regions outlawing the so-called act of
control the circulation of abortion-inducing drugs in pharmacies, saying that although the number of abortions has already decreased
have introduced or are discussing anti-abortion measures.A maternity hospital in Moscow.Alexander Avilov / Moskva News AgencyBut in
December, Russian lawmakers rejected a bill that would bar all private clinics nationwide from providing abortions
activists argue that these services have been established to discourage women from undergoing the procedure.Asked about rumors of a
nationwide abortion ban during his end-of-year press conference, President Vladimir Putin said: "Our demographic problem would have been
While the authorities are still reluctant to adopt legislation to combat it, activists also warn that the war in Ukraine and the
also witnessed several cases when women were trying to flee domestic violence at home in the North Caucasus, a conservative, predominantly
Muslim part of Russia.In one case, Seda Suleimanova, who fled the Muslim-majority region of Chechnya last year following death threats from
family in Russia in June and returned home.Last month, police in Armenia briefly detained Fatima Zurabova, 21, who fled from domestic
violence in the republic of Ingushetia.Russian women demand return of their men from Ukraine frontThe fall 2022 mobilization of 300,000
reservists for the war also had a significant impact on Russian women
This year, a growing movement of women has been demanding the return of their loved ones
Some wives and mothers of Russian mobilized soldiers also said that the authorities had pressured them for being vocal about mobilization
power or attitude towards the armed conflict in Ukraine
Everyone has the right to decide for themselves
authorities also recruited female fighters for defense units.The Borz Battalion of Redut, a mercenary group under the control of the Defense
Ministry, posted an advertisement on Russian social media seeking women for combat roles in Ukraine, the investigative news outlet iStories
point for military service under a contract in Moscow.Maxim Mishin, Press Service of the Mayor and Government of MoscowWomen running for the
four women announce their bid for the presidency.Yekaterina Duntsova, a journalist and local politician from the Tver region northwest of
Moscow and a single mother of three, declared her intention to run for the presidency in November.In a recent interview, she told The Moscow
Times that her age, gender and lack of experience in Moscow politics could play to her advantage in the upcoming race.This month, the
Central Election Commission (CEC) rejected her nomination documents and the Supreme Court later rejected her appeal, but Duntsova said that
Blogger Rada Russkikh and Irina Sviridova, nominated by the Democratic Party of Russia, will now have to collect enough signatures for the
unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government
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