星空传媒

According to UN Women, women serve as heads of state in only 22 countries. However, 2020 was a crucial year for women in politics in Eurasia: in Moldova, Maia Sandu was elected president, in Belarus, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was hailed as the primary opposition candidate against Aleksandr Lukashenko, in Ukraine, the percentage of female MPs was double that of the past parliament, and in Russia, a new generation of women were running for office and promoting important political agendas, despite the lack of competitive politics in the country. In conversation with Jill Dougherty, experts Maryna Rudenko, Katsiaryna Shmatsina, and Valeriya Utkina discussed how female leadership has evolved in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia and what obstacles women still face in holding office.

Selected Quotes

Valeriya Utkina

鈥淩ussia is responsible for the position of women and for gender equality because there are a lot of international acts that Russia signed [鈥 as far as today鈥檚 situation, it鈥檚 drastically different. I need to mention this very important point.鈥� 

鈥淲omen are underrepresented at the decision-making level and sometimes for conservative people it鈥檚 not clear why, because in particular, in the cabinet of ministers, it鈥檚 32 people and it鈥檚 only three women and it鈥檚 about 9% percent, but still they can say that it鈥檚 three women.鈥�

鈥淚n 2017, when they asked me at one of the public talks 鈥榳hat is going on with the feminism in the Russian Federation鈥�, I said that now it鈥檚 not [as] popular as [it] could be and it鈥檚 only local initiatives and what is in 2021, the situation is changing a lot.鈥� 

Maryna Rudenko

鈥淟ast autumn we had elections to the local authorities and 140,000 women candidates and 36% of them became members of the local electoral bodies and heads of the amalgamated communities.鈥�

鈥淲e received evidence that women as politicians advocate for European integration and for gender mainstreaming and security sector reform.鈥� 

鈥淯nfortunately, there are a lot of stereotypes鈥攁s Valeriya said鈥攖hat exist still in Ukrainian society, and there are anti-gender movements in Ukraine which are supposed by the council of churches, for example, which advocates for some traditional values鈥攏obody knows what traditional values means鈥攂ut we have these attacks against women鈥檚 rights defenders.鈥� 

Katsiaryna Shmatsina

鈥淎t the previous parliamentary elections鈥�2016 I believe鈥攖here were two women opposition candidates who were allowed to get into the parliament [鈥 we know that the elections were rigged and that was a purely political decision to look good for the Western actors, and then those two women were allowed to get in. Again, the rationale was probably that those women were less dangerous in the eyes of the authorities compared to male candidates who were coming from the opposition.鈥� 

鈥淚t was very spectacular how those three women representing essentially three different political groups鈥攖hey managed to agree and to speak as a united voice on the opposition to the existing regime. And there were many comparisons at that time saying that those women were much more efficient in negotiating and framing their messages to the audience compared to male candidates鈥攐pposition candidates in previous years.鈥� 

鈥淚 would again underline that this women trio鈥攖hose bright political figures鈥攖hey were running mainly on鈥攖hey did not pay specific attention to the gender issues and to women empowerment and there were some messages from Svetlana Tikhanovskaya or her colleagues at the rallies, they would say something like 鈥榦h, I鈥檓 here to show support and love to my husband who鈥檚 now in prison [鈥 there was not so much of a women empowerment narrative.鈥�