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Tag: women

Gender stereotypes break down as Ukrainian women step up

With one million Ukrainians in the military, including hundreds of thousands on the frontlines, nine million displaced and thousands of men who once eagerly enlisted now hiding from military recruiters, the war shrunk and reshaped Ukraine's labour force. Indeed, it is likely to continue transforming society and women’s place in it for decades to come.

After years as a quality control engineer with big supermarkets and housing construction sites, Natalia Myronenko had yearned for change. Passionate about fashion, beauty, makeup and harmony, she saw her maternity leave after the birth of her second child as the perfect time to pivot. But the war intervened, thrusting her into a field she had never imagined entering: humanitarian demining. When she got the job as a quality control manager, she envisioned mostly office supervisory work. “Then I realized that war is my job, and I was shocked,” says the 40-year-old. Like in her old job, she has to check other people’s work. Only now, human lives are on the line. At stake is making the land safe again for farmers and people to live on, to survey each patch of farmland that had witnessed combat, carefully searching for and removing unexploded mines, missiles, artillery shells, bombs and other types of ordnance – all with the utmost caution. “It’s all about safety,” she says.

November 21, 2024 - Isabelle de Pommereau

Ukrainian women leaders, as the new civil elite of Ukraine, in the face of the challenges of the Russo-Ukrainian War

All of Ukrainian society has been engaged in resisting Russia’s ongoing invasion for over two years. This includes various women leaders, whose skills and experience have allowed them to become vocal advocates for the war-torn country.

June 26, 2024 - Andrii Kutsyk

Life in exile — a report on Belarusian women abroad

The political events of 2020 in Belarus have fundamentally changed the dynamics of Belarusian emigration. Although the Belarusian exodus has not yet ceased, the Russian war in Ukraine has resulted in a second great wave. For many, it was the last straw, a powerful trigger, the point of no return.

May 31, 2022 - Volha Kavalskaya

You’ll never walk alone

The changes in Poland’s abortion law were set in motion by PiS and the judges that it installed. Where the debate ends on this matter will be up to a new generation of Polish women.

March 12, 2021 - Małgorzata Kopka-Piątek

Lithuanian elections provide new opportunities and women empowerment

In October 2020 the election to Lithuanian parliament (the Seimas) took place and brought new political power to Lithuania for the upcoming four years. More women have been empowered in leadership – the three parties that will make up the centre right coalition are led by women. This election marks a change in Lithuania’s political culture and gives more assurance for trust, democracy and gender equality.

During the two rounds of elections to the Seimas on October 11th and 25th, 141 parliamentarians were elected to represent Lithuania’s parliament for the next four years. The results of the elections show that the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats won the elections with the most seats (50) in the Seimas. The previous ruling party, the Lithuanian Peasant Popular Party, won 32 seats while the Social Democrats and the Liberal Movement received 13 mandates each. The Freedom Party, founded in 2019, won 11 seats, and the Labour Party won 10 seats. The new ruling coalition was formed by the Homeland Union, the Liberal Movement and the Freedom Party, which together secured a majority of 74 seats.

February 3, 2021 - Kristina Smolijaninovaitė

Women’s face of the opposition

The topic of women in protests has not been on the agenda in Russia until the election campaign in Belarus. And then we suddenly saw them – strong, stylish, beautiful, and, most importantly, exuding love not hate.

February 3, 2021 - Yulia Galiamina

Revolution in Belarus. Surprisingly female?

The unexpected female dimension of the Belarusian opposition has made it fresh, emotional and empowering. These three women who did not give up after the most popular candidates were eliminated from the election race gave people “a last hope for change”. The women were authentic, they told personal stories, talked about love and asked people to believe in themselves.

Inspiring images of the Belarusian revolutionary female trio of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria Kalesnikava and Veranika Tsapkala as well as the numerous images of women peacefully protesting after the falsified August election, seem to have reached every corner of the globe. International audiences admired their strength, courage and wholesomeness. The high visibility and important role of women in the mass protests is not unique to Belarus, however.

November 17, 2020 - Olga Dryndova

Lukashenka’s disdain for women was his big mistake

Women have played a central role since the very beginning of the protests in Belarus.

August 20, 2020 - Joanna Hosa

Tajikistan: Between security and objectification of female body

After a long political struggle against the Islamic opposition, Tajikistan's government initiated a “traditional-national” policy, according to which women should wear “traditional-national” garments. This objectification of female body serves to perpetuate the political power of the ruling elite.

November 13, 2017 - Hafiz Boboyorov

Good girls seldom make foreign policy

This piece originally appeared in Issue 6/2016 of New Eastern Europe. Subscribe now.

November 30, 2016 - Iwona Reichardt

Belarus: Why do dictators need women?

Belarus, often called “the last dictatorship of Europe,” is a truly remarkable country in political terms. There are few other places where elections are rigged in such an open way and where, for over 12 years, opposition politicians have not set foot in the parliament. However, the latest parliamentary election in Belarus has brought some surprising results. Two opposition politicians were elected, among the other 108, to the Belarusian House of Representatives. Even more surprising is the gender of the selected politicians, as they are both women.

October 18, 2016 - Ales Herasimenka

It’s a “boys’ club” after all

Another conference on Polish foreign policy, focusing on the so-called post-Soviet space. Another embarrassment. Again – an all-male panel. Not a single woman, although there are plenty of female specialists, experts, journalists and former and current employees of the diplomatic corps in Poland. Not only are there more women than men graduating with degrees in politics, international relations, European studies, Eastern studies and so on (not to mention that they tend to have higher academic achievements), but in the leading analytical centres and magazines there are plenty of female specialists in the region, who can make serious arguments and ought not have to sit in the back of conference rooms, waiting to be allowed to ask their male colleagues proudly sitting in the panel a polite question during Q-and-A.

August 10, 2016 - Iwona Reichardt

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