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Civil society activists condemn election official`s critical remark about women protesters as model gender stereotype

Civil rights activists have condemned as a model gender stereotype the top election official’s critical remark about the participation of women in the December 19 post-election protest in central Minsk.

Following the brutal dispersal of the demonstration, Lidziya Yarmoshyna, head of the central election commission, said that the women beaten by riot police should have stayed at home and cooked "borsch instead of hanging around in squares.” “This is a disgrace for a woman to take part in such events,” she said.

Not a single member of the Belarusian government has ever criticized the remark, which suggests that other government officials share Ms. Yarmoshyna`s opinion , human rights defender Alena Tankachova said at a news conference held in Minsk on Monday to discuss an alternative report on Belarus’ compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), described as an international bill of rights for women.

The alternative report, authored by Belarusian NGOs, was discussed by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women last month, along with the Belarusian government`s seventh report.

Ms. Tankachova said at the news conference that she had presented the alternative report, devoting part of her speech to the Belarusian authorities’ post-election crackdown on dissidents. “In our opinion, we face a systematic crisis in the human rights sphere,” she said. “Without any understanding of the problem, it is difficult to assess specific policies pursued by the government."

The alternative report focused on gender stereotypes rampant in Belarusian society, the mechanisms of the public’s participation in shaping the state gender policy, the possibility of establishing civil society’s control over its implementation, cooperation between NGOs and the authorities, and issues concerning women’s health, poverty and discrimination in the labor market.

Labor and Social Security Minister Maryana Shchotkina presented the government’s report at the meeting of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

“One of the most impressive remarks made by the minister was that the government of Belarus and Ms. Shchotkina personally are extremely interested to see Belarusian women becoming free, spreading the wings and starting to strive for ambitious goals,” said Ms. Tankachova.

The minister’s words had little bearing on reality after at least three women had been put into the KGB detention center following the December 19 protest, she noted.