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Violence against women in the Russian
Federation
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Amnesty
International’s
members around the world campaign against violence
against
women in the Russian Federation
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Members of the AI Portugal
visited the Russian Ambassador to Portugal.
One of the
topics of discussion was the issue of violence
against women. They held a vigil to highlight
the issue.
© AI
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“Sociological studies show that 30 per cent of
married women are regularly subjected to physical violence.
The situation is exacerbated by the lack of statistics
and indeed by the attitude of the agencies of law and
order to this problem, for they view such violence not
as a crime but as ‘a private matter between the
spouses’.”
The Russian Government’s
report to
the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999.
Amnesty International’s Lara Griffith outlines
the main messages of its Violence Against Women (VAW)
campaign in the Russian Federation:
- “We are saying to the Federal government – take
specific steps, and take them this year, to protect
women who are victims of violence in the family.
- We are saying to the government, start to act and show
that such loss of life and suffering cannot be tolerated.
- Many organizations, Russian and international, and indeed
the Federal Government have acknowledged the gravity
of this problem.
- We now have a huge amount of knowledge in Russia
and internationally on what governments can do,
to protect women. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in
Russia, often with the support of local authorities, are working
to protect women and to educate communities.
- What we need is commitment, action and resources
from the Federal Government.
- With the steps we are
asking for we can have a concrete impact in one specific
area of state responsibility
to act to combat violence against women, that
of the response of the police and criminal justice
system.
- Clearly this is only a first step. Legal reform
remains a strategic priority. But if what we are asking
for is done carefully, through co-operation with the Russian
Association of Crisis Centres for Women (RACCW),
it can make a start.
- Our co-operation with NGOs is critical. The RACCW
has worked for many years against huge odds to take
action – the
lessons they have learnt are critical to developing
a strategic and effective response. And they
will continue to work and to develop their capacity,
and we hope benefit
from the AI campaign.
- Amnesty International sections have shown huge
commitment and interest on this issue. This to me
indicates how
VAW
is
going to become more and more central to AI’s
work – we
want to make it clear once and for all this
is a human rights issue."
Many of Amnesty International’s sections around
the world chose International Women’s Day to take
actions focused on violence against women in the Russian
Federation. Sections lobbied the Russian Government
to act to protect women from violence in the home. Activists
from the RACCW visited several Amnesty International
sections in different countries where they talked about
their work and highlighted areas for support. That is
how Amnesty International Sections around the world
showed their solidarity with women, who are victims
of domestic violence, in the Russian Federation.
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Amnesty International members
in the Polish town of Lublin on International
Women’s Day
© AI
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Polish members of Amnesty International took part
in actions on violence against women in different towns
around the country. In Warsaw they took part in a
demonstration with other women’s NGOs in the centre
of the city after which they went to the Russian embassy
to protest
against women’s rights violations. Members in
the town of Lodz collected signatures under a petition
to the Russian authorities and opened an information
stall in the city centre on issues of violence against
women in Russia. Amnesty International members in the
town of Lublin collected signatures too. They also staged
a performance in the city centre concerning women’s
rights.
The Executive Director of the NGO “Women’s
Alliance” in the town of Barnaul in southern Siberia,
Elena Schitova, toured the USA in March where she took
part in discussions presenting the work of the NGO on
intervention in issues of violence against women in
the Altai and Siberian regions of Russia.
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AI members in Munich, Germany
©AI
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The Munich group of Amnesty International widened the
theme of their action. They campaigned not only against
violence against women but also on the situation of
women in detention. Their action drew public and media
attention. A press agency took photographs of their
action, which were printed by many newspapers, including
the influential “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”.
Amnesty International Israel’s
event for International Women's Day drew a huge response.
It took place in a
Tel Aviv cinema theatre and was attended by more than
300 people. Amnesty International members in Israel
informed the public about their activities in the field
of women’s rights in general, as well as on the
Russia campaign. Signatures were collected under a petition
to the Russian Authorities regarding Violence against
women in the Russian Federation.
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Natalia Abubikirova, Executive
Director of the Russian Association of Crisis
Centres for Women “Stop the Violence” was
the guest of Amnesty International in Slovenia
©AI
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Natalia Abubikirova, Executive Director
of the Russian Association of Crisis Centres for Women “Stop
the Violence” was the guest of Amnesty International
in Slovenia. She spoke of the most pressing problems
her organization has to deal with in order to get violence
against women recognized as a human rights issue.
Irina Khaldeeva, President
of the Russian Association of Crisis Centres for Women ‘Stop
the Violence’,
visited the Dutch section of Amnesty International.
She answered questions about the socio-cultural background
and causes for violence against women; about discrimination
against women in the Russian society; and about the
legal framework within which violence against women
can be dealt with.
Violence against women in the Russian Federation
Cases
of violence against women in the family
Take
action: Violence against women in the family – the
state's failure to protect
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