She remembers that on August 12 it was mostly women who decided to come out and continue protesting – some were against violence, some wanted to stand up for their men, who were beaten and arrested. “But a significant number of women such as myself marched to show that we are women, we are strong, and we have the rights and we have the right to say that we are against all of this and that we will continue to fight,” stresses Julia. Horizontal activism and leadership was also a definitive trait of this women-inspired ongoing protest: participants spontaneously organised marches, posters, performances.
Women were involved not only at protests – they also volunteered near Okrestina (the Criminal Detention Centre in Minsk where many of the protesters were detained and tortured) – putting together packages for the detained, writing letters, and doing many other things.
Julia believes, that at first women of the protest were not taken seriously (faced less brutality from the government forces), because of the patriarchal convictions of the Lukashenko’s regime. This, according to Julia, was also one of the reasons that contributed to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s victory in the presidential elections: she thinks, the main shock to Lukashenko was that those who gave their votes to her were part of his core electorate: ordinary workers and pensioners. “I think that .. despite all these mantras, despite all the patriarchal stereotypes that exist in the Belarusian society, we have … internal understanding of values, more pro-European than in some other countries”, adds Julia, saying that she believes that a woman can be elected president in Belarus not solely as a vote against a dictator.
Regarding whether the Belarusian society is ready to be a part of the larger European family, Julia’s answer is positive, however, she adds, “there is a long way to go” still. At the same time, she emphasises that at the protests the society demonstrated European values and inclusivity: “At our protest … there was a feminist column, there was a queer column, there were rainbow flags, and nobody was embarrassed by that”.
There is, of course a certain fatigue, among emigrants and members of the Belarusian society – survival rather than protest becomes a daily priority for many, as they struggle with forced emigration, housing, job, and safety issues. Still, Julia says that despite her fears of the contrary, many Belarusians come to the non-formal education organisation, where she works – the organisation had to relocate to Lithuania 2 years ago. People come, wanting to “preserve everything they defended” during the protests, to continue working in exile, believing that one day they will return to Belarus. However, Julia stresses, democratic Belarusian forces, civil society and, especially, politicians, should develop a long-term action strategy of what will happen in 5-10 years, while ensuring that the right values are put in the foundation of that strategy. Political prisoners in Belarus and the horrors that they undergo in prisons must be on the agenda as well. There is also another issue, says Julia, for example, as representatives of the women's community when working with Belarusian politicians they often hear the same response: "Well, we'll go back, we'll make some changes there, only afterwards." But, Julia underlines, there is no “after”, “people live in the here and now”, and issue they face, including gender equality problems, should always be addressed now, not postponed "for later".
Talking about Ukrainian-Belarusian relationships and the war in Ukraine, Julia admits that sometimes attitude towards Belarus and its people from Ukrainians can be shrply critical, but then again, Julia also sees many great examples of collaboration between Ukrainians, Belarusians, including some projects under the framework of the EU’s Eastern Partnership programme. Some people clearly distinguish the actions of Lukashenko’s regime and of other Belarusians – but “we will still be responsible for what happens afterwards”. Thus, says Julia, Belarusian society has to also face some accountability – especially for what can be done now or in the future to rebuild relationship with Ukraine and other neighboring countries. This, she believes, will be a part of building the “European Belarus of our dreams”.
This publication has been produced with the financial support from the Nordic Council of Ministers. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the coordinators of this project and do not necessarily reflect the views or the policies of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
