March 8 in Kiev is the March of Women (Photo: Vitaliy Kovalchuk / NV)
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On March 8, the already traditional March of women… This year it focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and the ratification of the Istanbul Convention.
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The procession begins on Mikhailovskaya Square in the Ukrainian capital at 13:00.
Here are the basic requirements of the march participants:
– Ratification of the Istanbul Convention on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence;
– Stop cutting social guarantees for those who have lost their jobs;
– Creation of safe working conditions for women working in areas with a high risk of infection with COVID-19;
– Ensuring women’s access to all medical and preventive services;
– Opening state shelters in various regions of Ukraine for women who face domestic violence;
– Fair investigation of cases of violence by far-right organizations.
In turn, the conservative Tradition and Order movement, which opposes the women’s march on March 8 and the feminism movement, announced their own action called «Operation to Rescue Feminists ”.
During last year’s Women’s March, ratification of the Istanbul Convention was also one of the main demands of its participants and participants. According to the organizers’ estimates, about 3.5 thousand people took part in the event in 2020.
Ukrainians and Ukrainians have been demanding ratification of the Istanbul Convention for several years: Ukraine signed a document called the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and the Fight against These Phenomena in 2011, but it was never approved.
The document creates a legal basis for the prevention, protection and support of victims of violence, and also defines measures to bring the perpetrators to justice.
NV monitors the progress of the march in the mode of an online text broadcast.
14:02. NV journalist Diana Kovaleva managed to get a comment from the leader of the ultra-conservative organization Tradition and Order of Bogdan Khodakovsky… His movement acts as opponents of the participants and participants in the Women’s March.
According to Khodakovsky, the promise «matchmaking “T&P members with the March participants is «trolling »for info reasons.
«You understand that this is just trolling of our opponents in order to create an information feed. It is clear that you will not really pick anyone up here, but perhaps some of the girls will think that we have a lot of adequate people, ”he said.
13:52. Some slogans that are heard at the Women’s March: “No uterus – no voice”; “Flowers for flower beds – rights for women!”; “Do not slow down – ratify”; “My body is my business!”
13:46. The NV correspondent talked with the opponent of the Women’s March, who came to Mikhailovskaya Square together with the organization Tradition and Order.
«The first reason is that I am against abortion. The second reason: the feminism of the third wave is not for … not that women are restricted in their rights – on the contrary, women have even more rights than men, ”she explained.
13:44. The column reached the Independence Square.
13:39. «BUntuy, kohai, don’t give me your rights! ”, – chant the participants of the action. HB publishes bMore photos from the Women’s March.
13:28. “We still have not received any clear answer. [от президента Владимира Зеленского] about what is happening around the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, ”said Daria Mizina, an activist of Amnesty International Ukraine, a co-organizer of the action, in a comment to NV.
She noted that in the future, AI will conduct new targeted actions in support of the ratification of the Istanbul Convention.
As a reminder, in May 2020 UN urges the Verkhovna Rada to expedite ratification of the Istanbul Convention on Combating Violence… Thus, the organization reacted to the petition for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention to the President of Ukraine, which got the necessary for consideration 25 thousand votes.
Last June, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will ask the Rada to ratify the Istanbul Convention after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submits a corresponding proposal.
13:25. A column of participants and participants in the Women’s March began to move towards Pochtovaya Square.
13:22. Participants of the action come with various posters: “Zelensky, where are my rights?”; “A woman’s place where decisions are made”; “Teacher, principal, professor – femininities everywhere!” and others.
13:13. The column of participants in the march will move towards Pochtovaya Square, after which the police will provide them with safe passage in the metro, NV correspondent Diana Kovaleva reports.
13:10. Participants of the ultra-conservative organization Tradition and Order, who promised «to match “their members to” feminists “.
They shout anti-feminist slogans.
13:03. Simultaneously with the Women’s March in Kiev, in the city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Procession Against Domestic Violence.
12:54. The march participants unfurled a banner made in the colors of the national Belarusian flag with the inscription «Fight like a Belarusian girl. “
After the start of protests against the dictatorial regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus in the summer of 2020, many participants in the rallies were detained and severely beaten by the security forces.
February 18 local court sentenced two Belarusian journalists to two years in prison for covering protests.
12:44. Participants and participants of the march, as well as opponents of the action, begin to gather on Mikhailovskaya Square. An NV correspondent works at the site, reporting that a police cordon has lined up around the square.
12:32. The First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenskaya refused to participate and support the Women’s March 2021, according to the material Prohibitions.
«This year [один из организаторов марша, организация] Insight approached First Lady Elena Zelenskaya with the idea of cooperation. She refused participation and support without giving a reason. At the same time, Zelenskaya herself supported initiatives on gender equality and against domestic violence, ”the article of March 5 notes.
12:25. The organizers of the Women’s March recalled that their main demand is the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, in support of which the campaign was launched.
In particular, posters were pasted near the building of the Verkhovna Rada «History will forget you if you forget to ratify the Istanbul Convention. ”
And in Instagram a selfie mask has become available in support of the ratification of the document. The organizers of the event urge you to shoot a story with this filter and mark the official account March of women in the social network.
12:15. Only 14.4% of Ukrainians perceive March 8 as the Day of Struggle for Women’s Rights, show the data of the opinion poll Gradus Research, which is at the disposal of the editorial office of NV. 57.9% of respondents consider this date «a holiday of spring, tenderness, femininity. “
38.2% of respondents named 8 March «a holiday of women, when they are presented with flowers, without additional meaning ”; and 15% – “the old Soviet holiday”.
At the same time, only 7.3% of the survey participants indicated that on this day they consider it necessary to take part in the March for Women’s Rights, and 5.6% – in the march against stereotyping the female role. 53.6% of respondents suggested «to give flowers to all the women I know ”.
Speaking about the methods of struggle for women’s rights, Ukrainians called effective: support of programs of legal assistance to women (45.7%); dissemination of information on the rights and methods of protection of women (45.1%); moral support, for example through the #MeToo movement on social media (23.3%); participation in the Women’s March (5.9%); support for feminist movements (4,6%).
The survey was conducted by the research company Gradus Research using a self-filling questionnaire in the Gradus mobile application. The online panel Gradus displays the structure of the population of cities with more than 50 thousand inhabitants aged 18-60 by sex, age, size of the settlement and region.
Period: March 3, 2021 from 09:35 to 22:30 hours. Sample size: 1000 respondents.
12:08. And in the material under the link NV gives eight facts, why March 8 is the day of struggle for women’s rights.
12:02. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Ukrainian women on March 8. In his congratulations, the head of state did not mention the protection of women’s rights, but wished «dream, create, inspire and be inspired, achieve goals, change the world and stay just as beautiful. “
12:00. NV begins covering the 2021 Women’s March in an online text format.
One hour remains before the start of the procession. The organizers of the march have published a safety memo.
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