Opponents of the government in Minsk (photo taken on 23 August)
Photo: Natalia Fedosenko / imago images / ITAR-TASSBelarusian women play a prominent role in the mass protests against the autocrat Alexander Lukashenko. Thousands of them take to the streets. They stand between violent security forces and demonstrators, trick the dreaded Omon troops and keep trying to prevent an impending escalation. Some wear white dresses and flowers - but that has little to do with harmless hippie protest.
The protesters are calling for new elections, prosecution of excessive police violence after election fraud and the release of detained opposition members. The currently most prominent figure in the resistance against Lukashenko is the non-party civil rights activist Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who is in exile in Lithuania. She assumed political responsibility after her husband Sergei Tichanovsky was imprisoned.
She is supported by women such as the music teacher Maria Kolesnikowa, who, like many activists, is a cultural worker and studied in Stuttgart. The manager Veronika Tsepkalo, wife of the ex-diplomat Valery Tsepkalo, whose presidential candidacy the government prevented, calls for democratic rights.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the female protest in Belarus? DER SPIEGEL spoke to two activists - the poet Yulya Tsimafeyeva and the feminist Nasta Zakharevich.
Yulia Tsimafeyeva , born in 1982, is a poet and translator from Minsk. Her novel "Zirkus" was last published in German.
"Today we women take to the streets for peace and independence. It is President Lukashenko's birthday - we hope that the security forces will not take this as an opportunity to take even more rigorous action against us. The brutal attacks shortly after the fraudulent election on August 9th We are used to batons and arrests in Belarus, but torture and hushed-up murders were a novelty, and women were raped and ill-treated at the beginning of the protests.
We fear for our lives that we will be locked up and beaten up. Belarus is currently an unlawful area. They can kill you and no one will ever be held responsible for it. The government acts according to its own rules, which are difficult to understand for us - the logic of the psychopaths.
The trio of Tichanovskaya, Kolesnikowa and Tsepkalo has become a symbol of the movement. These three women embody everything that the Lukashenko system is not, they are the antagonists of the regime. The government is autocratic, militaristic, violent, patriarchal. The president insults his people and calls the demonstrators drug addicts, hookers and useless people.
The government is autocratic, militaristic, violent, patriarchal
Poet Yulia Tsimafeyeva on the Lukashenko system
The activists, on the other hand, believe in the people, they praise the courage and commitment of the people, give hope and thereby create a whole new self-confidence. The peaceful demonstrating women in white and with flowers in their hands have dug themselves deep into the subconscious of the people, there was something almost mythological about it.
The protests made people grapple with national identity, but also with their personal, professional, or gendered identity. It is as if a child stands in front of the mirror for the first time and recognizes himself.
The fact that the opposition does not have a central leadership figure also has advantages: where there is no head, you can't cut it off. There is a high level of self-organization. Many demonstrations, including large ones, take place away from the center of Minsk, in outskirts and in small towns. This decentralization makes the security forces to create.
We believe that we are doing the right thing, that the truth is on our side. That gives us strength. But it looks like we'll have to keep fighting long and hard. If we back down or give up now, the whole country will become a prison. People know that, that's why they keep going. The brave demonstrate, the rich give money, the artists paint posters.
Belarus is currently extremely politicized. A military intervention, for example on the part of Russia, could drive our country into partisan war, with which we gained a lot of experience in World War II. At the moment there is no anti-Russian mood, it is Belarusian identity that drives us. Should Vladimir Putin try to interfere, that could change quickly. "
Nasta Zakharevich (center left) at a demonstration
Photo: Yevgeny OtzezkiNasta Zakharevich , 27, blogger and feminist from Minsk
"My impression of the recent demonstrations is that the women deal with the aggression of the security forces in a very smart, rational and flexible manner. They have the ability to switch from peaceful flower protest to active defense at lightning speed.
Many activists stand between their brothers, fathers or partners and the authorities to protect the men from abuse and arrest. They discuss with masked omon powers, sometimes even successfully.
The security forces sometimes shy away from attacking women harshly. So we are using the government's chauvinism to our advantage. In this transition period we have to work with stereotypes. As a feminist, I would have preferred it to be different, but there is no other way.
Nobody wants to put up with these lies, electoral fraud, lawlessness, torture and shooting.
Nasta Zakharevich
Older women in particular are currently proving to be particularly fearless when dealing with the state apparatus. Many of them believed their missing children dead. Fortunately, all 82 missing people have now turned up. According to our information, five people have allegedly been killed in government abuse - the authorities say they either committed suicide or died of natural causes. Nobody wants to put up with these lies, electoral fraud, lawlessness, torture and shooting.
Svetlana Tichanovskaya is a role model for many women. But it is also a product of Belarusian socialization, of patriarchy. She has no interest in power but takes responsibility because it is necessary. She has grown immensely in her task, but I believe that she would actually hand it over as announced if there were new elections and her husband got out of prison. Sergej Tichanowski is quite a macho himself, his supporters are workers, simple people, many come from rural areas where tradition plays a role.
My biggest fear is that the international community will lose interest in us and abandon us. Western democracies should urgently impose further sanctions on government allegiances who have committed crimes related to the protests. Lukashenko has to feel that the world is against him. He is currently trying to isolate us, he is arresting journalists and deporting them - but we live in the 21st century, almost everyone has a cell phone with which they can document attacks.
The government has been guilty of many failures. Elections have been rigged for years - but this time the fraud was just too bold and obvious. Lukashenko's cynical handling of the corona crisis has also brought the barrel to overflow. People have noticed that he doesn't care about their health, that he doesn't care at all. I lost two relatives to Covid-19. Their death certificates said the cause of death was: heart failure. "
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