Women at the Forefront of Belarusian Fight for Democracy

CW: Sexual violence, torture.

Thousands of Belarusians have taken to the streets to protest the violation of human rights and democracy under the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. (Pexels)

Women have been a leading force in the pro-democracy protests raging throughout Minsk since Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s inauguration in September 2020. Lukashenko’s crackdown on political opponents and peaceful protestors has subjected countless women to political exile, forced deportation, arrest, and torture. 

Human rights organizations across the globe have condemned the Belarusian government’s violent response to the protests, calling for increased transparency amid allegations of torture, rape, and abuse of female prisoners in Belarusian detainment centers. The protests have been occurring for over a year, and while the government shows no signs of ending the human rights abuses, the people continue to call for the restoration of democracy, free speech, and freedom in Belarus. 

Why Protest?

Protests in Belarus began with the August 2020 presidential election. Thousands flooded the streets the morning after Lukashenko, the incumbent, declared victory, calling for the president to step down amid claims that the election was rigged. Lukashenko’s main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya won 10.1 percent of the vote according to official accounts. However, Tikhanovskaya asserts that she actually won 60-70 percent of the vote—a claim that has fueled speculation that Lukashenko had fake votes cast to skew the results in his favor. 

In the months leading up to the election, Belarusian authorities instituted a large-scale media crackdown on opposition campaigns and jailed Lukashenko’s rival opposition leaders—one of these leaders being Tikhanovskaya’s husband. Tikhanovskaya herself fled to Lithuania following her denunciation of the election results, citing threats to the safety of her children. Since escaping Belarus, Tikhanovskaya has held meetings with the U.S. House of Representatives, State Department, Senate, EU, and IMF to advocate for sanctions on Belarusian businesses as a declaration of Western support for the protestors.

Since the elections, protests have continued throughout the country, calling for free elections and the replacement of Lukashenko’s corrupt, oppressive, and illegitimate regime. Arrest, internet blackouts, torture, and police brutality against protestors remain rampant. The protests have not ceased—and Belarusian women are at the forefront.

The Women in White

In the face of police brutality and immense governmental suppression, Belarusian women have become the face of the pro-democracy movement in Belarus. Dressed in white and holding red flowers, they march through the streets of Minsk by the thousands in the colors of the pre-Soviet Belarusian flag, denouncing the widespread arrest and abuse of female journalists, politicians, and human rights activists throughout Belarus since Lukashenko’s victory in the 2020 election. 

In a country where stereotypes and ineffective legislation have long obstructed women’s participation in the political process, the leadership of the Women in White serves as a powerful message to the Belarusian government and international community that the country’s women will not tolerate the marginalization of their voices in the political sphere. In the conclusion of her report to the UN General Assembly on the rights of women and girls in Belarus, human rights expert Anaïs Marin described the efforts of the Women in White as “truly inspiring, something that can serve as a model for women and girls everywhere who seek respect for their right to a better life, free of violence and discrimination.”

Human Rights Violations

Despite the peaceful nature of protests, the Belarusian police have exercised a level of brutality that has drawn widespread international criticism in response to the demonstrations. In 2020, Amnesty International reported on the horrific conditions in the country’s detainment centers, interviewing detainees who were forced to strip, lie in the dirt, and endure beatings for hours on end.

In August 2020, Journalist Alena Scharbinskaya was held in the Akrestin detention center, where she was beaten, tortured, and locked in a cell without food or clean water for nine days. In her accounts, she details the violent beatings conducted in inspection rooms, recalling, “As [the interrogation officer] was taking me to the inspection room, she was pushing me and hitting my back with a baton. She intentionally chose the parts of my body where it would hurt the most.” According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Belarus detained 481 journalists in 2020 alone. Recent investigations suggest that human rights violations are still rampant throughout Belarus. 

In her report to the UN in July 2021, Marin explained, “Some women became victims of enforced disappearances, torture, ill-treatment, and other forms of physical and psychological pressure, including the threat of seizure of their children.” According to the report, the Belarusian government’s “intimidation of women political activists includes targeted gender-based threats, threats to remove children from so-called ‘dysfunctional families,’ and pressure and violence aimed at discouraging civic participation.” To suppress female activists, the government will often threaten to frame the activists as incompetent mothers and have their children taken away. 

Marin further reported on conditions in Belarus, asserting that “academics and human rights defenders were forced into exile on a huge scale while perpetrators of grave human rights violations continue acting boldly without fear of facing justice for their crimes.” As the protests continue, the UN has expressed concern over the patterns of suppression exercised by the Belarussian government, especially with regards to the civic and political rights of women. 

Despite the efforts of the Belarusian government to force these protestors off the streets, the Women in White continue to march in Minsk against the tyranny of Lukashenko’s regime. Time will tell whether Lukashenko’s government survives the protests, but one fact remains certain: Belarusian women aren’t going anywhere.