Penelope
Diamond Member
- Jul 15, 2014
- 60,260
- 15,767
- 2,210
While its true Russia has a population issue and Putin has taking to paying women for children, the church has a better idea, outlaw abortions, mainly to increase the population, not for any moral or ethical reasons.
If they have become such holy rollers and over 70% identify as EO now, wouldn't that take care of the population issue??? Yet it hasn't.
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Russia’s traditionalist movement is rapidly gaining strength. Today, over 70 percent of Russians identify as Orthodox Christians, up from just over a third in 1991, according to a recent major Pew Research Center study. But church values have often proven irreconcilable with existing rights for women. The same Pew study said that Orthodox-majority countries tend to believe women should hold traditional roles. In Russia, 36 percent of those polled said women should obey their husbands and have a social responsibility to bear children.
The church is also becoming more audacious, increasingly targeting artists and accusing them of committing blasphemy.
A ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre about the life of the Russian openly gay and exiled dancer Rudolf Nureyev was stopped in its tracks earlier this summer, after Orthodox activists apparently made a fuss. Controversy is boiling over “Matilda,” a new Russian film about the last tsar, Nikolai II, that depicts his romance with a young ballet dancer when neither were married. In late September, Alexander Kalinin, the leader of a Church-affiliated group called Christian State, said he wants Russia to become a state similar to Iran, a “monarchy within the borders of the Soviet Union that has faith in God.”
Even though Putin keeps some distance from the church’s most extreme positions, he encourages its activism more generally, and some believe he is no longer able to control the forces he has allowed to run free. “Once you unleash something like this, it is hard to put back,” said Yulia Gorbunova, a Russia researcher at Human Rights Watch, saying the authorities’ “tacit approval” encourages such behavior.
At the “For Life” rally, there were high hopes that the government’s quiet guidance will soon consolidate into an official endorsement of their campaigns. “We must help our president overcome the demographic crisis,” said Studenikina. “We’re here for him.”
Photo credit: Joel van Houdt
Amie Ferris-Rotman is Foreign Policy's Moscow correspondent.
Putin’s Next Target Is Russia's Abortion Culture
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In January last year, Russia's domestic violence laws were changed. Some forms of violence were decriminalized, first by the lower parliament, known as the Duma, then endorsed by President Putin.
Now, if you batter your wife - or indeed any family member - but not severely enough to hospitalize them, and it’s your first recorded offence, you no longer go to prison for two years, as was previously the law. Instead, you’ll receive a fine of anything between 5 and 30,000 rubles (around £375), or up to 15 days in prison. In addition, some women are being forced to pay the fines handed down to their abusers, with unpaid fines often taken from shared bank accounts.
A new documentary from Stacey Dooley, Russia’s War On Women, explores the impact this change in the law has had. Stacey meets women like Veronika, who are trying to flee domestic violence, and she also speaks to men who have served time for domestic violence, as well as those who have been through rehab.
Critics fear the introduction of 'the slapping law' has already normalised increased levels of violence against women, with the mayor of Russia's fourth-largest city reporting a dramatic uptick in incidents since the change.
Indeed, it's estimated that more than 600 Russian women are killed a month in their own homes, and that up to 36,000 women a day are being abused. And for some who do want to leave, the story doesn’t end with the brief sanctuary of a refuge, as it has for Veronika. In December last year, 34-year-old Maxim Gribanov battered his common-law wife, Anastasia Ovsiannikova, so hard she fell into a coma and died. He now faces up to 15 years in prison.
Meanwhile, those who fight back may find themselves with prison sentences, like Natalia Markelova, who claims to have killed her husband in self-defence, and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The dark reality of Russia’s domestic violence laws - BBC Three
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If they have become such holy rollers and over 70% identify as EO now, wouldn't that take care of the population issue??? Yet it hasn't.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Russia’s traditionalist movement is rapidly gaining strength. Today, over 70 percent of Russians identify as Orthodox Christians, up from just over a third in 1991, according to a recent major Pew Research Center study. But church values have often proven irreconcilable with existing rights for women. The same Pew study said that Orthodox-majority countries tend to believe women should hold traditional roles. In Russia, 36 percent of those polled said women should obey their husbands and have a social responsibility to bear children.
The church is also becoming more audacious, increasingly targeting artists and accusing them of committing blasphemy.
A ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre about the life of the Russian openly gay and exiled dancer Rudolf Nureyev was stopped in its tracks earlier this summer, after Orthodox activists apparently made a fuss. Controversy is boiling over “Matilda,” a new Russian film about the last tsar, Nikolai II, that depicts his romance with a young ballet dancer when neither were married. In late September, Alexander Kalinin, the leader of a Church-affiliated group called Christian State, said he wants Russia to become a state similar to Iran, a “monarchy within the borders of the Soviet Union that has faith in God.”
Even though Putin keeps some distance from the church’s most extreme positions, he encourages its activism more generally, and some believe he is no longer able to control the forces he has allowed to run free. “Once you unleash something like this, it is hard to put back,” said Yulia Gorbunova, a Russia researcher at Human Rights Watch, saying the authorities’ “tacit approval” encourages such behavior.
At the “For Life” rally, there were high hopes that the government’s quiet guidance will soon consolidate into an official endorsement of their campaigns. “We must help our president overcome the demographic crisis,” said Studenikina. “We’re here for him.”
Photo credit: Joel van Houdt
Amie Ferris-Rotman is Foreign Policy's Moscow correspondent.
Putin’s Next Target Is Russia's Abortion Culture
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In January last year, Russia's domestic violence laws were changed. Some forms of violence were decriminalized, first by the lower parliament, known as the Duma, then endorsed by President Putin.
Now, if you batter your wife - or indeed any family member - but not severely enough to hospitalize them, and it’s your first recorded offence, you no longer go to prison for two years, as was previously the law. Instead, you’ll receive a fine of anything between 5 and 30,000 rubles (around £375), or up to 15 days in prison. In addition, some women are being forced to pay the fines handed down to their abusers, with unpaid fines often taken from shared bank accounts.
A new documentary from Stacey Dooley, Russia’s War On Women, explores the impact this change in the law has had. Stacey meets women like Veronika, who are trying to flee domestic violence, and she also speaks to men who have served time for domestic violence, as well as those who have been through rehab.
Critics fear the introduction of 'the slapping law' has already normalised increased levels of violence against women, with the mayor of Russia's fourth-largest city reporting a dramatic uptick in incidents since the change.
Indeed, it's estimated that more than 600 Russian women are killed a month in their own homes, and that up to 36,000 women a day are being abused. And for some who do want to leave, the story doesn’t end with the brief sanctuary of a refuge, as it has for Veronika. In December last year, 34-year-old Maxim Gribanov battered his common-law wife, Anastasia Ovsiannikova, so hard she fell into a coma and died. He now faces up to 15 years in prison.
Meanwhile, those who fight back may find themselves with prison sentences, like Natalia Markelova, who claims to have killed her husband in self-defence, and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The dark reality of Russia’s domestic violence laws - BBC Three
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