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News Article Archives: [ 1998-1999 ]
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News Article: Tens of Thousands of Belarusian Women Suffer Violence, Women's Center Says
"The real number of women who suffer violence greatly exceeds official figures, because most women never report it to the police, Ms. Petina said. According to her, her center has a special department that deals with violence against women and has provided psychological and legal assistance to more than 500 women since 1998."
"Similar services are offered by the Belarusian Women's Association, which has a crisis center and a shelter."
"Another crisis center is about to open with the Belarusian Association of Social Educators and Social Workers. Outside the national capital, centers offering psychological assistance to women are working in Gomel, Kobrin, Lida, and a few other towns."
"However, Ms. Petina continued, a lack of financial support from the government prevents the few Belarusian NGOs that deal with the problem from offering regular assistance to victims of violence. Ms. Petina stressed that protecting women from violence should be a priority for both the government and NGOs."
News Article: New Women's Association, Interforum, Established in Belarus
"The conference was attended by Olga Ipatova, acting chairwoman of the Belarusian Writers' Union (BWU); Tatyana Loginova, head of the Tatyana film studio; Svetlana Gorbunova, BWU secretary; writer Svetlana Aleksiyevich, psychologist Nadezhda Tsirkun, and other well-known women in the country."
"Lawyer Vera Stremkovskaya, one of the most active founders of the association, did not attend because she participated in a trial."
"Ella Milova, a film director of the Tatyana studio, was elected to chair the Interforum Council."
"As Ms. Milova told BelaPAN, Interforum plans to initiate and carry out large projects, including international conferences, festivals, exhibitions, and educational projects. Ms. Milova said that intellectuals from Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United States, and other countries have welcomed the idea of Interforum's establishment."
" 'Now everybody is a little obsessed with politics,' Ms. Milova said. 'Artists' unions are not very active. We want to bring together artists, cultural figures, and managers, and concentrate on cultural and educational work. Our most important task is to raise society's intellectual and spiritual level.' "
"Interforum's charter says that its members 'profess constructive feminism' and regard men as 'equal partners, colleagues, and friends -- assuming that they will participate in Interforum's work.' "
"The women had recruited prostitutes in Mahilau and supplied them to Moscow."
"The leader of the group received a three-year sentence suspended for 2 years. The two others were given a year's probation and two-year suspended terms."
"In that period, the government adopted the Women of the Republic of Belarus program and the National Plan of Action to Improve the Status of Women for 1996-2000 and established the Gender Information and Policy Center. Parliament passed laws aimed at defending women's rights, Ms. Dargel said."
"According to the minister, the UN Development Program (UNDP) provided considerable support for the government's effort to improve the status of women. The UNDP financed two projects titled 'Women in the Process of Development' and 'Support of the Gender Information and Policy Center of the Ministry of Social Protection.' The ministry plans to prepare a program for improving the status of women by the end of 2000, Ms. Dargel said."
"The minister pointed out that there are yet many problems to be resolved. Women are almost not represented in the government and parliament, she said. In the government, there is only one female minister and 10 deputy ministers."
"Women account for only about 5 percent of members of the House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly. Women make up 31 percent of members of the Council of the Republic, the upper house of the National Assembly."
"On that day, Mariya Aliyeva, BOWW chairwoman, Irina Zhikhar, her deputy, Lyubov Koverko, chairwoman of the BOWW branch in the city of Shklov, Svetlana Uyelskaya, the BOWW lawyer, and a film crew of the private Tatyana studio, arrived at the Shklov District Executive Committee to meet with Mr. Konoplyov and Galina Lukashenko, the Belarusian leader's wife who is responsible for issues of children's recuperation in the district."
"Ms. Aliyeva says that Konoplyov had intentionally left the city shortly before the scheduled meeting and they were waiting in the reception room to meet with his assistant. While the group was waiting for its turn to enter the assistant's room, Ms, Aliyeva decided to talk to Aleksandr Ageyev, chairman of the Shklov District Executive Committee. Ms. Aliyeva says that Mr. Ageyev severely criticized the BOWW during the 40-minute conversation."
" 'Your organization is just rubble.... I do not want to deal with the organization that hobnobs with the West,' Ms. Aliyeva quotes him as saying. When Ms. Aliyeva and Mr. Ageyev walked out of the Shklov District Executive Committee chairman's office, the latter reportedly demanded that the film crew stop shooting in the building and attempted to seize the crew's $4,000 camera. According to Ms. Aliyeva, an exchange of words followed and a man, who was at the room at the time, punched Ms. Zhikhar several times and then attacked Ms. Uyelskaya. The assailant turned out to be Mikhail Bobok, a correspondent of the local government newspaper Udarny Front, who was in Mr. Konoplyov's reception room to write a story about the parliamentarian's work with people's petitions and complaints."
"Police officers arrived and immediately started looking for people who would testify against the BOWW representatives, Ms. Aliyeva said. They found two witnesses who said that the BOWW representatives had started the fight. Ms. Aliyeva said that the police might bring charges against Ms. Koverko."
"The BOWW intends to file a complaint with the Procurator General's Office in connection with the incident and demand explanations from Udarny Front. BelaPAN has failed to reach Mr. Bobok for comment."
"Ms. Aliyeva said that Mrs. Lukashenko agreed to cooperate during their 15-minute meeting following the incident. 'Galina Rodionovna [Lukashenko] is a pleasant woman, who expressed readiness to work together to resolve problems in our society,' Ms. Aliyeva said."
"The Center was established by the American International Health Alliance (AIHA), in cooperation with the Belarusian Health Ministry, and the Committee on Health of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee."
"The new center will provide health, family planning, first aid, and reproductive health protection services for about 4,000 women every year."
"The Center, which is based at Mozyr's maternity home, will be the second institution of the kind in Belarus. The first center was opened in Minsk in 1998. There are 12 women's wellness centers in seven CIS countries."
"Mr. Zelenkevich said that the Center's performance will be assessed no earlier than in one year. Guided by the results, the Ministry will decide whether to open more women's wellness centers in the future, Mr. Zelenkevich said. The minister stressed that his agency will take measures to improve services in obstetrics and gynecology institutions."
"In their statement, the organizations note that they initially agreed to take part in the dialogue. However, says the statement, 'no dialogue is possible under the threat of water cannons and nightsticks. Today we have armored troops on the streets of Minsk. Tomorrow Belarus will have concentration camps.' "
"The organizations include Adradzhenne Aichyny (Revival of the Fatherland), the Belarusian Women's League, the Belarusian Organization of Working Women, the Belarusian Association of Female Lawyers, the St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk Foundation, the Children of Chernobyl fund, and the Women's Information Coordinating Center."
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