Today, on this International Women’s Day, we stand in solidarity with women who are fighting for fundamental human rights, equality, and democracy in Poland and Belarus. To mark this year’s #IWD2021, women in Poland and Belarus continue to protest, facing criminal charges, jail, police brutality, and worse.
Quick scan of what has been going on in Belarus:
Aleksandr G. Lukashenko won re-election in August 2020 over Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the wife of a jailed opposition figure. The validity of that re-election has been widely disputed.
Lukashenko has cracked down on opposition, jailing key opposition leaders or forcing them into exile.
Women have played a central role in the democratic opposition movement of Belarus, with leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya as their emblem. Holding flowers and flags, they gather weekly, risking arrest, harassment and beating by government forces.
Tikhanovskaya is currently in exile and women all over Belarus continue to protest and face brutality.
Quick scan of what has been going on in Poland:
Women in Poland have been protesting increasing limits to access to abortion and reproductive freedom
A near total ban on abortion took effect in Poland in January 2021, despite strong public opposition from the majority of people in Poland.
This abortion ban extends to pregnancies with fetal abnormalities.
What we can do:
Follow @HannaLiubakova and @TerryReintke to stay up to date on the events in Belarus and Poland, respectively
Other accounts to follow: @BFreeTheatre and @ippfen
Donate to Federation for Women and Family Planning and/or follow them @federapl
Follow Media Solidarity Belarus campaign on Facebook (where you can also make a donation)
Photo by Jana Shnipelson on Unsplash