Upwards of a thousand mostlyUkrainianwomen poured into the centre of Kyiv on Sunday morning to rail against gender inequality - even as their country fights for its very survival in what is now the fifth year of full-scaleRussianaggression.
The celebration ofInternational Women's Dayon March 8 has traditionally seen beaming maidens and matriarchs bearing flowers in the company of their male admirers. This year saw throngs of colourfully clad demonstrators chanting "Take your hands off women's rights" and carrying huge banners with slogans like "Women's rights are always an issue." One issue in particular that brought the women out into the streets of the capital, basking anew in sunny spring weather, was a series of proposed changes to the country's Civil Code that some see as backsliding on women's rights. Marina, a mother of one, was among the demonstrators who gathered for a boisterous rally in front of the Kyiv Mayor's Office.
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She said: "We are here to protect the rights of women. Most people do not understand the full implications of these proposed changes."
Among the more controversial proposed changes to the Code are the lowering of the marriage age to 14 and the introduction of subjective concepts such as "moral/ethical standards", which some believe could be easily wielded against the interests of women and girls.
However, for other participants, March 8 was a chance to highlight a broader range of challenges faced by women in wartimeUkraine, which has seen millions of its mothers, daughters and sisters seek refugee status abroad to escape the Russian war machine.
Some, however, were not so lucky. Twenty-seven-year-old ethnic Crimean Tatar Lenilie Umerova was also in front of the Mayor's office, having returned from two years in a Russian prison, she said.
"I want to be the voice of those who do not have a voice," she said, referring to her former Ukrainian female cellmates atRussia's infamous Lefortova prison in Moscow, where she said she was taken and mistreated after capture by Russian troops in 2022.
Now she works for the Center for Civil Liberties, which estimates that over 250 Ukrainian women - civilian and military - are still in Russian captivity.
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
