Many Russian men fear being sent to the front lines if they demonstrate
Russian police officers stand guard during an unsanctioned rally, after opposition activists called for street protests against the mobilisation of reservists ordered by President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, Russia on September 21 2022. Picture: REUTERS/REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHER
Among women protesters heading to central Moscow on the evening of September 24 was 19-year-old Lisa. Before she joined the crowd a police officer in body armour grabbed her arm and threw her into a van. She spent a week in detention. Women made up 51% of 1,383 people arrested in the September 21 anti-mobilisation protest and 71% of the 848 detained on September 24, according to data from OVD-Info, a Russian group that monitors protests.
“It felt very dangerous to stay,” said Staf, now in Montenegro. He showed Reuters a copy of his draft document. A Reuters analysis of court documents showed women who protested in the early weeks of the war in February and March made up at least 30% of those charged, up from at least 11% in protests in 2021 and at least 6% in 2019 protests.The proportion of women was likely higher in all three years because Reuters was only able to determine the gender in about 80% of cases from protesters’ surnames. Typical Russian surnames have different endings for women and men.
Reuters has yet to receive a reply to emailed questions about the data on mistreatment of women, sent to the Russian interior ministry and its Moscow department on Thursday.
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