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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 02/03
Women NGOs and the War in Chechnya
Tatiana Sivaeva
December 2000
Abstract
Despite the vigorous discussions that go on about Chechnya, one very important point is usually missed--its gender aspect. When we talk about Chechnya we usually talk about Russian soldiers and commanders, about bandits, and about politicians - in other words we talk primarily about males. Women are introduced only when talk turns to the civil victims of the conflict (which is not a very popular subject to discuss in Russia). Unlike males, who are viewed as the main actors and decision-makers of the war, women are perceived primarily as objects of the situation. Is that really the case?
This study analyzes the attitudes and efforts of Russian women, women who value life more than any political or economic interests and who are willing to do whatever they can to stop the sufferings caused by the war in Chechnya. The study is based on content analysis of materials from the Russian media as well as documentation presented by different non-government organizations of Russian women. The core of the study is based on an analysis of interviews with members of several women's organizations throughout the country in Petersburg, Moscow, Vladimir, Tomsk, Arzamas, and Velikiy Novgorod.
Although institutional and cultural barriers to public power prevent women in the Russian Federation from exerting influence in the sphere of public policy, particularly in the field of national security, the situation is different when we speak about the civil movement of women. This movement consists of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers and other organizations with similar programs, professional women's unions, local women's parliaments, crisis centers for women, and a large number of other organizations.
The Movement of Soldiers' Mothers started in the spring of 1988 after approval of the law that allowed recruitment of second-year students of higher education institutions. In 1990, the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia was established, and very soon branches of the Soldiers' Mothers Committee began to appear all over the country. These organizations were culturally more acceptable for the Russian society than other women's initiatives. Images of a woman fighting for her children seem to be more familiar and acceptable for Russian society than images of a woman struggling for the maintenance of equal rights for all citizens, including females, and willing to get involved in such a male business as politics.
In 1994-1996 Soldiers' Mothers often worked in cooperation with human rights activists and other women's organization. Together they did their best to provide food, medicines and clothes to refuges from Chechnya, and to assist in the rehabilitation of those who had suffered from the terrorist attacks. They also participated in anti-war manifestations and wrote anti-war letters and petitions to the state authorities. During that period all activities of the anti-war movement received broad media coverage. Often the press and human rights organizations (including women's anti-war organizations) were united in their advocacy of a peaceful solution to the conflict. Not surprisingly during the 1994-1996 war campaign, public opinion also support the idea of a peaceful solution to the conflict.
In 1999 the situation changed dramatically. Today the Russian mass media hold predominantly pro-government positions. As the polls show, public opinion also supports the military solution to the conflict. Television shows us soldiers and generals talking about their willingness to fight till the end. At the same time, we hear very little about the anti-war activities of Russian human rights, feminist and other women's movements. Newspapers sometimes mention Committees of Soldiers' Mothers but only in cases when their actions conform to the traditionally accepted image of mothers caring about their sons. Almost nothing is reported about the anti-war activities of the feminist-oriented organizations. At first glance it may even seem that the majority of Russians, including the majority of Russian women, do not view the Chechen War as a major problem of the country.
What differentiates the War of 1999-2000 from the war of 1994-1996 is that these two wars were characterized by completely different ideology. During the first campaign in Chechnya public opinion and mass media were primarily on the side of a peaceful solution to the conflict. In 1999 the situation changed dramatically. The beginning of military action was preceded by a massive government public relations campaign aimed at changing public attitudes to the conflict in Chechnya. In fall of 1999 majority of Russians viewed Chechnya as the main nidus of terrorism in Russia. Chechnya became the symbol of the all-national enemy.
Not surprisingly the only war related activities that were accepted and sometimes even encouraged by the public and tolerated by the state were again those that fit the image of a woman caring about the lives and safety of her nearest and dearest but not about political issues. This probably explains why the only information reported by official sources and the media on activities of women's NGOs concerned the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers, specifically those activities of the committees that had no political motivation. In this situation a lot of local Soldiers' Mothers committees and some other women's organizations chose to work within the framework defined by the Government. These organizations decided to devote their efforts to collecting humanitarian aid for the troops in Chechnya and searching for soldiers who had disappeared in the chaos of the war. Working in cooperation with the state had an impact on the organization. Unlike their colleagues from NGOs working independently of the Government, these NGOs usually did not participate in or organize public anti-war meetings or actions. On the other hand, organizations with anti-war positions were often deprived of benefits from the state (such as free rent of office space).
In a situation of general lack of financial resources, state refusal to provide such benefits to organizations results in serious money difficulties. Without certain financial resources women's NGOs were unable to organize anti-war actions, publish anti-war leaflets, or place anti-war articles in press.
Obstacles that women's NGOs face in their anti-war activity are not limited to financial problems. In some cases state authorities chose to take active steps against organizations with inconvenient positions. Here the tactics may very from denial of permission for public actions to actual ban on the functioning of the organization. Despite the difficulties, most women's NGOs understand the need to supplement their activities with public political and legal actions that draw the attention of politicians, the media, and the entire population to the problem of the war in Chechnya. Throughout the country active members of feminist and other women's NGOs, together with human rights organizations, form anti-war movements and committees that organize anti-war meetings and pickets, publish and distribute anti-war bulletins, and lobby for the peaceful resolution of the Chechen conflict in the State Duma. What is especially important, activists of the feminist movement express concern not only for the lives of our soldiers but also for the lives and well being of the people of Chechnya.
But their efforts are not reported. We do not want to hear the cries of anti-war activists because we want to believe that we are doing the right thing and thus to believe in our country and in our government for the first time after so many years.
Thus, women's NGOs in Russia are forced to work in a situation of limited freedom. I say limited because the right of organizations to express their attitudes to the war is greatly confined by the Government, by public opinion and by a large number of other relevant issues such as lack of financing, absence of attention from the press, etc. In these conditions each organization has to find its own way to handle the situation. Certainly the easiest would be simply to pretend that the problems of Chechnya are irrelevant to the organization. But that would mean avoidance and ignorance and my small investigation showed that these qualities are not in the nature of Russian women.
Several women's NGOs tried to take a position that did not put them in a position of antagonism with the state but at the same time allowed them to carry on some activities that relieve troubles and sufferings brought about by the war. They found their mission in rescuing captured soldiers and civilians, collecting humanitarian aid, and protecting the rights of soldiers. Some women's NGOs managed to keep their independent status and are standing on active anti-war positions. In spite of financial and other problems, they are not afraid to speak up against government strategy. The existence of such organizations is very important for the development of civil society in Russia but unfortunately they are very rarely heard and their ideas do not have much impact on events in Chechnya or on public attitudes. What is needed in the future is greater cooperation among the women's organizations. But given the conditions of limited freedom I have described, that future may not come soon.
