Women Against War: Prisoners of Russia” exhibition
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, one of the most prominent anti-war movements in the Russian Federation has been women’s and feminist resistance in many cities and republics of the country.
From February 24 until today, women in Russia have been going on street protests, organizing guerrilla actions, telling about Russia’s war crimes, distributing leaflets and anti-war newspapers, and helping Ukrainians and Ukrainian women deported to Russia from the occupied territories. The state responds with searches, criminal cases, house arrests, police torture, threats of sexualized violence and attempts to take away their children. Women in Chechnya, Dagestan, Sakha, Buryatia, Tuva and other regions protesting against dictatorship, war and mobilization, women from towns and cities, underage girls and women who already have grandchildren, all put their lives and health at risk. Independent Russian female journalists travel to Ukraine to document Russian war crimes. Among them are those who have been killed there by Russian missiles.
During the months of war, the number of women political prisoners and women persecuted in Russia has grown dramatically. Their names are often not as media-savvy as those of prominent Russian opposition figures, so we believe it is important to make their stories and voices more visible. A woman in detention or under arrest faces the threat of not only police violence but also gender-based violence, which is why the exhibition, held in Paris in April 2023, was timed to coincide with the UN’s annual “16 Days Against Gender Violence” campaign.
The portraits of Russian women are drawn by Russian and Belarusian female artists, many of whom have also faced political persecution for their anti-war stance. Some of them are forced to hide their real names for security reasons.
Exhibition partners: Feminist Anti-War Resistance, Hope Harbour Krakow, Stakkato