Women’s Rights and the Feminists’ “Dirty Plans”: Media Discourses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Russia

Abstract

In this brief, the authors examine Russian media discourses on domestic violence during the COVID-19 global pandemic. With the introduction of restrictive measures against the virus, such as physical distancing measures, cordoning off cities, a 2-week travel quarantine, and others, media reports started to emphasize growing numbers of domestic violence cases and the insufficiency of measures to help the victims. Russian media frequently linked the incidents of violence under lockdown to the absence of adequate legislative measures. Importantly, Russian media reports referenced a proposed draft law on domestic violence that had been actively debated throughout the second half of 2019 but was not adopted. Traditionalist groups, who believed the special law was not necessary, countered media reports insisting that family remained the safest place for people under the pandemic. Drawing on a constructivist paradigm and using critical discourse analysis and content analysis, this article examines media representations of domestic violence during the COVID-19 health pandemic, as well as media narratives over the perception of the state faced with the two insurmountable tasks: to contain the epidemic and protect the most vulnerable members of the society. We argue that despite the increasing influence of traditionalist ideas in Russian foreign and domestic policy-making, the COVID-19 pandemic can provide human rights activists and social workers with a renewed opportunity to frame the necessity of a special domestic violence law as means to protect the interests of the most vulnerable members of the society during crisis situations.

Carga doméstica, cuidado de los dependientes y violencia en el hogar durante el confinamiento por la Covid-19

“…Sobre la percepción de la violencia contra las mujeres; primeramente, se debe señalar que en el Perú esta situación ha sido alarmante, pero a su vez débilmente atendida, puesto que en pandemia muchos servicios tuvieron que cerrar, y solo se priorizó el reporte de la violencia y la atención telefónica, como en muchas partes del mundo (27,28) . Esta situación aumentó el reporte de la violencia durante la pandemia, evidenciada en los medios de comunicación y en las estadísticas de los servicios de atención definidos como esenciales, en el caso peruano, las líneas telefónicas (29) ; siendo que este servicio prestó preponderante atención a las personas afectadas por la violencia, debido a la atención parcial de los servicios legales y de los hogares de acogida temporal para afectadas por la violencia, sobre todo para las personas más vulnerables, como niños y niñas, discapacitados, migrantes, entre otros (30) , siendo que esto puede explicar los resultados obtenidos sobre la percepción del aumento de violencia durante el confinamiento.…”

Responses to COVID-19 in Major Social Work Journals: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies, Comments, and Editorials

“…Scholars also compared social policy responses to COVID-19 between Ireland and the UK (Hick & Murphy, 2020), as well as Canada and the US (Béland et al, 2020). Looking on the bright side, the pandemic provided social workers with a renewed opportunity to reclaim their roles not just as counselors, but educators, brokers, and enablers in the macro practice (Andreeva, Drozhashchikh, & Nelaeva, 2020; Lau, Chan, & Ng, 2020). It also demonstrated the need to pass legislation that integrates social workers into different sectors (Al Gharaibeh, 2020), enhancing the function of socio-political organizations (Tung, 2020) and encourage practitioners in responding proactively to solidarity, transformation, and social change at the macro-level (Amadasun, 2021; Dauti, Dhëmbo, Bejko, & Allmuça, 2020).…”

Authoritarian Gender Equality Policy Making: The Politics of Domestic Violence in Russia

“…(President of Russia 2019)Once the COVID-19 pandemic started, the elite conflicts escalated. There were personal attacks in the media against Duma deputy Oksana Pushkina, the most outspoken legislative proponent of reform (Andreeva, Drozhashchikh, and Nelaeva 2021). Proponents sent a request for assistance to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who then asked the Ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs to consider increasing the administrative penalties, but Internal Affairs decided against it (Barshev 2020).…”