The representatives of the Women’s Network of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), Women’s Movement of Belarusian Workers’ Union in Radio and Electronic Industry and of Belarusian Organization of Working Women (BOWW) were refused to have their gender conference in the hotel “Oktyabrskaya” in Minsk .

         The women from the friendly organizations which are cooperating with each other regularly come together to discuss the problems they are facing with and to find the ways how to solve them.

One of such meetings was timed to coincide with the International Women’s day - 8-9 March. They were to sum up the results of their activities in the conference room at “Oktyabrskaya” hotel. The preliminary agreement of the hotel management was received in due time.

        27 women from Minsk,Vitebsk, Gomel, Mogilev , Mozyr, Soligorsk, Mikashevichi and Beloozersk arrived to participate in the event. Franny Parren, a representative of TIE and FNV, was invited to take part in the conference. In the morning March 8 when the women and the leadership of the BKDP gathered in the hotel lobby unexpectedly they have received not a festive surprise.

      ----  We have agreed upon all organizational questions with the hotel administration long before the conference: rent, accommodation and food. We had a last meeting with the hotel people just on the eve of the conference and there were no indications that something goes wrong. But in the morning 8 March we have been told that the conference room will not be given to us due to some “technical reasons”. We all know what these “technical reasons” are – the President of the BKDP Alexander Yaroshuk says. You can imagine the feelings of our women and guests when they saw other women in the lifts loaded with numerous gifts from the President Lukashenko who congratulated them on the eve. It appears that the women in our country have also been divided into “correct women” and “wrong women”. It is no wonder that the “wrong women” were shown the door.

Finally, even so the conference has taken place in the BKDP premises. The women discussed their numerous problems and shared their opinions. But they were unanimous in one thing: they are to solve the major problem - women must not be divided into “correct women” and “wrong women”. 

Print