Women’s rights in the focus of Future of Belarus discussions at Stockholm Forum
- Salidarnast Belarus
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
On June 16–17, 2025, Stockholm hosted a Forum on “Women’s Empowerment and Democracy for Belarus 2025” – an international platform bringing together female activists, researchers, politicians, and human rights defenders in order to discuss the role of Belarusian women in the struggle for democracy, dignity, and justice.
The Forum participants included Maria Taradzetskaya of the “Salidarnast” Association and the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) representing the independent trade union movement. She pointed out that without effective gender equality in the world of work and the recognition of women’s contribution as workers talking of genuine democracy is pointless.
“We do not speak of equality as a slogan. We discuss concrete measures that Belarus needs: lifting the ban on “unwomanly” occupations, recognizing care work, ratifying the ILO Conventions like C190 on elimination of violence and harassment at work”, said Maria.
The Forum participants also raised the issue of reproductive labour – an invisible yet crucial area where women play the key role, doing care and domestic work that includes cleaning, preparing meals, doing unpaid housekeeping work, and taking care of children and the elderly – all those duties without which no society can exist.
According to her, gender inequality is the reality in Belarus. The Forum participants were given the concrete figure for the gender pay gap in the country which amounts to 27%, compared to about 10% in Sweden. Women are employed in low pay sectors with high workloads and miserable prospects for advancement.
“The Forum has turned out to be unexpectedly profound. Instead of the commonplace talk of equality, honest and precise questions were asked like why women’s involvement is not “about women” but about the country’s development? Why is it that inequality destroys the society and how do we fight it legislatively and culturally?
The participants also discussed the role of women in politics, the legal barriers, the phenomenon of equating women’s rights to those of men “by default” – and the ramifications of such an approach. Special attention was accorded to the topic of domestic violence that remains one of the most acute and underreported issues in Belarus.
“When rights are routinely infringed, the area of industrial relations is never an exception”, stressed Maria. “We\ve been talking about occupations that remain banned for women, about domestic work as a form of unpaid employment. This is also work that must be recognized as such.”.
It should also be noted that currently Belarusian penitentiaries hold five female unionists including Volha Brytsikava who has been convicted for her staunch civic position and her participation in the rpotestion of workers’ rights.
The Stockholm Forum has become more than a solidarity platform, it was also a significant step forward in most practical terms: its outcome is going to be the Women Leadership Programme for Belarus, aimed at developing new forms of women’s participation in the life of society, including the areas of labour and trade unionism. This is the first Forum of such magnitude devoted to the involvement of women in building the future of Belarus.
“Following up on this, we as unions see our task in expanding this discussion’s agenda further through the inclusion of such topics as decent work and equal opportunities for women and men, particularly, in the most discriminatory sectors like social care, healthcare, and education”, said Maria Taradzetskaya.
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