Russia’s fight against the West and its values this week takes aim at an “ideology” that the Kremlin and its allies say threatens the very foundations of the country: that people don’t want to have children.
Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said in a Telegram post on Tuesday that lawmakers proposed banning “propaganda about the conscious refusal to have children.” He said there was.
It is the latest effort by authorities to counter demographic distortions caused by falling birth rates, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which the Kremlin claims could threaten the country’s long-term prospects. There is. In July, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s declining birth rate was “catastrophic for the country’s future.”
The issues at their heart are not limited to Russia – in fact, they have emerged as flashpoints in the US presidential election – but this week’s developments highlight the Kremlin’s “traditional values” It’s just the latest step in a campaign to push things forward. It restructures Russian society around Putin’s wars and embraces an existential conflict with the United States and its allies.
The bill would address what Volodin said was the internet, media, movies and even advertising promoting a “childless ideology” and “childless movement” and would address online He was quoted as saying that “contempt for children” is frequently displayed. Aggression toward motherhood and fatherhood, pregnant women and children, and extended family members. ”
He said fines can be hefty, up to $4,300 for individuals and more than $53,000 for corporations. “A large, close-knit family is the basis of a strong nation,” Volodin added.
It’s unclear how exactly the bill would be enforced if passed, or what exactly it would violate, but more than two and a half years have passed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighboring country. The enforcement comes amid an already unprecedented crackdown on opposition.
The bill was formally submitted to Russia’s State Duma, Russia’s lower house, on Wednesday, likely signaling the Kremlin’s intention to move quickly on the bill. But not everyone is convinced it’s a good idea.
“As a lawyer, as a feminist and as a woman, I view this bill very negatively from all points of view,” said Dariana Gryaznova, a Russian lawyer and women’s rights expert currently living abroad. Ta. “Such bills are essentially aimed at suppressing free speech, women’s reproductive rights, and freedom of choice.”
Olga, an English teacher in Moscow, told NBC News she doesn’t plan on having children, but she hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility.
Olga, who did not want to give her last name for privacy reasons, said the proposed bill would not change her plans. Still, she said she feels “anxious and mildly angry.”
“It’s clear that they are trying to improve the birth rate by all means possible, which is causing a lot of concern, because it will be difficult for women to make their own choices,” said Olga, 39. added. “In this respect, unfortunately for Russian women, this is nothing new.”
The bill reflects Russia’s Supreme Court’s ban on the so-called international LGBTQ+ movement in late 2023, increasing the risk of arrest and prosecution for the country’s already struggling LGBTQ+ community.
Other recent developments highlight growth trends.
Lawmakers in Russia’s far eastern Primorye region passed a bill on Wednesday that would ban “forcing” women to have abortions.
And for the first time, Russia’s parliament on Wednesday backed a bill that would ban the adoption of Russian children by people from countries that allow gender reassignment.
At the same time, despite the topic being regularly discussed in the media and intensive lobbying by organizations like Nasiliu.net, which means “no abuse” in English, there is still no widespread domestic violence in Russia. There is no law.
“Our society is very traditional and conservative, and women have never been full members,” says Olga, a teacher.
“Family values”
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has stepped up its fight over what it sees as a perversion of the personal freedoms championed by the West: sexual identity, gender identity, and now whether to have children.
The Kremlin says it defends so-called “family values” in contrast to the “decadent” West.
“The purpose of a woman is to have children. This is a completely unique gift of nature,” Putin said in March. Earlier this month, he said the government was creating conditions for women to achieve professional success while being “the real soul of the extended family”. Combining the two will not be an easy task, the Russian leader said. “But our women know how and can remain beautiful, kind and attractive even under such stress.”
Women and children on Red Square in Moscow. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images
He also publicly declared 2024 the “Year of the Family,” although several wives of men he mobilized to fight in Ukraine told NBC News earlier this year that many He feels this is ironic as young people are being lost. They are on the front lines of facing a plummeting birth rate.
Birth rates have plummeted to their lowest level in a quarter of a century, according to data released by statistical service Rosstat in September. In the first half of 2024, 599,600 children were born in Russia, 16,000 fewer than in the same period in 2023 and the lowest since 1999.
Olga, an English teacher, wonders whether banning the “childless lifestyle” would actually improve the country’s demographics. “But that would cause people even more stress,” she says, and people would be even less likely to speak their minds freely.
Daria Panalina, a Moscow-based academic who studies the Philippines at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told NBC News that she made a conscious decision not to have children. “It’s not because I read information about not having children or because someone tried to convince me not to have children. It’s just a decision I made on my own,” the 40-year-old said. Panarina said, adding that the proposed bill would not change her mind.
For Panarina, the proposed bill is not about women’s rights per se, but an effort by the government to protect Russia’s traditional way of life.
Panarina said, “There is a general feeling that Russia is somehow pressured by a group of Western countries and is not allowed to go in its own direction,” so all these ideas that come from the West “It’s considered really harmful and unnecessary here.” she added.
While she said she understood the logic, she did not believe the proposed ban would be effective. “The reason so many young families don’t want to have children is not because of any ideological thing or ideas you can find on the internet, but because they want to have a place to live first, Because they want to build. Even though they have a career, they want to have enough money to raise their children,” she said.
“Dangerous for everyone”
Ella Rosman, a feminist activist and academic at the University College London School of Slavic Studies, said the proposed legislation would definitely be a response to Russia’s opposition to the war in Ukraine and the Putin regime. It will be used against feminists.
Rothman said the administration feels threatened by their anti-war and anti-government activities, but is likely to justify punishing them in the name of combating “childless propaganda.” .
But the proposed law is also “dangerous for everyone” because it is so vaguely worded, lawyer Gryaznova added.
“Some even write things like, ‘How can you give birth in Russia when the economy is so bad?'” Essentially, this can be reduced to propaganda about refusing to have children. ” she says.
Asked about the proposed ban, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said last week that anything that hinders the rise in birth rates should “disappear” from the lives of Russians.
But Gryaznova is not convinced.
“This does not mean anything good for women’s rights in Russia,” she said. “They are trying to solidify that women’s role is ultimately solely to bear children. And this is another proof.”
