happy (belated) international women's day

one day late, but happy 8th of march! and while we're at the topic of women's rights, let's talk a tad about what's been happening in my country (see: Kazakhstan). beware! this post is, too, about politics, the degradation of women and human rights, and some very queerphobic and traditionalist politicians.

central asian governments have been slowing cracking down on human rights and kazakh feminists and queer activists have become the new target. women's rights are a massive issue in kazakhstan (not even talking about queer rights at this point). while de jure they are supported by the government, our politicians' actions speak otherwise. Feminita is one of the more popular feminist and queer organisations in Kazakhstan, having been founded by Zhanar Sekerbayeva and Gulzada Serzhan, both of whom have been recently fined for 1,500USD for running an unregistered political organisation. moreover, Zhanar Sekerbayeva has been arrested (on 28th of february) for 10 days for doing a march a year ago.

so, clearly, the government does NOT like Feminita nor feminists and queer activists, despite propagating the 'gender equality' policies. and, unfortunately, some of the people support such brazenly anti-feminist policies! the largest of the groups, the parents' union of kazakhstan, has repeatedly harassed and stormed into lectures and gatherings by Feminita, yet they haven't been fined or put into any administrative punishment. the same parents' union (who are very anti-vax) have made a petition against "open and hidden lgtbqia propaganda" (whatever that might mean) that has seen heavy support from the officials. a journalistic investigation has shown that party members, head teachers are public schools, and bosses at various business told their employees to sign the petition or allegedly even signed the petition using their employees' credentials themselves. a clear breach in democratic petition processes. (read this article [ru] if you're interested or here [en] if you don't speak russian)

one of the politicians has also parroted trump's agenda on "only two sexes exist," basically implying to kazakhstan "if the US can be fascist, why can't we?" (article [ru]; translated article [en]). a worrying trend in global politics and yet another example how shit in the US (literally on the other side of the globe from Kazakhstan) affects everything else in the world.

this blog is more of a rant. i felt the urge to write about this somewhere. having now moved from Kazakhstan (and also not living in Almaty, where Feminita is based, even before moving to Europe) (and also not having the confidence nor bravery to stand up to in protests), there is little that i can do apart from talking about it and spreading awareness of how my country is bleeding and the killer is our own government. ELC (EuroCentralAsian Lesbian Community) have covered this topic, as well as HRW (Human Rights Watch) and International Amnesty on the arrest of a satirical journalist Temirlan Ensebek (not related to feminism, but Feminita and Oyan, Qazaq show clear support for Temirlan since it's absolutely bollocks for a government to arrest somebody for doing a satirical news post). so if you're interested in what's been happening in Kazakhstan, you can definitely read some international organisations' posts about us (Reporters Sans Frontières are also a good place to start if you're curious about media freedom).

this isn't really a call to action, since i'm not even sure what action i or you can take on this topic! apart from talking about it and trying to pressure the government to release Zhanar, Aktorgyn (another arrested feminist), and Temirlan, and by making them scared from the fact that people (even outside of Kazakhstan) know and care about this issue are the only things that i can think of that might work. of course, if you're living in Kazakhstan (and in Almaty specifically), there are more actions that you can make. financially supporting Feminita is also another way to help (they've recently managed to gather enough money to cover the two 1,500USD fines given to Zhanar and Gulzada). but, at least just knowing what's happening in Central Asia and in Kazakhstan is enough, in my opinion, since most Europeans/Westerners don't even know where Kazakhstan is located.

this is also a reminder and a pushback against the idea that "we don't need feminism anymore" since "we've got all the equal rights already." no we don't! not in Central Asia or other parts of the world at least! and looking at recent European and American news, feminism is more than necessary and vital currently! stop with the euro- and americentrism and think about women and queer POC. perhaps women's rights aren't a big, big issue in Europe (i doubt), they are so in Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries.

anyways, that's the end of my rant and educational post on the politics of Kazakhstan. hope you enjoyed it.

love you, buh-bye