30 events of the year that changed life in Russia
EVERYDAY WE HAVE A GREAT NUMBER OF NEWS, in the flow of which is easy to get lost and miss important. Throughout 2016, every month we remembered the most significant events, and today we sum up: we are talking about 30 events, initiatives and events that have changed our life this year.
The draft law on the public display of homosexuality was rejected
The State Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Construction did not support the bill, the authors of which proposed introducing administrative responsibility for "the public expression of non-traditional sexual relations." Recall that the authors of the bill proposed to amend the RF Code of Administrative Offenses. It was supposed that they would be fined or arrested for "publicly demonstrating their distorted sexual preferences in public places".
The constitutional court of Russia recognized the right of women to the jury
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation declared unconstitutional deprivation of women accused of criminal offenses of the right to jury trial. According to the court, depriving women of the right to a jury trial of their case "does not comply with the principle of legal equality, leads to discrimination and limits their right to judicial protection." The court ordered to make appropriate changes to the legislation.
The list of "non-female" professions recognized as discrimination
According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Article 253 and Decree No. 162 of February 25, 2000), there are 456 types of employment in 38 areas that are not recommended for women. Among them are steelmaking, welding, driving heavy machinery (for example, snow machines), the profession of a diver, a mechanic, a subway driver and even his assistant, a carpenter, and work in the chemical industry, in shipbuilding and ship repair. All occupations from the list are considered to be difficult or associated with harmful or dangerous working conditions that may damage reproductive health.
Russians began to spend more than half of their income on food
According to a report prepared by RANEPA experts, Russians began to spend more than half of their income on food. In February 2016, the share of spending on products reached a peak in the last eight years and amounted to 50.1% of total income. For comparison: the standard cost of food in countries with a high standard of living is 10-15%. Experts of the RANEPA note that such a high proportion of food expenses is a sign of a significant deterioration in the real economic situation of citizens of the Russian Federation.
Russia launched the Year of Cancer Prevention
In April, the All-Russian Educational Project "Year of Cancer Prevention" was launched, developed by the Cancer Prevention Foundation and the NN Petrov Research Institute of Oncology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. By the beginning of the campaign, oncologists and onco-epidemiologists had developed a new system for assessing the risk of cancer and diagnosing cancer, called Screen. This is an online service that allows you to identify a risk group based on the cancer of seven main locations based on a user survey.
Russia is recognized as one of the worst countries for LGBT people in Europe
According to a study conducted by the European branch of the human rights organization ILGA, Russia is one of the worst countries for LGBT people: more rights for members of the community are only infringed in Azerbaijan. Legislation and public sphere in the rating of 49 states were checked by several criteria, compliance with them was assessed as a percentage (0% - discrimination and serious rights violations, 100% - equality and respect for all human rights). The result of Russia is 6.55% and 48th place.
The State Duma adopted a law on the decriminalization of beatings and the "Spring Package"
In June, the Yarovoi anti-terrorism package was adopted, which tightens penalties on many articles, including extremism, introduces new articles into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (including an article on non-reporting) and obliges telecom operators and "organizers of information dissemination on the Internet" (for example, Yandex and Mail.ru) to store for six months all call records and messages exchanged between users in order to provide this information to the FSB, if necessary. Also, deputies adopted in the final reading a law that partially decriminalizes two articles of the Criminal Code - beatings and non-payment of alimony - and replaces criminal responsibility with a fine for minor and moderate crimes, if they were committed for the first time and the damage was compensated. Thanks to the efforts of human rights defenders, beatings against close people remain in the field of criminal law.
Russia banned the cultivation of GMOs
The State Duma adopted in the third reading a bill that bans the cultivation and breeding of genetically modified plants and animals in Russia, with the exception of scientific research. Importers of GMO products will need to undergo a special registration, while the government is granted the right to prevent the import into Russia of products that may adversely affect humans and the environment. At the same time, more than 100 Nobel laureates defended GMOs: in a collective appeal to governments and Greenpeace, they argue that “golden rice” and other transgenic products can save humanity from hunger and various diseases.
# I am afraid of tales: women told about their experiences of violence
Facebook has launched a flash mob with the hashtag # ЯНАЯ-- I am afraidSkazati (# ЯНЕСогоюсьSkazat), under which women and men told about their experiences sexual abuse and harassment. The action, which caused a huge resonance in social networks and media, was invented by Ukrainian journalist and activist Anastasia Melnichenko. We joined the action and published a monologue of Taisiya Antonova, who repeatedly faced violence, and also collected comments from several men who were forced to take a different look at the problem of violence, the attitude of society to the victims, the behavior of others and their own actions.
Olga Vasilyeva became the new Minister of Education and Science
Olga Vasilieva, who previously held the post of deputy head of the administration of the presidential administration of Russia for public projects, was appointed to replace Dmitry Livanov. The media calls Vasiliev "a propagandist of patriotism ideas" and an "extreme conservative": she has been researching the history of the Russian Orthodox Church for a long time and defended her doctoral dissertation on "The Russian Orthodox Church in the policy of the Soviet state in 1943-1948." Vasilyeva headed the Center for the History of Religion and Church of the Russian Academy of Sciences, then she was the head of the department of religion studies at the Russian Academy of State Service.
Mikhail Mamiashvili accused of beating athletes
Russian national team athlete Inna Trazhukova told Sport-Express that the president of the Wrestling Federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili, hit her twice in the face after Trazhukova lost to her rival from Poland in third place in the weight category up to 63 kilograms. According to the athlete, Mamiashvili was drunk. Earlier, Mamiashvili refused to congratulate Valery Koblova and Natalia Vorobyov on silver medals, saying that they had to “die but win,” and accused them of lack of will.
"Legal Initiative" talked about female genital mutilation in Dagestan
The project "Legal Initiative for Russia" published a report on the practice of female genital mutilation in Dagestan, which caused a great public response. According to the results of the study, they are actively practiced in the region, especially in some high-altitude areas and migratory lowland villages of Dagestan.
In October, the prosecutor's office of Dagestan reported that it had verified reports on the practice of mutilating operations in the region and did not find evidence of this information. Chairwoman of the Commission on Family, Children and Maternity Support of the Public Chamber Diana Gurtskaya accused the prosecutor's office of negligence and demanded a re-examination. In December, a letter from the Dagestan prosecutor’s office addressed to the Legal Initiative project became available to RBC. It law enforcement officers require human rights defenders in the shortest possible time to provide them with the information obtained in the course of the high-profile research practice in Dagestan.
The debate about pedophilia and the "case of the 57th school" has been launched in social networks
The teacher and journalist Ekaterina Krongauz posted a post on Facebook that told us that for sixteen years, the history teacher was “having an affair with female students,” everyone knew about it and didn’t do anything, but recently he was still fired. The post provoked a stormy discussion about the power of teachers and the principle of “do not wash dirty linen in public”: judging by the comments of graduates of the school, its administration covered these and other cases of teachers entering into relations with students.
The results of a study on the movement of AIDS dissidents in Russia are published.
The Candle Charitable Foundation, supported by the Treatment Preparedness Coalition, conducted the first Russian study analyzing the anti-scientific movement of HIV / AIDS dissidents on social networks and its negative impact on the opinions of people living with HIV. The researchers studied the largest community of AIDS dissidents "VKontakte", found out who constituted the core of the movement and how its members are interconnected, and also collected data on the rhetorical strategies of the movement, through which they influence the "newcomers" who only learned about their diagnosis , and "doubters" - those who have not accepted either one or the other point of view.
Anna Kuznetsova became a new ombudsman
Vladimir Putin dismissed the children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov, who wrote a statement of his own accord. His place was taken by Anna Kuznetsova - the founder of the Pokrov charity foundation, the head of the ONF executive committee in Penza. Shortly after the appointment, journalists learned that the new ombudsman believes in "uterine memory", and in late September, Kuznetsova supported the idea of banning abortion and said that "the entire civilized world" is fighting with them.
Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences demanded to deprive Medina of a scientific degree
24 members and corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences demanded that the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky be deprived of a scientific degree - scientists called Medinsky's dissertation, devoted to the problems of objectivity in covering Russian history, pseudoscientific. Also, the academicians demanded the resignation of the leaders of the Higher Attestation Commission, which withdrew the case of deprivation of a degree from the dissertation council of the Ural Federal University. "The goal of science is the search for truth, and attempts to replace it with myths, no matter what considerations do this, undermine the foundations of the scientific world view," said the authors of the appeal.
Ministry of Labor has developed a strategy of action for women
The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, at the request of the President, developed the National Action Strategy for Women, which will be implemented in 2017-2022. The main objectives of the strategy are to increase the number of women in government and to alleviate penal legislation. During the discussion, representatives of the Russian Academy of Sciences suggested including gender issues in the educational standard - this would allow lectures on feminism and the fundamentals of gender theory in schools.
Anna Kuznetsova started checking children's fights in Chechnya
Child Rights Ombudsman Anna Kuznetsova began checking children's fights in Chechnya: in the framework of the Grand Prix Akhmat mixed martial arts tournament in Grozny, there were fights between children under the age of twelve, which provoked a strong reaction among professional athletes and television viewers. The fights with the participation of boys, including the three sons of the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, were declared as demonstration performances, but in fact the audience saw real fights.
Konstantin Raikin opposes censorship in art
The speech of Konstantin Raikin, the director of the Satirikon Theater, caused a great resonance. He called on artists and directors to show "guild solidarity" and oppose "raids on art" - namely, "fighters for morality" who are trying to intervene in the work of artists and limit their right to self-expression. Raikin was supported by director Andrei Zvyagintsev, who entered into polemics with Dmitry Peskov about the "state order" in art, as well as the head of the Theater of Nations Yevgeny Mironov.
SC detained the administrator of the "group of death" "VKontakte"
The investigative committee detained the administrator of one of the groups in the social network "VKontakte", suspected of inciting suicide. Philip Budeykin, known in the social network as Philippe Lys, was involved in the story of “death groups” - closed communities of VKontakte, which thundered this spring, where teenagers were inclined to commit suicide. According to investigators, the management of "VKontakte" has not taken sufficient measures to block the "groups of death."
In Russia, reforming the school system of psychological assistance
Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said that in the near future in Russia they will reform the system of psychological assistance in schools. To such a decision, officials pushed the tragic events of November 14: two teenagers locked themselves in a house in the Pskov region and opened fire on a police car, after which they committed suicide. According to Golodets, it is planned to "change the entire psychology service" that functions in schools. The retraining program will be based on the statistics of teen suicides, which will be presented by the V. P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Center of Psychiatry and Narcology.
Launched Portal Violence.net about domestic violence
On November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the site of Violence.net was launched - a project of lawyers Mari Davtyan and Anna Rivina, dedicated to the problem of domestic violence and methods of fighting it. In August, the application "Violence.net" was released with addresses of crisis centers and a "panic button" to alert relatives. On the same day, another Russian victim assistance project was launched - the online service “P.L.I.N.A.”, which was worked on by employees of the “Crisis Center for Women” from St. Petersburg. "PAULINE." - These are step-by-step instructions and a generator of statements to the police and the courts, as well as a platform for legal volunteers who will help the survivors to correctly draw up a statement.
Fired police officer who refused to help victims of violence
The details of the loud murder that took place on November 17 in Orel became known: it turned out that forty minutes before the brutal beating of her former roommate, Yana Savchuk, she called the police but did not receive help. On the phone of the victim, who died in hospital from his injuries, they found a recording of the conversation: you can hear the police major Natalia Bashkatova “reassure” a woman who fears for her life. “If he kills you, we’ll definitely leave, describe the corpse, do not worry,” the police said to the victim of domestic violence, refusing to accept her appeal. It is known that Bashkatov was already fired from the police, a criminal case was brought against her under Part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Negligence, causing by negligence the infliction of grievous bodily harm or death of a person"), involving up to five years in prison.
In Russia, proposed to create a registry of people with mental disorders
Vice Prime Minister Olga Golodets instructed the Ministry of Health to consider a proposal to create a register of persons suffering from mental illness. "The registry will facilitate the procedure for citizens to obtain certificates for driver's licenses, weapons and employment. They can be obtained legally in any institution. At this point, you need to go to the place of registration," the National Pharmaceutical Registry reported. The initiative authors argue that a single registry will also allow for faster disability registration for people suffering from mental disorders. It is not reported who will have access to the registry and whether the personal data of the patients will be additionally protected.
The government rejected the petition to remove abortion from the CHI system
The government decided to reject the public initiative to remove abortions from the compulsory health insurance system (MMI) in Russia. The decision of the expert group was announced by the Minister of the Russian Federation for Open Government Mikhail Abyzov at today's government meeting.
Later on the state portal of legal information published a decree on the withdrawal of services for the abortion of the general license for medical care in gynecology - this means that Russian clinics will have to receive special licenses for abortion. The initiative authors believe that this measure will allow the Ministry of Health to more effectively monitor medical institutions and maintain statistics on the number of abortions. The decree will come into force in December 2017.
The Ministry of Health offered to punish for disinformation about HIV
The representative of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Oleg Salagay told how the strategy to counter the spread of HIV, which was approved in October of this year, will be implemented. In particular, Salagay said that the Ministry of Health is discussing possible measures of responsibility "for the dissemination of inaccurate and dangerous to the health of citizens information about HIV." This means that AIDS dissidents who spread their ideas on social networks will be outlawed.
Barbara Karaulov found guilty of trying to join the IG
The Moscow District Military Court sentenced the high-profile case of Varvara Karaulova (recently changed her name to Alexander Ivanova): a former MSU student was found guilty of trying to join the Islamic State terrorist group banned in Russia and sentenced to four and a half years in a general regime colony and a fine of 150 thousand rubles.
On the eve Karaulova made the last word: the girl said that she never wanted to become a terrorist, and went to Turkey because of falling in love with a recruiter, whom she now considers "sick and inadequate." “I really want to leave the whole story in the past. So that they wouldn't call me a shahid for their eyes. It sounds more offensive than just some insults. I realized my mistakes, my stupidity, and it seems that I’ve already been punished enough for that” - said the accused.
Dr. Lisa died in a Tu-154 plane crash in the Black Sea
Elizaveta Glinka, known as Doctor Lisa, died in a Tu-154 plane crash in the Black Sea. The plane of the Ministry of Defense disappeared from the radar a few minutes after takeoff and crashed off the coast of Sochi on the morning of December 25th. On board were eight crew members and eighty-five passengers - members of the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble, who were to speak before the Russian military in Syria, as well as the journalists and military personnel accompanying them.
The head of the Ministry of Health told about the Russian cancer drug
In an interview with the Russia 24 TV channel, the head of the Ministry of Health, Veronika Skvortsova, said that the first domestic cancer drug was being clinically tested in Russia. According to the minister, the medicine under the working title PD-1 showed “a fantastic result in eliminating metastatic melanomas.”
Putin announced a ceasefire in Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Syrian government and the armed opposition signed a ceasefire agreement and are ready to begin peace talks. According to the president, the agreements reached are the result of Russia's work with partners in Syria, as well as with Turkey and Iran. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the ceasefire will begin at 00:00 on December 30.
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