Post AiixObj2HJvPlZKJoe by Sonia_Kvetka@spinster.xyz
(DIR) More posts by Sonia_Kvetka@spinster.xyz
(DIR) Post #AiisW3o5lqIJ7FQUQy by Sonia_Kvetka@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T16:12:02.471820Z
2 likes, 1 repeats
Attention! The post mentions rape and death threats!I realised that English-speakers are not aware of what is happening in Western European countries at all. Therefore, I will tell you what is happening in my country - Belarus.Belarus is next to Russia. In our country, the vast majority of people speak Russian because of Russification and Russia's colonial policy towards us. We have our own language, which is beautiful in sound and rich in vocabulary, but it is practically not used in Belarus because of the replacement of the Belarusian language with Russian. We even teach in Russian in schools and universities. Just to make you understand how bad it is, during the USSR the number of Belarusian-speaking schools was more than 70% of all schools, and all universities of Belarus taught only in Belarusian, now in Belarus only three schools in Minsk region teach children in Belarusian, and all universities teach subjects in Russian.For speaking Belarusian in Belarus, you can be beaten up or imprisoned because of suspicions that you are part of the apazitiya (about apazitiya later, it's shitty there too). In terms of women's rights, things are disgusting too. We have rampant levels of fatherlessness and domestic violence in the country, girls who have suffered sexualised violence are ridiculed by society, activism and women's rights in the country is impossible because the state prevents it and imprisons the activists. Women are raped, beaten and tortured in prisons. An acquaintance of mine had a case when in the pre-trial detention centre she was forced to strip naked and squat with her legs spread and her arms raised above her head. At that moment she was on her period, but the police didn't care.Another acquaintance of mine was threatened with rape and murder by OMON officers as she was being taken in a motorbike. The only thing that stopped them was a guy, who was also oristating, who started shouting insults at the OMON, thus turning their attention to him.I left Belarus with my family at night because my mother was fired from her job and the KGB explicitly told her that if we did not leave the country within two months after the trial, her children would be taken away from her and she would be imprisoned under the article for extremism.Now I am relatively safe, but the time when I lived in Belarus left a certain imprint on me. And not only on me. All Belarusians suffered from Lukashenka's regime. And we do not like it very much when we are equated with Russians, because by recognising that Belarus is Russia, you literally support what is happening to our country, culture, women, and children.You can ask your questions in the comments below this post. I will do my best to answer them all.
(DIR) Post #AiiuJTrTmxcI4C8jmi by LadyMont@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T16:29:52.640535Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Sonia_Kvetka >I realised that English-speakers are not aware of what is happening in Western European countries at all. < I think most of us are fully aware. Some of us watch the news, where Belarus is pictured clearly as the dictatorship as it is. Don't worry.
(DIR) Post #AiixObj2HJvPlZKJoe by Sonia_Kvetka@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T16:37:11.401806Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@LadyMont Yes?But for some reason most women, and in principle all the people I met on Twitter and here, do not even know that such a country as Belarus exists. Even the Poles with whom I am in contact are not aware of what is happening literally in a neighbouring country, although they are literally next door.I am glad that you are aware, but practice shows that most people have not even heard about what is happening here.
(DIR) Post #AiixOcX1HTuKGaiEj2 by LadyMont@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T16:44:39.200663Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Sonia_Kvetka Belarus is in the news constantly as the loyal dog of Russia. We are aware. I'm sure a lot of neighboring countries don't view Belarus as a stand alone country, because it's fully controlled by Russia and basically is just that, Russia. Russia is a shithole. In shitholes women get correctively raped. We know.
(DIR) Post #AiizJ5nzjEkxEE90QS by stephagain@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T17:03:46.438521Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Sonia_Kvetka I feel most europeans are aware of how russia treats ex soviet countries, but it is very good you are here to teach us more.
(DIR) Post #AiizJ6PDUqWx5fYjRY by Sonia_Kvetka@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T17:18:59.007965Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@stephagain I'm glad you appreciated this post!My next posts will be more devoted to feminism, but sometimes I’m still going to touch on the topic specifically of the countries of the former USSR because it’s actually quite an interesting topic.
(DIR) Post #AiizJ6yfN2t2rc92hM by stephagain@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T17:21:07.965458Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Sonia_Kvetka I think it is very interesting! you can talk about whatver you want here ! and will be interesting to have your point of view on feminist issues
(DIR) Post #AiizstCA5fZwXlW8fY by stephagain@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T17:33:10.727597Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Sonia_Kvetka can you explain why you all are coming to spinster now? it has been a very long time since we did get that many new users at once (I've been here since the first day) how did you learn about spinster? what are the issues you want to talk about that you can't talk about on other platforms?
(DIR) Post #Aij9mKqxrJlBq27G4W by Sonia_Kvetka@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T17:15:26.071371Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@LadyMont You show your disdain for people of other nationalities in this way. It would be like calling Armenia, Kazakhstan or Tajikistan and other countries "dogs of Russia". Or call India from the time of British colonisation Britain. And I'll say it again. Just because you know what's going on in the country doesn't mean other people know about it. Don't show off and shut up those who talk about their problems by saying that "you already know about them".
(DIR) Post #Aij9mLy5iJ3TIQSSoq by Flick@spinster.xyz
2024-06-08T19:26:47.992116Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Sonia_Kvetka @LadyMont I don’t think LM is talking about the Belarusian people as much as Lukashenko and his regime. Many in Western Europe who are interested in other parts of the world know how much the Belarusian people are trying to fight back against the government, and how badly they are being treated as a result. Many also do not, because it is a long way away.
(DIR) Post #AikYiYQs7d7Co6AJ9s by kj00@spinster.xyz
2024-06-09T11:40:57.707958Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Sonia_Kvetka Because you are talking to Americans. Europeans understand perfectly well who the neighboring countries are. America however is a giant country, a very large portion of American men and women have no clue what goes on in Europe or what a map of Europe looks like. Just like how every Russian speaker is not from Russia, not every English speaker is from USA or the UK. Spinster has many European women and you won't have this "wtf is Belarus?" issue as often. Belarus is also not a Western European country.