The words are spoken for International Women’s Day, Friday March 8. As the presidential election approaches in Russia, Vladimir Putin wants to pay tribute to the women of his country – in particular, to those who have become and who will become mothers. “You certainly have the power to improve this world with your beauty, your wisdom and your generosity. But, above all, with the greatest gift that nature has given you: having children.” The Russian leader, vying for a re-election already written, continues on the “absolute priority” what is family, “the most important thing for a woman”.
The speech, followed by researcher Alexandra Novitskaya, embodies, according to her, the increasingly conservative turn of the authoritarian leader of the Kremlin. The specialist at the Kennan Institute on Russia and Eurasia, at the Wilson Center in Washington (United States), reread with colleagues all of Vladimir Putin’s speeches for international women’s rights days. His observation is clear.
“He has never been so traditional in the past. On March 8, he really made some very traditionalist remarks.”
Alexandra Novitskaya, researcher at the Kennan Institute on Russia and Eurasiaat franceinfo
At the time of the presidential election, the autocrat presents himself as a fervent defender of a conservative, traditionalist vision of family and society. An ideology established as an integral part of Russian identity, in direct opposition to liberalism and progressivism in Western countries. Addressing the nation at the end of February, Vladimir Putin advocated these “traditional values”, which would make Russia one of the bastions against a West portrayed as depraved. “We see what is happening in some countries, where moral standards are consciously destroyed, he said. Entire peoples are being driven to extinction and degeneration.”
A gradual shift towards conservatism
Today’s speeches mark a break with the words of the past. As the American magazine points out Foreign Affairs, Vladimir Putin had a much more moderate face when he came to power at the turn of the 2000s. “Twenty years ago, Putin was more liberal,” confirms Alexandra Novitskaya. Over the years, “a change has taken place in his rhetoric.”
For the researcher, a conservative shift occurred between 2011 and 2012. The Russian leader, after two presidential terms and four years at the head of the government, is running for the supreme office. A vast protest movement took shape after the 2011 legislative elections, marked by accusations of massive fraud. Vladimir Putin was, however, re-elected the following year for a new six-year term. “That’s when the country took a conservative, much more authoritarian turn.” At the time, the Russian Parliament adopted a law prohibiting the broadcast of “propaganda about non-traditional sexual relations” with minors. Then, in 2014, a Public policy white paper on the family is adopted in Russia. “Traditional values are fully affirmed. They are a real priority of the State”, observes Russian historian Marina Simakova, quoted by the geopolitics review The Great Continent.
Through her research, Alexandra Novitskaya noticed another turning point, this time in the run-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. From 2021, in a very conservative tone, “Putin started talking about ‘gender freedoms’. He commented on issues of gender identity, made transphobic remarks,” lists the specialist in these subjects in Russia. The autocrat, according to her, multiplied these comments “to talk about changes that were taking place in Western countries.” A new way of criticizing the West and defending, in contrast, a certain idea of Russia. One way, too, “to increase anti-Western sentiment” within the population, with the prospect of an offensive towards kyiv.
Fighting the West and justifying the war in Ukraine
After more than two years of war, the defense of traditional values remains at the heart of the Kremlin’s policies. The subject is one of the central themes of Vladimir Putin’s re-election campaign, underlines Ksenia Luchenko, researcher for the Wider Europe program at the European Council on International Relations (ECFR). With these words, “he presents himself as the father of the nation, the one who protects families, children from the influence of an immoral West, deciphers the specialist. It gives him a good image.”
“The regime must show how bad the West is, and why. The West is portrayed as immoral, as bringing foreign values. It would seek to destroy traditional families. Russia must therefore protect them.”
Ksenia Luchenko, researcher at the European Council on International Relationsat franceinfo
The Kremlin is taking advantage of this to further muzzle critical voices of power, those who, precisely, uphold liberal values. For the authorities, they are nothing more than “foreign agents”. Vladimir Poutine “further aspires to become the face of an international far-right network, continues Ksenia Luchenko. The influence of Russia [à l’étranger] is based on this conservatism. They all stand together against this immoral West.”
Russian power, embroiled in a bogged-down war in Ukraine, must also explain why it is sending so many men to the front and to their death. Conservatism and anti-Western rhetoric help justify the invasion. In speeches, the conflict in Ukraine continues to be presented as a necessity – against Western influence and for the defense of Russian values. “Russians are fighting to protect their country, their identity and their independence from the West,” supports Ksenia Luchenko. A homily from Kirill, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Churchembodies this existential vision of war. “In Donbass [dans l’est de l’Ukraine]there is a fundamental rejection of the so-called values proposed today by those who claim global power”, he declared in March 2022. At the same time denouncing the parades “of gay pride”.
Targeted LGBT+ people and women
With the war and these diatribes against the West, LGBT+ people have become “key targets” in Russia, points out Ksenia Luchenko in an article published on the ECFR website. Last year, the researcher observed a clear increase in “laws of an ideological nature”, targeting both sexual and gender minorities, but also women. At the end of 2022, the ban on “propaganda about non-traditional sexual relations” has been extended to all audiences and cultural sectors. Law banned gender-affirming care and surgery while preventing adoption of children by transgender people, reports organization Human Rights Watch. Finally, the Russian Supreme Court qualified“extremist” a supposed “international LGBT movement”.
“This designation opened the way to arbitrary prosecutions against LGBT+ people,” alerts Tanya Lokshina, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. It also endangers “any person expressing solidarity with these people, or denouncing the discrimination they suffer”. The impact of this decision is already visible: at the end of January, a woman remained in detention for five days for wearing rainbow-colored earrings, reports Human Rights Watch. Other Russians have had to pay fines after posting a rainbow flag on social media.
Displaying an “extremist” symbol can result in up to 15 days of detention, then up to four years in prison in the event of a repeat offense, recalls the NGO. Members (or donors) of organizations deemed “extremist”, for their part, risk up to 12 years in prison. In a few months, at least three support groups for LGBT+ people have ended their activities. Added to this are police raids on LGBT+ clubs.
“The situation has become dire. There is not one LGBT+ person who can feel safe in Russia today. Many are leaving the country.”
Tanya Lokshina, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watchat franceinfo
The ultraconservative offensive also targets the right to abortion, against a backdrop of demographic crisis. The use of abortion is portrayed as a “acute problem” by the government, which advances an unfounded link between abortion and demography, reports The world. Private clinics no longer perform abortions in certain regions, and other territories ban “incitement to abortion”. In some places, access to emergency contraception is becoming more complicated.
Feminism is in turn described as extremist. At the beginning of 2023, deputies tabled a law opposing the “propaganda of childfree ideology”, or the choice not to have children. Another movement described as “destructive”relieves The world. So many gains undermined in defense of Russian demographics and the country’s supposed traditional identity. The Kremlin’s warmongering is evident behind these speeches. “They want families with many children, children then raised as patriots, points to Tanya Lokshina. Children who will then give their lives for their country.”