I am Generation Equality: Yuna Korosteleva, journalist amplifying women’s voices
Billions of people across the world stand on the right side of history every day. They speak up, take a stand, mobilize, and take big and small actions to advance women’s rights. This is Generation Equality.Date:
I am Generation Equality because…
“I advocate not only for the rights of women and girls, but essentially for human rights. One can’t remain silent about the rights of women and girls in a country where cattle rustling is more criminally punishable than rape. I don’t want to be afraid to go home late at night along a poorly lit road. I don’t want to be afraid to go to the ladies’ room when I am on a date fearing that my drink will be drugged. I don’t want to quicken my pace while walking past a group of guys. All this makes me advocate and stand up for the rights of women and girls.
Three things you can do to become part of the Generation Equality
- Read, watch, study, verify and share information about women’s rights.
- Don’t be afraid to talk about violence against women. The more we bring this issue into the open, the more we can find solutions together.
- Learn to hear and listen to others. Today you will hear them, tomorrow they will hear you.
Speaking up for women’s rights through the media
I do my best to feature things that happen in my articles and on social media. The most important piece of work for me personally was one that a colleague and I did on sexual violence. We talked to rape survivors, lawyers, human rights activists, psychologists and doctors and each word they uttered made us realize the gravity and complexity of the problem.
In our country, domestic violence was decriminalized more than two years ago. I made several visits to a shelter for women and children who had survived domestic violence. I talked with women battered by their husbands. Many victims in shelters would return to their boyfriends or husbands after a few months. And, then again, they find themselves in shelters. This is a vicious circle. This happens because our authorities do not think it is crucial to address violence, both domestic and sexual, with a system-wide approach.
“One can’t remain silent about the rights of women and girls in a country where cattle rustling is more criminally punishable than rape.”
These stories represent just a fraction of what is happening with the rights of women and girls in Kazakhstan.
We can all do something
We can start with ourselves by eliminating stereotypes or learning about our own rights and sharing this with other people. I think that men can help too, but only when they recognize that these problems exist.
Change in society will require a big change in the way that most people in our country think about this issue. It goes without saying that a lot depends on the actions of authorities, but as long as people remain silent and wait for the right moment, we will continue to quicken our pace if a guy follows us at night.”
Yuna is a 17-year old journalist at one of Kazakhstan’s leading media outlets, Vlast.kz. Through her writing she speaks up for women’s rights and passionately advocates for gender equality in her country.