Authors

Marianna Muravyeva¹;  ¹ University of Helsinki, Finland

Discussion

Russia has had very contentions relationships with the Council of Europe in the field of human rights of women and LGBTQI+ people. They culminated around ratification of the Istanbul Convention which Russia did not sign and did everything possible to oppose and prevent other CoE members, especially in post-Soviet space, to sign and ratify. Russia has launched numerous culture wars around the issue of 'gender' and how it cannot be featured in its legislation due to its incompatibility with 'traditional values'. The presentation provides an analysis of these relationships and processes, using the framework of cultural sovereignty and conservative jurisprudence to explain reasons and motivations behind such opposition.