Teen Girls Put Themselves on the Front Lines in Anti-Government Protests in Russia
Ladies First highlights women and girls who are making the world better for the rest of us.
The ongoing investigation into possible US election interference by Russia remains front and center in the current news cycle here, but in Russia, their own anti-government tensions have turned into a groundswell of protests throughout nearly 200 cities this week. And teen girls have been at the forefront of the action.
Here at home, we’ve witnessed women-powered activism in the form of marches and even an unprecedented number of women signing up to train to run for office following the 2016 election, and now, the brave actions being taken by teen girls on protest front lines in Russia leave us with absolutely no doubt that the future is female.
Several teenage girls arrested in Petersburg just in the last few minutes pic.twitter.com/VBy0h0RkBK
— max seddon (@maxseddon) June 12, 2017
Despite reports that many schools threatened to expel students who attended, it didn’t stop young people from coming out in droves to denounce President Vladimir Putin, including, as Financial Times Moscow correspondent Max Seddon was reporting live on Twitter, many teenage girls.
Some excellent meme-inspired protest wear. This girl made her own @navalny T-shirt with weirdo TV host Sergei Druzhko pic.twitter.com/0JSWPmnB0i
— max seddon (@maxseddon) June 12, 2017
Some of the young women followed unofficial protest protocol and made their own signs and t-shirts, some with memes featuring Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navanly, while others simply featuring lines from Russia’s constitution.
Girls writing out articles from the Russian constitution pic.twitter.com/4us1bJFtQf
— Nataliya Vasilyeva (@NatVasilyevaAP) June 12, 2017
Seddon noted at the time that “137 of those confirmed detained at the Petersburg protest [were] under 18” (the number of arrests has since been reported as much higher), and his photos of some of the young women being apprehended are truly striking.
Several teenage girls arrested in Petersburg just in the last few minutes pic.twitter.com/VBy0h0RkBK
— max seddon (@maxseddon) June 12, 2017
According to the New York Times, the latest Russian protests of many over the past year are the biggest anti-government demonstrations in years, and they certainly seem to represent an increasingly politically conscious generation who are more fearless than ever in the face of evil. Pepsi: Take note.
Were you or are you politically motivated as a teenager? Let us know @BritandCo!
(h/t New York Times; Photo via Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty)