interview
Misogyny is a political tool for Russia, says the author of the book “Putin’s War on Women.” The Kremlin uses sexual violence as a weapon in Ukraine – and women are also kept away from power in their own country.
tagesschau.de: What do you think: What is the West’s biggest misunderstanding about Russia?
Sofi Oksanen: It’s a little different in every country. But one of the most important things is that Russian colonialism is not recognized.
tagesschau.de: Some people in Germany repeatedly demand that Ukraine must negotiate quickly with Russia. Do you understand that?
Oksanen: Yes, that’s what they demand. And there’s probably also this constant worry about Russia’s escalation. There is a deep lack of understanding about how Russia works.
You know, if you think about how to avoid provoking Russia, then you are essentially complicit in Russian aggression. And that’s exactly what Russia always does! Everyone else is to blame, but never Russia.
To person
Sofi Oksanen, born in Finland in 1977, is the daughter of an Estonian and a Finnish father and studied literature and dramaturgy. In her novels, essays and columns she deals with the political history of Finland and Estonia and repeatedly intervenes in current debates. “Putin’s War on Women” is her new work.
“People all over the world hate women”
tagesschau.de: Your new book is about Putin’s war on women. Why is the female perspective on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine important to you?
Oksanen: The way Russia uses misogyny as a political tool is a hidden issue. That misogyny is not seen as a weapon in itself or as an instrument of imperialism.
tagesschau.de: Why do you think this is so?
Oksanen: Because Western countries do not recognize the various aspects of state misogyny in Russia. I call it state misogyny. And this probably would have been much clearer if Western countries had been interested in women’s rights in Russia.
tagesschau.de: How exactly do you determine that Russia’s war against Ukraine is also a Russian war against women? Can you give examples?
Oksanen: Well, in Ukraine, of course, sexual violence is a weapon of war. Also part of the genocidal actions in Ukraine. That’s obvious. In domestic politics, the Kremlin has been restricting women’s rights for 20 years.
And then in international politics they use this imperialist tool, I think, to gain allies from like-minded countries. And also to find friends in Western countries, in like-minded communities.
Because misogyny is something that can be found everywhere. You can find people all over the world who hate women. In a way, this is a brilliant way to connect with people. And if you put all of this together and all of these are state operations, this is state policy, then you see that there is logic in it.
“Little space for female activism”
tagesschau.de: You called your book “Putin’s War on Women.” Do you think it’s also something personal for Putin?
Oksanen: No, I hardly believe that.
tagesschau.de: So it’s about Putin’s Russia and his fight against Western values. Accordingly, can one say that feminism can become a weapon against Putin?
Oksanen: Well, in Russia feminism was declared extremism. Feminists are considered terrorists. There is very little space for female activism in Russia.
tagesschau.de: For example, there is the Russian punk band Pussy Riot. They have been organizing and carrying out political protests for over ten years.
Oksanen: Yes. But regardless of Pussy Riot, Western countries are not interested in women’s issues in Russia. And there is also a misunderstanding: Pussy Riot were heroes in Western countries, but they were not heroes in Russia. Which in turn gives a misleading picture of Russia and Russian domestic politics in a certain way. If people give an example (for opposition in Russia, editor’s note) have, then the next thing they think is that they are going to overthrow Putin’s regime. Which is not possible.
I mean: the main goal of Putin’s regime is to keep power in the Kremlin – and there are no women in power in Russia. So the basic idea is to keep women away from power. In this way, it is very logical that they use misogyny, because what is the more powerful tool against women empowerment than the use of misogyny?
“Wars don’t just break out like that”
tagesschau.de: Creating such a pro-war and misogynistic climate in a country doesn’t happen overnight. Nevertheless, people in the West were surprised by the outbreak of war.
Oksanen: Yes, and if they had followed there more what was happening with women’s rights, the rights of sexual minorities in Russia, they would not have been so surprised.
If you think about all the genocide in the world, in world history, it always started with the diminishing rights of certain groups. I mean, wars certainly don’t just break out. There were long preparations beforehand.
If you are surprised by an invasion or the outbreak of a war – a large-scale invasion in this case – then you have not followed developments within other countries.
And although Russia has not officially declared war on Ukraine, it is there. Without the preparatory work, it would be impossible to act the way Russia is behaving. And I have the feeling that, well, in Western countries and Russia watchers, the so-called classic preparations for an invasion were not seen.
tagesschau.de: Violence against women was also prepared, they say. And you speak of this form of violence, which is also structured according to information from the UN and used as a weapon of war by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, as a form of genocide. How do you justify that?
Oksanen: If you follow the pattern and if you read the eyewitness statements or the victims’ statements, then there are patterns that happened. For example, Russian soldiers say to women: “We will rape you, then you will no longer want to have sex with a Ukrainian man.” Or: “We will rape you until you can’t have children with Ukrainian men, you can’t have Ukrainian children.”
Men are also castrated. This is a very obvious method, there are patterns here too. Many of the sex crimes are such crimes that they prevent, for example, Ukrainians from leading a normal family life.
“Get rid of many Soviet practices”
tagesschau.de: Then there is the war itself. It is difficult to lead a normal family life. We are also seeing women now returning to traditional roles because they have to look after children.
Oksanen: Nevertheless, something has changed. When you consider how much more space and how many more voices and different opportunities they have and how many women are in the military. I find this quite remarkable considering that the level of equality in Ukraine in the 1990s was the same as in Russia.
But of course: every war means that more men fight and more women look after children, the elderly and so on at home. That’s exactly what happens. But this war is a very special kind of war and is very different from many other wars.
One thing, of course, is that Ukraine has been at war since 2014. If you think about it, women who were involved in going into combat obviously noticed the inequality in the armed forces. But they wanted to change things.
In fact, they managed to get rid of many Soviet practices and also joined the army. And why is it important to include more women in the army? Because: The more women there are in the army, the less sexual violence there is, for example. So the more women are involved, the less sexual violence there is. And I hope that Ukraine will also show the way for other armies in the world.
The interview was conducted by Susanne Petersohn, ARD Studio Kiev.