President of Belarus Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed Decree No. 1 of 1 January 2026, declaring the current year the Year of the Belarusian Woman. In the official framing, the document aims to shape a “national image of the woman as a worker” and to promote women’s role in preserving and developing society. A broad campaign runs in parallel: family, health, media, and public events. The response from the opposition and human rights defenders is predictable: against the backdrop of hundreds of political prisoners in the country and dozens of women behind bars, such declarations are described as a gap between words and practice.

The critical line

In outlets such as BBC Russian, public pushback rests on names and numbers: reminders of women political prisoners, heavy sentences, and conditions in pre-trial facilities and colonies. The argument is not that “women should not be celebrated,” but that criminal prosecution for dissent and civic stance — including against women — undermines trust in official “care.” For the current prisoner count and gender breakdown, newsrooms should check spring96.org and specialised projects (belaruswomen.org, etc.) as of the publication date.