Russia LGBT Activist Charged Over Vagina Monologue Post

Story By: Gheorghi CaraseniSub Editor:  Joseph GolderAgency: Newsflash

Credit: CEN/Yulya Tsvetkova

This Russian LGBT activist has been charged with distributing pornography online after posting images of female genitalia on the social media page ‘Vagina Monologues’ to help lift the taboo over women’s bodies.

Yulia Tsvetkova, 26, from the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the far-eastern Russian region of Khabarovsk Krai reportedly shared drawings and embroidered images of women’s vulvas in autumn last year and she was detained in November 2019.

She said this week that she has now been formally charged with distributing pornography online and she could face up to six years in prison.

Credit: CEN/Yulya Tsvetkova

Tsvetkova wrote on Facebook: “The charge was made after six months of investigation. I am now officially accused of distributing pornography with criminal intent.”

According to reports, she posted the drawings and embroidered images on the social media page ‘Vagina Monologues’ in autumn 2019 to draw attention to the problem of gender inequality and taboos concerning the female body.

Tsvetkova has been under house arrest since November and she was released on bail in March, according to local media.

Credit: CEN/Yulya Tsvetkova

On 11th December, she was reportedly fined 50,000 (570 GBP) for posting propaganda about non-traditional sexual relationships among minors.

In January, an investigation was launched into claims she was posting propaganda about homosexuality, according to reports.

Svetlana Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian LGBT Network, told Central European News (CEN): “We consider all three cases against Yulia as absurd.

“We believe this is persecution against an individual and an attempt to scare people from talking about their sexual orientation.”

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