05/12/2023
Russia defends traditional values, but it still needs to push forward
Traditional family values are an important moral pillar of the Russian Federation. Yet in the West they are increasingly declared to be outdated and infringing on human freedoms and rights. Russia has already taken steps to protect the traditional family, but Russian legislation still needs to be improved accordingly. Particular attention should be given to protecting Russian families abroad where children are taken away for spurious reasons and the rights of Russian parents are infringed. This was the conclusion reached by the participants in the session 'Family Values at the Centre of Global Politics: The Right to Identity' at the 11th St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.
KEY CONCLUSIONS
Traditional values unite multinational Russia
“Russia is a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country which offers different approaches to defining family ideals, but nevertheless all family relationships are built on the basis of traditional values: children, parental love, and intergenerational solidarity. These values are common to all people in our country and have not lost their relevance over the centuries,” Inna Svyatenko, Chairman of the Committee on Social Policy, Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
“Our work [to protect traditional values, – Ed.] is about preventing threats. And we all need to understand that we are working today not only to prevent threats, but also to promote our ideas, our values, and the whole world needs to understand that,” Vsevolod Vukolov, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.
The collective West is attacking the morals of Russians
“As our President has said, traditional values are the most important moral foundation for the successful development of our state. For many years, they have been trying to knock this pillar out. <...> It was liberal ideas of false freedom from children, family, remembering our ancestors and believing in our country. These ideas like parasites, crept in from all sides,” Anna Kuznetsova, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
“This is not just a reality today. It is a reality that claims to be enshrined in international law. This is the danger. We are now being attacked with false theses that are constantly being discussed on global platforms, despite all their absurdity. By just denying them at official events we play their games and put these things on our agenda, in our lexicon,” Maria Zakharova, Director, Department of Information and the Press, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
PROBLEMS
A loophole remains in Russian law for changing gender in documents
“If the window [loophole, – Ed.] is opened, almost every branch of the legislation will have to be adjusted. What about military service, retirement benefits, adoption, and so on. There are a lot of problems. Almost every branch of the legislation will have to be adjusted,” Konstantin Chuychenko, Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.
Violation of the rights of Russian children and parents abroad
“In 2022, we received significantly more appeals about the removal of children from their families <...> on formal or far-fetched grounds. I assume this is directly linked to the aggressive anti-Russian policy pursued by Western countries and their allies. <...> Our work is also complicated due to the absence of treaties on dual citizenship with most foreign countries. States where children live, unequivocally perceive them only as their nationals <...> and very often do not take into account the opinion of the Russian parent,” Maria Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner of the Russian Federation for Children’s Rights.
SOLUTIONS
Legislation permitting gender reassignment in documents should be repealed
“We are preparing a rather large package of measures in order to prevent these threats. <...> Of course, the first thing to be done is to repeal the legal provision that allows for changes to civil status records on the basis of any gender change documents,” Vsevolod Vukolov, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.
“This discussion [about gender diversity, – Ed.], I think, should end. We should not go overboard with it. We talk too much about this problem, thereby shaping interest in it and determining the relevance of the problem. In fact, in my opinion, it really does not exist. That is why I think it is necessary to amend the laws in the near future and abolish the bylaws which have been formed on this topic,” Konstantin Chuychenko, Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.
Creation of an international convention to protect the traditional family
“I would like to propose an initiative <...> to create an international convention to protect the traditional family. <...> We see that, unfortunately, there is no document that could be the foundation and the filter to ensure that these absolutely wild mutations that we can see today do not penetrate the legislation of those states that do not think it is right,” Anna Kuznetsova, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
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