Project description:

In August 2020, anti-government protests started in Belarus following the alleged reelection of Alyaksandr Lukashenka in a disputed presidential vote. One noteworthy feature of these demonstrations is the leading role women have played in events. Not only is the main political challenger to Lukashenka a woman, there are many prominent female opposition figures and protesters as well. This project brings a visual overview of the protests that were organized and attended mostly by women, how they have evolved over time, and explains the most significant visual features women used to fight the non-democratic leader of their country.

Impact reached:

The project helped our English speaking audience to learn more about protests in Belarus and brought another perspective by showing how women fight for their democratic rights. As stories from women’s perspectives are often underrepresented, it helped to balance reporting from events in Belarus. I believe that the story of Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a stay-at-home mom who became the leader of the Belarusian opposition in just a few short weeks, may have motivated women not only in Belarus to demand democratic rights. The project was translated to other languages including Hungarian, Georgian, and Ukrainian to reach even bigger audience.

Techniques/technologies used:

Over the course of several weeks, it was necessary to sort out photos, videos, and other materials from the protests in Belarus. The graphics were produced using Adobe Illustrator, the microsite was designed and developed using HTML and CSS.

What was the hardest part of this project?

The hardest part of this project was keeping track of all the events that were being organized in Belarus, deciding which protests to involve and which visual features are the most important ones.

What can others learn from this project?

It’s always worth looking for other perspectives of a story and bringing a new element to it.

Project links:

www.rferl.org/a/the-women-taking-the-fight-to-lukashenka/30865845.html