This will be an honest conversation about what happens after a woman is forced to leave her homeland. We will discuss the new barriers women face in exile: legal uncertainty, economic vulnerability, motherhood in isolation, trauma after imprisonment, the loss of profession and social status, language barriers, and the risk of social marginalization.
At the same time, it will also be a conversation about strength and new possibilities — about how the experience of exile can become a source of new forms of solidarity, a rethinking of one’s role, renewed agency, and the creation of community in a new place.
Representatives of Polish women’s organizations will join the discussion and share practical information about support programs for migrant women in Poland.
The discussion will be moderated by Alana Gebremariam, a socio-political activist, former political prisoner, and co-organizer of the Association of Women Political Prisoners “Pobach”.
Before the discussion begins, the Museum of Free Belarus will present its collection-based exhibition “Entry Point: Women’s Cause” — a project about women’s experiences of resistance, freedom, and the price women pay for the right to be subjects in an authoritarian system.
The exhibition features clothing and personal belongings of Belarusian women who opposed the regime and experienced political persecution, unlawful detention, prison sentences, and other human rights violations, yet continue their activism and struggle.
Visitors will see personal items belonging to Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk and Maria Kalesnikava, as well as belongings of Maria Zaitseva, a fighter who died in Ukraine, symbolic dresses of resistance by Inna Zaitseva and Yana Shostak, and many other artifacts accompanied by personal stories.
The goal of the event is not only to create a deep and multi-layered project about the situation of human rights and women’s rights in Belarus for Belarusian and international audiences, but also to make the project meaningful for the repressed women themselves — through visibility, solidarity, and support.
This is women’s cause.
And it is our cause.
We will be happy to welcome you to the Museum of Free Belarus.
