Irina Alkhovka pays tribute to earlier generations of women, such as her former university professor and founder of this award, Anne Klein. She says their resilience and courage serve as a beacon for all of us, in every era.
Distinguished guests, esteemed colleagues, and dear sisters!
First and foremost, allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude to my dear colleagues from the RAZAM organization for nominating me for this award and for their unwavering belief in me. I also extend my sincere appreciation to the Heinrich Böll Foundation for recognizing my contribution to the advancement of women's rights in Belarus.
I stand before you today deeply humbled and profoundly honoured. But more than that, I feel empowered by the immense support and solidarity of so many remarkable women standing behind me. To each and every one of them, I extend my deepest thanks.
This award for me is not merely a symbol of recognition; it is an opportunity to reflect upon an almost thirty-year-long journey. It is profoundly symbolic that in 2025, this award is bestowed upon three women, each representing a different generation of activists fighting for gender equality and women's rights in Belarus. This fills me with hope and strengthens my conviction that, even though we are unable to work in Belarus at present, we continue to serve our country and champion the interests of women. Our methods may differ, our sources of inspiration may vary, yet we are united by a singular goal – to amplify the voices of Belarusian women, to ensure their interests are represented, and to embed women's rights firmly within the framework of democratic values.
Inspired by the concept of women’s solidarity
Speaking of the generations of women's activists, I wish to pay tribute to the courageous women who guided me into this movement in the 1990s. They never had the chance to receive awards or public recognition for their work, but their contributions are immeasurable and can’t be overestimated.
Let us recall those times – the early 1990s, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the opening of borders, and the dawn of a new world filled with possibilities and ideas. My university professor asked me if I wanted to join a women's group. She was 55 at the time – the retirement age for women in those days. Her father named her after Stalin’s daughter Svetlana, and she had built her academic career during the Soviet era. She had no knowledge of English, no experience in project management, no personal computer, and no access to the internet. But she possessed boundless enthusiasm and the noblest of intentions – to bring change into the world and into the lives of women.
How did she do it? How did she, having very conservative family background, shaped by the Soviet system, find the courage to break away, to take risks, and to inspire her students – including myself - with the ideas of women's solidarity? It takes an unyielding spirit and a truly free mind to challenge a system in which one has lived their entire life. I admire her immensely, and I honour and remember all these extraordinary women before me, who taught me that it’s never late to change your life and one can make her dream come true at any age.
Preserving the legacy of Anne Klein is a powerful opportunity to pay homage to all the women of previous generations who paved the way for others, just as Anne Klein did - championing women's rights and ensuring their voices were integrated into the political discourse. Her resilience and courage serve as a beacon for all of us, in every era.
Transforming pain and tears into laws and policies
As I continue my reflections, I wish to share another story from the early days of my career in women's human rights. In 2000, a German NGO contacted me, seeking assistance for a Belarusian woman who had been trafficked to Germany. She had suffered sexual exploitation in a brothel, testified against her perpetrators in court, but was ultimately denied an extension of her residency status and forced to return to Belarus after spending more than a year in Germany. At that time, I had only a theoretical understanding of human trafficking; I had never encountered a trafficking survivor in real life. But I wanted to help. I wanted to change the world.
I went to Minsk airport – a vast, cold, concrete-and-glass building. I was a 28-year-old woman, feeling small and unsecure there, but with an important mission. The plane arrived, and as people were coming out the arrival gate, I noticed a young woman with two large suitcases. She was elegantly dressed, wearing a silk scarf and holding a can of Coca-Cola. My first thought was, "This cannot be her." I believed I had no expectations, having never met a trafficking survivor before. Yet, I had unconsciously expected someone visibly broken – crying, on her knees, pleading for help. So, I come and save her, and we will sing Kumbaya together. But there was nothing like this. She was fragile yet strong, her head held high, yet suspicious of me. Her suitcases were full of second-hand clothes from the women’s shelter and modest gifts for her child. Even her undergarments had been provided by the shelter. And yet – despite everything she had endured – she carried herself with dignity! I still remember this picture in its single detail.
This was one of the most profound lessons I have learned: not having expectations, to listen with respect, to understand and accept, not to judge, and not trying to "save", but let women share their stories in their own ways and words. To see people before procedures and human dignity before trauma – this is the only way we can empower women to reclaim their strength and dignity, to regain control over their lives.
Therefore, I am profoundly grateful to the women who have taught me how to help them, and I strive to pass on this invaluable lesson to the new generations of women's rights activists.
Successes, their destruction, and continued engagement in exile
Over the years, my team and me have transformed women's pain and tears into laws, policies, and services. In 2000, just 4 months after La Strada Belarus organized the first roundtable on human trafficking, I received a phone call from the Ministry of Internal Affairs informing me that the Criminal Code would be amended to include an anti-trafficking provision. A year later, a safe migration counselling hotline was launched. In 2004, we opened a shelter for trafficking survivors. In 2012, our team established a national helpline for survivors of domestic violence, which responded to over 15,000 calls in nine years. And each time I returned to the office after exhausting meetings with officials, tired and frustrated, I would see our helpline staff tirelessly picking up the phone. And I would tell myself: You cannot give up.
I thought the darkest moment was in 2018, when the government overturned the draft law on domestic violence prevention. But then, in 2021, I was forced into exile.
Exile has brought profound sorrow – the pain of a shattered family, but also anguish for the women in Belarus who continue to suffer domestic violence with limited access to gender-sensitive and non-judgmental support. I grieve that so much of what my colleagues and I built over the years was dismantled overnight.
But nothing can shake my values, my beliefs, or my commitment to women's rights. This is my superpower! It is the superpower of so many Belarusian womenboth in Belarus and in exileto survive, to preserve our faith and resilience, and to take small but meaningful steps forward each day. When asked what I am most proud of after years of engagement in the women's movement, I answer without hesitation: inspiring a new generation of women to join the movement. And though I now belong to the esteemed club of La Strada’s "founding grandmothers," I have no intention of retiring.
Women’s voices belong in politics
Today, let us all applaud women across generations – pioneers and their successors. We are different, but in these dark times, let us focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. The backlash against gender equality makes progress difficult, but even holding the line against regression is an achievement.
And my final message is not only to the Belarusian government but also to the democratic forces in exile, who often neglect the agenda of gender equality and women’s rights.
There is no democracy without women’s voices in politics,
There is no societal prosperity without women accessing well-paid jobs,
There is no national security without laws that protect women from violence, and
There is no peace without women at the negotiating table.
Thank you!
» Speech in Belarusian (PDF)
