Unless you’ve been in a hungover mess for the last few months (hey, no judgment here), you’ll know that the Winter Olympics start this week in the Russian city of Sochi, on the Black Sea Coast. You’ll also be aware that there’s been plenty of controversy surrounding host-nation Russia’s human rights record (a report published by Human Rights Watch last year accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of creating 'the worst human rights climate since Soviet Times').
The big focus is on Russia’s anti-gay laws, and in particular the federal law that was signed last June authorising arrests and fines for those who spread 'propaganda of nontraditional sexual orientations' among minors. However, president Putin has reassured gay and lesbian visitors to Sochi that they can be ‘relaxed and calm’ as long as they ‘leave the children alone’. Very reassuring.
Incidentally, the British delegation, led by Culture Secretary Maria Miller MP and Princess Anne, will not include David Cameron (although sources have denied that his absence is a political move.) And activists have called for openly gay members of the sporting community to be included in the Team GB delegation (Tom Daley and Claire Balding have been mooted). They seem to be taking their lead from American president Barack Obama, who is sending a delegation including openly gay athletes Billie-Jean King and women’s ice hockey player Caitlin Cahow. Obama will also be conspicuous by his absence at the games.
The big question is: what should we be doing about it? Should we be doing anything at all? Celebrities, politicians and activists in the West, from Stephen Fry and Lady Gaga to French president Francois Hollande have said we (as in the West) should be boycotting the Olympics. Big brands such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's have also had their Twitter accounts hijacked by activists in response to their sponsorship of the games.
But in Russia itself, the story’s very different. ‘We don’t call for boycotts of any sporting events, because we don’t think it’s productive. For us, it’s very important that people engage in human rights issues, instead of ignoring them.’ explains a Tanya Cooper, a Moscow-based Russian researcher for Human Rights Watch. ‘Some activists are in favour of a boycott as they think it’s the best way to put pressure on the government, but most LGBT activists I know I know are opposed to it. They’d prefer it if people came to Russia and talked to the authorities instead of not engaging and completely ignoring the government.’
But what difference will all the indignant Tumblr posts, angry tweets and 24-hour news reporting make if we’re still participating in the Olympics? Does Putin even have a Tumblr account? Although Tanya admits that very little news of the international controversy is making it onto mainstream (state run) Russian television and media, (when I ask her what the mood’s like, she admits that most people are just excited about the Olympics, which are being heavily promoted), it’s not being ignored completely.
‘It’s certainly embarrassing for the Kremlin when ordinary people and the International Community speak out so strongly against their policy. The government is sensitive to international opinion – you can see that in how they tried to play nice in the weeks before the Olympics, releasing [political prisoner] Mikhail Khodorkovsky and [Pussy Riot’s] Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. It shows that they took steps to lessen the criticism from the international community.
‘Unfortunately, the Olympics will end in a few weeks, and although human rights organisations and LBGT activists want to use the Olympics to pressure Russian Government into changing, things might get worse. Just to give you an example, Russian authorities were considering a new law, which would take parental rights away from LBGT parents [the law, which would make the “fact of non-traditional sexual orientation” a basis for denying custody, was recalled in October]. The law has been recalled to be reviewed, but there are fears that it will come back after the Olympics.’
So what should we be doing? Rather than focusing on this one big event, Tanya feels that putting constant pressure on Putin’s government would have more of an impact in the long run. ‘Human Rights Watch have been engaged with various Western and non-Western governments, urging them to engage with the Russian authorities on LBGT and other human rights issues on all occasions, and to address the situation every time they talk business, culture, politics or the economy with their Russian counterparts.’
So ,there's your answer. Should we be boycotting the Sochi Olympics? Probably not. But that doesn't mean we should stop Tweeting, Facebooking and blogging, harassing our MPs and generally shouting about the situation in Russia. And here's the biggie - we need to keep it up long after the Closing Ceremony's over.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.