Members of parliament from BRICS countries on Monday gathered in the Russian state Duma (parliament) and on the menu was discussion of Traditional values within the bloc.
The deliberations indicated that the BRICS member countries have no clear understanding of each others traditions, cultures and norms and some think what is traditional to them must be the standard for others.
Russian participants complained about the excessive “independence and autonomy” of women in the Russian Federation, their colleagues from Egypt spoke about the importance of “fighting patriarchy.”
However, the representative of Brazil admired Russia’s “conservatism” and complained that his country knows nothing about the traditional values of its BRICS partner.
“In our opinion, at some point the role of women began to change towards greater independence, self-sufficiency,” said Yevgeny Marchenko (United Russia), member of the State Duma Committee on Family Affairs, opening the meeting.
“Of course, we love and respect our women very much, but we want them to pay more attention to their family, their man, their children. So that they don’t strive so much for business, politics, economics, power or culture.”
He was fully supported by the head of the committee, Nina Ostanina (CPRF), who called the main value “the preservation of the natural purpose,” where a woman is “the continuer of the family line,” and a man “inspires her to have children.”
Dmitry Kuznetsov (SRZP), member of the Committee on International Affairs, added that many countries lack an understanding of the importance of traditional roles.
Here, Russian parliamentarians suddenly heard the opposite opinion. Egyptian MP Assi Mustafa Doha said that they, “on the contrary, are fighting against patriarchy”:
“Traditions and understanding of religion are not on the side of women, they help men. Many women in Egypt ask for a divorce only because they feel like slaves at home. He (the husband. – “Taarifa” ) has the right, according to tradition, not to let her leave the house.”
Having spoken out about the sore subject, she addressed the deputies from the Russian Federation: “BRICS is India, it is China, it is Russia, it is Egypt. We are very different. And maybe what you are trying to achieve in Russia is already a problem for us.”
Amir Naveed, a member of parliament from Pakistan, said that any traditional religion “supports and promotes social values and traditions.”
“No father would want to harm his family. No mother would want a family to break up or disintegrate,” he insisted. At the end of his speech, Naveed demonstrated complete understanding of his Russian colleagues: “This (the rejection of family values. — Taarifa ) is being specifically imposed on us and promoted by some circles of power.”
Assefa Zelalem, a member of parliament from Ethiopia, said that in their country, women are traditionally responsible for cooking, educating children, and other family responsibilities.
“Therefore, the role of a man is not as big as the role of a woman,” he warned. “Tradition gives a man the freedom to behave like a child.”
The floor was given to Ugandan parliamentarian Allan Atugonza.
The experience of this country is “extremely important in terms of legislative protection of religious values,” Dmitry Kuznetsov emphasized, meaning that same-sex relationships are prohibited in Uganda, and in some cases violators face life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
“We did this to be sure that the country will survive,” Atugonza explained. “I would recommend that countries behave in such a way that the culture that exists in each country is not imposed on others.”
At the same time, representatives of Brazil and South Africa, where same-sex marriages are officially legalized, participated in the forum. But they did not “impose” this position on their BRICS colleagues and aspirants.
South African MP Nobuntu Lindumusa Webster simply lamented that in her country, “more than 60% of families are single-parent families.”
And Brazilian representative Oziel Alves Ferreira complained that marriage “is no longer” a goal for citizens and the country has the highest divorce rate in history.
At the same time, children most often remain with their mothers, and fathers do not want to take part in their upbringing.
As a result, many Brazilian boys “grow up without a father figure,” and 9% of male prisoners in prisons do not even know their father’s name.
“The shift in the balance (of the family. — Taarifa ) in favor of women” leads to the fact that “the position of feminism is growing in the country,” said Ferreira, as well as “the number of people who consider themselves representatives of the LGBT (in the Russian Federation, the movement is banned as extremist. — Taarifa ) is growing.”
Ferreira added that he does not know how things are in Russia with this, and, out of ignorance, violated Russian legislation, which requires reminders that the LGBT movement is banned in Russia as extremist.
At the end of his speech, he admired: “This is my first time in Russia, and I did not know that you guys are so conservative. I am so happy, it is so impressive!”
He also admitted that “the people of Brazil know nothing about Russia,” and Dmitry Kuznetsov promised: “We will come to you and tell you all about our saving conservatism.”
