The Feminist Anti-War Resistance, with the support of the “Future Russia” (Switzerland), has sent an official letter of protest to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). In July 2025, the Russian delegation (Valentina Matviyenko, Leonid Slutsky, and others) spoke in Geneva at the invitation of the IPU, and Matviyenko also addressed the Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament. Below is the full text of the letter:
Dear Madam President Tulia Ackson and the leaders of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
On behalf of the Feminist Anti-War Resistance, a Russian anti-war movement honoured with the Aachen Peace Prize (2023) and dedicated to promoting peace, gender equality, and human rights. We express our profound respect for the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s mission to strengthen global parliamentary dialogue and promote democratic values. However, we wish to express our protest against the decision to invite the Russian delegation — Valentina Matviyenko and Leonid Slutsky — to speak at the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments and to include Ms. Matviyenko in the Women Parliamentarians’ Summit.
The participation of individuals who are under international sanctions for supporting actions that violate international law and promote militarism contradicts the principles of peace and justice that the IPU upholds. We believe this decision undermines trust in the IPU as a platform dedicated to defending democracy and human rights.
We wish to remind you that Ms. Matviyenko, as the Chairwoman of the Federation Council, endorsed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The military aggression that Russia is waging in Ukraine leads to femicide and the violations of women’s rights in both countries. Ms. Matviyenko’s statements about promoting women in international politics and their role in peacekeeping contradict the reality in Russia, where feminist activists and women’s rights NGO’s face repressions and harassment from the state and Vladimir Putin’s political regime. Ms. Matviyenko, Mr. Slutsky, Mr. Volodin, and all members of the Russian delegation are responsible for the political repression of women, the absence of legislation addressing domestic gender-based violence (noting that in 2022–2023, 66% of all murdered women in Russia died as a result of domestic violence), violations of reproductive rights, and restricted access to safe and legal abortions. In Russia, there are several hundred women political prisoners, including individuals like Nadin Geysler, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for her anti-war stance and activism.
According to human rights defenders, at least 10,000 Russians and Ukrainians are currently detained in Russian prisons as victims of political repression. The number of women imprisoned on likely politically motivated charges may reach 1,000, with the youngest being 15 years old and the eldest 86. We strongly oppose the participation of Kremlin representatives in women’s forums in Europe. Their participation is gender-washing, a tactic used by the Kremlin to advance its political agenda, which in reality offers nothing for gender equality. As long as these women serve a dictatorship, authoritarianism and support systematic human rights violations through their work, we refuse to consider them our allies in the fight for women’s rights.
We are extremely concerned about the participation of Mr. Leonid Slutsky, who in 2018 was publicly accused by Russian journalists Farida Rustamova, Ekaterina Kotrikadze, and Daria Zhuk of sexual harassment, including inappropriate propositions and attempts at aggressive physical contact in his official parliamentary office during interviews. Despite documented evidence of some of these incidents, the State Duma’s ethics commission protected Mr. Slutsky rather than the victims, and he faced no consequences for his actions. This alone makes his presence at IPU events unacceptable and creates an unsafe environment for women participants. We believe Mr. Slutsky’s participation in IPU events should be a reason for an investigation by the forum’s ethics committee.
As a feminist anti-war organization, we want to underline that the participation of individuals responsible for launching an aggressive war and for political repressions might have dangerous and destructive influence on the dialogue, particularly in the context of protecting the rights of women and other marginalized groups affected by war. We respectfully urge the Inter-Parliamentary Union to reconsider its policy on inviting participants by establishing stricter criteria that exclude individuals under international sanctions for actions violating the UN Charter. We suggest strengthening the IPU’s engagement in initiatives aimed at promoting peace and gender equality through fostering partnerships and amplifying the voices of organizations that combat gender-based violence, including violence perpetrated by soldiers who returned from the war.
To achieve long-term, sustainable peace, we prioritize the development of transitional justice from a feminist perspective: the issues of gender inequality should be considered in the discussions about justice and peace mechanisms, the recommendations and measures to protect the rights of women and other vulnerable groups in the post-war period should be developed and proposed. However, women’s representation in negotiation processes as a measure on its own will not lead to peace if the positions of the represented women reinforce militaristic and patriarchal rhetoric.
To build long-term and genuine connections with real women experts from Russia, rather than politicians who represent only the official narrative of the government, collaboration with independent anti-war, feminist organizations, human rights defenders and activists, including those still in Russia, is essential. These are the people who should be invited for cooperation and welcome at IPU’s events, and provided with safe visas, not those who evade sanctions or are complicit in war crimes.
We highly value the IPU’s efforts to foster global peace and are eager to contribute to your mission. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss these matters further and offer our cooperation to advance the values of peace and equality. Please contact us for continued dialogue.
Sincerely,
Feminist Anti-War Resistance
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