14 hours ago
Last Updated:November 20, 2024, 21:30 IST
The draft laws ban any person, organisation or government official from promoting a "child-free" lifestyle or encouraging people, both in person and online, not to have children
Officials hope the move will help reverse declining birth rates in a country plagued by demographic challenges since the fall of the Soviet Union. (Reuters file)
Lawmakers in Russia’s upper house of parliament gave unanimous backing to legislation banning “child-free propaganda" on Wednesday, as the Kremlin targets what it says are harmful Western ideas.
The draft laws ban any person, organisation or government official from promoting a “child-free" lifestyle or encouraging people, both in person and online, not to have children.
Officials hope the move will help reverse declining birth rates in a country plagued by demographic challenges since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Senators in the upper Federation Council approved the legislation unanimously on Wednesday, after MPs in the lower State Duma gave their backing to the bills earlier this month.
It will now be sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law.
Violations would be punishable by fines up to 400,000 rubles ($4,000) on individuals and up to five million rubles for businesses, while foreigners who fall foul of the law may be deported.
Upper house speaker Valentina Matvienko said she was aware of “concerns" about how the legislation would be interpreted, but stressed the laws would not infringe on the right of individuals not to have children.
“When a new dangerous phenomenon appears, the legislator, I believe, is obliged to provide protection from it for both society and the citizen," she said.
Since launching its Ukraine offensive in 2022, Moscow has accelerated its drive to promote “traditional values", banning what it describes as “harmful ideologies" promoted by the West.
Russia completely outlawed what it calls “LGBT propaganda" among adults in 2022, and in 2023 banned people from legally or medically changing their gender in a move condemned by rights groups.
On Wednesday, the upper house approved a separate bill banning the adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries that allow gender reassignment.
Lawmakers are also mulling a ban on “quadrobics", an obscure fitness trend where people imitate animal movements.
The move to ban “childless" lifestyles comes as Russia grapples with an ageing population and the lowest birth rate in 17 years, a trend the Kremlin has called “disastrous for the future of the nation."
The country’s population has not recovered since Soviet times despite Putin’s government offering generous payouts and mortgage subsidies to large families.
Recent demographic problems include large numbers of Covid deaths, hundreds of thousands of men fleeing the country to avoid being mobilised to fight in Ukraine, and migration into Russia hitting a 10-year low in 2023.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - AFP)Location :Moscow, Russia
First Published:November 20, 2024, 21:30 IST
News world Russian Lawmakers Give Final Backing To Ban On 'Child-free Propaganda'
