Sviatlana T Speaks at Women's Progress Dialogue in Berlin

• Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya attended the World Forum on the Future of Democracy, Tech, and Humankind
• She spoke at the "Women’s Progress Dialogue" workshop, which was held on gender equality and women's political participation

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, today to take part in the World Forum on the Future of Democracy, Technology, and Humanity.

She spoke this week at the "Women's Progress Dialogue" Workshop, which brought together leaders and activists to discuss how the world can work towards achieving gender equality and improving women's access to political participation. Opening the event was Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, and each of the following participants:

Dalia Grybauskaitė, ex-President of Lithuania, Aleqa Hammond, the first female Prime Minister of Greenland, Tzipi Livni, ex-Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs and Justice, Tawakkol Karman a Yemeni journalist, human rights activist, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. The session was mediated by Kasia Madera, Chief Presenter at BBC News.

In her speech, Sviatlana spoke about the number of political prisoners currently being held in Belarus and gave the example of Maria Zaitseva, a volunteer fighter from Belarus who passed away at age 24 while serves on the front lines in Ukraine.

Sviatlana stressed that over 170 women are currently being held as political prisoners in Belarus; many are in custody because they took part in protests, including those against the war.

She cited the deplorable conditions of these women's imprisonment, including discrimination, abuse, and torture, and called for an end to these practices. Sviatlana expressed optimism that women worldwide would continue to be supportive of one another.