Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) member Natalia Zaitseva was the driving force behind the launch of new magazine, Oтражение, devoted to covering the issues that face women in Mogiliov, Belarus. Zaitseva hopes that the magazine will reflect the opinions of Belarusian women without any ideological coloring, in order to create an open and nationwide discussion. To jump start the conversation, the first issue was sent directly to government officials in Belarus.

The first publication was supported by the Mogilev Women’s Network of the Social Democratic Party Gramada. The newspaper Our Mogilev also assisted with launching the magazine. Zaitseva is now focused on finding additional sponsors to publish the magazine each quarter.

Many of the magazine’s articles are written by women − for some of the writers, this was their first experience with journalism. The articles specifically note that women are visible in Belarusian society, but are not involved in the decision-making processes of their country. Their goal is to empower Belarusian women to actively participate.

Among the issues raised in the first publication, are the demands for women in the labor market, education of children, interethnic marriages, women’s participation in politics and the troubling growth of crimes against women.