Irina Ivanova 17 years. She adheres to opposition views and participating in the activities of St. Petersburg “Solidarity”. Because of this, she started having trouble in College, where she is studying and at home. Ira is experiencing hard pressure from parents who actually kept her under house arrest, and from youth organizations, committed to “reforge” Ira through the so-called Patriotic education.
Irina Ivanova (name changed) 17 years old weighs 36 pounds. However, in may, she will be 18, but may still have to live. Ira is a student in one of the colleges of the city Pushkin, Pavlovsk lives with parents who love her. Grandparents also love EDM, and it would be nice if, loving her child, they recognized him right to look at the world with my own eyes.
Mom, dad, grandma and grandpa watching TV. They support the President and those who disagree with him are considered enemies. And there happens terrible – the only beloved daughter and granddaughter out of the circle, outlined by the light of the TV screen, goes to someone else’s incomprehensible to people, picks up a placard and stands with a placard on Nevsky Prospekt, and the poster reads: “the Propagation of hatred is a crime of the media”. This was an action of “end of the year”, organized by the movement “Solidarity”. Ira chose from a variety of other this is the poster – apparently, I wanted to shout to everyone that lives in TV is not true but propaganda, and that it kills love and peace in her family.
How is it that Ira was a supporter of the opposition movement, and the monolithic family has inspired her own faith in the rightness of “the General line”?
– It all started when I was 14 years old, – says Irina. – I actually was neformalki, held leftist views, but when he walked on the streets, I saw people with placards, they handed out flyers, Newspapers, I took, was approaching me and questioned them. Then he began to follow the broadcasts of Radio Liberty, to learn something through social networking. I understand that my views conflict with the views of my family, but hoped it can be gently overcome. My family used to sustain and support what the President, the government, and I began to think more freely. Then decided to meet the activists of “Solidarity”, wrote “Vkontakte” Olga Smirnova went on the event began to get acquainted with other activists. At home, I did not hide their views – thought it would just remain at the level of different interests, but I was trying to convince, and when I realized that I go somewhere, what is involved, began to take away my means of communication, to restrict the freedom of movement. It is clear that I resisted, so there was a conflict. Remember that at the end of January in College I was approached by our teacher and asked what happened to me on vacation, I require the feature from somewhere “above” – from where exactly, he didn’t explain. Well, I told that to participate in promotions and nothing wrong with that. Then it caused no adverse reaction. But the conflict at home became unbearable: I will not let out, checked where I was, called my friends, took my phone and made me erase all the “unnecessary” rooms, checked calls, the account “Vkontakte”, even to the computer is not always allowed. I even got hit on the head, on the shoulder, rushed sneakers. This was done by grandma and dad, mom just morally crushed, mocked, not allowed to do homework or take a break, sleep on it, I was not allowed, all conversations started in the evening, – says Irina.
Her friends from the “Solidarity” went to the guardianship, asked for help, but the service has turned bearish: the official from the state sided with the family, said that to blame the Ira. Moreover, they literally forced the Ira to go to the organization “Contact” of the Committee on youth policy, which aggravated the situation. There are Ira’s parents were convinced that their daughter had contacted the extremists and almost planning to run away to Syria.
– I didn’t want to go anywhere, but my mom insisted – she said, if I don’t go, she invites them home. And I decided to go to get rid of. In the “Contact” my mother was convinced that the opposition is recruiting children, then to smuggle them abroad. And I was there subjected to harsh interrogation about my political views. When moved to family court, they also said that I was to blame. They impose me some kind of volunteer work, I said that I would think, but actually I don’t want to participate in anything that is connected with them.
At some point, Irene decided to leave home and spend the night at the station. On hearing this, Olga Smirnova invited her to his. Attempt to stay with Olga was over the harassment, fights and hit in the police all Irina family and three activists of “Solidarity”. One of them, Vsevolod Nelaev, calls shocking events in which he had become.
Police officers were not anything to understand. They interviewed Ira, on what had no right, and they even didn’t think that this requires a child psychologist. They did not respond to her requests, and then cries for help, when her parents forced her to go home. When he began to apply the physical force to snap her neck, I had to push him away. He then tried to say that only wanted the scarf to the daughter to correct. The police was this picture: four relatives and two police officers were led Ira through the back door and was convinced that we should go home because she’s not 18. I believe that it is the behavior of police officers attached to Irina’s parents even more conscious of his innocence – confidence that you can handle a daughter like an object.
It is clear that the situation of activists of “Solidarity” rather delicate: they feel responsible for the minor girl, who came into their organization, but forced to protect her from anyone else but from your parents. The activists wanted to go only in a lawful manner, and therefore appealed to the guardianship, although now I regret that. Especially painful was the impression that the appeal to co-chair the St. Petersburg “Solidarity” Olga Smirnova.
– The employee of bodies of guardianship immediately told me that to blame the Ira that the parents are right, and shared with me their personal experiences – it turns out, she beat her own child one day and stomped on his phone. What can you talk with that social worker?
– Ira has told how she found you. And from your side looked like her coming into the organization?
When she wrote to me “Vkontakte” and asked us, I looked at her page and decided, what who-who, and she’s with us never will: there was a strong Communist spirit. And I began to answer her just to be polite, not to offend, but further communication revealed that the girl is very serious that she’s willing to reconsider their views. She asked me six months to think about it, but decided much earlier. On 20 December she came to the Solovetsky stone on our action of memory of victims of political repression. People brought photos of their shot or sitting in the Gulag relatives. And there were provocateurs with the portraits of Beria, Yezhov, Hitler, Goebbels – and on each was the inscription “a Victim of political repression”. It was insulting to all the participants of our action. Ira saw how we behaved, what’s going on, and that’s when she came up to me and said that he had decided that he wanted to be with us. I told her that until she’s 18, she’ll just be our supporter, but it turned out otherwise. Ira began to complain of an intolerable situation in the family, and I already knew how restrained a courageous man, a real fighter, and I realized that if Ira complains, the case is really bad. And it so happened that, when after the split of the Solidarity we have established a new organization, the Ira was not just a member, but even the founder. We made an exception for her – she said that if she were to be a full member, then it’s her moral support.
Ira says that her views began to change from a Communist to democratic, when the war with Ukraine: according to her, she realized that the left advocate that to cut off the Donbass from Ukraine, to add confusion, and it was very angry. So her coming in “Solidarity” really was very conscious – even though her house every day trying to convince that her views – not to her, and inspired her enemies-the opposition.
Home furnishings Ira is not improving. She complains about his health – in particular, the fact that she occasionally numbs the face and body parts. When Ira speaks about the trouble, you can see how hard she is given, as it weighs a situation in which the people who raised her, whom she loved, suddenly almost put her under house arrest and made her life unbearable.
Ira wrote the application addressed to the Commissioner for the rights of the child in St. Petersburg Svetlana Agapitova, she was appointed the day and time when you can come, but the meeting had to be postponed – Irina’s parents were against it and would not let her go. The next day she managed to slip away from College and to get an appointment, but the campaign was costly. College of traditional culture have not complicated the life of Irina, but the visit to the children’s Ombudsman somehow angered the leadership, and now Ira threaten all sorts of punishments – that will give her a “wolf’s ticket”, which she no longer anywhere will do, that will alert the guards and cloakroom and will not release it outside even on a big change that will be sent to the children’s room police.
– At the reception, it alarmed some moments she realized that the woman who took her, it was not the Svetlana Agapitova, and her assistant says that if her parents are not being beaten and starved to death, then, in General, everything is fine, and there is no reason to interfere in the internal Affairs of the family. Nonetheless, she listened and said that he would call our parents to talk with a family psychologist. And the request for support was not in vain – her parents figured out, dad came back, and, thank God, we managed to leave the room before he came. And while we sat in the cafe, her a hundred times to call and was scared that now she will be kidnap. As far as I know, the Ira situation at home was getting worse – again this almost house arrest.
Says the head of the press service of Ombudsman for children Oleg Alexeev:
– Our specialist after talking to the girl suggested that she undergo the procedure of mediation, as alarming the situation in the family, relationship with parents. Mediation is reconciliation with the participation of a mediator, in fact is a psychologist who deals with relationship conflict and helps the two parties to the conflict to find a compromise solution acceptable to all, build relationships. It is already known that the Ira agrees, and her parents our experts now propose to pass this procedure. What will happen next, we don’t know.
So far nobody knows. One thing is for Ira is very disturbing. In her heart there is enmity to the family, but bear the girl all of these shocks is not very clear. Ira is ready to compromise, she wants peace in the family, but not ready to be a toy in the hands of their loved ones and insists that she is an independent person and has the right to their own beliefs.
