Russian Activist Who Drew Vulvas On Facebook Faces Hearing Monday

In November, Russian authorities arrested Yulia Tsvetkova, a 26-year-old artist and LGBTQ activist for supposedly distributing “pornography” and violating a law signed by President Vladimir Putin in 2013 banning “gay propaganda.” Her alleged crime was the posting of a series of drawings of vulvas on social media, in an online exhibit she titled “Vagina Monologues.” Tsvetkova has been held under house arrest ever since, at her home in the far-eastern Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, awaiting trial. But with no time frame for when she may actually face the charges in a Russian court, the artist will now have a hearing on Monday as to whether her house arrest will be extended, according to a report by The French Press Agency, AFP.  Last month, Amnesty International named Tsvetkova as a “prisoner of conscience.” "It gives me confirmation that yes, my case is politically motivated," the activist said, in an interview with AFP. She faces up to six years in a Russian prison and a fine equivalent to about $780. The average Russian worker earns a wage of approximately $1,000 per month.  “Yulia now faces the possibility of years in prison for merely sharing her artwork online,” said Julie Trébault, of the free-expression activist group PEN America. “The Russian authorities are making the stakes clear: if artists speak out in support of normalizing different body types or sexual orientations, their work will be quashed and their actions criminalized.” But the artist says she is realistic about her chances in a Russian courtroom. "Looking at the statistics on guilty verdicts in Russia, I have very few chances," Tsvetkova told AFP. "I'm not under any illusions." Even before her arrest over her drawings of female genitalia, Tsvetkova was questioned by Russian police over a local youth theater performance that centered on the theme of gender stereotypes—but Russian security services told her the show violated the 2013 “gay propaganda” law. Photo by Yulia Tsvetkova Facebook