Irina Alkhovka is a passionate gender and women’s human rights activist and feminist. Gender equality is both her personal and professional value. Her strong sides are her professional competence, inter-cultural tolerance, result-oriented and value-driven work style.
Irina Alkhovka was born and raised in Belarus, one of the former USSR countries. In 1996, she graduated from Belarusian State University, Department of Sociology, obtaining the first diploma on gender issues in the history of the course. The same year, she joined Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) of Belarus, where she was elected as board president at the age of 23. In 2002, as a result of her successful anti-trafficking work, she was invited to lead La Strada Belarus program under the La Strada European network on Prevention of Human Trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2007, La Strada Belarus was awarded the German UNIFEM Award for the “excellent work in the field of anti-trafficking in Belarus” singled out among 100 other similar projects in Central and Eastern Europe.
Irina Alkhovka continued to work for the YWCA of Belarus until 2009 when she resigned and founded a new NGO in 2010 called Gender Perspectives. Gender Perspectives has been a leading NGO in Belarus in the area of women’s rights protection and empowerment as well as promotion of gender equality. The organisation provided direct services for survivors and those at risk, build capacities of professional groups for sustainable responses, advised governmental institutions and international community on relevant policies and laws and influenced media to reflect human rights issues.In 2018, Irina Alkhovka was a member of the state working group for the development of a law against domestic violence that takes into account the human rights approach and the perspective of survivors. However, the bill was rejected due to a smear campaign by pro-Russian forces. From 2017 to 2021, Irina was appointed social issues coordinator of the Partnership Group on achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Belarus. The impact of the organization’s activities under her leadership has been acknowledged by the government and international community likewise. As a result of massive state attacks on civil society, Gender Perspectives was closed by the authorities in 2021 after eleven years of outstanding work in the country. Irina left the country due to criminal prosecution for her women's rights work and now lives in exile.
Irina Alkhovka has been actively involved in national and international networking. In her capacity as a member of the National Council for Gender Equality Policy at the Council of Ministers of Belarus, she spoke out for women's rights organizations. From 2011 to 2014, she was a board member and president of La Strada International Association (Netherlands), focusing on national and international advocacy, representation and networking. Being an adviser of the Global Fund for Women (USA) and a member of the UN Women Regional Civil Society Advisory Group (Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, Turkey), Irina ensured the linkage between global priorities and local agenda.
Irina Alkhovka is an author of numerous publications on human trafficking, gender equality and domestic violence issues. She has wide experience in lobbying and advocacy, research and consultancy, and NGO management.
