In 2013, at least 4,822 protests were recorded
2013 saw a 33% increase in protests in Ukraine compared with 2012. This according to the results of monitoring done by the Center for Society Research with support from the Democratic Practice Initiative of the International Renaissance Foundation. The data were announced at a press conference in Kyiv on April 29.
In 2013 at least 4,822 protests were recorded. This was a 33% increase over the number of protests in 2012 (3,636) and more than double the numbers in 2010 and 2011 (2,305 and 2,277, respectively). Last year’s increase was not only caused by the start of the EuroMaidan (although 1,000 protests were recorded in December alone): in the period before the start of the Maidan, from January 1 – November 20, 2013, a total of 3,419 protests were recorded, which demonstrated a trend in increased protest activity.
The scale of protests in 2013 was unprecedented. There were at least 249 protests with more than 1,000 people, more than 1.5 times the number in 2012 and more than double during the Tax Maidan in 2010. Dozens of thousands of people took part in at least 29 protests in 2013, and five rallies numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Mass protests were staged not only in Kyiv; at least 16 protests with more than 10,000 participants took place in Simferopol, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Odesa, Rivne, Ternopil and Zaporizhzhia.
The number of protests in 2013 increased in every region of Ukraine, particularly in the central region (47% more compared with 2012). Only in Lviv and Kharkiv did the number of protests drop slightly compared with 2012.
After the start of the Maidan in 2013 the number of protests that combined demands of a political and ideological nature and defense of civil rights grew sharply. The number of ideological protests more than doubled (to 1,740 – 36% of all protests), the number of political protests increased by 40% (to 1,727 – 36% of all protests), and the number of civil rights protests increased 170% (to 1,644 – 34% of all protests).
For the fourth consecutive year the most common demands of protests in Ukraine were of a socioeconomic nature (at least 2,062 protests). Their number rose by 33%, and their relative proportion remained consistently high – 43%. The socioeconomic issues that drove Ukrainians to the streets most often in 2013 were construction, utility costs, the environment, non-payment of wages, and the rights of small businesses.
Contacts:
Center for Society Research
Volodymyr Ishchenko
+380 97 396 44 99
info@cedos.org.ua
