Russia is considering establishing the "Ministry of Sex" as the country has been facing the worst birth decline rate in decades, multiple media reported. According to local media reports, Nina Ostanina, a loyalist to President Vladimir Putin and head of the Russian Parliament's Family Protection, Paternity, has proposed the idea of establishing such a ministry in order to boost the childbirth rate.
According to the proposed ideas for the Russian "Ministry of Sex", it would ensure maximum facilities for the couple to have proper intercourse not only at midnight but also during office hours. Some of the ideas include turning off lights and the internet and financial assistance to the couple who are planning to go on their first date.
First dates: According to local media reports, the government is mulling funding first dates for couples. The couple would get up to 5,000 roubles (around £40).
Wedding-night hotel stays: The newly weeded couple will get a comfortable hotel on the first night of their marriage. The government called it measures to promote pregnancies.
Money reward: Some states like Khabarovsk are planning to provide a fund of £900 to female students aged 18 to 23. The reports claimed Chelyabinsk is planning to provide £8,500 for a firstborn.
Turning off lights and the internet: As people developed a habit of surfing the internet before going to sleep, the government has suggested turning off the services between 10 pm to 2 am. Besides, the government also suggested turning off lights so that the couple could engage in intimate activities more comfortably.
Financial incentives for mothers: The reports claimed the government is also mulling women to stay at home for housework. The government will provide compensation contributing to their pension calculations.
Russia asking bizarre questions from women's personal lives
In addition to freebies, the Russian government are studying into the personal lives of women. The government called the initiative as part of an exercise to increase the country's birth rates. According to multiple media reports, women employees engaged in the public sector, have been asked to fill out questionnaires about their sexual and reproductive health.
Some of the questions are as follows:
- When did you begin sexual activity?
- Do you use contraception, such as condoms or hormonal birth control?
- Do you experience pain or bleeding during intercourse?
- Have you been pregnant, and if so, how many times?
- Do you have children, or are you planning to have more in the coming year?
Russia bans 'child-free propaganda' to try to boost birth rate
Russia's lower house of parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to ban what authorities cast as pernicious propaganda for a child-free way of life, hoping to boost a faltering birth rate. Official data released in September put the birth rate at its lowest in a quarter of a century while mortality rates are up as Moscow's war in Ukraine rages on. The Kremlin called the figures "catastrophic for the future of the nation".
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has cast Russia as a bastion of "traditional values" locked in an existential struggle with a decadent West, has encouraged women to have at least three children, saying that will help secure the future of Russians. There are already financial and other incentives. The law, expected to be swiftly approved by the upper house of parliament and Putin, joins other restrictions on free expression including a ban on content deemed to promote "non-traditional lifestyles" such as same-sex relationships or gender fluidity, as well as on dissenting accounts of the conflict in Ukraine.
(With inputs from agencies)
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