Note: This article was initially written in December 2022, and the data reflects the conditions at that time. While we’ve aimed to capture the most relevant insights, please be aware that certain figures or dynamics may have shifted since publication.
Women’s Rights in the context of Russian Aggression against Ukraine – What is the gender based effect of the Ukraine-Russian War?
The Russian Federation’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine has imposed various geopolitical consequences and challenged international order. Since the 24th of February 2022, when Russian military forces invaded Ukraine in violation of international law, the whole world has gradually suffered from an increase in food insecurity, rising inflation and an energy crisis. The concern that often falls short of being the main focus of public attention, yet nevertheless one of great importance, is the effect of the current war on women’s rights. In the face of the conflict, Ukrainian women are exposed to numerous dangers, namely sexual violence, displacement and human trafficking. At the same time, the Istanbul Convention was finally ratified by Ukraine’s Parliament this year, which is a great step forward. In the perspective of Russian aggression against Ukraine women’s rights are put at substantial risk and the measures taken by different actors to prevent alarming violations and the development of constructive solutions will have an impact on the future.
The reason why gender based or feminist analysis of the existing war in Ukraine is extremely crucial, is the 21st century’s ever-growing focus on the still very much globally present women’s inequalities, discriminations and the constant excessive need to protect their rights. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres reflected “Just as slavery and colonialism were a stain on previous centuries, women’s inequality should shame us all in twenty-first century. Because it is not only unacceptable; it is stupid”. Furthermore, the subject matters of gender and war are intrinsically connected, as separate functions are attributed to men and women in times of conflict, since the first’s role is traditionally connected to the armed forces, while the latter is both recognised as vulnerable, but also capable of being an actor of change.
Beginning with describing the new roles that women in Ukraine began to play in the time of the crisis, the gender impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine is enormous. In the families where the men were the main, colloquially saying, ‘breadwinner’, women had to take upon themselves the task of providing for their relatives, as a great number of men were recruited to the army. At the same time, a number of women decided to sign up and join the Ukrainian army forces, where they make up around 22% of Ukraine’s military, and where they are often engaging diplomatically. What is more, another women’s role arising during wartime, is the one of leadership in responding to humanitarian crises according to The Rapid Gender Analysis of Ukraine produced by UN Women and CARE International, they are the ones who are behind the majority of immediate humanitarian responses in the local communities, both as volunteers and CEOs. Nevertheless, women in Ukraine not only have to perform different roles nowadays, but they are as well disproportionately affected by the threats arising from this crisis.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has severely impacted the progress of women’s rights in the victim state and created a condition, where those rights are every day threatened or broken. Starting with the violation of the basic need for safety and life protection, Ukrainian women are facing multiple disconcerting dangers and conflict-based sexual violence is one of them. In the ninth periodic report of Ukraine concluded by The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women the Delegation responded that “Law enforcement agencies of Ukraine were conducting pre-trial investigations in more than 40 criminal proceedings on sexually violent acts committed by Russian serviceman. Cases of conflict-related sexual violence were reported from the occupied and de-occupied territories of Ukraine, which predominantly affected women and girls.” Another alarming data was mentioned in the United Nations publication, where it said “As of 3 June, the Human Rights Monitoring Team of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had received reports of 124 alleged acts of conflict-related sexual across Ukraine.”
Displacement is another issue affecting predominantly women of Ukraine in the face of this crisis, as of November 2022 more than 3.5 million people were registered as internally displaced persons and 61% of them were women, who were frequently suffering from restrained access to housing, health care and employment. In addition to that, a number of 7,832,493 (as of December 6 2022) people from Ukraine fled the country to seek refuge across Europe, with the majority of the refugees being women and children. Displacement and the number of women fleeing the war-stricken country have in addition led to an alarming rise in the number of victims of human trafficking, as women’s vulnerability in such times is often exploited by traffickers.
The mentioned most dire threats that are being faced by Ukrainian women during the ongoing war are considered not only a substantial women’s rights crisis, but a human rights crisis and refugee crisis as well, thus why both individual states, as well as intergovernmental organisations and NGOs, take various actions in order to relieve the situation. Extremely crucial were the so far implemented decisions of the Ukrainian government, which for example introduced a comprehensive approach into investigating conflict-related sexual violence, initiated an awareness-raising campaign and provided survivors with a safe place of residence. What is even more important, is the breakthrough that happened on June 20 this year, when The Ukrainian Parliament passed a bill ratifying the Istanbul Convention, which is an international treaty of human rights created by the Council of Europe in order to set legally binding standards for governments for the protection, prevention and prosecution of actions of violence against women and domestic violence. This action is not only a great step forward in ensuring women’s rights, but it also tightens Ukrainian relations with the European Union and both of those features are invaluable in the face of the crisis. Furthermore, the Ukrainian Government approved the State Strategy on Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men until 2030 in August 2022 and has revised within the context of the 2022 Russian invasion 1325 National Action Plan on Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution “Women, Peace and Security”, which suggests a prominent additional improvement in the cooperation between Ukraine and the United Nations in terms of ensuring women’s rights during and after the conflict.
Last but not least, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has a tremendous gendered impact not only on the situation in the state, but also on a global scale. The worldwide consequences of the war, which include a shortfall in energy supplies and rising rates of food insecurity, are in fact affecting women unequally and gender gaps are becoming even widened. Since Ukraine and Russia are vital worldwide exporters of grains to developing countries and Ukraine is an essential distributor of wheat for the World Food Programme, many countries have become extremely vulnerable to food insecurity due to the war and according to the statistics conducted in the publication Global Gendered Impacts of the Ukraine Crisis by United Nations and UN Women, the number of women facing hunger and famine is higher in percentage than the number of men. One issue leads to another, as in many cases when the economic stability worsens, so do all the aspects of living conditions, and while sexual violence is on the rise, women’s physical and mental health care is declining.
The topic of Russian Aggression against Ukraine in the last couple of months has been continuously in the spotlight, and as it is still relatively new, it is quite a hard task to accurately estimate the wide range of its consequences on the future. What was possible to gather from the data obtained, is the fact that women’s rights have been severely endangered in multiple aspects not only in Ukraine, but also globally. Another observation concludes that Ukrainian women are performing a wide range of new roles in relation to the crisis, and while some are imposing further burdens, such as taking the sole responsibility of providing for the family, other roles, like leadership in responding to humanitarian crises, can be referred to as quite empowering. After all, this current complicated state of affairs is not completely being ignored and a wide range of international actors, including international organisations, states and individuals, are responding to it. How or when this conflict will be resolved is still regarded as a mystery, but what is known is the fact that it affected the lives of millions of women.
Amelia Glowacka
Sources and End Notes
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Boone L. (September 21, 2022), MSNBC, An all-female group of Ukrainian soldiers is here to deliver a message to U.S. lawmakers (September 21, 2022). Online: https://www.msnbc.com/know-your-value/out-of-office/war-ukraine-against-russia-how-women-soldiers-are-fighting-back-n1299012 (Accessed: November 29, 2022)
Council of Europe (July 18, 2022), Ukraine ratifies the Istanbul Convention. Online: https://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention/-/ukraine-ratifies-the-istanbul-convention# (Accessed: 12 December, 2022)
Hendrix S. and Korolchuk S. (July 3, 2022), The Washington Post, On the front lines, Ukrainian women are often the first responders. Online: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/03/ukraine-military-women-record-numbers-medics/ (Accessed: November 29, 2022)
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The United Nations (February 27, 2020), Twenty-first Century Must Be Century of Women’s Equality, Secretary-General Says in Remarks at The New School. Online: https://press.un.org/en/2020/sgsm19986.doc.htm (Accessed: November 29, 2022)
UNHCR (April 12, 2022), Statement on risks of trafficking and exploitation facing refugees from Ukraine attributed to UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection. Online: https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2022/4/6255a6964/statement-risks-trafficking-exploitation-facing-refugees-ukraine-attributed.html (Accessed: December 10, 2022)
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