Russia-Ukraine crisis: Women suffer the brunt of war

According to estimates, Russia's full-blown incursion into Ukraine could prompt nearly five million individuals out of their homes, most of whom will be women

In war, the consequent humanitarian crisis often deepens and creates new inequities within the dominating patriarchal structures. As a result, women bear the disproportionate burden of conflict with various forms of brutal dehumanising, including rape, violence, torture, exploitation, routinely used against them. With the intensification of the Russian offensive, what is unfolding in Ukraine is no different, where the ongoing war has brought on a devastating toll for women.

Although excluded from the Minsk processes, women in Ukraine have since the Maidan revolution in 2013 been engaged in all areas of civil society and the armed forces, thereby making modest gains across diverse sectors. But these gains have persistently been under threat due to the deeply entrenched gender inequalities, eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine and the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Russia's recent full-scale invasion of Ukraine will only add to this complex situation and put more pressure on gains that women in Ukraine have made in the past.

Ukrainian women, now feeling increasingly unsafe in public and their own homes, are thus, fighting a war on many fronts. To begin with, as of March 2021, the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and the Ukrainian Ministry of Social Policy confirmed that there were almost 1.5 million internally displaced people in Ukraine, of which 58.56 per cent were females and 41.44 per cent males. However, it is no hidden fact that military invasions—such as the recent Russian aggression—can cause and amplify the migration crisis with women and children being among the first ones to be displaced, posing a risk of double or triple displacement of those who were already displaced.

Analytical estimations have projected that the fallout from Russia's full-blown incursion into Ukraine could prompt nearly five million individuals out of their homes, most of whom will be women. Reports emerging from the ground suggest that in the five days after Russia's invasion, at least 660,000 people, the majority of who are women, have already fled Ukraine. Things have been made even more difficult for these women owing to the order of the Ukrainian government that has prohibited men aged 18 to 60 years old from leaving the country, mandating them to stay back and fight the Russian offensive. Displaced Ukrainian women are thus, left on their own to seek safety for themselves and their children.

Besides, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) affects at least one-fifth of women in Ukraine, with nearly 22 per cent of Ukrainian women between 15 and 49 years have experienced at least one form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. This situation was worsened by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which calls to domestic violence helplines grew by 50 per cent in the conflict-affected Donetsk and Luhansk regions and by 35 per cent in other parts of Ukraine. But despite this increase, Amnesty International in 2020 revealed that there continue to remain multiple flaws in the system aimed at protecting survivors, especially women, of domestic or sexual violence.

However, devastating social and economic crisis, access to weaponry and trauma in the wake of the current conflict will have a direct impact on violence against women where increasing numbers of Ukrainian women will have to endure sexual violence wielded as a "weapon of war" at the hands of both the State and the opposing forces. They might suffer additional hardships in case of incessant escalation because the social infrastructure, such as services for domestic violence survivors, is not yet strong enough to adapt to changes. Therefore, Ukrainian women and girls, particularly those travelling alone, are at a high risk of rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation, and other forms of sexual violence.

But despite these life-threatening difficulties and war-induced challenges, the Ukrainian women are far from being solely victims. Since the commencement of the Russian intrusion into eastern parts of Ukraine in 2014, women have been at the forefront and taken on all possible roles in the army and volunteer battalions, often serving as paramedics, machine gunners, grenadiers, snipers, etc. Data indicates that as of March 2020, 29760 women were serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces with 902 senior female officers.

In March 2021, women accounted for 11 per cent of all service members in Ukraine's armed forces and constituted 10 per cent of those involved in military operations in the Donbas region. But with recent full military mobilisation, women's presence in the Ukrainian military has further increased, including in combat roles. Currently, 36,000 women are diligently carrying out their duties and fighting shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts in the Ukraine-Russia war.

Perhaps, women in Ukraine are not only fighting on the personal front, dealing with the socio-economic consequences of the conflict but also on the frontlines to defend the pride of their nation. Yet, it is they who are paying the higher price of war. The entire international community should thus, not overlook the plight of these women and should continue to work closely with civil society organisations on the ground to mitigate the immediate gendered effects of the ongoing conflict. They need to listen to women activists, IDPs, doctors, nurses, and those fighting on the frontlines.

(Akanksha Khullar is Country Coordinator, India Women's Regional Network)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.

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