One year of Russia-Ukraine war: How the conflict is shaping new roles and challenges for women

Almost a year after Russia launched a full-scale military invasion into Ukraine, the two countries are—even today—engaged in a struggle to establish control over parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, showing no signs of abating.     But while on one hand, the escalating war has severely impacted social cohesion, community security and the resilience of local communities, on the other, it has not only increased the agency of women but has also made them more visible.   Women have in fact, become an omnipresent force in the past one-year of the Ukraine—Russia war, confronting long-held stereotypes about their role with their participation on the front line war zones often making headlines. Currently, there are about 50,000 women serving in the Ukrainian armed forces—both in combat and non-combat roles—who have joined voluntarily to defend their country and provide additional assistance in times of crisis. According to Lieutenant General Serhiy Naev—of the High Command of the Armed Forces—there are more than 5,000 women on the front line of combat operations with around 8,000 female officers in Ukraine and one female deputy defence minister. And now, a new school is training these women to play a much more significant role and is solely dedicated to teaching women—both civilians as well as those serving in Ukraine’s security forces—how to fly drones. Both the Ukrainian armed forces as well as the Russian military have widely been using drones in the war for reconnaissance. And as of November 2022, the school, which had already graduated 10 students, had received 40 applications for the next course cycle. Outside military, women have also become the backbone of wide-scale logistics efforts and are contributing to the war effort in a variety of ways such as preparing and packing food for the millions of internally displaced people; helping with the provisions of bulletproof vests, helmets, medicines; making camouflage netting for troops, etc.   The war has thus, clearly challenged pre-existing, patriarchal perception about gender and broadened some opportunities for women. Yet, it is these very women who are also shouldering a disproportionate impact of conflict with their rights increasingly hindered by the heightened risk of poor health outcomes, economic fragility, and exposure to violence. In fact, a study by the United Nation Population Fund shows that even before the war started in 2022, violations of women’s rights have been prevalent for many years in Ukraine with nearly 75 per cent of women subjected to some form of violence and one in every three having experienced sexual violence. Consequently, like any other crisis, the on-going war in Ukraine has only magnified this problem, increasing women’s exposure to war crimes, rape, gender-based violence, trafficking, etc. Besides women account for majority of the 13.4 million people who have been forced to flee their homes and now stand displaced. In July 2022, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) suggested that 65 per cent of women were still trying to find safety in different areas of Ukraine. And the truth is, as these women seek shelter and safety in search of help for themselves and their children, their danger of being trafficked, exploited, and being in adverse situations has also heightened. In a report issued in January 2023, the Kyiv School of Economics estimated that as of December 2022, more than 3,000 educational institutions—from preschools to universities, were damaged or destroyed—depriving million of girls of access to proper education, forcing them into early marriage as a way for desperate families to make ends meet. The lack of education and early marriages has nonetheless, further put them at a greater risk of early pregnancy and childbirth, health related issues as well as gender-based violence. These challenges—which are constantly developing—will nonetheless only worsen each day the war continues. There is thus, an urgent need to develop a greater understanding about the vital role that the Ukrainian women have been playing in this conflict—by protecting and defending their country as well as by bearing a brutal, disproportionate impact of the invasion—over the past year, thereby, providing them with greater opportunities to participate in all decision-making platforms in pursuit of peace and security for the people of Ukraine and beyond. The writer is a Visiting Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation. Some of her works have appeared in South China Morning Post, The Hindu, Firstpost, Hindustan Times, The Diplomat, The Toronto Star, among several others. She tweets at @akankshakhullar. Views are personal.  Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.