Gender, Civil Society & Women’s Movement In The Context Of The Russian-Ukraine War- 13angle

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Abstract

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put the global community in a state of apprehension and uncertainty about the future of not only Ukraine but also of the international environment. A modern war consisting of the most advanced weapons is being fought in this war, but the resistance of the common people, government, and military of Ukraine is also very commendable. Nationalistic self-determinism by the people also compelled them to do the unthinkable and give every effort to save their country from danger. There was an amalgamation of basic survival instincts and patriotic duties that made civil society and women act against the invasion by Russia. In the discourse of history and international order, there has always been a lack of feminist outlooks, and hence, women have been the worst victims in conflict-prone areas, which not only affected their families but also their growth and quality of life. While history has been sleeping on the contribution of women during crises, women have always played a brave part in putting up against aggressors. To say that only women have been affected is slightly inaccurate, as other segments of society, such as the elderly, disabled people, the economically disadvantaged, and the youth, have also been affected. It is also important not to abandon service providers such as healthcare workers, commuter workers, and other essential service providers. Last but not least, Ukraine has shown superb resilience in terms of governance and military strength. The unity may not always result in gains, but the collective efforts tell us a lot about the national character of Ukraine.

Introduction

Since the invasion of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine has been living in fear of war with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to recapture the former Soviet Union republic as part of Russia’s new foreign policy wants to recapture the former Soviet Union republic as part of Russia’s new foreign policy. Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have existed for a decently long time. The tension became heightened when the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sought the USA’s approval to join NATO. NATO can be seen as the former Cold War alliance that still exists while the Eastern Bloc has collapsed. As rekindling cold tensions began sending soldiers near Ukraine’s borders, Putin practically sees Ukraine joining NATO. The US responded in kind, and Russia sought assurance that NATO would not conduct any exercises in Ukraine.
In October 2021, months of intelligence gathering and observations of Russian troop movements, force build-up, and military contingency financing culminated in a White House briefing with U.S. intelligence, military, and diplomatic leaders on a near-certain mass-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded a largely unprepared Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a “special military operation” against the country. In his statement, Putin claimed that the goal of the operation was to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine and end the alleged genocide of Russians in Ukrainian territory.
This conflict is regarded as the most recent full-scale war in recent history, occurring shortly after the world had recovered from the deadly Conflict.

The Russian-Ukraine War- A Timeline

On February 24, 2022, the UN Security Council’s effort to dissuade Russia from attacking Ukraine went in vain as Putin announced the beginning of a full-scale land, sea, and air invasion of Ukraine, targeting Ukrainian military assets and cities across the country. The USA issued severe sanctions against four of Russia’s largest banks, On March 2, 141 of the 193 UN member states voted to condemn Russia’s invasion in an emergency UN General Assembly session, demanding that Russia immediately withdraw from Ukraine.
Since the summer of 2022, most fighting has largely been confined to Ukraine’s east and south, with Russian cruise missiles, bombs, cluster munitions, and thermobaric weapons devastating port cities along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The Russian seizure of several Ukrainian ports and subsequent blockade of Ukrainian food exports compounded an already acute global food crisis, which was further exacerbated by climate change, inflation, and supply chain havoc.
In mid-August, the southern shift of the war’s frontline sparked international fears of a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant along the Dnieper River. The largest nuclear plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia facility, was seized by Russian forces in the earliest stages of the war.
Beginning on October 10, Russia launched its most extensive attacks on Ukraine in months, striking military and energy facilities as well as several civilian areas during rush hour. The attacks spanned fourteen regions and included assaults on the capital. This renewed Russian offensive comes after Ukrainian forces destroyed part of the only bridge connecting the occupied Crimean Peninsula to Russia.

Civil Society And Women’s Role

The role of the civil rights movement and women’s movements and activities had been vastly under-reported, but recent assessments and reporting have accumulated a staggering number of such instances.
We will study the role and the efforts played by the common people in providing material and moral support to the government and the military actions against the Russian aggressors.

Civil Society In Ukraine

Ever since Russian military aggression against Ukraine began in spring 2014, Ukraine’s vibrant civil society has been at the forefront of the country’s efforts to fight back. The support provided by civil society has ranged from basics such as jars of jam and supplies of clean underwear for troops to more sophisticated contributions such as night vision goggles and drone equipment.
Over the past eight years of hostilities with Russia, Ukrainian civil society has gained invaluable experience and become highly skilled at satisfying the often complex and urgent needs of the country’s armed forces. This has led to the development of semi-formal networks that often operate in close coordination with different military units.
While key military aid such as artillery and missile systems can only be delivered at the interstate level, it would also make sense to develop cooperation between Ukrainian civil society and the country’s international partners. Since 2014, civil society has demonstrated that it is extremely effective at accomplishing the kinds of small but essential tasks that can keep an army functioning in the field while overcoming the challenges that routinely emerge during times of war. Combining enhanced Western resources with the unique aptitudes of Ukrainian civil society could have a significant impact on the future course of the entire conflict. There is a long history of successful international engagement with civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. During the post-Soviet era, Ukraine’s own civil society has often led the way in terms of international cooperation and has consistently been at the forefront of the country’s gradual transition from authoritarianism toward a more recognizably democratic society.
Ukraine’s civil society sector is a key force for positive change with a proven record of achieving results. It is an asset that should be far more actively supported by the country’s international partners. This support could take the form of financial grants, aid partnerships, training initiatives, distribution cooperation, and much more.
With no immediate end in sight to the war, the international community must plan for an open-ended commitment to supporting Ukraine. This will necessarily involve ongoing arms supplies and financial backing. Looking ahead, Western support will go a lot further if Ukraine’s partners take advantage of the remarkable civil society infrastructure that is already in place.
Rapidly unfolding developments on the battlefield suggest that the momentum of the war in Ukraine is entering a potentially decisive phase. Two key elements of the incredible resilience and creativity of Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion are the country’s longstanding network of independent civil society organizations and its tradition of volunteerism. Notably, many of these organizations have long been led by women.
Problems arising from a lack of effective communication and cooperation were evident during the adoption of judicial reform measures in 2021. The Ukrainian parliament adopted a series of draught laws that largely embodied the vision first proposed by civil society and Ukraine’s international partners. However, even the best reforms on paper do not always guarantee success in real life. It is essential to maintain a dialogue during the implementation stage, but this did not happen. Instead, there was a breakdown in communication with civil society, leading to the recommendation of numerous dubious candidates that brought the entire judicial reform process to the brink of disaster.
Without the input of civil society to act as a watchdog, there is a danger that such ineffective or even counterproductive reforms could be deemed acceptable by Ukraine’s international partners. Worse still, if ineffective reforms receive the seal of approval from the European Union or other partners, this could help preserve the influence of oligarchs and discredited judges for decades to come while also indefinitely delaying much-needed reforms.
It is therefore essential to assess reforms in a practical manner by analysing their implementation rather than examining the theoretical adoption of measures. Ukrainian civil society is uniquely suited to performing this task. Indeed, it is their main function.

Women’s Activities

A UN policy paper, published as the UN Security Council meets in Ukraine, reveals how the war and its global impacts on food, energy, and finance are affecting women and girls disproportionately, both inside Ukraine and globally. From the school-aged girls who are at risk of being obliged to drop out of school to get married for dowry or bride price income for desperate families to the physical and health challenges of the 265,000 Ukrainian women who were pregnant when the war broke out, the consequences have been devastating.
The policy paper called for several recommendations such as –

Prioritize women’s and girls’ voices, agency, participation, and leadership in conflict response, recovery, and peacebuilding;
Enhance gender statistics and sex-disaggregated data to build the evidence base for gender-responsive policy, planning, and reconstruction measures, and to track and monitor gender-related impacts of food insecurity and energy poverty on women and girls;
Promote and protect the right to food by targeting the specific nutrition needs of women and girls, and accelerate the transformation towards more equitable, gender-responsive, and sustainable food systems, and equitable access to inputs, technologies, and markets by women;

Even though these recommendations were adopted by the UN General Assembly, the effects seen were negligible.
In a paper titled “War’s Gendered Cost: The Story of Ukraine’s Women” by Akanksha Khullar, published in the Observer Research Foundation, the effect of the war on women was the worst thought.
Women in Ukraine had previously called out the accused of the #MeToo movement.
The major disruptions caused to women due to the war can be summarized below-

Additional caregiving responsibilities
Displacement due to the destruction of properties
Losing access to service-centers
Compromise on health and sanitation
Rape and sexual exploitation

Despite these challenges, women in Ukraine stood strong against all adversaries.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the number of women who have voluntarily joined the Ukrainian military has surged.
There are about 50,000 women serving in the Ukrainian armed forces in combat and non-combat roles, of which about 10,000 are currently either on the front lines of the war or in jobs that could send them to the front lines, according to Ukrainian military officials. There were about 32,000 women in the military prior to the invasion.
Military service in Ukraine for women is voluntary, but the government is considering making it mandatory for women with certain skill sets. It says a decision will not be made until next year.

The Way Forward

Despite all the challenges, Ukraine is standing strong and striving for the future it has chosen. Both now and for hundreds of years prior, Ukrainians are fighting for freedom, democracy, and dignity because we have no other option: it is the question of existence.

Recommendations

Ukrainians are also famous for their vibrant protests. If the government does not hear its people, Ukrainians are ready to go to the streets to show their disagreement with certain decisions and events. Even in this war, they can protest and drive a stir in the areas that are not under attack. This would help in creating a sense of awareness in the other area as well and more people might be encouraged to protest in and outside Ukraine.
Decentralization of administrative authority to a certain extent will make the process flexible and quicker for the Ukrainians. Allowing them to take swift decisions will save a lot of valuable time and administrative resources in times of crisis.
Uninterrupted aid supplies and internet access will have a greater impact. When people have to leave their homes, aid and food supplies will ensure basic and intermediate needs are met. Digital media and the internet will give endless chances for people to protest, report, stage and share information about their conditions.
Modern and smart war tactics by Ukraine will drain Russia’s resources and cease the war. War and conflict-resolution experts must be utilized to their best capacity to bring a halt to this incessant war.
Unrestricted journalistic cover and reporting will provide all necessary data to resolve and help the people of Ukraine. Full safety cover must be provided to journalists and reporters of all kinds so that the authorities and civil societies can do their part well in the fight against the war.