The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is being the scene of one of the main challenges facing women: the visibility of women as combatants and as participants in peace processes

Women in war: hands that fight, hands that care

photo_camera AFP/DANIEL LEAL - A woman learns how to use an AK-47 assault rifle during a self-defence course for civilians on the outskirts of Lviv, western Ukraine, 4 March 2022.

In the collective imagination, armed conflicts are usually associated with men. It is men who fight and struggle for their country, while women have been associated with a more secondary role as refugees and victims. Women's role in wars, both as guerrilla fighters and peace builders, has often been silenced, giving rise to a more biased view of what war is.

An example of this can be seen in the current conflict in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many women have openly defended their participation in the civilian militias: "There are queues to sign up for the territorial defence brigades. I'm going to sign up," Margot, a Ukrainian woman who was holed up in her flat on the second day of the invasion, told 20 Minutos. 

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"The government encouraged men to fight, but look how many women decided by themselves to go and defend their country," exclaimed Ukrainian film director Anastasia Mikova. "I think the Ukrainian army and society are stronger because of all the women who are strong".

Encouraged by the speeches of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenksy and by their own feelings of defending their country and families, many women, along with men, have decided to join the civilian militia. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the registration points for these troops have been overcrowded, with long lines of people ready to fight Russian troops. "I will not run away. I have to do something to help our army win this war," said Margot.

Since 2016, Ukrainian women have been officially allowed to join the army, and now make up 10% of the total. In 2014, the year in which Russia annexed Crimea, women already decided to take up arms and participate in combat. During the conflict, they took up positions as snipers, soldiers and medics on the front lines of the war. However, Slate magazine reported that they were "not officially recruited" and therefore were not registered in military records as occupying these positions. On the other hand, they were registered in other jobs such as nurses, cleaners, seamstresses and cooks, jobs that were much needed but did not cover the full range of tasks that the women performed. 

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After the conflict ended, women who had held the same military positions as men as soldiers or snipers received no support, neither financially nor emotionally, because of their absence from military records. In Ukraine, however, this situation has changed since women have been able to access military positions. In this context and since 2016, 62 official sites where women could fight have been recognised, in addition to granting them protection to carry out this work.

In addition, last December, the Ukrainian Defence Minister announced the expansion of the group of women who must register for compulsory military service in the event of war. Women between the ages of 18 and 60 who are fit for military service, regardless of their job, were to register with the Ukrainian armed forces, it was stated. This measure was enacted so that, in the event of war, women could be mobilised for military service. 

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While military service is compulsory for Ukrainian men, women are not required to register. Even now, in the midst of the Russian invasion, this is not available to them, as they can only be offered free military service. 

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However, this has not stopped the women. The social networks have been a reflection of this. Since Russian troops attacked Ukraine, there have been numerous photographs and videos of women wielding weapons and occupying defensive and resistance positions. Prominent among them is a video of a group of Ukrainian women wielding AK-74s declaring that they had "already taken their children to safety" to "join the Ukrainian men and the Ukrainian army. We will destroy the enemy in every corner of the Ukrainian territory, in every town, in every village, every forest or meadow". 

"For all the children, the elderly, for all the houses that have been reduced to ashes... we will shoot you like rabid dogs. Glory to Ukraine, death to the enemy," the video concluded.

This presence of women on the front lines also responds to another reality, which is the fact that women suffer a double victimisation in conflicts. It is often stated in different analyses that women are themselves an instrument of war. In addition to the physical violence that is common to all conflicts, women suffer sexual violence, even after the conflict.

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In many conflicts women's bodies have been identified as a symbol of "honour". If they were raped, it was not only an attack on them, but also on the rest of the community. Furthermore, throughout history, women's bodies have been identified as "booty" for victorious armies. According to Amnesty International, violence against women in conflict "is an extreme manifestation of the discrimination and abuse" that exists even in peacetime.

On the other hand, it is notorious that many of them decide to flee as refugees, and although this is a latent reality, it is not the only one, as many others decide to stay and fight, just like men. This decision, now reflected in Ukraine, has also been a reality in other conflicts such as in Syria, Palestine, Ethiopia and Colombia, among many others.

 Low presence of women in peace processes 

As in wars, peace processes are also influenced by gender. All that can be achieved in terms of equality during a war, such as progressive access and visibility of women in the front line of war, as well as the rights they fight for, are silenced if they are not part of peace processes. 

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According to a report issued by the UN, women's participation in peace processes "remains very low". Further exacerbated by the pandemic situation, women have been increasingly sidelined in both peace processes and agreements.

In the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, we can observe how there is not a single presence of women at the negotiating tables, so that their voice is not heard in building a future peaceful situation, despite their active participation in the resistance. The fact that their role is present in the negotiation processes should not respond to their victimisation, but rather be the result of a vindication of the fact that women are political subjects with rights and that they should be taken into account with a view to building a just and egalitarian social reality, one of the main challenges facing society.
 

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