Valentyna Beliakova, head of the Women’s Energy Club of Ukraine
Kateryna Pryimak, head of Veteranka movement, veteran, and combat medic
Oksana Potapova, researcher, human rights defender, and women’s rights activist
Galyna Kotliuk, Gender Democracy program coordinator at Heinrich Boell Foundation, Kyiv Office – Ukraine
Anna Antonina Łysiak, project manager on Ukraine and gender focal point for East and Southeast Europe at the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Berlin
Russia’s ongoing full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, in all its dimensions, has had a massive impact on every citizen living in the country. The immediate military threat of shelling, the insecurity of energy supplies and all aspects of life, including social security, infrastructure, health, and welfare – to name but a few – have become part of everyday life for all Ukrainians, 3.7 million of whom having been internally displaced and 6 million seeking refuge in EU countries. The financial burden of rebuilding Ukraine is immense: the total cost of reconstruction and recovery is estimated at $524 billion over the next decade, according to a joint assessment by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank Group, the European Commission, and the United Nations, as of December 31, 2024. This figure is approximately 2.8 times Ukraine’s projected nominal GDP for 2024.
In the face of such devastation, the path to rebuilding Ukraine and ensuring lasting peace requires not only military and political solutions but also a focus on human security, justice, and social resilience. The question of a possible just peace and security for Ukraine must be addressed in a comprehensive and inclusive manner, incorporating a holistic feminist approach that encompasses all facets of state security and the well-being of all individuals.
As part of the CSW69 NGO Forum in New York, the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Kyiv Office –Ukraine, in collaboration with Berlin office, hosted a public discussion with feminist experts and activists from Ukraine to explore these perspectives from three different angles: defence strategies, energy security, and civil society engagement in resistance and human security. By highlighting voices from those working directly in Ukraine and the region, the event created a space for discussing plural visions of peace and security in Ukraine and the whole region of Eastern Europe. The following text summarises the main points discussed.
Modernisation of the Armed Forces as a feminist issue
The Ukrainian army has undergone tremendous development since 2014. One significant milestone in this transformation was the official inclusion of women in combat roles. Since 2016, women have been allowed to serve as combatants in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, gaining equal access to military positions that were previously restricted. As of September 2024, approximately 68,000 women are enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with over 48,000 serving as military personnel and around 5,000 deployed in combat zones. “Although these changes mark significant progress within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there is still room for further development and for countering Soviet-era methods and behaviours that are still widespread,” says Kateryna Pryimak, head of the Ukrainian women veterans’ movement. She emphasizes the need for ongoing reforms to accompany the increasing “feminization” of the army, ensuring that structural changes align with the growing presence of women in the military.
The integration of drone technologies has further expanded opportunities for women in the Ukrainian military.
Women are increasingly joining volunteer mobile units responsible for shooting down Russian drones that terrorize Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure. This involvement not only enhances the country’s defence capabilities but also empowers women to take on roles traditionally held by men.
Implementing reforms and operating with new technologies works much better with newcomers to the army – a mindset change that is necessary for further development.
More women leaders for the energy security
Energy security is national security, and any attack on energy infrastructure has a direct impact on the country’s economy and on every citizen. “They want to destroy people’s spirit, because you can’t live normally if you don’t have electricity, when you don’t have heat in your house and you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” says Valentyna Beliakova, head of the Women’s Energy Club of Ukraine. Any attack on energy infrastructure has a direct impact on the health and resilience of Ukrainians.
More investment in renewable energy is needed, not only in Ukraine but across Europe, to increase security in this area.
The power outages have a particular impact on caregivers, most of whom are women, as they face the challenge of caring for children and other family members in difficult circumstances. Their perspective is crucial in understanding the needs of vulnerable groups for short- and long-term recovery and the future of the country in terms of green energy sources. For this reason, more women should take leadership positions in the energy security sector. The Women’s Energy Club of Ukraine is a platform that promotes this development in the country: women sharing expertise and training and supporting women in their professional development. In addition, Valentyna Beliakova stressed the urgent need to create networks that would help to increase women’s participation in the labour market and support them in taking on their responsibilities. This could be an appropriate approach to counteracting the migration of skilled workers from the country.
Feminist grassroots initiatives as the pillars of civil society
With the unprecedented crisis brought about by the full-scale invasion, over 75% of civil society organisations that performed various functions prior to 2022 switched or expanded their activities to include humanitarian response, evacuation, and support to vulnerable groups affected by the invasion. This especially has been the case for feminist and women’s rights organisations, which have shouldered most of the support to vulnerable groups, including providing shelters to displaced communities, support to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, gender-based violence survivors, and many other, as stated by Oksana Potapova, Ukrainian feminist activist.
Adapting to war-time realities also meant diverting resources from gender equality work to urgent humanitarian needs. Some women’s rights activists have started to express worries about the sustainability of gender equality work, especially in cases where the humanitarian focus has remained dominant for women’s rights organisations and led to burnout and depletion. Ukrainian civil society, and specifically women’s rights organisations, is not dissimilar to women’s movements elsewhere, which are known to shoulder the crises and take up the role of crisis response and the further work of care, often duplicating or replacing the role and functions of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and social movements. Feminist and LGBT communities are especially often seen as sites of social reproduction through their multiple functions: representing the interests of communities, addressing their needs and delivering essential services, and providing care. However, their complex role and complex needs are most often obscured by those who provide them funding. Recognising the work that feminist and queer organisations continue to perform in crises means ensuring proper support and funding for their work. It also means that the voices of these actors need to be meaningfully included in all conversations about recovery, peace, and security during and after the war.
Just peace and security in the context of feminist approaches
Security and peace need to be understood more broadly and incorporated into the question of how feminism is connected to war. In this regard, Oksana Potapova refers to the concept of a continuum of violence, developed by a feminist as part of feminist peace and security theory, which offers a comprehensive approach to understanding these intertwined themes. In contrast to more classical peace and war theories, which consider “peace” as the opposite of “war” or “violence”, this concept provides a framework for understanding that violence is experienced by marginalised individuals and communities in more complex ways. It is characterised by various forms and manifests over time, often beginning long before the use of force. It includes various forms of gendered, racialised and other types of violence and exclusion that manifests itself at home and within institutions and public spaces, and collectively builds up a society that is increasingly more unsafe for marginalised groups. Building the case of Putin’s homophobic and misogynist policies and rhetoric that preceded russia’s invasion of Ukraine, feminist scholarship makes connections between increases of such policies inside the state and growing risks of militarised violence that follow. It therefore suggests that achieving sustainable peace and social cohesion is closely linked to the pursuit of gender freedoms and equality for all.
Gender equality and security are not only interdependent but also shape how individuals respond to conflict and war. This dynamic is particularly evident in Ukraine, where many feminists and LGBTQI+ persons have made themselves visible by actively engaging in the defence of their country. By joining the military, they not only show that they are capable of performing various roles in this profession, but they also make a claim that the kind of world they are fighting for is a world where their rights are taken seriously and respected.
At the same time, we have to face the paradox that currently Ukraine needs weapons to fight against an unjust invasion, which is well articulated in the feminist manifesto the Right to Resist, still painfully relevant three years after it was published. As mentioned in the Manifesto, resistance to various forms of violence, including armed violence, has been part of the feminist struggle globally. At the same time, suggestions by western feminists to adopt a position of blind pacifism deny those who suffer from direct violence the right to choose their own response, and are not aligned with the spirit of feminist solidarity. Additionally, Oksana Potapova underscored that the origins of the feminist peace movement, which was born in the so-called Global North at the turn of the 20th century, seldomly integrated critique of colonial violence still present at the time, and even today, many western feminists fail to centre the analysis of the lasting impact of colonialism on societies still suffering from its effects. Genuine feminist solidarity must integrate an anti-imperial perspective and centre the voices of those who suffer from various forms of imperial violence today.
Social security and liveable lives for recovery
Infrastructure, energy, military supplies, and everyday security are all connected to the quality of life one aspires to.
Ensuring liveable conditions is integral to this goal, insists Oksana Potapova.
A feminist approach to recovery must be understood as an essential component of security, distinct from neoliberal business development strategies, which drive the “human capital” approach to people and their needs. Rather than focusing solely on economic growth, a feminist perspective emphasizes creating conditions for a liveable life. What this includes will differ based on the needs of people experiencing various intersecting forms of vulnerability, but it must include affordable housing with enough space to live in; equal access to services such as health care, education, and social support; and an income sufficient to cover all expenses.
One example of the complexities involved in recovery efforts is the approach to food security and access to land. This area requires a sensitive and balanced approach, as it involves potential tensions between macroeconomic objectives and human security needs. While land reform and modernization can address inefficiencies and improve agricultural productivity, it is also important to recognize the role of small-scale farming in Ukraine’s cultural and economic landscape. Many families continue to rely on self-sufficient agricultural practices, and any transition must account for their livelihoods and the potential social consequences of large-scale land privatization.
Ukraine’s approach to recovery should be based on a holistic model of welfare, rather than being limited to the narrative of human capital and business-level growth , which is currently the dominant narrative among both the Ukrainian government and many European allies.