Explained: Woman And War. What Does The Russian Invasion Mean For Women in Ukraine?

The world has seen pictures of women giving birth in underground metro stations and newborns quickly being transferred to makeshift bomb shelters as health facilities become inaccessible or too shattered to function in the days since Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine. In the next three months, an estimated 80,000 women in Ukraine will give birth, many of them without access to vital maternal health care. Childbirth will be a life-threatening experience for some, rather than a life-changing experience for others.

Instagram

"History has repeatedly proven that when conflict and war break out, women and girls are more vulnerable to war crimes, including all types of gender-based violence," said UN human rights experts in a statement.

Women's in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis

AP

Gender-based violence is a severe problem for millions of other women and girls, including those who have lived in the shadow of conflict in eastern Ukraine for the past eight years. According to a UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) study published in 2019, 75% of women in Ukraine had experienced some sort of violence since the age of 15, with one out of every three women suffering physical and/or sexual abuse. They are more vulnerable to sexual and physical violence and abuse as a result of the crisis and displacement.

As a result, while the ongoing war affected civilians of all genders, as stated in UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and its various revisions, women experience and respond to armed conflicts differently than their men counterparts.

Experts claim that this response can even be observed in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Even those who have simply glanced at the war visuals that have flooded the television can't help but notice Ukrainian women everywhere. They're on the front lines: an estimated 31,000 women enlisted in March 2021 (22.5 percent of the military), with thousands more joining since the war began. They make up 21% of the democratically elected parliament, are well-known in the media, and have a strong voice in fostering the solidarity that is considered important in resisting the Russian invasion and advocating for justice and democracy.

They are reported to have assisted in the preparation of civilian defence, food, and shelter in cities that had been bombarded. They are looking after those who have had their homes evicted. They make up the vast bulk of refugees flowing over into neighbouring nations and beyond, together with their children and the elderly.

Unique contributions of Ukrainian women

telegraph

As the Kremlin's war rhetoric becomes more fierce and thousands of Ukrainian people evacuate to safety in the face of Russian shelling and bombing, videos and images surface on social media, telling the stories of women and children who are eager to fight Russia in the war.

The bravery of these women is praised and hailed on social media in these stories. A woman can be heard giving sunflower seeds to a Russian soldier in a viral video, implying that if he and his fellow soldiers were killed, flowers would sprout where they died. The sunflower is significant since it is Ukraine's national flower.

Rudik, a Ukrainian member of parliament, mentioned the delicate hobby of flower-planting in a social media post, saying, "They will not allow Putin to act as if this is a symmetrical battle between professional fighters on both sides. They'll make it known that this is a battle of professional warriors vs gentle gardeners."

As Ukraine's residents were urged to take to their keyboards to defend the country against Russia, the New York Post reports, Russian soldiers have been using Tinder to communicate with Ukrainian women, providing the possibility of military intelligence to create fake accounts and track troop positions and movements.

History of women in war

NPR

Women's war experiences have been diverse. Traditionally, women have long played an important role at home. "The witness of history is virtually uniform in the willingness of female decision makers to fight, once they have decided the causes just and/or necessary," British historian Andrew Roberts concludes, citing Queen Boudica, Queen Elizabeth I, Maria Theresa, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, and many others.

Below the level of queens and prime ministers, certain women have joined armies on combat missions throughout history, mainly performing tasks such as cooking and laundry, as well as acting as relatives and camp followers.

Historians claim women have played a variety of roles in combat throughout history, from keeping the home fires burning (and kingdoms running) in ancient times to assisting the troops with domestic labour in the early 1800s and taking up nursing positions on the frontlines of the Crimean and European trenches. Thousands of women enlisted as medics and participated in combat activities during World War I, but it was in 1939 that the big turning point for women in warfare happened.

Young unmarried women flocked to join the Voluntary Aid Detachment or the British Red Cross, as nursing was the most common female involvement in the war. Volunteer nurses had to tend to the injured, aid with amputations, and sit with the dying in their final hours while working often in a situation with little or no medical equipment.

There were instances of female soldiers enlisting as men to get access to the front lines. Because of the large number of enlisted men, women were given additional prominent roles, such as on the railroads, as police officers, manufacturing employees, and munitions operations.

Women during the second world war

nationalww2museum

During World War II, women's roles were significantly expanded. Millions of women worked to supply the military with planes, ships, and ammunition by 1945. Not only were women encouraged to raise funds, take in evacuee children, 'dig for victory' in their gardens, and labour in war factories, but they were also pushed to join the military. Seventy-five percent of women who enlisted in the military did so as volunteers according to several reports.

Women played a variety of positions in the military. Pilots in the Air Transport Auxiliary flew planes on risky routes from factories to military locations, while codebreakers at Bletchley Park and 'Lumberjills' in the Women's Timber Corps decoded messages. Along with the Wrens, FANYs, ATS servicewomen, and others, these women all played pivotal roles in Britain's war effort. In the military, about 640,000 women served.

Women's tasks were typically clerical and limited to non-combat jobs away from the frontlines, despite the fact that each of these positions contributed to the war's victory. Ground Close Combat jobs for women in the British Armed Forces were made available in 2016.

Cross-culturally, whether in a prestate society or in a modern military, women were excluded from warfare in ancient era, it is believed that women have played a leading role in direct active warfare.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.