Now there are 5,000 women defenders on the front line who defend our peace together with men. However, there will still be those who insist, saying, “women have no place there.” We at NAKO actively follow such stories. They are different: frustrating, encouraging, and controversial.
Is it true that “blue is only for boys and military service is only for men”? How much has Ukrainian society changed its perception of women in the army? And what does General Zaluzhnyi have to do with it?
“Drivers, doctors, servicemen and…women”?
It’s not a secret that women constantly face sexism, prejudice, or stereotypes such as: “If you’re a woman in the military, you sweep the parade ground.”
Servicewomen talk about this in social networks and podcasts and shout: “it shouldn’t be like this.” For example, the girls shared their experiences on the YouTube channel “Feminist Workshop”:
“When a woman asks for something more or expresses indignation at the conditions, men say, “Ah, well, it’s a woman, of course.” When a man chooses the same rhetoric, they’re just saying: “He is a douchebag”; there’s no such sexism. “I noticed that to get a normal attitude from men, a woman needs to do ten times more than a man.”
The girls also tell how they encountered the attitude towards women’s needs as something to be hidden or even ashamed of:
“There was a chat with the volunteers, and our unit came up with a huge list of needs. The lady volunteer writes: “What are you doing? Remove women’s panties from the list. What would it be? – Women’s panties are on the list of needs for a military unit! How will I send this list to respectable people?! Clean up. Or make another, separate one.” And they write to her: “Are Ukrainian servicewomen so strict that they don’t need underwear?”
After all, the Ukrainian army is equal to the Ukrainian people. Therefore, the more changes that will occur within a society, the faster the Armed Forces will change. And even though Ukraine has not stood still for nine years, women remain unprotected in the army. The patriarchy in society is layered with bureaucracy and closedness in the military.
Yaryna Chornohuz, a paramedic and intelligence officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, speaks about this attitude:
“When a woman joins the army, first of all, they test whether she is ready to accept the role of a woman in the patriarchal sense: they prevent her from hard work, they say, ‘don’t lift heavy, we will take care of you, you still have to give birth.’ If you react harshly, then it will pass in time. Some women accept it, and they make it worse for themselves and the rest of the girls.”
Change begins with visibility
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have changed a lot in recent years. The impetus for this was the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s aggression in eastern Ukraine. And since the Armed Forces became more open to women, the changes in a certain way affected the fight against sexism.
The fighters themselves speak about this: “Obviously, there is a tendency that women are more accepted. It is already a common phenomenon in the military ranks. Before, until 2014, this was something unthinkable. But every woman who wants to get into a combat position still goes through obstacles and struggles with sexism.”
A woman in the army is also gradually becoming routine in the media. For example, in 2021, the Institute of Mass Information conducted an analysis and found that: “media mentions of female military servicewomen rarely occur in the region – up to 5% of the total number of materials. At the same time, references to male military servicemen occur in almost every material.”
Currently, the media actively emphasise the roles and importance of women in the Armed Forces. The number of such materials has increased significantly, and monitoring shows that the expressions “weaker/fairer women” are no longer used.
Along with this, seemingly insignificant, purely symbolic shifts are taking place. For example, the change of the name of the Day of the Defender of Ukraine to the Day of Man And Women Defenders of Ukraine. There are also the evening speeches of President Zelensky, where he addresses not only the male defenders but also female ones. The use of gender markings in job titles has become a positive tradition, giving greater visibility to women in the security and defence sector.
After all, March 8 has become a holiday, not for the “weaker gender” and “protection of girls” but a day of bringing attention to the issue of women’s rights. Moreover, state bodies support such a trend in their official communication.
“Iron general” in defence of equality
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny, also supports gender equality in the army. Even before the full-scale invasion, the general emphasised the importance of equality in the military. After all, gender equality is one of NATO’s standards, along with respect for human rights.
“After taking this position, I prioritised the change of attitude within military teams as a priority of my activity. […] Trust, mutual help, and support exist in healthy teams. Men and women feel comfortable and safe.” The commander-in-chief emphasised such achievements of gender equality in the army as women’s equal access to military education and their opportunities for professional development along with men. However, Zaluzhny also drew attention to the presence of problems that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are still working to overcome. He emphasised that positive changes in the army begin primarily with mental ones.
A full-scale invasion did not stand in the way of the evolution of the Ukrainian army. “The modern Armed Forces overcome not only the enemy but also stereotypes, in particular, that “women on ships bring bad luck”: experience shows that this is only prejudice.” The Commander-in-Chief wrote, sharing a video about Anastasia, the forewoman of the Signal coCorps who has been serving on the ship since 2022.
The general also thanked the women in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for their dedicated work: “Thousands of women who serve and work in the Armed Forces of Ukraine today make an invaluable contribution to the defence of our state. Respect and gratitude to each of them.”
Zaluzhny believes in the Ukrainian army without discrimination on any grounds. And this is a significant signal for our society. The Commander-in-Chief emphasises women’s visibility in the security and defence sector. It demonstrates by his example the values of the new Ukrainian army, which should prevail within the military teams.
UN Resolution 1325 – a road map of changes
Ukraine needs clearly defined priorities and a plan to achieve equal rights for men and women in the army. These are, first of all, UN Security Council Resolution No. 1325 and the corresponding action plans adopted by the government and detained by the Ministry of Defence.
There are many tasks and priority measures. For example, among other things, it is about the expansion of women’s participation in decision-making and the post-conflict recovery of Ukraine. And the expert environment and civil society are ready to join and help the state implement the Resolution.
However, despite a wide range of tasks, Ukraine is still making great strides toward gender equality in the army. Even during the war. These steps are different: symbolic, institutional, and mental. Still, they are happening. Of course, there are also many challenges ahead. But despite the presence of problems, the Ukrainian army is already significantly different from the army of a terrorist state. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are about dignity and respect. And it is something the aggressor’s army cannot boast of while shaving Ukrainian female POWs’ heads for humiliation.