War has a woman’s face

“War does not have a woman’s face, although the word ‘war’ is feminine. This cliché phrase is certainly known to all, but fails to reflect the reality of war in the 21st century.^e century. Among others, that of Russia against Ukraine.

Katerina Sviderska

Master’s student in political science at the University of Montreal

This war has the face of a woman with her child on the Polish border, fleeing the bombs for the sake of the little one. The face of a young girl tortured and then raped by Russian soldiers. She also, and above all, has the face of a soldier, a politician and an activist, using their efforts for the victory of their nation.

Ukrainian women raped…

In addition to being the eve of the invasion, February 23 marks, in Russia, the “Day of the defender of the fatherland”. A very symbolic holiday, during which women celebrate men for what they are, this date is also indicative of the machismo present within Russian society itself. These men, celebrated each year for their virility, their strength, their traditional values, are now soldiers of the Russian army, perpetrating acts of rape against Ukrainian women.

Simple civilians, named Viktoria^⁠1Olha², Svitlana, Iryna or even her 14-year-old daughter were all victims of sexual violence committed by Russian soldiers. Testimonies of such acts, committed on people between the ages of 4 and 85, have poured in and have been pouring in since April 2022. “When women are detained for days and raped, when you witness a series of genital mutilations, when soldiers Russians are equipped with Viagra, this is clearly a military strategy,” said Pramila Patten.^⁠3, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Our responsibility, as a society fighting impunity for sexual violence, is immense: rape is a war crime and justice must be done.

… but committed Ukrainian women

Certainly victims of the war, Ukrainian girls and women have above all demonstrated unparalleled patriotism and commitment. Whether on the frontlines, in volunteer centers, on social media or in political organizations, Ukrainian women are all contributing to the victory effort. Nearly 60,000 women are now members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, having chosen to take off their vyshyvankas^⁠4 in order to put on military fatigues, often sewn only for the male morphology.

Despite a systematic misogyny present in the high military circles, the strong involvement of Ukrainian women forces the change of these sexist understandings. “A Ukrainian woman is capable of anything,” said Maryna Potapenko, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine. Nobel Peace Prize 2022, Oleksandra Matviichuk, is the very embodiment of this statement. His team at the Center for Civil Liberties has spent the past eight years documenting Russian war crimes.

The evolution of mentalities towards gender equality, already underway, will be one of the pillars of the reconstruction of post-war Ukraine. Canada, promoting a feminist foreign policy, must support Kyiv in this process.

Ukraine’s victory will also have a woman’s face. However, its Western allies will have to prove that Ukrainian women can count on them, both in terms of international justice and post-war institutional transformations, aimed at strengthening the power of Ukrainian women.

4. Ukrainian traditional shirt