Thread by @OPokalchuk

The gender dimension of this war is very important.

I'm starting a thread on how the war affects women's rights in Ukraine: including access to healthcare, domestic and sexual violence, and sex work. #IWD

.@amnesty has already documented how the last few years’ militarization and war in Donbas have led to increased rates of gender-based violence and reduced access to essential services. It is a pattern now set to spread across the country as a whole.

Our 2020 research focussed on domestic violence and sexual violence against women and girls in Ukraine's conflict-affected government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions:
amnesty.org/en/documents/e…

In this thread, I'm going to rely on the findings of that research. However, I am mindful that any extrapolation may be highly speculative. Still, it gives a rough picture of what we might expect in the future.

First and foremost, war destroys vital infrastructure: from roads to hospitals. Even as hostilities cease, public transport between cities and villages may not be available.

In practice, it means a woman in need of medical attention in a village without a hospital will have to travel elsewhere to get the necessary treatment - and the travel will not be easy.

Due to social stereotyping and gender discrimination, women tend not to learn driving and do not own cars. This means they have to rely on men when it comes to transportation.

Even if a hospital is available in a town/village, it can be:
a) overwhelmed with war-related work;
b) many professionals may flee in fear of hostilities.

This means those on the bottom of wealth-poverty spectrum will have even less chances to get necessary treatment, simply because they didn't have means to escape a conflict area.

Another important aspect highlighted pretty extensively in the media, is that now women across Ukraine have to give birth in bomb shelters.
independent.co.uk/news/world/eur…

Destruction of infrastructure also affects response to domestic violence. A survivor of domestic violence will not be able to find shelter. Because there are not many of them in Ukraine and because travel may be impossible.

Just imagine living with an abuser in a war-torn town. Women may not feel safe even at home.

Sex work. In eastern Ukraine, many families have been transformed into female-headed households, and women have also struggled to
access jobs, services, social protections, and humanitarian assistance.

UNFPA highlighted that “women living in conflict zones ... are at
risk of increasingly resorting to trading sex as a means of providing the most basic needs for their families” and that the majority of the incidents “are associated with military and law enforcement personnel”.

According to our 2020 research, women selling sex in contexts of poverty, displacement and conflict in eastern Ukraine may be at risk of violence by soldiers & further human rights abuses due to failures of the authorities to ensure access to justice in cases of sexual violence.

Sexual violence. As always, it is extremely underreported even years after the active phase of a conflict.

According to @amnesty's observations and interviews in the affected locations, women have continued to experience sexual violence from military personnel in various forms, especially in areas along the contact line.

During research missions in 2019, @amnesty delegates obtained 8 credible reports regarding rape (2 incidents), attempted rape (1 incident) and sexual harassment (5 incidents) committed in 2017 & 2018 by members of the Ukrainian army outside the context of detention & checkpoints.

All these cases occurred in locations with a high military presence in residential areas close to the contact line.

Sexual violence in non-government controlled territories remains an unexplored area, but no doubt the situation there is even more dire.

Important reminder that rape is a war crime.