Breaking barriers: women in the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Date and time:
Monday 29 January, 2024
19:00 - 21:00
Location:
Ukrainian Institute London
79 Holland Park, W11 3SW
London
W11 3SW
Ukrainian Institute London’s expert briefing will focus on the remarkable transformation in the role of women within the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As the nation faced the challenges of Russia’s full-scale war, thousands of women joined the ranks. The ongoing need for mobilisation continues to highlight women’s role in the armed forces. Their participation in the military, however, is not without obstacles. In 2014, legal restrictions hindered women’s recruitment, only to be gradually overturned through persistent lobbying, notably by women veterans. The situation continues to evolve as do societal attitudes towards female recruits.
Join our expert briefing and gain insights from gender specialist and sociologist Tamara Martsenyuk, sociologist Anna Kvit, and journalist Olga Malchevska, who will delve into the changes, the challenges that were overcome, and the work that still lies ahead. The discussion will be moderated by Olesya Khromeychuk, UIL Director.
Speaker
Anna Kvit
Anna Kvit is a visiting research fellow at University College London, European & International Social and Political Studies Department. Her research experience covers empirical studies on women in the military of Ukraine Invisible Battalion, veterans’ reintegration into civilian life and gendered impacts of the war in Ukraine. She has also participated in the development of the programs and policies on implementation of the Women Peace and Security agenda in Ukraine. Anna worked for international organisations and civil society organisations in Ukraine. She holds a BA degree in Sociology from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine) and MA degree in Global Political Economy from the University of Kassel (Germany).
Speaker
Olga Malchevska
Olga Malchevska is a BBC News Channel Broadcast Journalist and Ukrainian reporter. In her most recent documentary for BBC, Olga reported on the experience of Ukrainian women fighting in the country’s armed services, Ukraine: Women at War.
Speaker
Tamara Martsenyuk
Dr Tamara Martsenyuk holds a Ph.D. in sociology, she is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. After evacuating from Kyiv following the full-scale invasion, Tamara was hosted by Free University Berlin. She is also a visiting scholar at Leuphana University (Germany). Her research interest relates to gender and social structure, among them women’s access to the military. In 2015-2021 Tamara was part of the research team that conducted the sociological study “Invisible Battalion” that demonstrated the successes and challenges of gender equality implementation in the Ukrainian armed forces, the status of female veterans, and the problem of sexual harassment in the military.
Moderator
Olesya Khromeychuk
Olesya Khromeychuk is the Director of the Ukrainian Institute London. She is a historian and writer. She has taught the history of East-Central Europe at several British universities, and has written for The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Der Spiegel, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Prospect. Khromeychuk is the author of The Death of a Soldier Told by His Sister (2022) and “Undetermined” Ukrainians. Post-War Narratives of the Waffen SS “Galicia” Division (2013).
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