Russia's war in Ukraine exacts heavy toll on women, says UNFPA (trigger warning)

Russia’s war in Ukraine exacts heavy toll on women, says UNFPA (trigger warning)


As war rages, health services for women are perilous and they are particularly vulnerable to trafficking, domestic abuse, and gender-based and sexual violence.

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The United Nations Population Fund says women are among the most vulnerable members of Ukrainian society as Russia wages a brutal war [File: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters]
By Liz Cookman
Published On 29 Mar 202329 Mar 2023

As Russia’s bloody war in Ukraine continues to devastate lives across the country, women in particular are suffering detrimental effects to their mental, physical and sexual and reproductive health. Millions of women remain displaced, making them extremely vulnerable to trafficking as well as gender-based and sexual violence. The International Rescue Committee warned last month that abuse against women was rising. Some expectant mothers give birth without medical assistance in basements and bomb shelters while hospitals are attacked, while basic services have been disrupted to such an extent that the reproductive health of many is in jeopardy.

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A woman stands next to her six-day-old baby Sofia, inside Pokrovsk maternity hospital in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine [File: Marko Djurica/Reuters]
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A woman cries as she evacuates her house with the help of volunteers from the non-profit organisation Road to Relief in Minkivka, Ukraine [File: Ignacio Marin/Anadolu Agency]

This is a very complex issue surrounded in stigma. Sometimes women don’t even identify themselves as having been assaulted. Some women have been forced into sex acts to cross a checkpoint, for example. It takes a lot of work from psychologists to get them to open up and identify as survivors, and the trauma will take a long time to heal. Before the war, we developed an initiative that provides space for men in the Ukrainian military to engage meaningfully with their children and wives. The first hubs were in the east from 2014. We provide men with psychosocial support that steers them away from toxic masculinity. This helps them process trauma, which can manifest in violence, abuse or alcohol misuse.
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We have repeatedly requested access to occupied territories, but have not been granted it. In the east of the country, we’re very concerned about the situation of older women. Some don’t want to leave their homes behind and are living close to the front line of the conflict with serious health conditions, such as uterine prolapse.

Al Jazeera: With hospitals shelled, where are these women supposed to go if they experience something like this?

Nadal: There are some mobile clinics run by the government that we support that go to communities to help, especially for those with mobility issues or disability, and for areas where there is no public transport.

War comes with suffering, pain, stress and anxiety. The extension of this war is prolonging the distress of millions of women.