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Changing role of the feminist movement in Ukraine, Armenia, Poland, Georgia [1]
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Date: 2023-01
The feminist movement in Eastern Europe has radically changed in the past three years, with women’s rights activists having to adapt to war, conflict and the rise of the anti-gender movement.
In response, local women’s funds in Ukraine, Armenia, Poland, Georgia and Germany have been working together to assess the needs of women and girls through Feminist Landscapes – Civil Society Dialogue with All Voices, a project coordinated by filia, a German-based feminist grantmaking group that aims to empower marginalised women’s rights groups. Here’s what they found.
Ukraine: adapting to war
Since 24 February 2022, Russia’s full-scale invasion has transformed the women’s rights movement in Ukraine. Activists have had to switch from focusing on feminist issues to spearheading the collection and distribution of humanitarian aid, evacuating people and creating shelters, recording crimes, and organising medical and psychological support for victims of military aggression.
“Women’s rights [and human rights] organisations are very close to burnout because they work 24/7,” said Olesia Bondar, the executive director of the Ukrainian Women’s Fund (UWF), a feminist charitable foundation in Kyiv.
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For nearly a year, women and girls, inside and outside Ukraine, have been disproportionately affected by the global impacts on food, energy, and finance caused by the Russian invasion. According to the UN, there has also been an increase in gender-based violence both in Ukraine and around the world. The Council of Europe’s secretary general, Marija Pejčinović Burić, released a statement in November condemning rape and other acts of sexual violence committed by Russian combatants against women and children in Ukraine.
“There is a backlash on women’s rights in Ukraine,” Bondar said. “Women’s voices are weaker than they were before February.” Before the war, women were just starting to participate in politics and advocacy. Bondar worries about the next steps for women’s rights organisations that have been working only on humanitarian aid services since the invasion.
Between March and November 2022, the UWF distributed 124 grants totalling 28,029,731 Ukrainian hryvnias (roughly £627,270), according to its website. But some of the funds from big donors come in large amounts over short, two- or three-month periods, which makes it challenging to plan projects in advance.
“It’s important to have a [good] level of support for [2023] when something could happen in other parts of the world, and the attention of [donors] will be on that issue,” Bondar told openDemocracy.
Armenia: trauma, burnout and division
In Armenia, the women’s rights movement is burnt out, traumatised, and deeply divided.
“Women’s rights defenders had already faced a lot of mental health issues [before the war in September 2020],” said Gohar Shahnazaryan, a co-founder and co-director of the Women’s Fund in Armenia (WFA). “But now, it’s worse.”
Harassment by anti-gender demonstrators emboldened by the patriarchal state has only intensified since Covid-19 and the resuming in 2020 of the more than 30-year frozen war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan has been blockading the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia since 12 December 2022, restricting aid to 120,000 ethnic Armenians there.
The ongoing conflict has ideologically torn apart the Armenian women’s rights movement, with some feminists calling for women to volunteer for the army, while others condemn the idea and advocate for an anti-militaristic approach. As for the women directly affected by the war – they’re barely keeping their heads above water.
“We have to take into account that some organisations aren’t in a good enough condition to write and submit reports,” said Shahnazaryan. “Women [activists] directly affected by the war weren’t able to [present their findings] because of their psychological situation.”
In addition to carrying out need-based assessments and supporting trauma healing and psychological training, the WFA has developed the habit of carving out 10% in each grant to go to the well-being of the organisation.
“It’s up to them to decide how to spend this money,” Shahnazaryan said. It could be used for medical insurance, team-building activities or retreats.
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https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/feminist-movement-europe-eurasia-ukraine-armenia-poland-georgia/
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