In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, women across the country are stepping into roles traditionally held by men, as they strive to fill the workforce gaps left by soldiers fighting on the frontlines. Natalia Komnata, a mother of two, has recently trained to drive a tractor in one of Ukraine’s most vital agricultural regions, which produces wheat, soy, and sunflower oil. “With the men going off to war, I want to be part of the effort to grow food. And the work means I can provide for my family,” she said with a smile, despite the challenges of learning to drive the heavy machinery.
Komnata is among 15 women trained to operate tractors in Ukraine’s crucial agricultural sector. The initiative was spearheaded by Oleksiy Tsurika, a local agricultural company leader who saw the shortage of labor as an opportunity to employ women in essential roles. “Women are supposed to look after the home,” Tsurika said. “But my tractor drivers are now driving tanks or fighting. So why not the women?”
As hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men have been conscripted into military service, women have increasingly taken on non-traditional jobs across the country. From becoming coalminers and security guards to operating the Kyiv Metro and Lviv’s famed trams, women are challenging long-held societal norms. In the city of Kryvyi Rih, billboards show women in overalls at the Arcelor steel mill with the message: “Ladies really run things here.”
However, these advancements have come at a heavy cost. The war has exacerbated the already high rates of domestic violence in Ukraine. According to Pavlo Zamostian, assistant representative of the United Nations Family Planning Association in Ukraine, there has been a 30% increase in domestic violence cases since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Calls to the police reporting domestic violence more than doubled from 144,394 in 2021 to 291,428 in 2023.
Many of these cases are linked to returning soldiers, with a significant number of the abusers being veterans. Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s interior minister, warned that the psychological rehabilitation of veterans remains in its infancy, and without proper intervention, the country risks facing a domestic violence crisis long after the war ends.
At a women’s shelter in Lviv, Iryna, a 35-year-old from Mariupol, shares her painful story. After fleeing the Russian occupation of her city, Iryna’s relationship with her husband, an artilleryman at the front, deteriorated. The violence escalated when he returned home, and Iryna was forced to flee with her young daughter. “War turned my husband into a monster,” she said.
Shelters in Ukraine, like the one Iryna sought refuge in, are struggling to meet the growing demand. Despite the surge in domestic abuse cases, the shelters remain underutilized, with many women too afraid to report their abusers due to the societal stigma surrounding domestic violence in the post-Soviet space.
Masha Efrosynina, a Ukrainian television host and UN ambassador for domestic violence, explained that the war has set back progress in addressing these issues. “When I spoke at events and asked how many women have suffered violence at home, almost every woman raised their hand,” she shared, noting the deep-rooted cultural stigmas that keep women silent.
Despite these challenges, war has also provided some women with new opportunities for financial independence, such as tractor driving, which allows them to contribute to the economy and break free from their abusers’ control. Zamostian believes that economic empowerment programs, like those supported by the United Nations Population Fund and the British government, are vital in helping women regain control over their lives and escape the cycle of violence.
Source: The Times, UK
