WUNRN
WOMEN & CONFLICT IN
UKRAINE – PHOTO EXHIBITION
4 December 2014 –A photo exhibition "Women and
conflict in Ukraine",
organized by the UN Office in Ukraine together with the
Ministry of Social Policy and Ukrainian Women's Fund. More than 40 pictures have been selected to be
exhibited depicting stories of Ukrainian women performing different roles in
the challenging times for Ukraine.
Welcoming the visitors of the exhibition Mrs. Marina Poroshenko, the First Lady of Ukraine and President of the Petro Poroshenko
Charity Foundation,
thanked
the organizers for their attention to issues of gender violence and said:
"These pictures do not only depict women. They depict women's strengths and weaknesses, courage and vulnerabilities,
worries and pain. These women are very
different, but similar in one main thing - they do not surrender
to
difficulties. "
"Fighting that started on Maidan one year ago was
linked with a new vision of development, a new level of economic and social
development, a new level of security in the country. I am confident that these
goals and aspirations will come true much faster if women have more economic
and political opportunities, if equal access to decision-making process in the
country is provided for both men and women, "- said Mr. Neal
Walker, UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine.
The role of
women in different spheres of public life is growing worldwide, including Ukraine. According to the results of
the last parliamentary elections, there are 48 female Members of Parliament now,
representing 11% of the total number of deputies. It is the largest
number of female
deputies since Ukraine’s independence.
However, women's representation
in the central government remains very low compared to the world average, which
is 25-30%. Women's access to leadership
positions in other areas also remains limited, and in everyday life women often suffer from violence.
Commenting on
these statistics, Ms. Iryna Herashchenko, the president's representative on the settlement of the
situation in Eastern Ukraine, noted that "It is
unacceptable figure for the
country where 65% of the population are women. Of course, it is positive that there are 5 more women in the current Parliament compared to
the previous one. But still we can not talk
about social elevators in a country that largely rests on women. Today we talk about 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, and this problem is
really urgent in
Ukraine. It has been ignored
for many years in Ukraine. It is not fine that we still have not ratified the Istanbul
Convention. 12 countries
have already ratified it, and we still only debate on this issue. I
hope that the new
government, the new Parliament will do evertything to address this issue. "
The photo
exhibition "Women and conflict in Ukraine" is part of the
campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” that is held in
all countries around the world from 25 November, the International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day. This
global campaign is aimed to galvanize action to end violence against women and
girls and stress that gender-based violence is an international human rights
violation.
During her speech Ms. Nuzhat Ehsan, Representative of the United
Nations Population Fund in Ukraine, noted: "I hope that the revolution
that happened will lead to changes in this area. It will provide better
opportunities for women in employment and in the field of special legislation.
And I really hope that the media will keep an increased interest in issues of
women empowerment, authority and in particular gender-based violence. "
Unfortunately, gender based violence is widespread around the world,
and Ukraine is no exception. According to a 2014 gender based violence
prevalence survey carried out by the UN Populations Fund (UNFPA), 19,4% of
women in Ukraine aged 15-49 survived physical violence; 7,9% survived sexual
violence, 68% of survivors did not turn for help. This data proves the urgent
need and importance of raising awareness about the issue of gender-based
violence in Ukraine and taking concerted action against it.
Author
– Vladyslav Sodel. Women meet 11 territorial defence battalion "Kyivska Rus” that
returned from the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) area to their permanent location. Chernihivska oblast. Training
Center of the Land Forces of the
Armed Forces of Ukraine "Desna",
12 October 2014.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Author – Kira Dzhafarova. The
photo was taken in Station Kharkiv Volunteer Center in the beginning of
September 2014. Every day about 500 internally displaced people from
Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) area come there for help, particularly
psychological, which is provided mainly by women-volunteers.