For the first time since the start of the full-scale war, a march for women’s rights took place in Kyiv on March 8, bringing together more than 2,000 participants. The number of women and girls who came to the event once again emphasizes that women’s rights are a pressing issue.
The Ukrainian Feminist Network has a clear set of demands: systemic changes in the field of women’s rights in Ukraine. In particular, one of the main problems was and remains the gender pay gap. With the start of the war, it has only increased, as has the number of women performing critically important work, as well as unpaid care work and joining the military.
At the same time, as the amount of work done by women increases, the compensation they receive remains the same or even decreases. Often, recognition is purely symbolic, wrapped in beautiful words, but almost never does it amount to fair financial compensation.
The widening pay gap is just one of the many long-term consequences of full-scale war. Added to this is the increase in gender-based violence, with thousands of women and girls becoming internally displaced persons or forced to seek refuge abroad.
This can only be changed through systemic changes that will have a long-term effect. Thus, fair pay for women has been and remains the number one priority.
In addition, changes are needed to protect the labor rights and social guarantees of precarious workers.
The demands of other march participants also concerned the rights and safety of female military personnel, namely, a precise working mechanism to protect them from sexual harassment. Only recently have the first steps been taken in this direction (changes to the disciplinary code), but there is still a lot of work to be done.
The return of female soldiers and civilian Ukrainian women from russian captivity was also one of the central demands of the march.
Speaker Yevheniia Kifenko from the Ukrainian Feminist Network emphasized:
“Ukrainian women need a fair economic model based on solidarity, justice, and dignity. We need a redistribution of resources and benefits that would ensure not only equal rights but also equal opportunities.”