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26 April, 2023
How does the society treat servicewomen and do they have equal rights with men?

The Ukrainian Veterans Foundation and the Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO) presented the strategic concept of veteran policies entitled Dignity and Respect. 

The experts analyzed the risks of discrimination against various social groups in the Ukrainian army.

2,000 respondents in all regions participated in the study survey, except for the occupied Crimea and districts of Donbas. The experts asked questions about their attitude to the UAF, national minorities, the LGBT, and gender stereotypes. 

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The range of topics also included the inequality between servicemen and servicewomen. Specifically, 35 and 32 % of the polled emphasized that the inequalities between men and women are very or rather rate. 64 % of the polled have a positive attitude towards women in the Ukrainian army. 

At the same time, 37 % of the respondents are positive that “The main calling for a woman is to become a mother.” The majority of adherents to this statement can be found among the men from western and central Ukraine. They are 50+, with secondary general education. The younger and more educated respondents present a significantly smaller category among those who agree with such a statement. 

Svitlana Musiiaka, NAKO Head of Research and Policy, emphasized: this study is only one of the aspects of cooperation of her organization with numerous veteran institutions. 

“We have launched a separate project to support the institutions introducing the veteran policy. It is supported by the Senior Special Defense Adviser in the UK Government in Ukraine. It helps us conduct the studies and continue legal consulting at the hotlines for the servicepersons. We will carry out a lot of other projects in this domain,” Ms. Musiiaka says. 

During the presentation of a strategic concept of veteran interactions entitled Dignity and Respect, representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the UAF, military and civilian experts have also talked about the present and the future of the veterans:

supporting them in adapting to their lives as civilians, simplifying access to state or commercial services, and helping with work and medical services. 

Yulia Laputina, Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, presented the contribution of her ministry. According to Ms. Laputina, the ministry launched a new project – the Veteran Mentorship Institute for qualified and trained experts to help the veterans solve their local issues. These services are specifically in demand for registration of documents, obtaining of certificates, etc. 

“A mentor will supervise a certain amount of people. For example, 50 or 100 representatives of a community. Within a district, a special veteran service will control and monitor the activities. What concerns the regional level, we offer to establish a veteran affairs unit similar to local units of other ministries. We have launched the pilots in Lviv, Dnipro, and Vinnytsia,” Ms. Laputina says. 
 

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Ruslana Velychko-Tryfoniuk, First Deputy Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, shared with us a veteran’s profile and their common needs. She presented a poll held by the organization last month. Ms. Velychko-Tryfoniuk states that a modern-day veteran is a young person, usually with battlefield experience gained before February 24, 2022. Thinking about the future, veterans are anxious about health and employment issues.

“The average age is 25 to 44. Thus, these are young people able to work. When they return from war, they need to find another job. And remain a provider in the family somehow,” the expert stresses. 

The event was held with the support of the UK Special Adviser on Defense.