Ukraine

Thousands of Ukrainian women have been killed, over one million have been internally displaced, and 6.7 million now require humanitarian assistance. Women and girls comprise the majority of refugees and internally displaced persons. Women’s organizations—despite their critical frontline role—receive less than 1 percent of international aid, a gap now widened by US foreign aid cuts. Women have also been historically underrepresented in peace negotiations and have faced harassment and bias when serving in leadership roles. At the same time, women’s contributions are reshaping Ukraine’s wartime and civic landscape; nearly 100,000 women serve in Ukraine’s army, many have entered previously male-dominated sectors, and women started more than half of all new businesses in 2024. Building upon women’s Nobel-prize-winning efforts to document war crimes, including sexual violence, Ukraine became the first wartime country to provide interim reparations to survivors. Survivors of sexual violence have also submitted an official letter to the UN Secretary-General demanding that Russia be added to the UN “List of Shame” for perpetrating sexual violence.

The war continues to intensify, as Russia seeks to seize additional Ukrainian territory ahead of any future talks and spread discord throughout Europe. Ukrainian women and girls living in the more than 20 percent of territory under Russian occupation are at particular risk of abuse, with virtually no oversight or access to services. As Ukraine looks toward potential negotiations and long-term recovery, Ukrainian women are key architects of the country’s future. Civil society leaders have prepared a 10-Point Compact for Just and Sustainable Peace, urging the full inclusion of women in negotiations and warning that any settlement that freezes occupation lines without security guarantees would endanger women’s safety and undermine Ukraine’s future.

In November 2025, increasingly deadly mass drone and missile strikes by Russia on Ukraine’s power grid triggered widespread blackouts and heating outages ahead of winter, with the national transmission operator reporting generating capacity had been reduced to “zero” across many regions. Systematic attacks on power plants, gas facilities, and heating systems not only undermine women’s access to essential services but also heighten caregiving burdens in households left without heat or electricity. Prolonged darkness and confinement can exacerbate psychological strain and trauma symptoms, particularly for women and children already coping with conflict-related PTSD. Civil society groups have begun distributing solar-powered lanterns—including models pioneered by humanitarian innovator Alice Min Soo Chun—to help families manage blackout conditions. Still, without reliable power and safe shelter, women face increased risks of isolation, insecurity, and gender-based violence.

New reporting on November 19 revealed that U.S. and Russian officials drafted a peace plan requiring Ukraine to surrender territory and drastically reduce its military, conditions Ukrainian officials have rejected as unacceptable. Any settlement based on such forced concessions would entrench multiple protection threats for women and girls in occupied territories. At least 365 survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) have been documented in these territories, nearly two-thirds of whom are women. Civilians also face forced Russification, including coerced citizenship and documentation requirements, as well as arbitrary detentions and torture. Administrative controls and economic exclusion—such as losing access to social benefits or employment for refusing Russian documents—further undermine women’s livelihoods and crisis-coping capacity. With occupying authorities maintaining severe restrictions on civil and political rights, a concession-based deal that entrenches Russian control would deepen these risks, erode access to justice, and increase exposure to CRSV.

Russian authorities continue to deport Ukrainian children from occupied territories, with documented cases of forced adoption and insertion into databases of Ukrainian children available for adoption—actions condemned as emblematic of child trafficking. A recent study revealed a network of 200 facilities across Russia and occupied Ukraine used to indoctrinate children, some as young as eight, in pro-Russia ideology and military training. These practices, compounded by the US government’s defunding of key research efforts that track child abductions, deepen the erasure of children’s identities and compound long-term protection risks.

Women and girls bear the greatest burden of impeded access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, compromising their dignity, health, and safety. Up to 20 percent of Ukrainian households lack consistent access to safe water, while displacement shelters often lack lockable doors, adequate lighting, and menstrual products. Despite these gendered threats, women’s organizations remain sidelined from WASH decisionmaking.

The UN Secretary-General warned that Russian forces may be listed in his next annual report on conflict-related sexual violence—a significant step, as entities named in the report can face UN sanctions, enhanced monitoring, and restrictions on participation in peacekeeping operations. According to UN Women, more than 430 cases of CRSV have been documented so far, though this number is likely underreported; meanwhile, an estimated four million people are in need of support services for domestic abuse, sexual violence, and other forms of harm.

More than 70,000 women now serve in Ukraine’s armed forces, with the number of women in uniform up by 40 percent since 2021. Women are increasingly entering combat and technical roles such as drone operators, medics, engineers, and special forces, reflecting a shift from earlier patterns where front-line women were officially registered as cooks or support staff. Maria Berlinska, commonly referred to as the “Drone Mother,” has been instrumental in mainstreaming Ukraine’s use of unmanned aerial systems. As women take on roles central to Ukraine’s battlefield adaptation, gender-responsive policies on training, equipment, veteran care, and post-war reintegration are increasingly urgent to ensure that women are fully recognized and supported as combatants and security-sector decision-makers.

On November 19, 2025, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) co-hosted the conference “Intent to Destroy: Confronting Russia’s Campaign to Erase Ukraine and Its People,” bringing together international lawyers, historians, policymakers, and security experts to examine strategies to halt Russia’s escalating atrocities. The event highlighted the gendered dimensions of Russia’s campaign—including CRSV, mass deportation of children, and attacks on civilian infrastructure—and advanced legal and diplomatic pathways to strengthen protection for women and girls, document gender-based crimes, and ensure accountability in any future peace process.

JurFem, the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, and the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy convened consultations on strengthening women’s participation in efforts toward a just and sustainable peace. GIWPS contributed to these dialogues, drawing on its 10-Point Compact for Ukraine’s Just and Sustainable Peace, which outlines priorities identified by Ukrainian civil society and emphasizes the need for a formal consultative mechanism of Ukrainian women civil society leaders to inform the work of Ukraine’s negotiation team. These efforts represent meaningful opportunities to embed women’s leadership and protection in any future peace architecture.

Continued investment in the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, including the recent return of 23 children from occupied territories in October 2025, opens a tangible pathway for community reconciliation. A recent Georgetown University convening, “Truth-telling, Performance, and the Art of Getting Things Done,” highlighted innovative civil society and artistic responses to Russia’s forced deportation of Ukrainian children. Local authorities and partners can leverage reintegration funding to support mothers, caregivers and female-led households in receiving, caring for and rebuilding the lives of returned children.