Women’s voices must be heard in the public and political life of Ukraine

War and displacement in Ukraine have affected men and women differently, particularly through increased economic insecurity for women, expanded unpaid care responsibilities, greater community survival roles, and reduced participation in decision-making and peace negotiations. While the conflict affects both women and men, it has generated gender-specific structural barriers that reshape economic, political, and social norms. At the same time, women have assumed expanded roles in community leadership, humanitarian response, and local governance, highlighting both the unequal burdens of war and women’s critical contributions to resilience and recovery. 

Women and children represent around 76% of the 5.9 million refugees globally who have fled Ukraine. Around 56% of the 4 million internally displaced persons are women.

Women’s participation in the Armed Forces of Ukraine has grown substantially in recent years. According to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, more than 70,000 women currently serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including over 5,500 serving on the front line. While this reflects a significant expansion of women’s military participation, gender-sensitive reintegration measures remain insufficient. Female veterans continue to face barriers regarding  access to  childcare especially after demobilization, psychosocial support, and employment, with limited integration of gender-responsive practices across national reintegration frameworks. 

Women are keeping society together during the war.

Women have long played a vital role in Ukraine’s political and civic life, and during the war they have become central actors in community volunteerism and resilience.

They contribute to security, humanitarian response, economy, and community recovery, often leading grassroots organizations, civil society groups, and volunteer networks.

Yet their participation in strategic decision-making remains limited. The creation of Military-Civil Administrations reshaped governance, but only two women lead a regional administration among 24 oblasts (Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia). Governance has become more centralized, limiting space for gender-responsive and balanced leadership. 

Women’s hard-won representation may face risks because of the war.

Before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine made significant progress in women’s political representation. 

The introduction of mandatory gender quotas contributed to a substantial increase in women's representation in local government. Following the 2020 local elections, women accounted for approximately 36 per cent of elected local council members, compared to around 15 per cent in oblast councils in 2015. Women's representation reached 28.4 per cent in oblast councils and 33.8 per cent in rayon councils, while between one-third and two-fifths of community council members were women. However, women remained significantly underrepresented in executive local leadership positions, comprising fewer than 10 per cent of elected mayors.

At the national level today:

• 21% of MPs are women  
• 25% of the executive branch are women  
• Only 4 out of 16 ministers are women, including a woman Prime Minister  

However, since the full-scale invasion, many of these gains have stalled or are at risk of reversal due to increased unpaid care work, new roles women have gained in the community as first responders and volunteers, migration abroad, and displacement from temporarily occupied territories. 

Invisible Barriers to Women’s Political Participation

Women’s political participation is constrained by a combination of war-related pressures and structural gender inequality.

Women’s war time leadership should be fully recognized and promoted. While women are actively participating in voluntarism, community recovery, and social assistance, they are less represented in key decision-making roles, especially at the regional level in senior leadership and decision-making positions. The war has intensified traditional gender norms, creating a more masculinized environment where women may find it difficult to increase political representation without special measures and  conducive environment for better inclusion.  

Care burdens and psychological exhaustion

Increased unpaid care work, displacement, migration, and trauma impact women’s participation in political life. Many women have taken on more social and domestic care roles during the war, stayed in their communities—especially in frontline cities and hromadas—and continue leading cities and communities, supporting recovery, and sustaining essential services despite immense security challenges brought by the war. Women’s local community-level leadership needs to be translated into political leadership.

Ensuring Refugee Women’s Equal  Participation in Decision-making During Post-War Elections

With women and children forming the majority of refugees, political inclusion is central to Ukraine’s future post-war elections and recovery.

One of the key risks of Ukraine’s post-war elections is the risk for declining political participation of women especially refugees,  internally displaced and vulnerable women such as survivors of war crimes. Although women constitute the majority of Ukrainians  displaced abroad by the war , residency requirements, insuficiant out-of-country voting mechanisms, and limited enforcement of gender quotas may significantly reduce their ability to vote, run as candidates, and eventually influence political decision-making and inclusivity of post war elections. At the same time, the growing militarization of the political environment and dominance of male-led security structures risk further sidelining women’s representation and influence on inclusive recovery and democratic governance.  

Guaranteeing political rights for refugee women is essential not only for democratic processes, equality and inclusion but also for sustainable return, human capital recovery, and long-term national resilience.

No Elections During War

A significant milestone in advancing women’s political participation was the adoption of Ukraine’s Electoral Code in 2019, which introduced mandatory gender quotas for electoral party lists. The reform requires that at least two candidates of each gender be included in every five positions on party lists, helping to promote more balanced representation of women and men in elected office.

Elections remain suspended under martial law. Public opinion strongly supports no elections during the war:

• 69% believe that elections should be held only after a final peace agreement and a complete end to the war  (KIIS, 2026).  
• Civil society has warned that wartime elections would be “extremely dangerous.”

Key operational and complex challenges include security guarantees, temporarily occupied territories, out-of-country voting, voting by IDPs, and military personnel. 

Challenges to Sustaining Women's Political Participation

Public support for women’s participation in political and public life in Ukraine has grown in recent years, accompanied by important reforms aimed at strengthening women’s representation in elected office and decision-making. However, significant challenges remain, including persistent gender stereotypes, barriers to political leadership, unequal access to decision-making positions, and the disproportionate impact of the war on women’s participation in public life. Despite notable progress, achieving gender-balanced representation will require sustained commitment from institutions, political parties, and society as a whole.

International evidence shows that women’s political participation often declines after conflict, as attention shifts from inclusion to reconstruction.

For Ukraine, risks include:

• Increasing masculinization of political life including political party policies and campaigning  
• Prevalence of gender stereotypes and social norms detrimental to women’s equal and full political participation and representation  
• Exclusion of women from recovery processes and transitional governance  
• Absence of women at negotiation teams and their participation in peace processes  

Building Gender-Responsive Governance

To safeguard democratic inclusion, key actions are urgently needed:

• Strengthen women’s leadership pipelines through training and mentorship  
• Fully enforce gender quotas at all governance levels  
• Improve institutional and financial support for women politicians  
• Combat sexism, harassment, online violence and discrimination in political parties  
• Implement gender-responsive budgeting  
• Guarantee inclusive electoral reform, including protections for refugee women candidates  
• Ensure women’s participation in transition, governance and peacebuilding processes  

Conclusion: Inclusion Cannot Wait Until After the War

Women have been essential to Ukraine’s resilience and demonstrated a  war-time leadership, yet their political space is narrowing at a critical moment.

Without special measures and targeted action and a whole society approach, there is a real risk that post-war reconstruction will deepen existing gender inequalities in political agency and exclude those who have sustained society throughout the war and displacement. Ensuring women’s full and equal participation is therefore not optional but fundamental to Ukraine’s democratic governance, future post-war elections, recovery and sustainable peace.  It requires immediate commitment from national institutions, political actors, media and international partners to integrate gender equality and non-discrimination as primary pillars across all recovery, governance, and electoral processes now rather than after the war ends.