WHAT REMAINS UNSEEN: THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR FROM THE GENDER PERSPECTIVE.

• Author: Wlodkowska, Agata

INTRODUCTION

The Russian-Ukrainian war has continued for more than a year. Among the causes of war, most often mentioned, are the struggle for influence; the personal ambitions of the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin; and his conviction about the weakness of the West and Ukraine. The sources of the war also include international anarchy and the lack of a mandatory judiciary.

If you put aside the reasons mentioned above and look at things from a different angle, you can see the hidden mechanisms of war that do not break through in everyday life. (1) The gender perspective is a part of the feminist approach in the study of international relations. Its supporters recognize gender as an important factor in explaining the phenomena and mechanisms of the modern world and thus undermine several basic concepts of international relations. This allows us to reconstruct many concepts such as national interest, strength and power, cooperation, as well as armed conflict. The reconstruction of the dominant realistic picture of war, its understanding and explanation, and the prevailing male narrative about the war consists, firstly, in asking the question "Where are the women?" Secondly, it involves asking to what extent omitting women in the analysis of the causes of conflicts limits the understanding of the mechanism of war. Thirdly it involves inscribing this image of non-male experiences.

It should be emphasized that there are several variants of the feminist view of international relations. What they have in common is defining masculinity and femininity in terms of socially- and culturally-constructed categories rather than biological characteristics, (2) as well as pointing to the duality of characteristics perceived as typically masculine and feminine (e.g. reason-emotions, public-private). More importantly, all variants agree that the features attributed to men by both the male and female part of society are valued more highly than the female ones. Supporters of the feminist approach recognize that objectivity, as it is culturally defined, is associated with masculinity, and therefore what is closer to women's experiences is perceived as subjective and less important. In the context of the war, the feminist perspective rejects the possibility of separating moral command from political action and seeks to find common moral elements in human aspirations which could become the basis for de-escalating international conflict and building international community. (3)

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND INTERNATIONAL PEACE

The traditional causes of wars and armed conflicts include territorial disputes, differences of interest, competition, struggle for dominance on a global scale or in the region, access to raw materials, and national and ethnic issues, as well as ideological ones. Supporters of the feminist approach also cite other reasons including the high level of violence against women and the gender gap. In their opinion, both factors contribute to a greater tendency to break international law, as well as to more aggressive international activity. (4)

Supporters of the feminist approach also see a correlation between a high level of women's representation in parliament and parity in education and a non-aggressive foreign policy. (5) In the case of Ukraine and Russia, gender gaps in terms of economic opportunities, education, and health are relatively high, while those relating to women's influence on political decisions, including those regarding foreign policy, remain very low. (6) This may translate into a limited possibility of pacifying the behavior of states.

Considering this, it is necessary to think about the situation of women in both Russia and Ukraine. The Russian Federation has not ratified the "Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence" ("Istanbul Convention"). (7) Moreover, in 2017, the Russian Duma passed a law aimed at Russian women, according to which domestic violence would be considered only an administrative offense, and not a crime, if the first incident of violence did not lead to serious bodily injury--that is, loss of sight, hearing, fractures, threat to health, and life. It should be noted that between 2011 and 2019, more than 12,000 Russian women died as a result of domestic violence, of which 81% were killed by their partners. (8)

Ukraine ratified the Istanbul Convention in 2022, ten years after it was signed. Before the 2022 Russian aggression, at least 600 Ukrainian women died each year from gender-based violence. Since 2014--the seizure of Crimea by Russia and the destabilization of eastern Ukraine--about 170 women have been killed there annually. (9) After February 24, 2022, the war remains the main threat to Ukrainian women, enhancing the possibility of loss of health and life, forced resettlement, exile, sexual violence, both war rape and violence against refugee women, and forceful prostitution. The end of the war is not synonymous with the improvement of their situation. The necessity to perform roles perceived as typically male during the war may contribute to strengthening their independence and reluctance to return to the situation from before the war of performing traditional female roles. Additionally, the return of men often affected by PTSD from the front may increase the level of domestic violence. (10)

In both countries, the increasing militarization of social life is observed. This is significant because advocates of the gender perspective see it as a crucial source of wars and armed conflicts, as well as a factor in violence against women. While in the case of Ukraine, it is a consequence of the Russian aggression of 2014 and the ongoing war, in the case of Russia it is a process initiated and sustained by its decision-makers. Militarization in Russia involves the economy as well as schools and universities, adults and children.

RUSSIA'S TOXIC MASCULINITY

The macho image of Vladimir Putin and his aggressive language coincide with the policy of the Russian Federation. The leader of Russia is a man...