“During the full-scale war, the political activity of women in Ukraine acquired a multidimensional character: from increased volunteer and humanitarian activities to systematic participation in local initiatives, bodies…”, — write: press.unian.ua
This is evidenced by the results of the sociological study “Political participation of women in times of war and reconstruction: local and national level”which was presented during a press conference in the press center of UNIAN.
As the survey showed, women’s motivation consists in the need for a combination of pragmatic (ensuring security, helping the family, rebuilding) and value-political motives (patriotism, sense of responsibility, desire for representation). At the same time, forms of activity are often transformed into one another – a volunteer becomes a leader of a public initiative, and a volunteer becomes a candidate or expert in the local council.
The head of the non-governmental organization “Kremenchuk Anti-Corruption Center” Oksana Guida and the psychologist, social activist, project facilitator Olena Nesterova, who presented the research, said that the discussion about the future of women’s political participation was mainly focused on several key perspectives: the role of women in post-war reconstruction, expectations regarding their participation in the political process, technologies and strategies of involvement, as well as systemic changes in society after the war. All groups emphasized that society is going through a process of deep transformation, in which women will play an increasingly important role.
“There is a contradictory process in Ukrainian communities: the war expands the actual roles and burdens of women, but the dominant gender order and frames continue to make their political subjectivity invisible, limiting access to decision-making and reproducing old barriers in new conditions,” Guida said.
According to the results of the survey, the general mood of the participants can be reduced to a thesis: the war has radically changed the boundaries of what is possible for women, and the changes are irreversible. As the moderator emphasized in one of the interviews, “this is a period when women will have to shoulder a lot of responsibility” (Khmelnytskyi). This context frames the entire discourse about the future.
The main forms of political activity of women during the war: volunteering and humanitarian work; public activity; participation in local self-government; informal leadership roles in communities, advocacy, information and online activism, etc.
“Women create and manage public organizations, focus on social services, advocacy, local communities. Public organizations provide a platform for expressing leadership,” Nesterova noted.
The survey was conducted by the non-governmental organization “Kremenchuk Anti-Corruption Center” as part of the “RUH_#Women Reviving Ukraine” project, with the support of the Representative Office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Ukraine during July-August 2025.
Number of participants: 63 (an average of 10 per 1 focus group).
Composition of the focus group: depends on the macro-region of the FG-research. Approximately: women – 8; men – 2. Of them: residents of regional and district centers – 5; residents of the periphery – 3; VPO – 2.
Geography of the study: Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipro, Odesa, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi.