We condemn Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine

The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine has been going on since 2014 and has claimed the lives of more than 14,000 people. The escalation we are now seeing could lead to extensive war with many casualties, a worsening humanitarian crisis and millions of refugees.

From our work during the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s and in other armed conflicts around the world, we know that women are affected by war in ways other than men. Sexual and domestic violence increases and there is a risk of systematic sexual violence as a weapon of war.

The women of Ukraine have lived with the consequences of the war for a long time. The women who for the past eight years have been working with peacebuilding in eastern Ukraine have been met with hatred, threats and suspicion. Now, they have reason to fear for their lives. The number of internally displaced persons will also increase because of Russia’s increased hostilities, as will poverty and vulnerability. A large-scale war will lead to a humanitarian crisis and widespread suffering for Ukraine’s civilian population.

—Petra Tötterman Andorff, secretary-general