On the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8th March 2022, 41 women’s organisations and other non-governmental organisations in Germany express their full solidarity with all people in Ukraine and demand an immediate cessation of hostilities by the Russian government.
As many of the signatory organisations focus their work on gender-based violence against women and girls, we wish to draw particular attention to the situation of women and girls in Ukraine. War, and the accompanying displacement and flight, always mean the threat of sexualised violence for women and girls, which is a worldwide phenomenon in all armed conflicts. For many women and girls, war also means an increase in domestic violence, traumatisation, and potential vulnerability to new structures of violence. Unfortunately, sexualised wartime violence is often trivialised or concealed. A study by Amnesty International already noted in 2020 that the extent of gender-based violence in the conflict-affected regions of Donetsk and Luhansk had significantly increased due to the conflict.
We call on political leaders in Germany and the EU to financially support and expand the work of women’s rights organisations and protection facilities for all women affected by violence and their children in Ukraine. Furthermore, all people fleeing the war, regardless of their residence status, origin, disability, gender, or religion, who seek refuge in Europe and Germany, must be granted unbureaucratic admission. Many women only dare to report the violence they have experienced after arriving in Germany. At this point, free, nationwide psychological counselling services are necessary. It is also extremely important that multilingual, culturally sensitive, and well-trained specialist staff are represented in the aid, counselling, and support structures.
War is an expression of patriarchal power structures. We demand a feminist policy that prevents these power structures in its foreign and security policy and enables a departure from the focus on military violence, dominance, and oppression.
We demand a policy that aims for long-term peace and de-escalation in Europe.
