Gender aspects on violence: Perspectives from the Eastern Partnership region and Russia

Men’s violence against women has always been a problem but it has unfortunately also been a tabu about the topic in some contexts and difficulties for women to seek shelter and support. With Covid-19 and closed societies, the cases of domestic and gender-based violence skyrocketed and at the same time possibilities for support got severely limited.

This webinar is discussing gender-based violence both domestically but also in the context of frozen and ongoing armed conflicts in the region. This conversation is also set out to discuss what governments and civil society initiatives are, or are not, doing to prevent this violence and what methodologies and support mechanisms that exist or are missing to support victims of gender-based violence, including elderly women, girls, military and civilian women and other marginalised groups. The discussion further highlights the importance of looking at gendered security when addressing risks in different frozen and on-going conflicts of the region and how masculinity norms and cultural traditions need to be addressed to combat these kinds of crimes in a long-term perspective.

The webinar was organised within the frames of the Eastern Partnership Network and is built on a cooperation between the Swedish network members PRO Global, Nordic Ukraine Forum and MÄN. The panel consists of three women who all work with fighting gender based violence in different ways, and with slightly different methods and means in Ukraine, Moldova and Russia.

Watch the discussion here.