81% of women and 73% of men in Ukraine believe that gender equality is an important issue for them. These and other results of the “National Survey on Equality between Men and Women in Ukraine”, conducted by the National Democratic Institute in Ukraine and commissioned by the Office of the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, were presented during a press-briefing in Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “Today we feel completely different about gender equality, equality between men and women. It is an indicator of both democratisation and maturity of society, as well as a possible indicator of the fact that we are finally aware of the added value of economic development, specifically of the involvement of women,” said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Vice prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.
The survey revealed the criteria which women and men perceive as challenges for them and the opposite sex does not understand. According to the survey, women believe that men do not understand their problems related to the upbringing of children, homework and emotional care for relatives and family members. Men, on the other hand, believe that women do not understand the challenges they face about being a family breadwinner and problems at work.
According to the study, 49% of Ukrainians believe that men and women should be equally involved in professional activities. Also, 61% of respondents seek balanced engagement of men and women in politicals. As for the family life of Ukrainians, 71% of respondents said that they want to be equally involved, but only 40% believe that both sexes are now equally involved in family life. When asked how important it is for men to participate in bringing up children, 73% of respondents noted that this is an important issue, with practially no difference between the percentage of men and women, who have chosen such answer. “This dispels the myth that equality is important only for women, in fact it is important for the whole society,” said Mary O’Hagan, Senior director of the National Democratic Institute in Ukraine.
The study also provided data showing that respondents were aware of the problems of domestic violence and sexual harassment. A quarter of respondents stated that they personally knew someone, who had been subjected to domestic violence, while 61% of respondents believed that victims should report cases of violence. Regarding sexual harassment, 13% of respondents said that they personally know victims of harassment and 65% believe that victims should report cases of violence. At the same time, the poll showed that only 22% of victims of domestic violence and 19% of victims of sexual harassment actually reported such cases.
The full version of the study can be found here.
The Vice Prime Minister also emphasized that for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, gender issues were recognized as priorities in the Government Action Program for 2018. “We adopted this year’s State Program for Equal Rights and Opportunities for Men and Women by 2021 and updated the National Action Plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 “Women, Peace, Security” for the next two years and for the first time adopted the National Action Plan 2021 on the implementation of the recommendations, contained in the final comments of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,” said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, commenting on these and other government efforts to combat gender discrimination.
