Women’s Right to Vote in Ukraine
Women’s Day Ukraine / November 20, (1917)
Introduction
Ukraine’s path to women’s suffrage has been shaped by its complex political history, transitioning through various regimes and political systems. The struggle for women’s voting rights in Ukraine is intertwined with the broader historical context of the region, including periods under Russian Imperial rule, Soviet governance, and finally, independence.
The Beginning: November 20, 1917
Women in Ukraine first gained the right to vote on November 20, 1917, when the Ukrainian People’s Republic, in one of its earliest legislative acts, granted universal suffrage to all citizens over 20 years of age, regardless of gender. This momentous decision came shortly after the establishment of the Ukrainian People’s Republic following the collapse of the Russian Empire during the 1917 Revolution.
Historical Context
Prior to 1917, Ukraine was largely under the control of the Russian Empire, where women had few political rights. The women’s movement in Ukraine began to gain momentum in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, alongside growing nationalist sentiments and calls for political reform.
During this period, women’s organizations emerged that advocated not only for suffrage but also for broader social and political rights. These organizations operated within the complex political landscape of the time, navigating both Ukrainian national aspirations and the influence of broader Russian women’s movements.
Key Women in the Ukrainian Suffrage Movement
Olena Pchilka (1849-1930)
Born Olha Drahomanova, Olena Pchilka was a prominent writer, ethnographer, and women’s rights advocate. As the mother of renowned Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka, she established one of the first Ukrainian women’s organizations and published the feminist journal “Pershyi vinok” (First Wreath) in 1887, providing a platform for discussing women’s rights.
Sofia Rusova (1856-1940)
A significant figure in Ukrainian education and women’s movements, Rusova founded numerous educational institutions and actively participated in the women’s rights movement. She advocated for women’s education and political rights, understanding that education was key to women’s emancipation and political participation.
Milena Rudnytska (1892-1976)
Though active slightly later in the suffrage timeline, Rudnytska became one of the most influential Ukrainian female politicians in the interwar period. She was elected to the Polish Sejm (parliament) representing Western Ukrainian territories and was a fierce advocate for women’s and national rights.
Women’s Suffrage Under Soviet Rule
The establishment of Soviet power in most Ukrainian territories by 1920 brought a different approach to women’s rights. The Soviet government officially granted women equal political rights, including the right to vote and stand for election. However, these rights existed within the context of a one-party state where genuine political choice was limited.
The Soviet period saw the implementation of policies aimed at bringing women into the workforce and public life, but these initiatives often served state interests rather than autonomous women’s movements. Women’s departments (zhenotdel) were established to improve women’s status but operated within strict ideological boundaries.
Independent Ukraine and Women’s Political Participation
When Ukraine gained independence in 1991, women’s suffrage was already established. However, the challenge shifted to increasing women’s actual participation in politics and governance. Despite formal equality, women remained underrepresented in political institutions during the early years of independence.
Recent decades have seen gradual improvements, with significant milestones including:
- The election of Yulia Tymoshenko as Ukraine’s first female Prime Minister in 2005
- The implementation of gender quotas for political parties in 2013, requiring at least 30% representation of either gender on party lists
- Increasing numbers of women in Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), growing from just under 8% in 2012 to over 20% following the 2019 elections
Challenges and Progress
Despite over a century since gaining suffrage, Ukrainian women continue to face challenges in achieving full political equality. Traditional gender roles, economic disparities, and institutional barriers have historically limited women’s political participation.
However, recent years have shown promising trends, with more women assuming leadership roles in civil society, government, and politics. The 2014 Euromaidan Revolution and subsequent Russian aggression have paradoxically created new opportunities for women’s civic engagement and leadership, as women played significant roles in volunteer movements, military support, and humanitarian efforts.
Women’s Right to Vote in Ukraine
The journey of women’s suffrage in Ukraine reflects the nation’s complex political history. Beginning with the landmark legislation on November 20, 1917, that granted women the right to vote, Ukraine has progressed through various political systems, each affecting how women’s political rights were exercised in practice.
Today, as Ukraine continues its path of democratic development amid significant challenges, the full realization of women’s political participation remains a work in progress—building on the foundation laid by early suffragists over a century ago. The ongoing struggles for gender equality in Ukrainian politics honor the legacy of those pioneering women who first fought for the basic right of suffrage in the early 20th century.
Women’s movement in Ukraine
In Ukraine the development of organized groups of women sharing common goals and common interests was hampered by the nonexistence of a Ukrainian state and the severe limitations placed upon Ukrainian community organizations by various foreign authorities. Nevertheless, from the 1880s on, Ukrainian women managed to create effective organizations under all the states that occupied Ukraine—the Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary and interwar Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and even the USSR. Women’s organizations were also established by immigrant women in Europe and the New World. Ukrainian women’s organizations were primarily self-help and community-oriented in nature. The members were not initially interested in feminism, women’s liberation, or traditional women’s causes such as the struggle against prostitution and the promotion of philanthropy, education, and suffrage. Instead the thrust of the women’s movement in Ukraine was similar to that under all colonial regimes: it addressed the needs of the entire community, and not only of women.
Organized Ukrainian women sought to expand the role of women in existing institutions and the national-liberation struggle and to ameliorate poverty, disease, and illiteracy. They adapted to existing institutions and mores and, instead of challenging society, highlighted the importance of the family and of the economic and socializing role of the mother. They also, however, maintained their political independence and did not become adjuncts of male-dominated political parties. As the women’s organizations grew, opposition forced women to articulate a feminist agenda. Interest in feminism among those women developed as a result of their activism.
> Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine
A Mosaic Model of Gender Democracy in Ukraine
From the book Gender, Politics and Society in Ukraine
With the results of the 2004 elections, when pro-European forces came to power, Ukraine for the first time openly declared its commitment to follow the European way of development and to seek membership in the European Union (EU). Governmental policy aimed at European integration was confirmed by the Ukraine – EU Action Plan signed in 2005. According to the plan, the state assumed obligations to re-spect and implement program documents of the United Nations and the European Commission and to promote equality between women and men in social and economic life (Plan dij Ukraina – Evropejsky Sojuz 2005, 10). In this context Ukraine’s movement towards European norms of democracy becomes a central concern to policy makers in the country, and this includes heightened awareness of gender equality standards within the European Union.
> degruyter.com/document/doi/10.3138
Ukrainian Women’s Congress
Nov 26, 2020 – Ukrainian Women’s Congress is an on-going public platform, which annually forms the gender policy agenda for Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, government, private sector, civil society and media.
Has Ukraine’s ‘Revolution of Dignity’ left women behind?
Oct 26, 2015 – by Francesca Ebel
Ukraine’s Euromaidan revolution called for dignity and justice, but almost two years later gender equality is not a priority on the Ukrainian political agenda – not even for female lawmakers.
› opendemocracy.net/5050/francesca-ebel/has-ukraines-revolution-of-dignity-left-women-behind