War and Feminism: a discussion with a Ukrainian sociologist and feminist about situation in Ukraine

”On the Barricades” – s04e11

14 March 2022 Maria Cernat - Boyan Stanislasvski

When we first tried to record this interview, the Kyiv-based sociologist and activist Oksana Dutchak had to quickly exit her home because of an air raid alarm. The ongoing war in her country had a dramatic effect on her life since she was forced to flee Kyiv with her family and move to the Western part of the country.

Despite these dire circumstances, Oksana Dutchak sat down with Maria Cernat and tried to explain the current situation in Ukraine, how the situation is evolving, and most importantly, how ordinary people are coping with the situation. We discussed the tragedy of a war between very close people since the Ukrainian and Russian language are very similar and a significant proportion of the country’s population live in mixed families.

Oksana Dutchak studied gender inequality in male-dominated professions in the Center for Social and Labor Research, a Kyiv-based NGO. She was a staunch anti-militarist feminist who criticized the Ukrainian government’s tendency to militarize the country. We discussed how her feminist ideals was challenged by the Russian military invasion and how life changed after this dramatic event