Supporting Female Refugees From Ukraine

Since Russia’s February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian citizens have experienced mass displacement. Today, three million Ukrainians are displaced within their own country and approximately seven million are refugees abroad. Germany and Poland are hosting the largest numbers. In the first month of the war, 90% of Ukrainian refugees were women and children. Three years later, the female majority remains at 63%.

This gender disproportionality is primarily due to Ukraine’s martial law requiring men ages 18-60 to be conscripted into its army. Most Ukrainian women are fleeing their homes without male family members, making them the sole caretakers of their children. Furthermore, gender-based violence, trafficking and a lack of reproductive health care threaten female refugees. Displaced women also face employment discrimination and financial instability, heightening their risk of poverty.

Melanie Nezer, Vice President for Advocacy and External Relations at the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC), explains, “Displacement disrupts community, economic and legal structures, leaving women more vulnerable to sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and in some contexts forced marriage. In families where partners remain together, the stress of the war has led to increased domestic violence. There are numerous reports of sexual violence, including rape by armed actors.” As of June 2025, there are 231 accounts of sexual violence against Ukrainian women, as a direct result of the Russo-Ukrainian war.