Political event marking 140 years of the Ukrainian Women’s movement
DPIR MPhil in Politics: Comparative Government student Viktoriia Udaltsova is helping to organise an event charting 140 years of the Ukrainian Women’s movement later this month.
‘Untold Story: 140 Years of Ukrainian Women's Movement’ takes place in seminar rooms four and five at Wadham College at 5pm on Wednesday, 20 November.
The event will explore the historical context that shaped the Ukrainian feminist movement – largely absent from global feminist narratives - a vital aspect for understanding its unique characteristics and the challenges it faced.
The debate will also analyse the legacy of 140 years of the Ukrainian Women’s Movement in relation to waves of global feminism and the crucial role women play today in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The speaker is Dasha Nepochatova - co-founder of Creative Women Publishing, the first feminist publishing house in Ukraine, and a women’s empowerment activist with 20 years of professional experience.
She is a first-year DPhil student in Slavonic Studies at New College, Oxford, where her research examines the role of women’s almanacs in shaping feminist discourse in 19th-century Ukraine.
Dasha said:
“It is crucial for us to discuss the women’s movement in Ukraine, especially in light of the ongoing full-scale invasion by Russia. Beyond marking this remarkable 140th anniversary, we seek to address a significant gap in historical understanding from the perspective of women’s history.
"Today, Ukrainian women are not only active within civil society and volunteer movements but are also serving on the front lines as part of the armed forces.
"I’ve titled this event Untold Story because it is a narrative that has never been fully shared—not with our grandmothers, our mothers, nor even with our own generation. Sharing this story with the world is an opportunity to reclaim our identity and sense of self, honouring the enduring legacy of Ukrainian women’s resilience and activism.”
