(2016) Martsenyuk, Tamara; Grytsenko, Ganna; Kvit, Anna
The study bears a metaphorical title - “The Invisible Battalion” - to reflect the finding that
women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and in volunteer battalions in the ongoing conflict in
the Donbas are not given equal treatment to their male colleagues; their contributions are rarely
recognized. The theoretical background of this article brings us to the sociology of the military,
gender in organizations, and feminist perspectives of women’s participation in the armed forces.
Fieldwork to study women’s participation in the ATO (summer-autumn 2015) was conducted
using 42 in-depth semi-structured interviews with women (aged 20-47) who are, or were in the ATO.