Lab Director Charli Carpenter Presents Ukraine Survey Data at Oxford Consortium

Human Security Lab Director Professor Charli Carpenter traveled to Europe this week, during which she presented the lab’s new survey research on the gender implications of Ukraine’s martial law at the Oxford Consortium Alumni Network event “Using a Gender Lens to Analyze the War in Ukraine.” Other speakers on the panel included University of Aberystwtyh’s Jenny Mathers, and International Crisis Group’s Olga Oliker.

Dr. Oliker acknowledged on the panel that the gender dimensions of Zelensky’s travel ban on men 18-60 were largely overlooked with serious humanitarian impacts, an issue acknowledged by the International Crisis Group during the early days of the war. Human Security Lab shared a memorandum with human rights and humanitarian NGOs last summer recommending they encourage Ukraine to allow humanitarian safe passage for all civilians.

As part of Human Security Lab’s research into the refugee crisis in Ukraine, Dr. Carpenter and a team of graduate and undergraduate students collected a random survey of over 3,000 Ukranian internet users last July and analyzed hundreds of open-ended comments about the travel ban on Ukrainian men and boys. They found fewer than half of Ukrainians support the law remaining in place and even among those, many want to see changes in the rules on freedom of movement. The largest group of respondents provided a variety of arguments about alternatives to such a policy that could both align better with human rights, protect civilian families and support the war effort.

The event took place during a trip to the Netherlands where Carpenter also liased with civilian protection specialists at Dutch NGO PAX, whose mandate includes the impartial protection of war victims. The Lab aims to continue its research and stakeholder engagement on this issue over the spring months, while also continuing its work on gender equality in Afghanistan and the impact of humanitarian disarmament advocacy.