2025-09-20 –, Kabinett
Language: English
Challenges faced by women in occupied Kherson region, where cities and villages remain under Russian control.
For a decade, I led Insha, a feminist and LGBT-inclusive organization in Kherson. On the very first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, my hometown was seized and remained under occupation for eight months. Today, many towns and villages in the Kherson region — including Skadovsk and Nova Kakhovka — are still under Russian control.
From the first days of the war, our organization provided support and evacuation for women activists, journalists, wives of Ukrainian soldiers, and LGBT community members. Through this work, I witnessed how occupation changes everyday life and exposes civilians to constant danger — with women facing specific forms of violence, intimidation, and the violation of their rights.
This lecture combines personal testimony and human rights analysis. I will share the untold stories of women who lived under occupation: their fear and survival, but also their acts of resistance and solidarity. At the same time, I will reflect on the broader human rights challenges — from gender-based violence to the silencing of civic voices — and show how Ukrainian women continue to sustain life and community even in destroyed cities.
Maryna Usmanova (b. 1979, Kherson) — feminist and queer activist, lecturer, narrative psychologist, director, and journalist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and has researched the history of anarchism in Southern Ukraine.
For over ten years she led Insha, a feminist and LGBT-inclusive organization in Kherson, where she organized community projects, queer forums, feminist marches, and human rights advocacy campaigns. She has also worked extensively in journalism, cultural projects, and documentary theatre, exploring themes of gender, stigma, and social inequality.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion and the occupation of her hometown, Maryna has been forced to seek refuge in Germany, where she has lived for the past three years. Together with colleagues, she co-founded Kwitne Queer, an organization of Ukrainian queer refugees in Germany, continuing her work in community support, political education, and human rights advocacy.