Gender policy of the European Union in Ukraine: new trends and constant challenges

Abstract

This article is devoted to identifying new trends and constant challenges of the EU's gender policy in Ukraine, which has become especially relevant and even inevitable in the context of the post-pandemic global crisis provoked by the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. The subject of research in the article is the external and internal steps taken by the authorities to implement gender equality in all spheres of life of the Ukrainian people, from the 90s of the last century to the present day. The purpose of this work is to analyze the main stages of the European Union's gender policy in Ukraine and determine the main ways of its implementation at the economic, legal, social, scientific, and educational levels. Objectives: to draw analogies and identify the main differences in the implementation of various mechanisms of gender equality in our state and the EU member states; carry out a detailed analysis of the key gender milestones and concepts embodied in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP); trace the dynamics and main trends of gender ratings in Ukraine based on the Global Gender Gap Report and consider the prospects for overcoming any manifestations of gender inequality in our state with personal recommendations for their elimination. The general scientific methods that were used in this work are as follows: historical – for a clear chronology of certain phenomena of the international arena, which influenced the development of gender policy in Ukraine in a variety of ways; comparative and content analysis – to highlight the main trends in the development of equality between representatives of both sexes and different genders in the EU countries (taken as a model in this case) and in our country, taking into account the peculiarities of the mentality and the so-called "psychological" genotype of each of the selected peoples. The results obtained: the EU gender policy in Ukraine is a component of the social policy of our state and that is why it is still insufficiently supported by a number of leading institutions of national importance. Conclusions: the actualization of the issue of gender equality in our country is explained at the moment by two main factors - an increase in the number of suicides among males as a result of the psychological and economic crisis caused by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a significant "jump" in such a phenomenon as domestic violence due to the spread of the above-mentioned infection; it is necessary to introduce national educational programs to disseminate academic knowledge regarding gender equality issues among all clusters of Ukrainian society, especially among children, youth and the elderly, who are usually considered to be the most vulnerable categories of the population in any country.