Women in Ukraine have equal constitutional rights as men in the economic, political, cultural, and social fields, as well as in the family. Most of the around 45 percent of Ukraine's population (45 million) who suffer violence – physical, sexual, or mental – are women. History of feminism in Ukraine The history of Ukraine during the past two centuries is closely connected to that of the Russian Empire and later on the Soviet Union. Ukraine became independence in 1991 and is now a state with more than 40 million inhabitants, most of whom are Christian Orthodox, and 70% of the population is urban. One of the biggest feminist organization in Europe was founded during the 1920s in modern western Ukraine or Galicia. The organization was called the Ukrainian Women's Union and was led by Milena Rudnytska. During the Soviet-era, feminism was classified as a bourgeois ideology, hence counterrevolutionary and anti-Soviet. Civil society and feminism were virtually nonexistent in the Soviet times. After Ukraine gained independence in 1991, a feminist movement began taking root.</ref> , there are several women's rights groups active in Ukraine, including Feminist Ofenzyva and Ukrainian Woman's Union. FEMEN, the most active women's rights group in Kyiv, was officially closed in 2013. The organization left Ukraine because the leadership feared "for their lives and freedom". During the War in Donbas that started in 2014, a "huge volunteer movement of women organizing humanitarian action and community dialogue" developed, according to Oksana Potapova, a feminist and peacebuilding researcher and activist who created Theatre for Dialogue, a non-governmental organization in support of the women's volunteer movement. Violence against women Around 45 percent of Ukraine's population (45 million) suffer violence – physical, sexual, or mental – and most of them are women. Street women are the most vulnerable category; around 40 percent of them suffer from sexual violence, with 25 percent being under 18. In 2001, Ukraine enacted the Domestic Violence (Prevention) Act 2001. Article 173-2 of the Code of Administrative Offences of Ukraine also deals with "violence over family". Nuzhat Ehsan, the UN Population Fund representative in Ukraine, stated in February 2013 “Ukraine really has an unacceptable level of violence, mainly by men and mainly due to high level of alcohol consumption”. He also blamed loopholes in the legislation for contributing to the problem of domestic violence, “You can violate women and still if you are a high-level official or from