Abstract

BERMAN, Sidney K.. The effects of displacement on rural women's lives: The case of Ukraine and the book of Ruth. Herv. teol. stud. [online]. 2023, vol.79, n.3, pp.1-10. ISSN 2072-8050.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v79i3.8013.

As of the time of publication of this article (March 2023), Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused a European refugee crisis, death and displacement of countless Ukrainians, worldwide food shortage, fuel crisis, and inflation. By comparing the Ukrainian example and the Book of Ruth, this article demonstrated that the effects of forced migration, food shortage and arrested economic productivity are tilted against women. This results in sudden additions of responsibilities of family headship and breadwinner, inability to provide meals for the family, and difficulty to re-establish a livelihood due to the double burden of care. The methodology of the article was qualitative and gendered. In its interpretation of the biblical text, it was also allegorical and literary while for gathering the Ukrainian data, it was textual. One of the key findings of the study was that during displacement and crisis, women, unlike their male counterparts, tend to carry the family with them wherever they go, which means that women by far bear greater burdens of these variables. The discussions in the sections of the article merged the gendered situations, mindsets and events of the Book of Ruth with those of the Ukrainian context. CONTRIBUTION: Using the examples of the Russo-Ukrainian war and the character of the biblical Book of Ruth, this article examined the effects of displacement, food crisis and arrested economic production on women. This topic is aligned with the journal's focus on religion, gender equality and environmental preservation, all of which fall within the journal's scope.

Keywords : Ukraine; war; Book of Ruth; displacement; women; food crisis; double burden.

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