Some trans people, like many other Ukrainians, want to leave the country because of the widening socio-economic crisis.
Ania, a 29-year-old trans woman from the western Ukrainian city of Rivne, who started her transition at the end of 2019, needs the details on her passport changed so she can move to Canada under that country’s emergency travel scheme. But at the moment, she says, the conscription office isn’t removing anyone from the register.
The Defence Ministry, which oversees the conscription office, did not respond to openDemocracy’s request for comment.
“There won’t be normal life in Ukraine,” says Ania, who currently works in quality control at a factory. “Corruption is high, the judicial system doesn’t work, there are a lot of taxes for everyone. I want to go to Canada to earn enough money for housing. Costs in Ukraine are very high and it’s impossible to make enough money in wages.”
Skvortsova is hoping that Ukraine’s economy will pick up soon. She recently started treating her depression with medication donated by support groups, and says she has been feeling better and now has enough strength to finish her transition. She plans to buy broken laptops online, repair them and sell them on. If the plan works, it might bring her some financial stability.
“Lately, I have been in a positive mood, because I see that we are starting to climb out of this hole a little bit,” she said, explaining that it feels like people are returning to Ukraine and there’s a bit more money around. “More people can pay me for my services,” she says.
“I didn’t want to leave Ukraine at the beginning of the war. I want to go to Europe as a visitor, not as a refugee. It is a matter of principle, the Russians should leave Ukraine, not us,” she says.
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