Europe is in the thick of a refugee crisis. Since Russia invaded Ukraine last week, and more than a million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries — a number that will keep growing according to the United Nations refugee agency. 

The majority of these refugees are women and children; meanwhile, Ukrainian men have been stopped from crossing the border in order to be made available for military conscription.

For more on the gender politics in Ukraine, The Takeaway spoke with Amb. Melanne Verveer, Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues under President Barack Obama.