Ukraine’s gaffe-prone president-elect, Victor Yanukovych, famously said during this year’s presidential election campaign that women belong in the kitchen. Like his defeated opponent, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the target of the kitchen jab, many of the nation’s women disagree.
Among them are nearly 20,000 women who work in Ukraine’s armed forces doing jobs that have traditionally been perceived as male. Many of them carry guns and train with their male colleagues daily.
The Interior Ministry also boasts thousands of women who could demonstrate a few moves that might change Yanukovych’s opinion.
Lyudmyla Khomych, 26, is one of them.
Trained as a Ukrainian language and literature teacher, she decided to pursue a career change, and joined the police instead. Later, she trained to become a professional bodyguard.
A slender blond, she likes combat fighting and shooting. “The last book I read was about difficult world of men. It was a very interesting thriller,” Khomych said. “I try to develop analytical skills and train most of the day. I feel equal to men [in my job]. I am happy I found myself.”
Khomych talks cautiously, making sure she does not give out too many personal details. It may be due to natural shyness, or due to the fact that she’s one of the few female bodyguards in Ukraine.
She works for the special Interior Ministry police division Titan, which enjoys certain legal powers reserved only for them. Unlike private bodyguards, the Titan is allowed by government to use firearms and arrest offenders on the spot. They are also permitted to rent their services out privately to VIPs, celebrities or whomever needs protection – and keep the wages.
“A bodyguard almost lives the life of another person. For men it’s easier to do,” said Oleksandr Tsaplya, head of training at Titan. For women, it’s one more untraditional role to step in to.
Khomych took up the challenge and started fighting classes, with the full support of her husband.
Titan has only two dozen female bodyguards at the moment, but more could be coming if the demand for the service grows. “We will train the right number of Ukrainian amazons,” if there is a need, said Tsaplya.
Demand might surge when football fans descend on Kyiv for the Euro 2012 European football championship.
In December, head of the state guard service at the Interior Ministry Vitaliy Hrytsak promised visitors would be able to hire professional female bodyguards if they choose to. The current price is a bargain – Hr 56 per hour, but it’s unlikely to hold until 2012.
Female bodyguards are nothing new in the West. They are often hired by film stars and the like, and praised for their ability to provide more discreet protection. With a female bodyguard inside a restaurant, nobody would guess that she’s a weapon herself – and can react appropriately in any dangerous situation. Then, if it’s a woman who needs protection, it’s always easier for a female bodyguard to follow her everywhere, even into the lady’s room.
Tsaplya insisted there are no differences between male and female bodyguards in terms of professionalism. Khomych said that women perhaps have better intuition than men.
Guarded by a squad of girls with guns, Libya’s leader Muammar el-Qaddafi would probably agree. In 2008, he arrived to Ukraine surrounded by a dozen female bodyguards. The all-women force made its debut in the 1990s as part of what Qaddafi called a campaign to raise status of women in the Arab world.
If Qaddafi acknowledges the ability of women to excel out of the kitchen in roles traditionally considered for men only, perhaps Yanukovych could do so, too.
Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliya Popova can be reached at [email protected].
