This thesis is an investigation of the lack of a women's movement in the East Ukraine. The state was found to play an insufficient role in the development of a women's movement in the East Ukraine. The state inefficiency is due to the ideology that remains centralized and consolidated even after the period of democratization and liberalization in 1991. The reasons for this are complex, yet linked to the regional divide and political polarization in the East and West Ukraine. The direct state influence that prevents a national women's movement from forming includes: lack of state funding, political division between the regions, state rhetoric surrounding traditional family values and a rejection of feminism in society, all of which results in a lack of feminist consciousness in the national government. Lack of state funding for independent women's organizations decreases the resources available for women to mobilize their interests in a women's movement.