...I'm confused. Going by the artist's notes of the first page, the artist is a fan of the Pre-Madoka MG properties, and if I understood the notes right, s/he wanted to make something that would reflect the older stuff.
...Did I misunderstand? Because... This isn't at all like a straight MG story, and more like another deconstruction like Madoka.
I think it's more like the deconstruction of only-female-can-have-special-powers genre or in other words 'Strike Witches Gone Wrong'.
The End of War, and the Start of Alienation
The war was won. (More accurately speaking, every country lost the ability to wage war on account of the magicalization of women problem.)
The women managed to protect their homelands, but when they returned home, what awaited them were the heartless men.
In the name of regulating magical powers that was recently demonstrated in warfare, laws were passed mandating that all women must wear an iron mask when outside.
In some even crueler areas, handcuffs were mandatory in order to stop all magical gestures.
Even though masks weren't mandatory at home, there were many men who couldn't relax unless they had the keys to the masks in their breast pockets at all times.