Psychologist of the GIDNA project Anna Hrubaia and representative of the public organization La Strada Ukraine Aliona Kryvuliak, on the initiative of the Future for Ukraine fund, held a joint broadcast on the occasion of the International Day of Combating Sexual Violence in Conflict on June 19.
During the broadcast, the experts discussed an actual problem for Ukrainian society — sexual violence against women by the russian military. The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine recorded more than three hundred cases of sexual violence during the full-scale invasion. Aliona Kryvuliak, an expert on countering gender-based violence, reports that 88 cases have been recorded in the public organization La Strada Ukraine. But Aliona and Anna agree that the actual number of victims is much higher.
The vast majority of women who survived sexual violence at the hands of the russian military do not seek help from psychologists:
- women believe that they can cope with the traumatic experience themselves or avoid memories of it. They dissolve in fulfilling the social roles of mother and wife and/or plunge headlong into work;
- part of the territories of Ukraine is still under occupation, so it is impossible to record all the sexual crimes of the occupiers;
- the practice of turning to a psychologist is more characteristic of young people, but among the victims of violence there are also women over 60 years old, who find it difficult to seek help from a specialist;
- victims are afraid that a session with a psychologist will look like a police interrogation.
«The psychologist's task in working with a woman is to find ways of recovery; stabilization of a woman's condition and her movement forward in life. There is no purpose to ask what, when, and how it happened formally. First, this way (psychotherapy) is safe, tolerant, and supportive,» assures psychologist Anna Grubaia.
- victim-blaming — the environment may accuse the victim of violence. For example, reprimand for untimely evacuation or insufficient resistance to the rapist;
- women are afraid of publicizing personal information, in particular, they are worried about having to provide personal documents. However, when contacting psychotherapists of the GIDNA project, anonymity is guaranteed: women can indicate a different name and not turn on the camera during online sessions.
We thank the public human rights organization La Strada Ukraine and expert Aliona Kryvuliak for hosting the broadcast on this important topic.
If you or someone you care about has been sexually assaulted by the russian military, you can get professional and anonymous free help at https://gidna.org/snpk.
