Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) is a warfare tool used by the russian occupiers in the territory of Ukraine to humiliate and destroy the Ukrainian nation. A woman who has been sexually assaulted does not live in an isolated world. She can experience retraumatization while reading the news or social networks and observing the situation around her. Even simple questions: "How did you cope with it?", "How did you manage to survive the occupation?" — can trigger painful memories and excessively traumatize a woman.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which occurs in a woman after sexual assault, can be accompanied by intrusions (re-experiencing the incident), flashbacks, constant obsessive thoughts about the past, insomnia, and other disorders of the central nervous system.
Your tolerant and attentive attitude to your loved ones is crucial during this period. You may offer them help by asking "How are you feeling?". In the following video interview, Anna Hrubaia, a therapist and curator of the GIDNA project, advises on how to support your loved ones if they suffered or witnessed sexual violence during the war:
After experiencing sexual assault, a woman may feel guilty or ashamed but these are not natural feelings, they are imposed by society. In particular, due to the high level of stigmatization of sexual violence topic in society, affected women rarely seek psychological help and try to cope with the trauma on their own. However, if a woman does not have a circle of close people to whom she can confide her pain and enlist their support, therapy will be a lifesaver.
In the next episode of the video interview with a psychologist, we reveal the topic of sexual violence stigmatization and tell how society can help women survive the terrible consequences of psychological trauma.
Women who survived or witnessed sexual violence during the russian occupation may receive free qualified psychological help on the GIDNA project from the Future for Ukraine foundation.
GIDNA therapists use an integrative approach in working with women of all ages and receive constant support and supervision from specialists of the Israel Trauma Coalition.
In the project, a woman receives up to 20 free sessions with a psychologist, which will help to find inner strength and stability to move on. Please, fill out the form or call +38 (050) 909-88-81 to apply.
