International Day Against Sexual Violence in Conflict

On June 19, the world celebrates the UN International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.

The tragedy of war is not only in the flows of refugees, destroyed homes, dead and wounded. According to official data, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office is investigating 208 cases of sexual violence in the temporarily occupied territories. In the first place of the terrible “rating” is Kherson Oblast, Kyiv Oblast is the second one, and Donetsk Oblast is the third one.

What does this indicate? About the fact that all such gender-based crimes are not a coincidence. This is an algorithm of behavior that the enemy tried to apply throughout Ukraine, in every city and village. Violence is both a physical and a psychological weapon that injures not only the victim, but also his loved ones.

The day before, on the initiative of Olena Zelenska, the event “We act for the benefit of the victims” was held in Kyiv. It was said that justice is needed not only by the victims and their families. Justice is that something like this does not happen again anywhere in the world.

And in order for justice to prevail, for people to testify, to trust investigators with their stories, the state must support the victims as much as possible and provide them with the most important thing — respect, safety and a clear understanding that the victim is never to blame.

Pursuant to the letter of the Ministry of Health No. 27/15352/2-23 dated 06.06.2023, the TV program “Violence in the family and/or based on gender: counteraction, prevention and medical and psychological correction” was developed for psychiatrists, general practitioners – family doctors, therapists, narcologists. Employees of the Department of Psychiatry, Narcology and Medical Psychology of ONMedU, interns and members of the Student Scientific Society have been providing medical and psychological assistance to women who have experienced sexual violence in the temporarily occupied territories since the first months of the war. Together with our colleagues – doctors of family medicine, gynecologists, we work in multidisciplinary teams for the purpose of restoring the mental health of the victims, for the purpose of restoring justice.