Gender-Based Violence in Ukraine: Empirical Evidence and Policy Interventions

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Gender-Based Violence in Ukraine Empirical
Evidence and Policy Interventions

• Ganna Gerasymenko, PhD (Economics)
• Institute for Demography and Social Studies,
• NAS of Ukraine

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Paper Background and Introduction

• Recent developments in legislative and
  institutional environment Law On Prevention of
  Domestic Violence (2001) with specification of
  legal bases of preventing and combating violence
  in a family, Law On Ensuring Equal Rights and
  Opportunities of Women and Men (2005), Law on
  Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (2011), Law
  on Bases of Prevention and Combating
  Discrimination in Ukraine (2013), related
  amendments to legislation, etc. national
  machinery on gender equality under supervision of
  the Ministry of Social Policy.
• However, there is evidence of multiple
  manifestations of gender discrimination in social
  and economic life numerous cases of GBV revealed
  in domestic violence, rape, physical assault,
  sexual harassment and human trafficking. Based on
  2014 survey data, 19.4 of women aged 19-49
  suffered from physical violence in Ukraine, while
  another 7.9 - from sexual violence moreover,
  almost 70 of victims do not apply for any kind
  of assistance.
• There is a lack of empirical evidence on GBV, as
  it is frequently invisible due to societal,
  cultural and religious barriers. Few available
  data are often unreliable and even misleading,
  providing no opportunity for a deep analysis and
  profiling of victims and perpetrators. A weak
  governmental response to the problem requires
  analysis of policy failings and estimation of the
  national machinery efficiency in prevention of
  GBV and assisting the victims.
• Finally, the armed conflict in the Eastern
  Ukraine has put another particular challenge in
  terms of GBV. Though there is still no any
  reliable statistics on prevalence of violence
  against women presented by any side of the
  conflict, human rights activists and womens NGOs
  report about multiple cases of rape, torture,
  human trafficking cases.

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Gender Violence Issues of Terminology in Ukraine

• Law of Ukraine on Domestic Violence Article 1.
  Determination of terms
• domestic violence - any intentional actions of
  physical, sexual, psychological or economic
  nature committed by one family member in relation
  to other family member, if these actions violate
  constitutional rights and freedoms of a family
  member as a person and citizen and inflict moral
  harm on her/him, harm to her/his physical or
  psychical health
• physical DV - intentional causing by one family
  member to other family member of beatings, bodily
  harms, that can lead or has led to death of a
  victim, violation of his/her physical or
  psychical health, causing of harm to her/his
  honour and dignity
• sexual DV - illegal encroachment of one family
  member on sexual inviolability of other family
  member, and also action of a sexual nature by one
  family member in relation to a juvenile family
  member
• psychological DV - violence, related to influence
  of one family member on the psyche of other
  family member by verbal offenses or threats,
  pursuit, intimidations which intentionally cause
  emotional uncertainty, inability to protect
  her/himself and can cause or causes harm to
  psychical health
• economic DV - intentional deprivation by one
  family member of other family member of
  habitation, meal, clothes and other property or
  funds, for which a victim has a legal right, that
  can cause her/his death, harm to physical or
  psychical health.
• Criminal Code of Ukraine Section IV Crimes
  against sexual freedom and sexual inviolability
  of a person
• Article 152. Rape, Article 153. Violent unnatural
  gratification of sexual desire, Article 154.
  Compulsion to sexual intercourse, Article 155.
  Sexual intercourse with a sexually immature
  person
• Law of Ukraine On Combating Trafficking in Human
  Beings
• trafficking in human beings - settlement of an
  illegal agreement, the object of which is a human
  being, as well as recruitment, transportation,
  harbouring, transfer or receipt of a human being
  for purpose of his/her exploitation, including
  sexual, by means of deception, fraud, blackmail,
  abuse of a persons position of vulnerability or
  by use of force or threat of use of force, with
  abuse of power or economic or other dependence of
  the victim on another person, which is considered
  a crime under the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
• Law on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities of
  Women and Men
• sexual harassment verbally expressed sexual
  actions (threats, intimidation, scurrilities) or
  physical actions (touching, patting) which
  humiliate or offend persons in the state of work,
  service, material or other subordination.

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Gender-Based Violence in Ukraine Available Data
Sources

• 1) Administrative statistics Ministry of
  Internal (number of registered crimes and
  complains) State Court Administration (number of
  convictions and appeals to courts) Ministry of
  Social Policy (number of survivors assisted
  through social service centers and shelters)
• 2) Data collected by assisting NGOs,
  international organizations (UN agencies, IOM,
  OSCE, HRW, etc.), civil society activists
• 3) Population-based surveys targeted at
  prevalence assessment and expert estimations
  (special thematic surveys and particular
  modules) Demographic and Health Survey 2007,
  Violence Against Women Survey - 2014

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Prevalence of GBV in Ukraine the recent trends
Domestic violence Ministry of Social Policy of
Ukraine 144,848 appeals about domestic violence
registered in Ukraine in 2013 (increased by 32
compared with 2012). Most of the complaints about
cases of domestic violence come from women
(126,498). Trafficking in Human Beings IOM in
Ukraine the number of applying victims is
declining (from 1,085 victims identified in 2010
to 903 in 2014). Also, proportion of women among
VoT has changed from 86 in 2004 to 42 in 2014.
Sexual exploitation has dropped from 65 to 6
among types of exploitation, in contrast forced
labour has increased. Still failings in
protection policies in spite of 10,945 VoT
assisted during 2000-2014, only 81 VoT received
the official status and assistance from the
Government.
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Study Methodology

• In 2014, a Survey was realized to improve
  national gender machinery and efficiency of
  mechanism of assistance to victims of violence
  through interviews with victims and experts
• Internet-questioning of directors and social
  workers of centres / shelters on functioning of
  32 institutions.
• Collection of depersonalized data about 135
  women who stayed in centres during 2013-2014 as a
  result of being subject to violence.
• Personal flexible interviews with 6
  women-survivors of violence who were clients of
  the centres during 2013-2014.

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Profiling victims of domestic violence (based on
interviews with women-clients of specialized
centers)
Availability of children 70 of clients stay
in centres with children. Average age of a
woman-client of a center is 35.5. However women
of different age suffer from violence the
youngest was 15, the oldest 83. Different
level of education. Obtained data refutes
widespread opinion that uneducated women usually
suffer from violence 31 of clients have
tertiary education, 55 secondary education,
14 unfinished secondary education. Most of
the clients are economically active (79 ),
however very few of them work (27 ) and even
less of them receive income that allow to
financially provide for themselves and their
children. Many of women are either on maternity
leave or de-facto unemployed. Every fifth woman
does not have any occupation. Almost one third
of women are from rural area. This disproves
another myth that rural women do not turn for
help to crisis centres, and despite the fact that
these institutions are usually located in urban
areas. Absence of their own dwelling. Only 40
of women-clients had their own dwelling. And
these women were co-owners of apartments and
houses with people who in most cases were
perpetrators.
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Profiling of perpetrators
Most of them are men (91 ) In most cases,
they are people of middle age (46 aged 31-40),
people aged below 25 were not revealed by the
research. Level of education of perpetrator is
lower than education level of victims, however
one third of perpetrators (26 ) have tertiary
education. Most of the perpetrators are
partners of women (cohabitants 38 , husbands
27 ). Others are usually relatives (father,
mother, brother, son, sister), rarely
former-husbands, employers, neighbours etc.
Typical problem is addiction to alcohol and / or
drugs abuse.
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Factors that limit the access of women-survivors
to services of specialized institutions Low
level of awareness among women due to the lack of
information about such institutions, services and
conditions that they provide to clients. Low
level of confidence in any social institutions
among women-survivors. Lack of available places
in institutions. This factor was mentioned by
specialists of 42 surveyed centres. The need
to stay in institutions with a child (children).
Provisions about some institutions envisage stay
for adults only. Lack of funding. Some of the
institutions do not have budgets to provide
meals, the issue of maintenance is not solved,
heat supply is absent. Health condition of
women. According to Typical Provisions that
constitute basis for functioning of many crisis
centres, women with considerable health problems
cant become their clients. Age of women to
some extent. Every fourth surveyed institution
was a center for mother and child. According to
the Provision about such institutions, the age of
their clients may be from 18 to 35 years old.
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Proportion of respondents who have faced any type
of violence during last 12 months among
internally displaced persons in Ukraine, 2014 ()
Type of violence personally personally personally personally personally towards other people towards other people towards other people towards other people towards other people
Type of violence W- HH PW men (60) women (60) total W- HH PW m (60) w (60) Total
Psychological 18 18 17 14 17 28 28 24 20 26
Physical 17 13 20 11 16 24 19 25 17 22
Economic 18 9 12 12 15 22 28 27 17 22
Sexual 0.2 0 0 0 0.1 1 2 0 0 0
Any type of violence 29.5 29.5 29.5 29.5 29.5 39.8 39.8 39.8 39.8 39.8
W-HH women household heads PW pregnant women
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The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Public Attitude
to Gender-Based Violence and Discrimination
Survivors of domestic violence suffer from double
discrimination, double violation of their rights,
as having suffered from violence, they are then
faced with the lack of response of the government
and law enforcement agencies to complaints and
appeals for protection of their
rights. Interviews with victims of GBV Of
course, the Law plays a positive role. Law
enforcement agencies have to be aware of the
problem of violence. However, a female survivor
fearing condemnation remains in a state of dual
violence. Many Ukrainian women suffer from
domestic battery and psychological trauma, often
not daring to seek for professional help in order
not to wash dirty linen in public. Women often
suffer abuse from men to the bitter end, in order
not to destroy the family. We need to include
the basics of gender expertise in the education
system, at schools and other educational
institutions.
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Failings in policy of gender-based violence and
further recommendations

• Preparing for ratification and ratifying
  Convention on preventing and combating violence
  against women and domestic violence (Istanbul,
  2011) with subsequent large-scope nation-wide
  campaign on dissemination of its provisions
• Finalizing the Law On preventing domestic
  violence through offering the efficient mechanism
  of assistance and protection of victims and
  allocation of sufficient funds
• Development of normative documents regulating
  providing of social services to victims of
  violence, adjusting social standards, etc.
• Development of the unified statistics system on
  GBV
• Devising methods and training specialists
  involved into work with families experiencing
  domestic violence with the victims, the
  perpetrator and children, when applicable (social
  workers, police officers, judges, lawyers)
• More active implementation of corrective programs
  for the perpetrators
• Public policy on transformation of social
  stereotypes and attitude to GBV.