UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 67) From 2015 to 2017, Ukraine expanded the list of those who are entitled to FLA [Free Legal Aid] to include … , women who suffered domestic violence, … .
Para 109) The Government is addressing the problem of domestic violence by focusing on raising awareness, building trust with the police, information campaigns, providing assistance to victims and prosecuting offenders.
Para 110) Draft Law on Preventing and Fighting Domestic Violence (Registration No. 5294 dated 20 October 2016) was adopted in the first reading. It provides for a mechanism of prevention and provision of effective assistance for those who have suffered from this type of violence. The adoption of this law will ensure a comprehensive approach to prevent any form of violence against women and will counteract gender discrimination.
Para 111) Since October 2016, 26 mobile teams in five regions have provided social and psychological assistance to victims of domestic violence. They consist of three members (one social worker and two psychologists) providing social and psychological services to individuals who found themselves in difficult circumstances due to gender-based violence. In the first half of 2017, these mobile teams provided social and psychological assistance to 19,329 persons, 90 percent of whom were women.
Para 112) In June 2017, the National Police launched a pilot project (“POLINA”) to deploy mobile response groups against domestic violence in three cities – Kyiv, Odesa and Severodonetsk. In the first month, 341 departures were performed, 376 applications were received, four criminal proceedings were initiated and 115 administrative protocols were drawn.
Para 113) As of mid-2017, 439 domestic violence offences have been investigated. Currently, 19 Social and Psychological Support Centers provide temporary shelter and complex assistance to persons who have been subjected to domestic violence. In 2017, 397 persons have been sent to specialized centers for rehabilitation and 2,199 persons who experienced repeated domestic violence were sent to crisis recovery centers for rehabilitation.

National Report Annex 1:
National Human Rights Strategy 2015:
The legal regulatory framework in the area of combatting gender-based violence requires improvement and shall be brought in line with international standards.
Domestic violence is of latent nature, which complicated efficient and timely measures taken by the authorized bodies to prevent and stop it.

Strategic goal:
To establish efficient system of prevention and combatting domestic violence, improve quality of care to victims of domestic violence.
Expected outcomes:
- efficient system to prevent and combat domestic violence is established, in particular, measures are taken to ensure that the authorized bodies are notified about domestic violence cases;
- the procedure of providing care to victims of domestic violence is improved, and the trainings for perpetrators on non-violent behaviour in inter-personal relations are implemented;
- awareness raising events for the population on problems and ways to combat domestic violence and the care available to victims of domestic violence are carried out;
- local measures are taken to prevent domestic violence.

UN Compilation:
Para 70) [CEDAW] remained concerned at the prevalence in Ukraine of violence against women, in particular domestic and sexual violence, which remained underreported. While noting that the bill on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention was undergoing a second reading in Parliament, it was concerned that domestic violence had not been criminalized and that there was no specific definition of gender-based violence in the domestic legislation.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 5) The recommendations on the necessity of ratification of the Council of Europe (CoE) Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), improvement of legislation on combating domestic violence and issues of ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men had not been fully implemented.
Para 68) JS4 reported that Ukraine still did not have a specific crime of domestic violence, though noting that a proposed package of laws to address violence against women, including a new domestic violence law, passed the first hearing in 2016 in Parliament. However, the legislative package was returned to the Working Group because it contained references to gender and sexual orientation. JS4 added that the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine had exacerbated the problem of domestic violence. JS15 stated that it was difficult to collect data on sexual and gender-based violence associated with the on-going conflict.
Para 69) JS4 noted that Ukraine fell short of complying with international standards on victim services, and there were no centres for victims of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence or trafficking.