Violence is one of the most common problems that women from vulnerable groups have addressed to paralegals over the 5 months of working with the Foundation.
These are 153 cases of humiliation of honor and dignity, beatings and blackmail, and threats to disclose the diagnosis.
Of these, only 37 cases of refusal of police assistance were registered. And at the same time, there were 8 repeated appeals for violence.
What can the paralegals with whom the Foundation cooperates do if the victim refuses to file a police report?
Olena Makaya, regional coordinator of the CO “Positive Women” in Zaporizhzhia region
– In my experience, the most effective assistance in cases where a woman refuses to report her abuser to the police is
- self-help groups, where girls who have gone through this path and decided to leave their abuser and are doing well share their experiences;
- work with a psychologist. This is a gentle way of change that will still put a woman on the path to fighting the problem.
Olena Pylypiuk, director of the Khmelnytskyi office of the charity organization Positive Women:
– If a woman refuses to file a complaint against her abuser, then I can offer her the following options for help:
- temporary shelter for the family – one of several in Khmelnytskyi;
- volunteers’ help with transportation of the victim’s family to relatives or friends who can provide temporary shelter;
- cooperation with the Polina unit, which is a specialized mobile police team to combat violence, one of which operates in Khmelnytskyi.
We would like to remind you that if you belong to one of the vulnerable groups and have a legal problem, you can solve it free of charge in the following ways:
- You can contact the paralegals involved in the Foundation’s project through the communities. They will solve your problem on their own or refer you to a lawyer.
- The same legal advice can be obtained anonymously through a specialized chat at https://t.me/vulnerableua_bot. This is a direct access to legal experts on the protection of the rights of people vulnerable to HIV. In times of war, the chat also works!
- You can always contact the lawyers of the free legal aid system at the place of residence or call them by toll-free phone 0800 213 103.
The Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation implements the project “Paralegal Assistance to Victims of Discrimination, in particular to Victims of Gender-Based and Domestic Violence” with the support of “100% Life” – PLWH Network
