Law enforcement agencies are investigating more than 270 cases of sexual violence committed by invaders, - Kateryna Pavlichenko
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Kateryna Pavlichenko said this during an interview at the conference “Restoring the Rights of Victims of Sexual Violence Related to Conflict: An Element of Peace and World Security”.
Most of these crimes are documented by units of the National Police, and their number is growing. Now society is at the stage of forming a trust loan to the Ukrainian government in general and, in particular, to law enforcement agencies.
Victims of sexual violence cannot wait for “classic” reparations until the war ends, or when Russia agrees to reparations. Today we need to look for a solution. Therefore, Ukraine is actively engaged in dialogue with the world on mechanisms for accelerating reparations.
An important platform for such discussion was the conference “Restoring the Rights of Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: An Element for Peace and World Security”. The central topic of discussion was the project for the provision of urgent interim reparations.
During the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishina presented Ukraine's first project on emergency interim reparations for victims of sexual violence during the war.
“Of course, this does not relieve the pain caused by the aggressor. But together with our foreign partners, we can show that there is support and justice,” said Kateryna Pavlichenko.
Employees of the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are the first to begin, after the liberation of the territories, carry out stabilization actions and documentation, and investigation of all war crimes that were committed during the occupation. One of these crimes is sexual violence in the context of war. These crimes have no statute of limitations. If the injured person is now not ready to apply and report the crime, it is definitely worth notifying later. Now at the state level there are programs that are aimed at providing comprehensive assistance to victims of sexual violence in wartime.
Police officers on an ongoing basis undergo training and advanced training. During the two years of full-scale war, the police gained valuable experience in restoring law and order in the de-occupied territory. In addition, there are specialized mobile groups of police officers who are trained in certain algorithms for working with victims of sexual crimes and can qualitatively document this type of crime.
“We learn: to record, to provide assistance, to communicate with the victims. Social services, human rights organizations, and psychologists are involved. And it depends on how the victim or victim will provide information to the investigation. How much he or she will open up. The success of bringing criminals to justice depends on the quantity and quality of the information collected,” said Kateryna Pavlichenko.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
