Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine and the world have witnessed unprecedented aggression and abuse in the actions of representatives of the Russian Federation. The aggressor openly and cynically flaunts the norms of international humanitarian law, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Acts of violence aimed at humiliating and demoralizing vulnerable segments of Ukrainian society are part of Russia's military strategy.
As of October 1, 2024, the Office of the Prosecutor General recorded 321 cases of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). In 115 of these cases, the victims were men, 206 were women and 16 were minors. These are the cases officially recorded by the prosecutor, which include rape, physical harm to genitals, forced nudity, threats of and attempted rape, and forcing to watch sexual abuse of close ones. According to the UN, there are from 10 to 20 times as many unreported cases of CRSV.
On February 24, 2022, the Ukrainian legal system faced an unprecedented challenge: to continue operating under conditions of a full-scale war. Today, it is clear that the system has survived and continues to fulfill its tasks, including investigations of cases of conflict-related sexual violence, development of new protocols for documenting and investigating these crimes and creation of mechanisms to protect survivors. Ukraine's experience in documenting such crimes is unique.
“Ukraine has an extensive system of assistance to survivors, encompassing medical, legal and social assistance. But this system is quite complex. That is why the biggest challenge for service providers, including the government, social support services, NGOs and international organizations, as well as law enforcement agencies, is to coordinate their actions. It often happens that some services are duplicated. Or the referral mechanism does not work, when some organizations cannot provide survivors with the necessary assistance due to lack of resources and do not know that such assistance can be provided by another structure that has the appropriate capabilities and funding,” explains Fedir Dunebabin, Ukraine-based representative of the Global Survivors Fund and the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation, established by the Nobel Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege.
However, the lack of sufficient communication and interagency cooperation in countering the combatants' actions remains a key challenge. Despite the fact that Ukrainian officials have managed to develop a separate system for recording and investigating crimes, the lack of internal coordination of those involved actually hinders the implementation of the main principle of survivor protection, “survivor-centered approach.”
After all, having found the courage to turn to law enforcement agencies, CRSV survivors are often forced to go through a grueling marathon of collecting the necessary documents, endless interrogations and “referrals.” Instead of the expected sense of safety and support, survivors experience disorientation and loneliness.
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Today, the Ukrainian model of combating the aggressor’s sexual violence includes the activities of various actors. These include government agencies, law enforcement bodies, civil society organizations, international donors, the media and human rights initiatives. Each of them has its own role in recording or investigating such crimes. However, the lack of coordination between them or duplication of functions frequently creates chaos and discourages survivors. At the same time, people who have already experienced trauma do not always have the strength to find out who is responsible for what and to overcome endless bureaucratic obstacles.
Consequently, coordinated communication and coordination among all actors is important for several reasons:
- The complexity of the problem: Combating CRSV encompasses a wide range of issues, including legal, medical, psychological and social support for survivors. One organization or institution cannot effectively respond to all aspects of the problem.
- Protection of survivors' rights: Coordination between government agencies, medical institutions and civil society organizations can ensure that CRSV survivors are provided with comprehensive protection, including immediate access to necessary services, witness protection and prevention of re-traumatization during lengthy court proceedings.
- Advocacy and international cooperation: Effective cross-sectoral coordination creates a united front to advocate for legislative changes and raise awareness at the national and international levels, thus obtaining the necessary financial and technical support.
- Monitoring and data collection: coordinated cooperation between different sectors ensures the accurate monitoring of the situation, collection of evidence and documentation of CRSV cases, which is important for justice and international reporting. It also helps to identify gaps in assistance to improve response policies.
To improve cooperation between different actors in the fight against conflict-related sexual violence, Ukraine implemented the Standing Together project. Its aim is to create a support system for survivors based on legislation, clear cooperation between institutions and the ability of key actors to provide effective assistance. The project lasted from October 2022 to October 2024 at the initiative of the Ukrainian Women's Fund International Charitable Foundation with the support of the European Union, La Strada-Ukraine NGO and the JurFem Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association.
The main areas of the project included studying the experience of combating CRSV in Switzerland, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands, training and education of specialists involved in recording, investigating CRSV crimes and providing assistance to victims, as well as developing educational materials to raise public awareness of the issue of sexual crimes.
Another task of the Standing Together project team was to actively advocate for Russia's recognition of its guilt in sexual violence against Ukrainians and holding the aggressor to account.
“Today in Ukraine, there are all the signs that distinguish wartime sexual violence as a war crime. And we insist that the Russian occupiers use CRSV as a method of warfare, direct influence on the Ukrainian civilian population to intimidate it and achieve certain military goals. In no case do they seek sexual gratification; the main thing is to humiliate, torture and subdue the will,” emphasizes Maryna Lehenka, Vice President of La Strada-Ukraine.
The unlawfulness and unprecedented cruelty of representatives of Russian military groups violates numerous international conventions and statutes. The main document in this area is the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in August 2024, which qualifies CRSV as an international crime.
According to Lehenka, given the peculiarity of the crime, representatives of the aggressor state also violate other documents of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, the Convention against Torture, the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which emphasizes its gender-based nature.
Given the scale of the Russian crimes in Ukraine, the mechanism for bringing the aggressor to justice should include:
- Development of a special legislative framework that will define the term CRSV and the status of victims, create a unified system of psychological, medical and social assistance to victims, and regulate reparations.
- Creation of a comprehensive state system for regulating, recording and investigating sexual crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. First of all, it is about “survivor-centeredness” in approaches to communication with victims, collection of evidence, as well as effective intersectoral coordination in combating CRSV.
- Interaction of Ukrainian and international governmental and civic initiatives to galvanize the foreign public and create an international instrument for investigating and punishing the aggressor.
Obviously, the effectiveness of the investigation and punishment of the aggressor primarily depends on the effectiveness of the tools and protocols of domestic response to CRSV crimes.
“We are facing the need to transform. I always draw a comparison with the Armed Forces of Ukraine: at the beginning of the war, our army had no way to hold back the invasion without changing itself. Now the same thing is happening in the criminal justice system. If we don't change, if we don't change our approaches, it will simply collapse. And the investigation of international war crimes is one of the first to test new approaches. After the war is over, this will allow the criminal justice system to reach a different level. Therefore, even in this challenging situation, we need to see opportunities for Ukraine. One of them is to change and move to a different level of development,” says Yurii Belousov, Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed During Armed Conflict, Office of the Prosecutor General.
Today, the system of response to sexual crimes works according to the following algorithm:
- First, specialized mobile groups of law enforcement officers, who are among the first to enter the de-occupied territories, identify and document testimonies of CRSV survivors.
- Next, the facts and evidence of the occupiers' crimes are entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations.
- The testimonies of victims are registered in the special Department for Investigation of Sexual Crimes of the Russian Army in Ukraine under the Office of the Prosecutor General.
- At the same time, the necessary case files are being prepared and submitted to the International Criminal Court for investigation and prosecution of the aggressor.
As was already mentioned, NGOs, international organizations, journalists and volunteers are also involved in the fight against sexual violence during the war. They regularly record crimes, collect evidence and pass it on to the relevant authorities for further investigation.
Thus, the analysis of the Ukrainian model of responding to conflict-related sexual violence shows that our legal system is ready and able to change even in extremely difficult conditions. Over time, Ukraine's experience may become the basis for a future international system to combat gender-based violence.
However, there are also problems that need to be addressed in a timely manner. If this is not done, survivors may not receive the necessary legal and psychological assistance and perpetrators may escape punishment. This could lead to a loss of trust in the justice system and international support for Ukraine. The absence of effective mechanisms to combat violence threatens to instigate social crises and further traumatize entire communities.