“16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” Campaign

Every year on November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is celebrated. This day once again forces us to draw our attention to one of the most painful topics in today’s society, which is the cause of the collapse of thousands of Ukrainian families. Domestic violence is considered a manifestation of violence against women, since it disproportionately affects women and it is women who suffer the overwhelming majority from this violation of human rights.

Unfortunately, domestic violence still remains a major problem in Ukrainian society. The commission of violence ceases to be just one of the types of human rights violations – it becomes a violation of the fundamental human right, the right to life. Official statistics are very different from real indicators, since women mostly keep silent about such crimes and try not so much to solve them as to hide the problem.

There are different types of violence: physical, emotional, psychological, material, sexual, etc. As embarrassing as it may be to admit, every third Ukrainian woman has experienced violence in various forms in her life.

A number of international legal acts prohibit gender discrimination and gender-based violence. Among them are:

The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

adopted in 1979, General Recommendation No. 19 “Violence against Women” of 1992,

The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women


to

dated

December 20, 1993

Ukraine was one of the first countries in the Eastern European region to develop and adopt a special law – “On the Prevention of Domestic Violence”. This Law became another step towards ensuring the protection of the rights of our citizens and the development of gender equality,

Responsibility for committing violence is currently contained only in the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, Art. 173-2 which provides for liability for the commission of domestic violence, which manifests itself as the intentional commission of any actions of a physical, psychological or economic nature (the use of physical violence that did not cause physical pain and did not cause bodily harm, threats, insults or persecution, deprivation of housing, food, clothing, other property or funds to which the victim has the right under the law, etc.), as a result of which harm could have been or was caused to the physical or mental health of the victim. In addition, according to Art. 173-2, liability should arise for failure to comply with a protective order (if one was issued in relation to this person), as well as failure to complete a correctional program (provided that the person who committed domestic violence was previously referred to such a program). To a person who violated the provisions of Art. 173-2, almost all types of sanctions provided for by the Code of Administrative Offenses can be applied, from a fine to administrative arrest. It should be borne in mind that administrative arrest is used as a last resort, if, under the circumstances of the case, taking into account the identity of the offender, the application of other measures is deemed insufficient.

The Criminal Code of Ukraine does not have a separate article that provides for liability specifically for the commission of

physical violence

in the family. However, the Criminal Code contains a sufficient number of articles that provide for liability for manifestations of various forms of violence in the family, including physical. This, in particular, is liability for inflicting bodily harm of varying severity, beatings, torture, murder, infection with a venereal disease, abandonment in danger, incitement to use narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (Articles 121-130 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

It should be noted separately that

sexual violence

today is recognized exclusively as a crime, and liability for its commission arises in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This, in particular, is liability for rape, satisfaction of sexual passion in an unnatural way. (Art. 152 of the Criminal Code).

The current Criminal Code also provides for liability for serious manifestations

of psychological and economic violence

. For example, criminal liability may arise for such manifestations of psychological violence as a threat of murder, incitement to suicide, coercion to fulfill or fail to fulfill civil obligations, threat of destruction of property by arson, explosion or other generally dangerous means (Art. 129, 194 of the Criminal Code).

According to criminal procedural legislation, most crimes committed in the family are cases of so-called private prosecution. This means that criminal proceedings can be initiated by law enforcement agencies only on the basis of a victim’s statement, which further complicates the resolution of the case, since in the vast majority of cases such statements are withdrawn by the victim herself. The statement is withdrawn, and the violence continues – this vicious circle can last forever.

According to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, a statement or report on the commission of a criminal offense must be entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations within 24 hours, after which the investigation begins. A criminal proceeding number is automatically assigned in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations.

It should be remembered that if a victim of domestic violence withdraws his or her statement in criminal proceedings in the form of a private prosecution, according to Art. 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code, this is a basis for closing criminal proceedings, and in this case the guilty person will not be held criminally liable. However, in any case, a law enforcement agency that has received a statement from a victim of domestic violence about the commission of a crime does not have the right, solely on the grounds that it belongs to the category of private prosecution, to refuse to accept it or issue a resolution refusing to initiate criminal proceedings.

In addition, the current Criminal Procedure Code establishes that a reconciliation agreement may be concluded between the victim and the suspect or accused person in criminal proceedings.

As for civil liability, it includes deprivation of parental rights due to cruel treatment of a child.

Currently, Gender-Based Violence Countermeasures Centers are operating in four regions of Ukraine. The Centers provide


free


legal consultations on gender discrimination.

Therefore, if you, your relatives, friends or acquaintances have been discriminated against on the basis of gender, contact

the Center for Combating Discrimination

of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights at the following address:

Chernihiv, 57/1 Gorkogo St.

, or by calling the hotline

(0462) 612-532





(0462) 612-532.

You’ll need Skype Credit

Free via Skype