“Her story”: A Photo Exhibition About Women Who Were Able to Stop Violence Opened in Chernihiv

The “16 Days Against Violence” campaign continues, and Chernihiv became another city where important women’s voices were heard.

The photo exhibition “Her_story” opened at the Chernihiv City Palace of Culture – six real stories of women from Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions who went through violence but found the strength to seek help, recover, and build a life without the abuser.

These are stories about the path from darkness to light. About voices that were silent for too long. About women who were able not just to survive, but to find a new beginning.

People for whom this topic is not just work, but a daily challenge and responsibility, came to the opening in Chernihiv:
Andriy Shemets, Director of the Department of Family, Youth, and Sports of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration;
Olena Ostapets, Head of the Domestic Violence Counteraction Sector of the Chernihiv District Police Department;
Natalia Horokh, Head of the Juvenile Prevention Sector of the Chernihiv District Police Department;
Oleh Rusin, Head of the Main Department of the National Social Service in Chernihiv Region;
Tetiana Medvid, Protection Specialist of the international organization Corus;
Anna Saienko, Deputy Director for Program Issues of the “Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health”;
Iryna Biriuk, lawyer of the Chernihiv Public Committee for Human Rights Protection.

Students from the Penitentiary Academy of Ukraine and pupils of the Chernihiv Regional Scientific Lyceum also joined the opening.

Participants spoke about how important it is that help is always near: crisis rooms, mobile teams, sensitive specialists, and services that respond not formally, but for real.

A special moment – the direct “live” voice of a woman who has walked this path. During the opening of the exhibition, there was a unique opportunity to hear one of the heroines of the project – Ms. Kateryna. Her story is about strength born after a fall. About the ability to rise when it seems there is no strength left. About how important it is to have people near who do not judge, but support.

If you recognize something from your own life in these stories, please seek help:
📞 15-47 – National Hotline for Counteracting Domestic Violence
📞 102 – Police
📞 116 123 / 0 800 500 335 – National Hotline for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, Human Trafficking, and Gender Discrimination
📞 063-140-63-47 – Chernihiv Public Committee for Human Rights Protection
💬 Telegram: @NHL116123

The photo exhibition “Her_story” was organized by the NGO “Chernihiv Public Committee for Human Rights Protection” and takes place within the Project “PROTECT Her TOGETHER: Strengthening Communities, Saving Lives,” which is implemented in cooperation with Corus International, the League of Modern Women, “HealthRight International” in Ukraine, Infection Control in Ukraine, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs / OCHA Ukraine, and thanks to the financial support of the Humanitarian Fund for Ukraine.