Police officers and human rights activists of Chernihiv region are jointly looking for ways to overcome domestic violence

On June 30, 2021, a roundtable was held with representatives of the Chernihiv region police to discuss the situation with domestic violence and gender-based violence in the region.

The event was held at the initiative of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the assistance of the Main Department of the National Police of the Chernihiv region.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the preventive activities departments of the district departments of the Main Department of the National Police of the Chernihiv region, the sector for combating domestic violence “POLINA”, the Patrol Police Department in the Chernihiv region and representatives of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights.

The main goal of the event is to establish interaction between law enforcement officers and human rights defenders in the current conditions of decentralization reform, the COVID-19 pandemic, and legislative strengthening of responsibility for domestic and gender-based violence.

At the beginning of the meeting, the program manager of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights

Natalia Kulikova

analyzed the situation in the region and highlighted the problems that arise in the field of combating domestic violence and providing assistance to victims in the current conditions. Separately, the human rights defender focused on the problems of communication in territorial communities between the police and social services.

During the event, the participants also discussed the problem of insufficient work on bringing perpetrators to criminal liability for failure to comply with restrictive measures, restrictive orders, or failure to complete programs for perpetrators. Although such measures should help reduce the recurrence of domestic violence by perpetrators.

Representative of the sector for combating domestic violence “POLINA”

Kateryna Lytvynenko

focused on the fact that cases of bringing perpetrators to justice should be considered in the courts as a priority. After all, it is difficult to ensure the participation of perpetrators in court proceedings in the future, and therefore the consideration of cases of bringing administratively liable in court immediately could have a preventive nature.

Representatives of district police departments emphasized the importance of cooperation between activists and the police on the ground, but today these contacts have been established to a greater extent in large communities. Therefore, it is necessary to continue working on improving interaction with police officers in all territorial communities, including those located in remote areas of the Chernihiv region.

Representative of the Patrol Police Department in Chernihiv Oblast

Olga Melnyk

noted that the current need today is to open a specialized center for victims of domestic violence in Chernihiv, because only then will police representatives be able to fully protect victims and provide them with real assistance.

Summing up the event, the participants noted that such meetings contribute to the mechanism of interaction between entities implementing measures to combat domestic violence and addressing the current legal and security needs of communities related to assistance to vulnerable groups of the population.