Combating domestic violence: an interdepartmental coordination meeting was held in Chernihiv

Law enforcement officers, representatives of state and local government bodies, social services, and public organizations held a working meeting on the prevention and counteraction to domestic violence in the Chernihiv region.

The participants of the meeting, which took place at the regional prosecutor’s office, discussed the mechanism of interaction of all services in this process.

“During 2023, the Chernihiv region police received more than 11 thousand applications and reports of committed offenses and other events related to domestic violence. During the year, police officers filed 8,833 administrative cases against domestic abusers and prosecuted 4,868 people for committing domestic violence. While responding to domestic violence cases with the aim of immediately stopping it, police officers applied 6,393 urgent restraining orders against perpetrators,” informed Andriy Zelyak, head of the preventive activities department of the regional police.

The regional coordinator in the field of preventing and combating domestic violence is the Department of Family, Youth and Sports of the Regional State Administration. Today, a local coordinator has been identified in 53 communities out of 57 in the region. Relevant programs/plans of measures are also in effect, however, only in 35 THs.

It should be noted that 43 specialized support services for victims operate in the Chernihiv region. In particular:

2 day centers for socio-psychological assistance to victims of domestic violence and/or gender-based violence, with a “crisis room”;

4 specialized primary socio-psychological counseling services (Varvinska, Nizhynska, Nosivska, Lyubetska TG);

37 mobile teams of socio-psychological assistance (of which 4 mobile teams, the activities of which are provided by public organizations at the expense of international charitable funds).

For 11 months of 2023 Mobile teams made 2,612 trips. In total, almost 12 thousand people, of whom more than two thousand are children, received services from specialized support services for victims of domestic violence and/or gender-based violence.

With a subvention from the state budget, two specialized services for primary social and psychological counseling for citizens who have suffered from domestic violence and/or gender-based violence were established in 2023 by local governments – in Borznyanska and Sosnytska communities.

At the same time, no specialized support service for victims of domestic violence and/or gender-based violence has been established in 19 THs.

“An important aspect of the implementation of measures on preventing and combating domestic violence is working with all family members at the community level, where they are better informed about a particular situation. Including working with the abuser, which is an essential condition for overcoming a negative family situation, as well as a resource for getting out of undesirable circumstances. Currently, the process of developing and adopting such programs is underway in communities. In the first 9 months of 2023, 10 people were sent by court decision to undergo programs for abusers, 7 of whom were men and 3 women. 4 people completed the program,” said Andriy Shemets, Director of the Department of Family, Youth and Sports of the Regional State Administration.

All services that combat domestic violence call not to keep such cases silent. If a person is suffering from domestic violence, has witnessed it, or has noticed changes in the behavior of a person they know, they should report it to the police by calling “102.” You can also contact the government hotline 1547, whose specialists provide advice and support to victims.