The first reparation payments will go to survivors of wartime rape by Russian soldiers.
Elena Zelenskaya, Ukraine's first lady, called the decision “an important step towards restoring justice.” This year, almost 500 Ukrainian survivors of conflict-related sexual violence have been identified. All of them will receive temporary compensation, including financial, medical and psychological support. Zelenskaya stated, quotes The Guardian:
“Compensation for victims of gross human rights violations, including victims of conflict-related sexual violence, goes beyond economic support. This is an important step towards restoring justice. And this justice is needed not only by Ukraine. Justice for Ukrainian victims of violence is now a mirror for peace.”
This will mark the first time, according to the Global Survivors Fund, which co-manages the project with Ukraine, that survivors will receive reparations during an active conflict. The project uses funds from donor governments. Foundation director Esther Dingemans says:
“Rehabilitation and compensation are an element of reparations, but what survivors feel is very important is recognition.”
The foundation was founded in 2019 by Nobel Peace Prize laureates Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad. It is designed to help survivors of conflict-related sexual violence access redress. Dingemans explains:
“The redress scheme is proof that what happened to them is officially recognised. It also sends a message to the wider community.”
To date, the total number of Ukrainians who have suffered sexual violence at the hands of Russian forces is unknown—most survivors do not report the crimes. The foundation estimates their number is in the thousands. Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, accused Russia of using rape as a “military strategy”, citing cases of soldiers being “armed with Viagra”.
Lyudmila Huseynova is one of eight Ukrainian civilians released in the first all-female prisoner exchange with Russia in October 2022. She spent three years in a separatist prison in the eastern Donetsk region. The woman says:
“I’ve been single for over a year now and I still can’t sleep at night. I wake up feeling how disgusting it is that they touched me. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of victim blaming, especially in small rural communities. When I was released, we didn’t even have an understanding of what sexual violence in conflict was.”
When separatist forces occupied her hometown of Novoazovsk in the Donetsk region in 2014, Huseynova began helping orphans on the front lines, collecting donations from all over Ukraine. But the books in Ukrainian that she gave to the children led to her arrest:
“For three years and 13 days I was kept in an overcrowded cage. I couldn't see the sky and the air was thick with cigarette smoke. When I was released, I had to relearn how to use my legs and breathe with all my chest.”
After her release, she was taken to a military hospital in Dnipro, but the staff there were unable to properly deal with the victim of sexual torture. Huseynova says:
“The hospital was overcrowded and understaffed. I don't blame the doctors there for anything, but they weren't ready to deal with people like me. They didn't know how to approach me or talk to me, which caused more psychological damage in the long run.”
Her own experience led Huseynova to work with the Global Survivors Fund and become an advocate for survivors and other women still in prison. She hopes that victims of sexual assault will now be surrounded by the support and understanding that she did not have access to:
“Survivors emerge from custody with nothing. They have no clothes, no home, no society. Often all their property remains in the occupied territories, and they cannot find work, since all their documents are at home. Compensation can help, but it must include comprehensive physical and mental health support. Women need to have access to a psychologist – not for a few sessions, but for as many as they need. The trauma of sexual assault does not go away.”
Huseynova stated that she continues to maintain contact with other Donetsk women who have been detained for many years:
“I try my best to send them some packages. Not a single humanitarian mission works there. Humanitarian aid is not sent there. During menstruation, these women use stuffing from an old mattress.”
Dingemans noted that Ukrainian civil society and the government have effectively dealt with the stigma surrounding survivors, pointing to Zelenskaya's strong support on the issue and new laws passing through parliament. Once passed, the laws will define conflict-related sexual violence as a separate crime and create a national registry to record cases.
Males, including boys, are also among the alleged victims of rape by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, with dozens of cases of sexual assault investigated in the months following the invasion. Representative of the Global Survivors Fund in Ukraine Fedor Dyunebabin said:
“We know from other contexts that male survivors of conflict-related sexual violence rarely seek help, but surprisingly this has not happened in Ukraine. Many male survivors are coming forward to fight for their rights and justice.”
Dingemans hopes that other countries will take notice of what the Ukrainian government is doing and the international community “will be able to support survivors of other conflicts in the same way they support survivors in Ukraine, which we are not seeing right now.”
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual violence is available from the following organizations:
In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support by calling 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland.
In the US, Rainn offers phone support at 800-656-4673.
In Australia, support can be obtained by calling 1800Respect (1800 737 732).
Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html.
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