In response to numerous violations of women’s and girls’ rights as a result of hostilities in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health, a HealthRight subsidiary, with the support of UN Women in Ukraine, sets up the SafeWomenHUB platform to provide immediate psychological, humanitarian, and social assistance to women and girls affected by war, and to raise their awareness on the prevention of sexual violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking.
As of April 25, 2022, according to the latest data from the UN, almost 13 million people had been displaced in Ukraine; more than 5.2 million of them left Ukraine and another 7.7 million were internally displaced. The humanitarian catastrophe has particularly affected the lives and livelihoods of women and girls, especially women with children. It is true that gender-based violence against women and girls, both in private and in public, is exacerbated during large-scale conflicts. Sexual and other forms of gender-based violence against women and girls are well-known risk factors for mental health and psychosocial well-being in war situations that need special attention. Humanitarian aid should be aimed at preventing violence inside and outside the home, on the way to safe places, shelters, and at borders. To protect women and girls, prevention measures need to be stepped up in areas with a high concentration of armed men and in reception centers for temporarily displaced persons.
The aim of the SafeWomenHUB platform:
- Raise awareness to prevent sexual violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking in women and girls affected by the conflict;
- Provide professional psychological support to women and girls during the war;
- Provide social, legal, and humanitarian assistance to women and girls displaced within the country, on the way to crossing the border and abroad (in Lviv and Zakarpattia oblasts);
- Raise awareness of the threat of gender and sexual violence during the war, and what services are available to respond to/prevent this threat;
- Increase the capacity of specialized civil society organizations to fight sexual violence, exploitation, and trafficking in women and girls.
The SafeWomenHUB platform will provide access to psychological, social, and legal services for women and girls affected by the war in Ukraine. Remote (online and telephone) psychological, social, and legal services are designed to respond to the needs of women and girls displaced across and within the country who have experienced sexual and exploitative violence, human trafficking, and intimate partner violence.
The SafeWomenHUB platform activities aim to help five groups of affected women or those at risk:
- Women whose crisis situation was worsened as a result of hostilities in Ukraine;
- Women who temporarily changed their place of residence in Ukraine.
- Women who emigrated abroad.
- Women who stay in the territories temporarily occupied by the troops of the Russian Federation;
- Women victims of sexual and other forms of violence in the territories liberated from the occupying forces of the Russian Federation.
The SafeWomenHUB system aims at identifying victims who need online and offline support and providing their direct access to the platform. Women and girls will have the opportunity to use the services of qualified psychologists, psychotherapists, and lawyers. Psychological assistance will be provided during evacuations online through social networks and a Telegram channel, and on-site in Kyiv, Lviv, Kyiv and Zakarpattia oblasts, and for those who found shelter in the European Union. In coordination with other humanitarian service providers and evacuation centers/volunteers, project psychologists, case managers, and lawyers will provide online consultations on request processing, IDP and refugee status, humanitarian assistance, housing search, and transportation.
The communication component of the project involves raising women’s awareness of the risks of various forms of gender-based violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking, which primarily affect displaced women and girls. The project will conduct training courses with civil society organizations from Western Ukraine to present the developed models of assistance and protocols of interventions to prevent sexual violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking in women and girls affected by war.
For full information about the project, or if you are interested in a partnership, please contact the project coordinator Anastasia Liadneva-Irlik (e-mail: anastasiia.liadneva@healthright.org). For help, please subscribe to us:
- Telegram channel: SafeWomenHUB https://t.me/+ImEEna2rjBAyNzg6
- Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Safewomenhub
- Instagram page https://instagram.com/safewomanhub
- Email: safewomenhub@gmail.com