The good news is that Ukrainians – with the help of non-governmental organizations and more effort from law enforcement – have started combating the long-ignored problem of domestic abuse. The bad news is that, although domestic abuse may not be more widespread than in other countries, the victims in Ukraine are unprotected still by weak legislation, enforcement and awareness.
Police in the nation of 46 million people registered 93,000 domestic violence perpetrators in 2009, triple the number of 2003. More than 90 percent of the cases, as they are worldwide, involve women and children who are victimized by men. But the increase detected in official numbers is taken not as a sign that the problem is increasing, but rather that families are more actively reporting abuse and seeking help from authorities.
“Domestic violence is not on the rise in Ukraine, but it’s starting to show its true face, and both victims and those helping them are teaming up more effectively to combat it,” said Oleksandr Musienko, senior inspector of the social security department at the Interior Ministry.
Domestic violence is defined as deliberate actions of physical, sexual, psychological or economic abuse against one member of the family by another that causes moral, physical or psychological damage.
Overall, the number of registered cases is much smaller than in the United States, with 300 million people and 5.3 million of cases of domestic abuse registered annually. America, however, has a longer tradition of officially reporting these cases than in Ukraine, where many instances go unreported.
Activists and law enforcement officers are stepping up efforts to encourage victims to speak out and promise to push legislation to protect them – hopeful signs that a long-ignored problem is finally being confronted.
Surveys show that 68 percent of women say they have been victimized. The trauma leads some victims to commit suicide. Nearly 1 in 4 murders stem from domestic violence. Often, the perpetrators get away with a small fine of Hr 70 ($9).
But society is slowly becoming more responsive to victims.
“In previous years, victims had to run away and hide while the violator didn’t realize his fault, and had full command of family property,” said Gennadiy Mustafaev, a psychologist at Kyiv’s Desniansky center for family and women affairs.
A law on the prevention of domestic violence was adopted in 2001 and amended in 2008. It allows police to issue an official warning to suspect and to detain the perpetrator until a court hears the case. The violator, however, can return home after paying a small fine. Shelters have popped up in recent years giving abused women and children shelter for up to three months.
In many cases, alcohol and drugs are used by the male abusers. “Many of the perpetrators have a problem with alcohol and substance abuse, and end up selling family property, sometimes even apartments,” Mustafaev added.
The amended version of the law excludes victim behavior from the mitigating circumstances, closing the “she provoked me” loophole that the perpetrators often used.
“Accepting that ‘she provoked me’ [as a mitigating circumstance] is like accusing someone who had his cell phone stolen of keeping it in the wrong place or forgiving rape if the girl was a wearing a mini-skirt. It won’t be tolerated anymore,” said Tetyana Rudenko, an OSCE domestic abuse project coordinator.
Prior to 2001, no law on domestic violence existed and perpetrators had the status of “hooligans” rarely punished even for disorderly conduct. “The law is still far from perfect and we are assisting Ukraine to adopt the international experience,” said Rudenko.
During a recent conference, she produced examples of how Austria and Spain tackled their domestic abuse problems.
In Austria, if a policeman arrives on a domestic violence call, he or she can confiscate the keys to the house from the abuser and issue a restraining order for 7-10 days, prohibiting the accused perpetrator from approaching the house. In Spain, special courts deal with domestic violence and family matters. But experts are cautious on whether such solutions help or trigger further problems in Ukraine, where the police and courts are themselves notoriously corrupt.
“I’m not saying that these practices should be immediately applied to Ukraine, but the approach when the rights of the victim are prioritized is crucial,” said Rudenko.
Starting in 2010, correction programs for domestic violence perpetrators aimed to modify their abusive behavior will kick in on the national level. They are designed to substitute ineffective punishments, such as a small fine or public service, with psychotherapeutic group trainings and individual visits with psychologists.
Ukraine’s law enforcement officials are also starting to notice that improved training, teaching police on how to better deal with domestic abuse cases, can also make a difference. And so, they recently launched a two-room training room in Dnipropetrovsk, where officers test strategies with actors who imitate families experiencing domestic abuse problems.
“One of the two scenarios goes like this: A father returns home drunk, curses, picks on the family members, and it all blows up into a big fight. Then, neighbors call police, two officers arrive and try to handle the situation,” said Musienko.
The lessons learned from this center and as well as generally known methods, Rudenko said, will soon be disbursed via video-based training materials.
Kyiv Post staff writer Kateryna Grushenko can be reached at [email protected]
