In the analytical report, the legal service of the NGO “Women’s March” examines the results of monitoring first-instance court decisions in cases of domestic violence under Article 126-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for the period 2019–2023. The authors analyzed the dynamics of case consideration, types of penalties, and specific aspects of law enforcement practice.

The report also includes recommendations for improving judicial practice to ensure an effective response to cases of domestic violence and protect the rights of victims. The findings may serve as a basis for further advocacy of necessary changes in Ukraine’s legal system and for enhancing victim protection.

This material was prepared with the support of the NGO “Women’s March”.

Full report

Thousands of Ukrainian women in the military stand guard over our peace every day. In winter they critically lack comfortable boots of the right size, thermal underwear, thermal socks and hot water bottles to keep them warm.

For Christmas, the Women’s March is launching a fundraising for the most popular warm clothes and goods and propose everyone to give warmth to our defenders!

Together we are going to raise UAH 1 million and send it to the front line:

• 220 pairs of winter boots
• 370 sets of thermal underwear
• chemical heating pads and power banks

Donate to the Women’s March jar and join the fundraising! To do this, write to @rizdvo_marsh in Telegram. Repost the fundraising on social media to support our sisters in the army as much as possible!

Let’s make sure they have a comfortable and warm New Year’s holidays while each of them does their job – where they are!

In 2022, Ukraine finally ratified the Istanbul Convention after years of consideration and delays. It seems like a big step, and the level of domestic violence should finally decrease! However, after almost three years, it has become clear that ratification is not enough, because not all the provisions of the Convention have been implemented in Ukrainian legislation. Thus, the work has not been brought to the end. 

On November 25, the international campaign “16 Days Against Violence” starts. On this day, the Women’s March launches the information campaign “Let’s Bring it to the End” to draw attention to the incomplete implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Ukraine. 

We have identified 5 critical areas that need to be improved:

• Fines for violence are too low
• No definition of stalking in the legislation
• Gaps in countering cybercrime
• Imperfect mechanism for combating psychological violence
• Imperfect mechanism for combating economic violence

The Women’s March is launching a flash mob to urge everyone to spread awareness about the Istanbul Convention and its incomplete implementation. We believe that drawing attention to this issue is a shared responsibility of everyone: those working in the field of human rights protection and ordinary citizens who can help bring this important work to an end.

For 16 days on the Women’s March Instagram, we will be publishing educational posts, illustrations and videos to draw attention to this issue. And it is your sharing that can be the key to finally improving the situation with domestic violence in Ukraine!

The Women’s March has closed the #ZANEI fundraising for Ukrainian servicewomen.

Within 1 week, thanks to offline and online campaigns, our team raised UAH 3,477,094, which exceeded the initial fundraising goal by almost 500 thousand hryvnias!

We report on the procurement of necessary equipment for our defenders.

UAH 3 250 000 was spent on:

• 1000 ubacs,
• 1000 combat boots,
• 1000 sets of tactical underwear.

Procurement documents

UAH 209 200 was spent on the purchase of:

• 300 pairs of tactical socks
• 200 tactical T-shirts
• 7000 disposable showers

Influencers, colleagues and businesses joined the #ZANEI campaign. Fundraising was reposted, and people became its ambassadors even when it was already underway. We raised money at the Koven Festival and during educational lectures for Ukrainian companies. This sisterhood collection once again showed how powerful the power of Ukrainian women is.

We support Ukrainian servicewomen!

31,672 parcels of humanitarian aid were sent to women in small towns and villages in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kherson and Kharkiv regions
188 volunteers joined the work of the Women’s March humanitarian hub in Kyiv in 2023
412 events in Lviv for IDP women at the Women’s March community hub
52 events in Chernivtsi (community hub opened on 11.10.2023) and 2 in Vinnytsia (opened on 21.12.2023)
692 legal consultations were provided by a team of 3 lawyers
2909 psychological consultations were provided by a team of 27 psychologists
The “Unbreakable Women of Ukraine” campaign reached more than 4.8 million people on outdoor advertising media and social networks
2764 shares of our banners on the day of the launch of the campaign in support of the Istanbul Convention on social networks

Summing up the results of 2022, we would like to write about the thousands of people who took part in women’s marches across Ukraine, not about the thousands of targeted parcels of humanitarian aid for women. However, a full-scale war has smashed not only the hopes but also the fates of people across the country. And all our efforts are focused on providing as much direct assistance to women as possible. This has been our contribution and our meaning for the past 10 months.

The results of our work:

35191 requests for targeted humanitarian aid received
25352 targeted humanitarian aid parcels were sent by the volunteer team

7000 people received vouchers for temporary accommodation abroad for up to 1 month through our partnership program with AirBnb

1064 people received legal consultations, including on domestic violence, unlawful actions of government officials, inheritance and child custody, rape, marriage issues, etc.

3018 women received crisis and general psychological counseling from the Women’s March psychological service

3 shelters were opened. 2 – in Lviv and 1 – in Chernivtsi
1 community hub was opened as a center for medium-term assistance to IDP women and their children in Lviv

406 people/families used the shelters in Lviv and Chernivtsi

14 events for IDP women and their children were organized in the Lviv community hub

167 people volunteered this year to work in humanitarian hubs in Lviv and Kyiv, as well as in psychological services

About 180 000 Euro donated by people all around the world to support the work of humanitarian hubs

Marches, rallies and flash mobs were held in Kyiv and 15 cities across Ukraine. People took to the streets to loudly declare women’s right to safety and demand change!

About 1.8 million women suffer from domestic violence, and the Istanbul Convention has been “out of date” for our government for 10 years.

People came out to support each other.

Понад 3 тисяч людей вийшли 8 березня 2020 року в центрі Києва на Марш Жінок*!

Ми дякуємо усім, хто висловили свою підтримку правам жінок в Україні та в усьому світі! Ми вдячні тим, хто взяли участь в організації безпечного та видимого Маршу, а це низка громадських організацій, низових ініціатив та активісток. Ми дякуємо за роботу близько 30 волонтерок та волонтерів, які допомагали на місці.

Головною вимогою залишається ратифікація Стамбульської конвенції, яка покладає на нашу державу зобов’язання щодо криміналізації насильства щодо жінок та домашнього насильства, переслідування кривдників і кривдниць, захисту жертв, можливості правоохоронних органів реагувати на різні форми насильства, освіти громадян і громадянок щодо неприпустимості застосування насильства.

Марш Жінок* 2020, Київ, 8 березня
Фото: Алексей Самсонов

фото Никити Карімова для update.com.ua