’Men Return Completely Changed’: Ukraine Conflict Fueling Surge In Domestic Violence
▻http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-conflict-domestic-violence/26979064.html
A Ukrainian group helping victims of domestic abuse says the conflict in eastern Ukraine has led to a dramatic upsurge in violence against women across the country.
Aliona Zubchenko, the spokeswoman for the Kyiv-based International Women’s Rights Center La Strada, spoke to RFE/RL’s Claire Bigg.
RFE/RL: La Strada says the number of women calling its hotline for victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, and gender discrimination has spiked in recent months. How big is this increase?
Aliona Zubchenko: We took a total of 7,000 calls in 2014, 80 percent of which related to domestic violence. This year, the figure has risen more than twofold. In the first three months of this year, we had more than 2,600 calls.
RFE/RL: Your group blames mounting domestic violence on the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. How are the two connected?
Zubchenko: Women call and tell us that they were married for 15 years, that they had a good family, and that their husbands were never violent, never hit or insulted them. Then they left for the war and returned completely changed. They are violent. They beat the children. They beat their wives and drink. These women don’t know what to do because they don’t recognize the husbands they had before the war in these men.
(…)
We are very worried about the women who call us, but also about those who don’t call us. While the women who call us receive some kind of support, those who either are unable to call us or don’t know where to seek help remain alone with their problems. This is very dangerous.
We can assume that the number of suicides or murders will rise, because what begins as minor violence against women often grows into murder. The war in eastern Ukraine continues. The number of displaced people and soldiers who fought there will continue to grow. The consequences of what is now taking place in our country will be felt for decades.
