Women in eastern #Ukraine don't feel safe. Neither in public nor at home.

@amnetsy's new report #NotAPrivateMatter highlights flaws in a system aimed at protecting survivors of domestic & sexual violence – and how the ongoing war makes things worse. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/11/ukraine-epidemic-of-violence-against-women-in-conflicttorn-east/

Official data on domestic violence, however unreliable & incomplete, show a spike of registered cases in the last 3 yrs.

In 2018, there was a 76% increase in reported cases in #Donetsk region & a 158% increase in #Luhansk region, compared to the average of the previous 3 yrs.

Over the last 3 years, #Ukraine has adopted new legislation & institutional frameworks addressing gender-based violence. However, our research has shown that new laws & initiatives are often poorly implemented, failing to protect the survivors.

Police are still reluctant to register domestic violence complaints & impunity deters survivors from speaking out.

In 10 out of the 27 cases of domestic violence documented by @amnesty, women didn’t call the police because they believed there would be no adequate response.

We've documented 8 cases of sexual violence against civilian women & girls perpetrated by members of the military, including 2 instances of rape, 1 attempted rape, and 5 cases of sexual harassment, committed by members of the military throughout 2017-2018 in residential areas.

#Ukraine should ratify the #IstanbulConvention as this will provide the authorities with a clear roadmap for reform, including improvement of the legislation, educational programmes for officials & the general public, a govt reporting mechanism, & other important changes.