Community-based Shelters for Victims of Domestic Violence

Brief Description

Since December 2016, even before the adoption of the law on domestic violence, at the initiative of the Ministry of Social Policy with cooperation of the local self-government bodies and CSOs and with the support of the UNFPA, community-based organizations and shelters for victims of domestic violence started operating. Up to now, they served 393 women with or without children (in total 772 persons). These shelters were created in Vinnitsa, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, and Khmelnytsky regions and the city of Kyiv. These shelters are designed to provide temporary assistance to women and children who have been subjected to domestic violence and need safe housing and social and psychological rehabilitation. Currently, the shelters are gradually institutionalized locally. New ones are being created at the expense of local budgets. The development of crisis day centers for victims, emergency rooms, specialized advisory services/networks of local consultants has begun, which will increase access to services and systems to refer victims, regardless of their place of residence, age, health status, etc.