Qualified assistance to victims of violence in shelters guarantees: 99% of those saved will not return to their abuser

Prevention and counteraction to domestic violence is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine. The ministry directs maximum efforts so that victims of violence have access to timely assistance.

As of May 2025, Ukraine has 1132 specialized support services for victims:

shelters for persons who suffered from domestic violence and/or gender-based violence - 59;

day centers of socio-psychological assistance to persons who suffered from domestic violence and/or gender-based violence - 109;

crisis rooms - 108;

mobile teams of socio-psychological assistance to persons who suffered from domestic violence and/or gender-based violence - 718;

specialized services of primary socio-psychological counseling for persons who suffered from domestic violence and/or gender-based violence - 117;

call centers/hotlines - 12;

other specialized services - 9.

In the first quarter of 2025, 14,362 people received qualified assistance.

One example where a victim can receive help is the Kyiv City Center for Gender Equality, Prevention and Counteraction to Violence. The institution has been operating since 1998. During this time, a large number of victims of domestic violence have used the help of specialists, crisis rooms and shelters.

Every year, the algorithms for helping victims are improved and simplified to save a person, family or child from violence as quickly as possible. For example, they officially changed the procedure for entering this shelter, simplified the list of documents, made it possible for children and infants to stay there. And most importantly – the shelter is now equipped with a bomb shelter.

Recently, the Kyiv City Center was visited by the Council of Europe's expert body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Istanbul Convention – GREVIO. Although the final report will only be available in 2026, experts already say that services for victims are provided at a high level.

A victim can enter the shelter within one hour.

The director of the Kyiv City Center for Gender Equality, Prevention and Counteraction to Violence, Tetiana Zotova, says that the algorithm for entering the shelter is different for each victim. But specialists do everything in their power to isolate the victim from the abuser as quickly as possible.

For this purpose, the Center has crisis rooms where a person can go immediately without certificates or documents. Already in the safety of the crisis room, all necessary documents are prepared and the victim enters the shelter.

"If staying in a crisis room is allowed even without identity documents, then for moving to a shelter we prepare medical certificates. There aren't many of them, but people live in the shelter who share common spaces, use common premises, we must take care of everyone's safety," explains Tetiana Zotova.

If a person who needs help has all the necessary documents on hand, they can enter the shelter within an hour.

"To get a safe place to stay, a person needs to contact specialized services at open addresses and phone numbers, or to the police, who can escort them to crisis response rooms, where the person can collect all the necessary documents and enter the shelter," says the director.

Domestic violence cases should be considered in courts as quickly as possible.

The head of the institution says that each story of escaping violence is different and individual. What unites domestic violence cases? If the case goes to court, the processes drag on for a very long time, sometimes a person doesn't have enough 6 months to settle their life.

"Court cases take a lot of time. Sometimes a victim doesn't have enough six months in a shelter to resolve all their everyday issues or court cases. Very often it happens that in six months it's not possible to divide property with the abuser, respectively, the person has nowhere to move. I would like our judicial system to be more active in this matter, so that domestic violence cases are considered as quickly as possible. And, of course, so that abusers are punished," says Tetiana Zotova.

Practitioners state: when a domestic violence case goes to court, it's very important for the victim to have a lawyer. If the victim can't afford a lawyer's services, they can always get free secondary legal assistance. The Kyiv City Center has a signed memorandum of cooperation with lawyers for such cases.

"This gives a person the opportunity, first, to confirm that they have already sought help, that they are currently in specialized services, and this also gives them the opportunity to speed up the process of getting their legal representative in court," says the director.

At the Center itself, you can get:

primary legal assistance;

psychological and social support;

employment counseling;

help with children's school and kindergarten enrollment.

Center specialists say that since the full-scale invasion, the number of domestic violence cases has increased many times. Typically, statistics from specialized institutions differ from National Police statistics. Psychosocial support centers record more appeals than law enforcement agencies. The answer is simple. If violence is committed against elderly people, most often they don't report the abuser to law enforcement.

"Elderly people usually suffer from their children, grandchildren, and therefore don't want to contact law enforcement agencies. But this way they still won't solve their problems, and the abuser won't be punished. In Kyiv, we solve this issue by redirecting to geriatric nursing homes, but the number of places is limited. And the victim goes through this path with our social workers," says Tetiana Zotova.

In a geriatric nursing home, a person can stay until the end of their life if they agree and want to. In most cases, elderly people who learn that there is an opportunity for care agree to this offer.

If a person wants to return home, they are provided with housing until the problematic issue is resolved.

IDPs shouldn't remain silent about domestic violence, even in a new city they will find support and help.

Very often, when family members are forced to move to a new place of residence, they can't quickly adapt, find work, provide a basic standard of living that they had in their hometown. Therefore, the level of violence in such families increases.

The Kyiv City Center for Psychosocial Assistance has already developed an algorithm for IDPs. Because in addition to general services, Center specialists help establish IDP status. They also assist with children's enrollment in preschool and school institutions.

Domestic violence against men is still stigmatized.

Statistics show that every year the number of appeals from men who have suffered from domestic violence increases. Experts emphasize that it's long been time for society to get rid of the stigma that men can't suffer from violence. Victims, in turn, should know that seeking help is not shameful.

"Requests from men are usually either for psychosocial support services or for obtaining temporary safe accommodation. Our Center has the opportunity to place men in crisis response rooms. These are separate apartments with all amenities. Men can go there with children or alone. We have experience of a man staying with two or three children. The mother is drug-addicted or alcohol-addicted, and the family needs to be removed from the housing where the mother is," explains the Center's director.

Victims of conflict-related sexual violence can also find help in psychosocial support centers.

Now psychosocial support centers face a new challenge – providing support and assistance to victims of conflict-related sexual violence.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, changes were made to the Law on Victims of Violence – now a person who has suffered from CRSV has the right to stay in specialized services without time limits until the end of martial law.

"Civilian men and women who returned from captivity in 99% of cases suffered from sexual violence (the given statistics are observations of Kyiv center specialists - ed.). Our center has the opportunity to provide such categories of people with temporary safe accommodation. They also receive services in crisis rooms, but documents are processed as shelter services. Until the person feels comfortable in the city, specialists come to them to provide services. If the victim wants and can, they come to the day center for services on their own. We try to be flexible in this matter so that everyone is comfortable," says Tetiana Zotova.

In Kyiv, victims of CRSV can contact the hotline for help - 044-272-15-00. The line operates 24/7.

According to the protocol for working with such clients, Center specialists involve experts who specialize specifically in CRSV.

After the shelter, a person who feels capable of living independently in 99% of cases won't return to the abuser.

After moving into the shelter, a social worker starts working with the victim. Each client is assigned their own specialist. They develop an individual work plan for a month with the client and a schedule of meetings with a psychologist, lawyer, consultant.

"Each client has an individual approach. For example, there are clients who refuse to communicate with a psychologist. They say they don't need it. Of course, we can't force anyone. It's absolutely a person's free will if they feel such a need. Perhaps the person doesn't have this need now, but it may appear in a month," shares Tetiana Zotova.

After each month, a multidisciplinary commission meets and reviews each client's situation separately. All services that clients receive are free. Accommodation, food, hygiene products are also free.

"For example, our Center has a clothing bank, which is also very important, because many clients come with absolutely nothing," adds Tetiana Zotova.

As soon as the victim receives all the necessary help, finds a job and feels the desire and ability to continue their life without support, they inform their social worker about it.

"The social worker necessarily finds out where the person is moving, asks to leave an address so we can later contact the victim. Because it's very important for us that the person doesn't return to the cycle of violence. We maintain contact with our clients, communicate with them, don't limit their meetings with a psychologist, lawyer, consultant. From our practice, if a person felt in the shelter that they are capable of taking their life into their own hands, then in 99% of cases they won't return to the abuser," summarizes Tetiana Zotova.

Center specialists say that enduring violence is unacceptable, especially when the state has a completely free support network for victims. The main thing is to use the opportunity to break out of the cycle of violence and start a new life.

Contacts for assistance in Kyiv:

04050, Kyiv, Illenka St., 20

Transport: from Lukyanivska metro station, trolleybus №16, 19 or minibus to "Yakira St." stop

02223, Kyiv, Rayduzhna St., 6-A

(044) 272 15 00 (from mobile)

15 00 (from landline)

kmc.gender@gmail.com"

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