Victoria Vdovychenko
President of the Institute of Policy and Governance
“It often happens that women don’t want to make cases of sexual harassment public. In a patriarchal society (like Ukraine), women face significant constraints when reporting cases due to social stigma. But I admire those who still do. Women shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it openly. Also, I do believe that it’s not only about women but men.”
Yana Panfilova
founder of Teenergizer, a youth movement
“We barely have 12 percent of women in parliament and it’s impossible to lobby any significant initiatives that affect women’s life. It’s important to include the problem of sexual harassment in the everyday narrative. It should be part of school curricula. Schoolchildren need to know what to do in case of rape or sexual assault, how to report it and where to go. ”
Olena Bondar
Co-founder of Nobles Fortune
“From what I’ve heard, it’s a stalemate situation: there are so many stories people would tell but they don’t often end up being public. Harassment is a big problem, especially when we look into the lowest ranks of different professions.”
Tetiana Lukyniuk
general manager for Red Bull Ukraine
“I’ve been working for international companies and have never encountered any harassment. Of course, it doesn’t mean that this problem doesn’t exist. The most important is to share the negative experience. The more people will know it, the better we would understand this situation. That’s exactly what happened after the ‘I Have a Right to Say No’ flashmob, when people shared their stories about harrassment.”
Marina Skrypnyk
Adviser to the deputy minister of infrastructure for European integration
“I know so many cases when women were mistreated at work and we have to address this. Harrassment and gender inequality are crucial problems in Ukraine and opinion leaders are the ones.”
