The Ukrainian government has launched the first state hotline for reporting domestic violence, human trafficking, gender-based violence and violence against children.
On Feb. 11, Cabinet Minister Dmytro Dubilet announced that the hotline had started working in a test mode on Facebook.
“This project is really important,” Dubilet wrote.
Domestic violence is a major issue surrounded by stigma in Ukraine. According to the United Nations Development Program, at least 22% of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced “at least one form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.” Only around 30% of such cases are reported. Meanwhile, millions of children become witnesses or victims of domestic violence every year.
Dubilet said that when his deputy Yulia Huseva, who coordinates the project, shares stories of victims with him, “it makes my blood freeze.”
The Cabinet of Ministers issued a decree ordering the creation of the state hotline on Dec. 27, 2019.
According to the document, the Government Contact Center will manage the hotline’s work, while the Ministry of Social Policy will cover its expenses.
Dubilet says that launching the project through the Government Contact Center, instead of creating a brand-new call center as was previously planned, allowed the Cabinet to save about Hr 25 million ($1 million) and open the line faster than expected.
According to Dubilet, apart from the Ministry of Social Policy, other state bodies – including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Science – are also involved in the project.
Dubilet said that Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska and Maria Yefrosinina, a television presenter who advocates for human rights, are also contributing to the initiative.
Until now, Ukraine has had a national hotline for reporting violence run by La Strada, an international non-governmental organization that has worked in Ukraine since 1997. Their hotline will continue to work.
La Strada welcomed the state’s step to create a new hotline. The nonprofit, which has vast experience in providing legal and psychological help on the phone, trained employees for the state call center in January.
Alyona Kryvulyak, who heads La Strada’s local hotline department, hopes that the state’s initiative will not just duplicate the consulting service they already provide, but will also take action.
“This hotline will be valuable if it has the function of reacting,” Kryvulyak told the Kyiv Post.
The state hotline for reporting violence is available at the number 1547.
