Women who fled the war in Ukraine are exposed to a “high degree” of physical, sexual and psychological violence in the member countries of the European Union. On Tuesday, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) stated this and called for their better protection. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
In short:
- Women from Ukraine face high levels of violence in the EU
- FRA calls for better protection of runaway women
- Every fourth Ukrainian woman has experienced physical or sexual violence
- More than half of women face harassment or discrimination
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, approximately 2.5 million women and girls have left the country. EU member states have granted them temporary protection, but many of them still struggle with various obstacles, the FRA said in its report released on the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Statistics of violence against women
“Despite the protection provided by the EU, many women suffer serious rights violations, others do not feel safe,” said FRA Director Sirpa Rauti. “EU Member States must ensure that women receive protection, support and justice for what they have been through so that they can rebuild their lives,” she added.
According to FRA data, one in four Ukrainian women have experienced physical or sexual violence since the start of the war, meaning they are at greater risk than the rest of the population. Sixty-two percent of them experienced this violence in one of the 27 countries of the European community where they now live, and nine percent while leaving Ukraine for the EU.
Violence in Ukraine
39 percent of women have experienced violence in Ukraine, in many cases by Russian armed forces.
The FRA report is based on a 2024 survey of more than 1,200 women who fled the war in Ukraine and were living in the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland at the time. In its processing, the agency was also based on interviews with 30 women in the mentioned countries who experienced violence.
Sexual harassment and discrimination
The aforementioned survey revealed that since February 24, 2022, the beginning of the Russian invasion, 51 percent of Ukrainian women have experienced sexual harassment and 23 percent have been sexually harassed online. This is a higher rate than for women in the EU as a whole.
About 54 percent of women experienced an attack or a negative reaction after speaking Ukrainian in public. Such incidents occurred to a higher extent in the Czech Republic (67 percent) and Poland (55 percent).
Uncertainty and lack of support
Almost every fourth Ukrainian woman has experienced “potentially abusive offers for transport, accommodation or work”. Many of the working women, on the other hand, said that they do not have a contract with clearly defined working hours.
In addition, Ukrainian women in the mentioned survey also mentioned the problem of accessing reproductive or mental health services. Almost a third of them, for example, did not have access to help in overcoming the trauma of the war. Some do not even have health insurance, or their insurance does not cover the costs of necessary health care.
The FRA also said in the report that only three percent of women who experienced sexual violence reported the incidents to the police.
