Ashley Judd, well-known actress and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, recently made a trip to eastern Ukraine, and visited conflicted-affected women at a maternity clinic, social centers, and shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that as of February 2016, there are over 1.6 million IDPs in Ukraine. The purpose of Ms. Judd’s visit was to highlight increases in gender-based violence (GBV) that women and girls face during the conflict, and to draw attention to the factors preventing women and girls from reporting GBV, seeking help, and accessing care. Research suggests that conflict aggravates the risks of sexual violence against women, while at the same time severely impacting survivors’ access to healthcare, psychosocial support, and legal assistance. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 80% of women in Ukraine who have experienced GBV never sought medical services or legal protection.
HealthRight International Ukraine staff were honored to meet with Ms. Judd and share their work to address GBV in Eastern Ukraine. HealthRight, along with implementing partners the Ukraine Foundation for Public Health (UFPH) and UNFPA, discussed a successful “mobile team” intervention, which is improving access to care and psychosocial support for conflict-affected women and families.
Composed of psychologists and social workers, these mobile teams are trained to provide needed psychosocial support to survivors of GBV, as well as to assess for other issues, including experiences of torture. As of May 2016, these teams have assisted over 5,000 people, reaching women and their families in remote and rural areas who would otherwise not have access to care. The teams have identified 4,773 cases of violence against women since November 2015, and 62% of identified survivors report that they had not previously reported these cases to the authorities.
