Official figures do not show the real picture of war-related sexual violence - Ombudsman Lubinets

The Supreme Council Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, believes that official figures do not show the real picture of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), but the state should not pressure victims to testify.

"I can tell you clearly that official figures do not show the real picture of CRSV committed by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian citizens. This is one of the key problems we face," Lubinets said at the International Conference on the Occasion of Ukraine's Chairmanship of the International Alliance for the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict "United for Justice: Strengthening Partnerships to Support Victims of CRSV" on Wednesday in Kyiv.

At the same time, he stressed that the state should not create a system that would pressure people and demand official, legal testimony from them.

"I clearly realize that the state system should be built on the principles that such people should simply be listened to, sympathized with and helped as quickly as possible. Even if they say we don't want it to be done in an official way, the state should do it," he added.

Among other things, the Commissioner called on international partners to necessarily indicate in their reports the war crimes committed by Russian soldiers and mention the CRSV.

"I am convinced that without this information we will never be able to achieve justice... We demand that those war criminals who committed these crimes be justly punished," Lubinets emphasized.

In his opinion, this is a matter not only of the Ukrainian nation, but of the entire democratic world.

"We have been at war since 2014, and no one really knows how many decades it will take to fully restore the violated rights of Ukrainian citizens, including people who have suffered from the CRSV, because there has not been such an international military conflict since the end of World War II," he said.

In November 2022, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland announced the creation of the Global Alliance, and the states signed a political declaration to improve coordination of actions, exchange of experience, and ensure justice for victims of sexual violence during conflicts. In March 2023, the Alliance officially began its activities with Ukraine as co-chair. The Democratic Republic of the Congo will continue to chair. Currently, the Global Alliance has 33 states and other members.

As reported, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission (HRMM) documented 376 cases of conflict-related sexual violence involving men, women, girls, and boys from February 24, 2022 to August 31, 2024.