On May 31, 2018, a shelter for temporary accommodation of women affected by domestic violence was opened in Vinnytsya oblast.
The shelter will become a safe place where women affected by gender-based violence can able to obtain the necessary psychological, social and legal support to help them recover their own inner resources and assist decision-making on future life. The opening of the shelter makes new opportunities available for both victims of violence and social, law enforcement and legal institutions to respond to cases of violence against women.
The new shelter can accommodate 20 persons at the same time, who may stay there up to one month, or longer, on case-specific basis. The opening of such an assistance center in Vinnytsya is an important step in the context of the newly adopted Law "On Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence", which provides for the establishment of a sufficient number of shelters in Ukraine.
The shelter was established within the large-scale program of the United Nations Population Fund "Integrated Approach to Addressing the Problem of Violence against Women and Girls in Ukraine", which is being implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Social Policy. Thus, four social and psychological aid teams already work within the framework of the program in the Vinnytsya region. From November 2017 to April 2018, these qualified teams provided assistance to about 600 victims of gender-based violence.
The United Nations Population Fund Program "Integrated Approach to Addressing the Problem of Violence against Women and Girls in Ukraine" is funded by the Government of the United Kingdom.
