On March 6th, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will publish the concluding recommendations for Ukraine. During a press briefing at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center, President of the NGO “La Strada – Ukraine,” Katerina Levchenko, announced that according to the UN Committee’s procedure, civil society organizations had the right to submit their reports, both general and thematic.
The Ukrainian government reported on the implementation of the corresponding UN Convention in Geneva on February 14th. The 66th session of the Committee addressed both the international component, assessing how the country fulfills its international obligations, and the domestic component, examining Ukraine’s achievements over more than 4 years. Elena Suslova, Chair of the Board of the NGO “Information and Consultation Women’s Center,” emphasized that the domestic component is more significant, allowing a look into what has been accomplished in the past 4 years. The focus should be on what the state has done rather than what books have been published or what civil society organizations and international agencies have done.
More than ten civil society organizations submitted their reports. Ella Lamakh, Director of Programs at the Center for Democracy Development NGO, noted that their report covered all articles of the Convention, with a primary emphasis on the fact that the institutional mechanism necessary for action in Ukraine has been dismantled throughout the vertical power structure. There is also inadequate record-keeping of gender-based discrimination incidents.
Women in Ukraine still face discrimination in access to justice and free legal aid. Marina Rudenko, representative of the “Information and Consultation Women’s Center” NGO, explained that their recommendations focused on training judges in the correct application of the UN Convention in judicial matters.
Zola Kondur, Vice President of the NGO “Roma Women’s Fund ‘Chirikli’,” highlighted that Roma women are a particularly vulnerable group among internally displaced persons, especially when they have children or are pregnant. “Most Roma women across Ukraine face multiple forms of discrimination based on gender and ethnicity,” she added.
The NGO “Positive Women” prepared a report on discrimination against vulnerable groups of women, including HIV-positive women, sex workers, LGBT community members, and drug users. Alina Yaroslavska, representative of the “Positive Women” NGO, noted that their rights to parenthood are often violated. The degrading practice of isolating HIV-positive women in separate wards still persists.
Anna Yanova, representative of the NGO “Justice for Peace in Donbas,” drew attention to sexual violence associated with the armed conflict. She mentioned that instances of violence in temporarily non-controlled territories and so-called “gray zones” are not properly documented by law enforcement. Therefore, it’s impossible to track an objective dynamic of the situation.
