Solutions from Ukraine: 11 free Rescue Centers in Ukraine providing comprehensive aid to war and violence victims

The wife of the President, Olena Zelenska, reported that there are already 11 Rescue Centers operating in Ukraine, which provide comprehensive support on various issues free of charge.

The first lady of Ukraine reported this on Telegram.

What is the problem?

"There is no place in our country where there are not people who have experienced violence. And not necessarily physical. When people lose everything they have because of war, this violence is economic. When they are forced to move and lose their place in life, this violence is social," Zelenska said.

What is the solution?

There are already 11 Rescue Centers operating in Ukraine, which provide free comprehensive support on various issues, from accommodation and humanitarian assistance to psychological or legal aid.

How does it work?

"Absolutely. This is one of the principles of helping those who have suffered from war or violence. Because no one has to provide evidence of this to receive support when they are at their most vulnerable," the First Lady emphasized.

This rule is followed in the Survivor's Rescue Centers, established to help overcome war trauma.

Here, a person can get comprehensive support on various issues:

• find out about temporary shelter,
• humanitarian aid,
• get qualified psychological support,
• get legal support.

"Last year, I participated in the opening of the Rescue Center in Kyiv. At that time, there were only four such centers in Ukraine, but today, there are already 11 in different regions," the President's wife noted.

Such centers are institutions created on the initiative of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration with the assistance of the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy and with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and local authorities.

The addresses and contact numbers of the centers can be found on the UNFPA website.

All help is free and confidential.

This is important, for example, when specialists of the centers work with victims of sexual violence because not everyone agrees to speak openly about it, Zelenska noted.

According to UN estimates, victims of sexual violence during the war are 10-20 times more than according to official data.

As Zelenska stated, no violence should go unnoticed, and none of the victims should be alone with its consequences.

"Together, we will be able not only to defeat the enemy but also to heal the wounds – physical and psycho-emotional – that the enemy leaves behind," she emphasized.

For reference:

It should be noted that there are two mobile brigades of the Rescue Center in Kyiv.

They work on the left and right banks from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. if there are calls. Saturday is also a working day if there is an emergency departure.

75 Ukrainian children suffered from the torture of the Russian invaders during the full-scale war, most of them in the village of Yahidne, Chernihiv region.

According to reports, the Kherson region has seen the most instances of sexual crimes by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian men and women, with 66 cases out of a total of 235 recorded across Ukraine.

It was also reported that during the occupation of Kherson, representatives of the Russian Federation tortured women in isolation cells with beatings, electric shocks, water, threats, and humiliation.

In addition, in eight months of 2023, law enforcement officers in Ukraine registered more than 192,000 complaints about domestic violence.