Psychosocial support for victims of sexual violence during the war in Ukraine: Challenges for social work

Shved, Olha та Liakh, Tetiana та Spirina, Tetiana та Lekholetova, Maryna (2024) Psychosocial support for victims of sexual violence during the war in Ukraine: Challenges for social work Journal of Human Rights and Social Work, 9 (2). ISSN 2365-1792

Текст O_Shved_ta_in_JHRSV_2024_FPSRSO Download (260kB)

Анотація

Since February 2022, when Russia started the war, people living in Ukraine face evidence of war crimes, including sexual violence committed by Russian aggressors against Ukrainian citizens. Sexual violence by solders has been defined as the weapon of war in most armed political conflicts. It is a symbol of the enemy's humiliation of individuals and communities. While men are fighting at the front-line, their loved ones are being violated while no one can protect them. The most prevalent forms of sexual violence in wartime include rape, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, threats of sexual violence, forced witnessing of sexual abuse, forced abortion, genital mutilation, sexual slavery and forced nudity. Victims of sexual violence suffer serious psychological trauma and physical pain, experience post-traumatic stress disorders, develop mental health problems and may attempt suicide. The problem of providing assistance to the victims is further complicated by the fact that sexual violence remains a taboo in Ukrainian society. People who have suffered from it, mostly women, are often scared and ashamed to seek help from professionals. Social workers are the professionals who generally provide psychosocial support to the victims. However, for Ukrainian social workers, this type of work is relatively new. Social workers working in governmental services and public organizations for the victims of war-related sexual violence, need additional knowledge of intervention of how to offer effective psychosocial support for the victims of war sexual violence. To address the issue, the authors conducted a series of expert interviews with social work professionals (n=43) who work in social services and meet people victimized in war. The experiences of social workers and of the survivors can help to identify the problems of the victims and can help social workers to work effectively.

Тип елементу :	Стаття
Додаткова інформація:	Journal of Human Rights and Social Work is a part of Springer Nature
Ключові слова:	war rape; social work with survivors; social support; victims of sexual violence
Типологія:	Статті у базах даних > Web of Science
Підрозділи:	Факультет психології, соціальної роботи та спеціальної освіти > Кафедра соціальної педагогіки та соціальної роботи
Користувач, що депонує:	Ольга Володимирівна Швед
Дата внесення:	23 Вер 2024 11:23
Останні зміни:	23 Вер 2024 11:23
URI:	https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/49684

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