New law on domestic violence comes into force on December 19: what will change
Kyiv • UNN
In Ukraine, responsibility for domestic violence is being strengthened and the term of detention of abusers is being increased to 12 hours. A child in whose presence violence is committed will be recognized as a victim.
On December 19, a law comes into force that increases responsibility for domestic violence. This was announced by Deputy Interior Minister Kateryna Pavlichenko on the air of the marathon, reports UNN.
Among the legislative changes, there is the introduction of a norm on recognizing a child as a victim if domestic violence is committed in his presence. The law also clearly distinguishes between the concepts of domestic violence and gender-based violence.
According to Kateryna Pavlichenko, the legislative changes will significantly affect the protection of victims and bringing abusers to justice.:
- The new law contains a provision that increases the term of possible administrative detention of the offender, in particular, to 12 hours. And this law necessarily provides for a study of the need to refer the offender to correctional programs.
- Currently, the National Police has 61 mobile groups to combat domestic violence. In addition, there are also specialized sectors for countering domestic violence. They work in regional centers and cities with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants.
Addition
According to statistics, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the situation of domestic violence in Ukraine has increased compared to previous years. For example, in 2019, the number of applications submitted to the police was 141,814, of which 1,068 were open cases, and 759 went to court. In 2022, 244,381 applications were submitted to police stations, including 1,498 open ones, and 1,249 were submitted to the court. if we talk about 2024, as of October, the number of applications "exceeded" previous years by 80%. But even despite the increase in the number of applications, the percentage of their receipt in court has significantly decreased. In 2022 and 2023, this figure was about 83%, but now it is only 64%, which is the lowest figure in the last five years. Also, it is worth noting that such data is not accurate, since not all victims dare to contact the relevant authorities for help.
