Сексуальні домагання

The appellant was convicted of trafficking in human beings because he intentionally, for financial purposes, recruited financially vulnerable Ukrainian women for sex trafficking in Russia. The court of first instance sentenced him to five years of imprisonment with confiscation of property for an “accumulation of crimes” (in Ukraine, this term means commission of two or more crimes by one person stipulated by different Articles or different parts of one Article of the Special Part of this Code, where that person has not been convicted of any of these crimes).

This report by the NGOs Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, The Tenth of April, and LEGALIFE-UKRAINE presents the results of a survey conducted among women involved in the sex industry. The experts draw attention to the fact that no direct international legal commitments on regulating commercial sex have been implemented in Ukrainian legislation. Sex work is currently illegal. Paid provision of sexual services in Ukraine is considered an administrative offense and carries a fine.

Article 301² states that involving a minor in: (i) conducting an entertainment show of a sexual nature (i.e., public display in any form of products of sexual nature or stage actions including acts of sexual nature), including with the use of information and telecommunication systems or technologies, or (ii) attending such a show, shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to seven years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years.

Article 155 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine states that an adult who commits acts of sexual nature associated with the vaginal, anal, or oral penetration into the body of a person under the age of 16, using genitals, another body part, or any item, shall be punished by restriction of liberty for a term of up to five years, or imprisonment for the same term.

The applicant and his wife were in a registered marriage and had a child. Over time, their relationship began to deteriorate. The applicant’s wife took the child and left without the applicant's consent. A few months later, the applicant independently found the child in another location where his wife lived with the child and her uncle. Later, the applicant’s mother contacted the police because she believed that the child could have been a victim of debauchery during the period of living with the applicant’s wife and her uncle, based on information from the child.

In this study from the Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health (HealthRight International) and UN Women, the experts conduct a comparative analysis of the risks of sexual harassment in several communities of Eastern Ukraine (Toretsk, Zolote, Soledar, and Novoaidar). A survey among women living in these localities shows a correlation between proximity to the contact line and fear of physical and sexual violence.

The Equal Opportunities Act of Ukraine (the “Act”) provides the legal framework for men and women’s parity in all spheres of social life through providing legal support for equal rights and opportunities, removal of gender-based discrimination, and prevention of imbalance between women’s and men’s opportunities in implementing the rights granted to each of them by the Constitution and other laws.