Ukraine

Article 63 of the Code of Labor Laws prohibits overtime work for pregnant women and women with children under the age of three. This rule is meant to protect women, but at the same time it makes them vulnerable to discrimination. The direct application of this rule violates women's right to freely choose their work, restricts women's access to jobs for which additional payment is provided (for example, under the hourly payment system, overtime work is paid at doubled hourly rate), and can also inhibit women’s career and professional growth.

Article 24 of Ukraine’s Constitution prohibits privileges and restrictions based on sex (and other grounds), and requires equal opportunities for women and men in socio-political and cultural activities, access to education, work and remuneration, and pension privileges. It also mandates special measures for labor protection, women’s health, and creating conditions enabling women to combine work and maternity. Article 51 provides that marriage is based on the free consent of a woman and a man. Each spouse has equal rights and responsibilities in marriage and family.

The first applicant, who was in the fifth month of pregnancy, was detained by the police on suspicion of robbery. The national court ordered her pre-trial detention as a preventive measure pending trial. During her detention, the applicant gave birth to her son, the second applicant. Later, the woman appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) to obtain just satisfaction, as she argued that her right under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture) was violated during detention.

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.

Article 302 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine states that creating or running brothels, and also procuring people for sex work in brothels, shall be punishable by a fine of 1,000-2,000 tax-free minimum incomes or restriction of liberty for up to two years. Article 302 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine states that creating or running brothels, and procurement, shall be punishable by a fine of 1,000-2,000 tax-free minimum incomes or restriction of liberty for up to two years.

Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides criminal liability for trafficking in human beings, as well as recruitment, movement, concealment, transfer, or receipt of a person committed for the purpose of exploitation, coercion, abduction, fraud, blackmail, material, or other dependence of the victim, their vulnerable condition or bribery of a third-party controlling victim, to obtain consent for their exploitation. A person who commits such socially dangerous acts shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of three to eight years.

The Criminal Code of Ukraine Article 300 prohibits the importation, manufacture or distribution of works that promulgate violence and cruelty, racial, national or religious intolerance and discrimination. Importation into Ukraine for sale or distribution purposes, or manufacture, storage, transportation or other movement for the same purposes, or sale or distribution of works (and also compelling others to participate in the creation of such works) that promulgate discrimination, among other things, are criminalized by Article 300.

Article 390¹ provides criminal liability for (i) intentional failure to comply with the restrictive measures applicable to perpetrators of domestic violence (for example, prohibition on cohabitation with a person who has suffered from domestic violence, restriction of communication with the child in the event that domestic violence is committed against the child or in their presence, etc.); (ii) intentional failure to comply with restrictive instructions; or (iii) intended evasion of a court-mandated offender treatment program.

According to Article 284(1)(7) of The Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine, a court cannot drop a case related to domestic violence if the victim waives the charge. The purpose of this rule is to prevent perpetrators from forcing or pressuring the victim into dropping the charge.