Domestic violence-related criminal cases tripled in 2020

The number of criminal court cases related to domestic violence tripled last year, rising from 2019’s 626 to 1,877 with 926 judgments of guilt.

The number of administrative cases related to psychological, economical, or physical abuse with no harm to the victim’s health also increased in 2020, reaching 124,770, against 108,791 in 2019.

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Domestic violence-related criminal cases

Year	2019	2020
Criminal cases	626	1,877

The number of trivial injury, beating, and physical cruelty cases remained unchanged. The number of rape-related ones increased somewhat.

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Domestic abuse administrative cases

Year	2019	2020
Administrative cases	108,791	124,770

«The increase in court cases is a positive thing: increasingly more women discover that they can defend themselves by going to court, and they don’t hesitate to seek help. Domestic violence became a criminal offense in Ukraine in 2017 when law 2227-VIII was passed. However, the first criminal proceedings pursuant to the articles in question were not initiated until 2019», 

— commented Mykyta Pidhainyi, a lawyer with Opendatabot.

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Rape-related court cases

Year	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Court cases	280	426	159	170	225

The lockdown may have become a catalyst of domestic violence. According to Alyona Kryvuliak, Head of National Hotline at the La Strada NGO, the number of hotline calls due to domestic violence increased by 30% during the first lockdown in March-May. Overall, the organization received 30,000 calls for help in 2020.