SEMA-Ukraine is the organization bringing together survivors of sexual violence linked to the conflict in Ukraine, whether they are victims of the atrocities committed in eastern Ukraine since 2014 or the even greater number linked to the Russian invasion of February 2022.

Chaired by Iryna Dovgan [photo 1] , the association, founded in 2019 and initially composed of women who suffered illegal detention and abuse during the first Donbass war in 2014, has been joined by survivors of mass rapes perpetrated by the Russian army since the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The first challenge to overcome is the failure to report this violence. This is due to the survivors' distrust of the authorities they turn to and of the quality of the assistance provided. It is also explained by the fear of being stigmatized within their community, or even their family.

SEMA-Ukraine and the Dr Denis Mukwege Foundation are actively working with the Ukrainian government to increase the number of reported cases, in close collaboration with local populations. Working to improve the quality of support services available to victims of sexual violence, SEMA-Ukraine plays a dual role [photo 2] : ensuring that survivors can confidently approach the authorities and combating the stigma that targets victims.

SEMA Ukraine's medium and long-term goal is to achieve justice, which includes reparations and sanctions against the perpetrators of sexual violence.

Documentation of crimes, which is lacking in areas that are still occupied or recently liberated, is therefore essential.

At the same time, SEMA-Ukraine is contributing to the drafting of a law that will allow victims to obtain recognition, support and a pension (in compensation for the harm suffered), independently of legal proceedings. The law should define the legal status of victims of sexual violence (rape, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, forced abortion, forced prostitution, etc.) related to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine since 2014, as well as their families when the victim who suffered sexual violence has died. It will determine the basis of reparation in order to meet the immediate needs of survivors of sexual violence.

It will also define the legal basis for the creation and maintenance of the national register of victims of sexual violence related to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

In order to obtain support from Ukraine's allies, a delegation from SEMA Ukraine met in London, Brussels and Paris [1] in November and December 2022 with organizations and parliamentarians who could support the fight of Ukrainian women victims of violence. The requests for assistance made are of three types:

- Establishment of a collaboration aimed at facilitating the collection of complaints from Ukrainian victims who have taken refuge in European countries;

- Material and psychological assistance for victims of sexual violence, who need to be welcomed (often with their children) not only in specialized services, but in safe and suitable places.

- And, above all, ensuring that the dissemination of information on the nature and scale of the crimes committed by the Russian army is supported in the long term. This is about making the survivors (and survivors) of this violence visible in the public space, so that they are recognized not as victims, but as combatants.

The fight against the silence surrounding rape used as a weapon of war in Ukraine therefore requires awareness-raising and mobilisation at all levels, from public opinion to government bodies, both in France and in Europe.

[1] SEMA-Ukraine has been collaborating with the Association for the Defense of Democracy in Poland since March 2022 and, since January 2023, with For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours.