Sexual violence as a weapon in Russia’s war in Ukraine
Date and time:
Saturday 26 November, 2022
16:00 - 16:00
Location:
Room B35, Birkbeck Main Building
Malet Street
London
WC1E 7HX
Since the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014, residents of Ukraine have been exposed to the risks of conflict-related sexual violence perpetrated by Russian troops. Yet the problem became internationally discussed only after February 2022. Recording the numerous crimes, administering justice, and introducing effective policies and services for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine continues to be a challenge. The discussion will highlight the voices of activists, practitioners and scholars who draw the world’s attention to sexual violence perpetrated in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
This event is co-organised by the Ukrainian Institute London, Birkbeck, University of London, SEMA Ukraine, International Council of Polish Women+ and Cambridge Families for Ukraine.
The event is part of SEMA Ukraine's advocacy tour across major European capitals: London, Paris and Brussels. The trip includes impactful events, conferences and meetings with politicians, and decision-makers, as well as public engagement.
Speakers
Iryna Dovhan, activist
Alisa Kovalenko, filmmaker
Anna Kvit, Visiting Research Scholar, UCL (EISPS)
Apolline Pierson, Programme Manager of National Survivor Networks
To support survivors of sexual violence in Ukraine click here.
Speaker
Iryna Dovgan
Iryna Dovgan was born in the town of Yasynovata, Donetsk oblast, Ukraine. Graduated from Donetsk University, she worked as an economist, accountant, design engineer, and as a cosmetologist, owning her own beauty salon. As a result of her work supporting the Ukrainian army, Iryna was arrested and detained in 2014, suffering serious forms of abuse, only to be forced to leave her hometown following her release with her family. Currently based in Kyiv, Iryna is still working to support Ukrainian prisoners of war. Since November 2018, she has been working as the national coordinator in the Global Network of Victims and Survivors to End Wartime Sexual Violence (SEMA) to represent Ukraine. Since February 2019, Iryna has been leading the Ukrainian survivor network, called SEMA Ukraine. Today, she is also one of the Board members of the Global Survivors Fund. She has been engaged in numerous advocacy activities, including speaking at conferences and on panels, and participating in parliamentary round table discussions in Ukraine.
Learn more about Iryna and her work:
- Ukraine activist relives humiliation horrors, article by BBC
- Irina Dovgan, tortured by separatists, warns of Russian influence over Ukraine, podcast with RFI
- Irina Dovgan tells of public abuse at hands of pro-Moscow separatists, article for Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
Speaker
Alisa Kovalenko
Alisa Kovalenko is a Ukrainian director, living in Kyiv. She graduated the Karpenko-Kary University of Cinema of Kyiv. Later on, Alisa studied at the Andrzej-Wajda cinema school of Warsaw. After a first feature-length documentary, Sister Zo, Alisa directed her debut feature-documentary Alisa in Warland, about the war in Eastern Ukraine. Alisa’s second documentary, Home Games was selected in 65 festivals (8 awards). Home Games was nominated for the best Ukrainian documentary in 2019 at the the Ukrainian Film Academy. Alisa was working on a film on the conflict in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region in 2014 when she was stopped at a separatist checkpoint, taken away for questioning, then sexually abused by a Russian officer in a nearby apartment. “I promised myself if a war ... will cover all Ukraine, then I will fight not with my camera but with a gun.” Days after Russian forces charged in on Feb. 24, she put down her camera, suspended most work on her latest production and volunteered to fight on the eastern front. Alisa is a member of SEMA Ukraine.
Speaker
Anna Kvit
Anna Kvit is a visiting research fellow at University College London, European & International Social and Political Studies Department. Her research experience covers empirical studies on women in the military of Ukraine Invisible Battalion, veterans’ reintegration into civilian life and gendered impacts of the war in Ukraine. She has also participated in the development of the programs and policies on implementation of the Women Peace and Security agenda in Ukraine. Anna worked for international organisations and civil society organisations in Ukraine. She holds a BA degree in Sociology from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine) and MA degree in Global Political Economy from the University of Kassel (Germany).
Speaker
Apolline Pierson
Apolline is the Programme Manager of National Survivor Networks. After writing her master thesis on the access to reparations for victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Apolline started her career in the humanitarian sector focusing on the issue of conflict-related sexual violence. She spent some years in the field in Africa, including at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu (DRC) closely working with Dr Mukwege’s team. After kick starting the work of national survivor networks in DRC and Central African Republic, she now works as a programme manager in charge of the Mukwege Foundation projects linked to movement-building and amplifying the voices of survivors across the world.
Moderator
Olesya Khromeychuk
Olesya Khromeychuk is the Director of the Ukrainian Institute London. She is a historian and writer. She has taught the history of East-Central Europe at several British universities, and has written for The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Der Spiegel, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Prospect. Khromeychuk is the author of The Death of a Soldier Told by His Sister (2022) and “Undetermined" Ukrainians. Post-War Narratives of the Waffen SS "Galicia" Division (2013).
