Sexual Violence in Ukraine: Victims Describe the Scars of War
Latvian news portal Apollo.lv has published accounts by Ukrainian women and men about sexual violence they experienced during the war that Russia started. The piece describes such violence as another weapon of war.
Sexual violence has become one of the ways the war in Ukraine, ongoing since Russia's invasion, is being fought. The Latvian news portal Apollo.lv has published a piece in which Ukrainian women and men openly describe what they went through.
Another weapon of war
The authors note that the war takes away people's homes, safety and lives, and leaves many with physical and emotional damage. In their framing, the fighting is not carried out only with arms: sexual violence is described as a weapon that can leave deeper scars than bullet wounds.
What the victims describe
The testimonies show how Ukrainian women and men experienced humiliation, torture and betrayal. The piece asks what these people faced and what they endured.
The available introduction to the piece does not name specific individuals, places, dates or statistics, so none can be reported here. The full set of victims' accounts is in the original publication.
