Reparation as Recognition: A Call from Ukrainian Survivors
By Iryna Dovhan, SEMA UKRAINE
My name is Iryna Dovhan. I am the founder and head of the organisation SEMA UKRAINE. We began our work in 2018 with the support of the Mukwege Foundation. Initially, we brought together women from the occupied Donbas, but over time survivors from all regions where the Russian army entered joined us.
In April 2022, after the liberation of the Kyiv region, we met with representatives of the Mukwege Foundation and the GSF. At that time, women who had survived sexual violence did not even know what reparations were. Representatives of the foundations explained that they were working to ensure we would receive support. Their words sounded reassuring, but not convincing, as even the Ukrainian authorities showed little interest in our fate. We had to fight for the opening of criminal proceedings by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. That evening, during an air raid alert in Kyiv, the Director of the GSF, Esther Dingemans, asked us what amount of reparations would be appropriate. She asked us to name a sum that could genuinely help — to improve health, start a business, or resolve an urgent problem. The three of us, all survivors, discussed it and named a figure: €3,000.
Those were difficult times: constant shelling and a growing influx of survivors from the Kyiv and Kherson regions. Our goal was to find women, encourage them to break the silence, and support them in giving testimony. Our key message was simple: silence breeds impunity. Many women responded and joined us. If in 2018 there were 15–16 of us, today our collective includes 80 women who have survived conflict-related sexual violence.
All of them received €3,000 in reparations in 2025. When we asked what this money meant to them, the answers varied, but one feeling was shared by all: a sense of freedom and dignity. No one demanded reports or dictated how the funds should be spent. Each person was free to decide how to use the money. To date, more than 1,000 survivors — women, men, and, sadly, children — have received such interim reparations. The pilot project has come to an end, but the number of survivors is far greater. In the past month alone, two more women have reached out to us. The pilot Project has ended, but victims hope that the Law 4067 (Bardina Law) will be implemented and that effective compensation continues.
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