Most often, women face domestic violence. The number of appeals from older people is also increasing
30 December 14:28
2,777 criminal proceedings on domestic violence were recorded in 11 months of 2024. This is reported by the Opendatabot platform, citing data from the Prosecutor General’s Office, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
It is noted that the level of domestic violence fell sharply in 2022. According to analysts, this was probably due to the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine: 1,500 cases were opened under Article 126-1 “Domestic Violence” throughout the year. But since then, the number of cases has only increased. For example, this year, 2.7 thousand cases of domestic violence were recorded, while last year there were 5% fewer cases. The number of appeals is also 17% higher than in 2021.
At the same time, Opendatabot emphasizes that the detection rate in such cases is quite high: 85% of all cases opened this year have already been served with a suspicion, and 80% of proceedings have been referred to court.
What most often causes domestic violence
Among the most common causes of domestic violence are an increase in the level of aggression among Ukrainians due to the war, excessive alcohol consumption, and a deteriorating financial situation. This is the opinion of Alyona Kryvuliak, director of the National Hotlines and Social Assistance Department at La Strada-Ukraine.
According to her, the winter holidays are the peak period for domestic violence cases, and alcohol is the most common provoking factor. Usually, such an aggravation is observed in families where violence is a common practice.
Such conclusions are confirmed by the figures: in 2024, the highest number of appeals was in January: 435 criminal cases were opened then. For comparison: on average, 250 cases were opened per month.
Among the root causes of domestic violence, experts say that Ukrainians are not trained to relieve stress in a safe way, and many people reduce it with the help of various substances. And under the influence of alcohol and drugs, the level of aggression becomes more threatening.
Who is most affected by domestic violence
76% of all victims of domestic violence this year are women. However, as stated in Opendatabot, since the beginning of the full-scale war, there have been more cases where men seek help. For example, before the start of the full-scale war, 80% of appeals were from women and 20% were from men.
Among men, the most frequent callers are elderly people who face violence from their adult children and grandchildren, mostly for financial reasons.
Overall, the level of domestic violence against older Ukrainians has been gradually increasing since 2021. the hotline received 9.8 thousand calls from people aged 60 and older in the first 9 months of this year, meaning that every third call comes from older people. This is already more than in all of 2021, when there were 9,300 calls.
