Men and boys raped by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, say reports
In the midst of cases of sexual violence by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, reports now show men and children among the alleged victims of rape. Several cases of these cases are already being investigated, UN and Ukraine officials said.”I have received reports, not yet verified on cases of sexual violence against men and children in Ukraine,” said Pramila Patten, a special representative of the UN on sexual violence in the war, at a press conference in kyiv, as cited by The Guardian.
Patten added that it can be even more difficult for male rape survivors to inform the crime. “It is difficult for women and girls to report [violation] due to stigma among other reasons, but it is often even more difficult for men and boys to inform that we have to create that safe space so that all victims denounced cases of violence Sexual, “he said. .
She warned that dozens of cases under investigation “only represent the tip of the iceberg”, since she urged the survivors to present themselves. She appealed to the international community to find the perpetrators and hold them responsible. “Today’s documentation will be tomorrow’s prosecution,” she said.
The Attorney General of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova, said Tuesday that her office had collected reports of sexual violence against men and women of all ages, from children to older people for Russian troops.Speaking at a press conference, Venediktova said that Moscow had used rape as a deliberate strategy to scare civil society. “This is, of course, to scare civil society to do everything possible to [force Ukraine to] capitular.”
She said several survivors left the country, while many are afraid to talk about their experiences. However, prosecutors and investigative teams are collecting evidence of generalized sexual violence since the withdrawal of Russian forces.
“Gang violations, assaults at gunpoint and rapes committed in front of children are among the gloomy testimonies that have collected from the victims and their families,” she said. According to the report in The Guardian, the country’s Human Rights Commissioner, Lyudmila Denisova, has officially documented the cases of 25 women who were maintained in a basement and systematically violated in Bucha, that the IRPIN neighbors.
Forensic experts are carrying out autopsies in the bodies of women in massive tombs and have found evidence that some were raped before being killed by Russian forces.Some Russian soldiers have already been identified by Ukrainian researchers for crimes of war, including sexual violence, and an arrest warrant for a man accused of rape has been issued.
