Olesya Bida, journalist of the War Crimes Investigations Unit of the Kyiv Independent
On June 16, a post appeared on the Ombudsman’s office Facebook page, stating that Dmytro Lubinets made a mistake at the Global Peace Summit. He spoke about a girl who had been sexually assaulted and had recently returned during the last prisoner exchange. From his description, it was quite clear who he was talking about.
In that post, Lubinets urged media representatives to delete the news articles referencing his words, as he was mistaken – it was actually about another girl who had returned from captivity earlier.
This situation is terrible in every way. As a journalist, it annoys me when people ask me to delete something. At the very least, it’s impossible. Journalists are responsible for the disseminated information to their audience, and it is unacceptable to delete material without explanation.
But this situation also reminded me of the early days of the full-scale war when Liudmyla Denisova, citing the UNICEF psychological support hotline, provided excessively detailed accounts of rapes during the occupation. According to her, it was “for the sake of Ukraine’s victory.”
At that time, female journalists and the Women in Media NGO urged Liudmyla Denisova to correct her communication about sexual crimes during the war.
Later, the former ombudsman herself admitted that she had exaggerated somewhat in her statements. Later on, journalists from Ukrainska Pravda published an investigation stating that not all the stories voiced by Denisova could be confirmed.
We can only guess at the consequences of such actions. Of course, Russian propaganda then used this to cast doubt on those war crimes. However, according to current information from Ukrainian law enforcement officers, as of June 5th, 292 cases of sexual violence have been recorded.
More importantly, such statements are disrespectful to those who have actually suffered from sexual assault. By making such statements, we lose the trust of survivors and publicly question their experiences.
For the past 10 months, I have been working on an investigative film about sex crimes committed during the war. Never before have I dedicated so much time to a single project.
Most of my time was spent searching for individuals who would enable us to narrate these stories in our film, individuals who would allow us to immerse ourselves in their lives for an extended period.
Even before recording the main interviews for the investigation, I had numerous meetings with human rights defenders, psychologists, and lawyers who work with survivors of CRSV. Without giving names or details, they told the stories of their victims. When it came to talking directly with survivors, I was rejected in most cases.
Even during a full-scale war, society’s attitude towards survivors of sexual violence has remained unchanged in some places. Victims still face stigma and judgment. They are considered guilty of what happened to them. Sexual violence during war is not considered a war crime.
Eventually, after a few months, the two girls agreed to tell me their stories. At first, they were both wary of me. And I understood why. They were uncertain whether I would accurately convey everything exactly as they told it, and not exploit their stories for publicity. They had to confide in yet another stranger and talk about a stage in their lives when they were most vulnerable.
We met with one of the characters several times over the course of three months before recording the main interview. We talked a lot about the general concept of the investigation – why we were shooting it and what effect it would potentially have.
We agreed with both women to approve every shot we filmed. We also agreed that they would have the opportunity to review the material before publication. We also gave the girls the right to refuse publication of interviews and videos featuring them.
While working on the film, the crew and I meticulously reviewed every word used to describe their experience. We even re-watched blurry shots multiple times to ensure their facial features weren’t inadvertently visible.
Trust was as fragile as ever. We only had one chance.
The day before the premiere of our investigative film in the cinema, I received a message from one of the protagonists of the film, Daria. I knew she planned to attend the show with her boyfriend. The girl offered to say a few words after the premiere.
“I am a living person who has experienced certain negative events. I really exist. I’m not just a feed from an article or some words,” Daria said that evening. “We must speak so that they do not speak for us.”
The public disclosure of cases of sexual violence should not take precedence over human rights and dignity. Behind every story we have shared is a person who, for specific reasons, entrusted us with their experience and who hoped for our integrity. That person is not a word from a news feed, as Daria noted.
Yes, we still don’t know much about sexual violence during war. But we don’t have to make up or change stories to get the world to believe us. We should not jeopardize the privacy of individuals who choose to share their stories. The price of such a mistake or “misunderstanding” is very high.
Whether the girl the Ombudsman was referring to was freed during the last exchange of prisoners or a previous one, the Ombudsman displayed contempt for all survivors of sexual violence and demonstrated a lack of understanding of human rights protection principles. At the very least, Lubinets should have honestly acknowledged that the survivor’s identity had been revealed. He should have borne political responsibility for his actions, rather than expecting the media to remove the news.
This material was made possible by the New Democracy Fund (NDF) and International Media Support (IMS) as part of the project “Breaking Down Barriers: Bringing together public organizations, media, and state bodies to achieve gender equality in the media space of Ukraine,” implemented by the NGO “Women in Media.” Any views expressed here belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of NDF or IMS.