Men in detention face sexual torture amid war in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine - In the early hours of the morning, at a location in Ukraine not far from the front line of the war, Antonina* found herself staring at a disturbing message on her phone. It was a video recording of her cousin, Maksym*, being brutally raped.

"She was scared and didn't know what to do," recalled Olena*, a psychologist who later worked with Antonina.

Olena spoke with UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, with permission from Antonina, to emphasize the wave of sexual violence against men, and the wider societal impacts of that violence, that she and her colleagues are grappling with.

"We've worked with other cases where similar videos were sent, with demands or blackmail following," Olena said. "In this case, there was no blackmail or demands. It was simply humiliation and cruelty."

Sexual violence as torture

The world is seeing "heightened levels of conflict-related sexual violence, fuelled by arms proliferation and increased militarization," a recent United Nations report notes. Although the vast majority of victims of this crime are women and girls, this kind of violence is also all too common - and severely underreported - among men, boys and people of diverse gender identities.

"Most of the reported incidents against men and boys occurred in detention settings," the UN report states.

This was the case for Maksym. Antonina reached out to friends and family to find out where he was, only to learn that he had gone missing days earlier. The Russian authorities later said that Maksym was being held in the basement of a police station; his captors shared the video of his torture with people in his contact list.

"The reason for this treatment was supposedly a few [anti-occupation] memes he had posted on social media," Olena said.

As the conflict in Ukraine grinds on, mental health workers- including UNFPA staff - are increasingly stretched to capacity. Credit: UNFPA Ukraine / Serhii Tymofieiev

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has documented numerous instances of torture and abuse by Russian authorities, both in occupied regions and in the Russian Federation. The findings indicate a widespread, systematic use of violence, often in detention facilities, and "the recurrent use of sexual violence, mainly against male victims, as a form of torture."

Digital violence amplifies reach of harm

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Prosecutor General's Office in Ukraine has documented 316 cases of conflict-related sexual violence; of these, 202 survivors were women and 114 were men.

Yet these are likely dramatic underestimates. According to estimates from UNFPA's work in Ukraine, for every case of conflict-related sexual violence, there are between 10 and 20 cases that go unregistered. And while all forms of sexual violence are significantly underreported, male survivors have especially high rates of non-reporting because of the stigma and perceived emasculation attached to the crime.

"It's hard to work with men because they feel ashamed of what they've been through," Olena said.

She works with the UNFPA-supported Survivors Relief Centre, which provides free, confidential services, including through mobile units serving embattled communities along the front line. The centre offers specialized resources for survivors of sexual violence - even so, Olena said, she and other mental health professionals are struggling to address the profound impacts of the cases they are encountering.

UNFPA-supported counsellors and health workers are providing a range of support for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine - both female and male. Credit: UNFPA Moldova/Siegfried Modola

The shame experienced by survivors is a serious obstacle to getting help. Psychologists must work to build trust and protect anonymity - a task that has been greatly undermined by the use of digital tools to amplify footage and photographs of sexual torture.

This digital violence compounds the already serious trauma endured by survivors, and further inflicts harm onto their families and communities, counsellors tell UNFPA. Witnessing her cousin's rape was devastating for Antonina, who had been displaced by the war and was isolated from her support system, Olena explained.

Olena has tried to help Maksym, too. "Through Antonina, I put him in touch with online psychologists," she said. "But it's dangerous since messages are monitored."

Stretched to capacity

In addition to providing comprehensive, trauma-informed care, the Survivor Relief Centre offers legal advice, medical referrals and social support. Funded by Austria, Belgium, Spain and Sweden, the centres are a collaborative initiative between UNFPA, the Ukrainian government, and local organizations.

Through this project and other initiatives, such as an online psychosocial support platform and a two-week comprehensive rehabilitation programme, UNFPA is providing a range of support to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence - both female and male.

The counsellors providing this care are dedicated to the communities they serve - but they, too, are affected by the suffering they witness.

"I was trained for this," Olena said. "My job is to take those feelings from the client that they can't bear, and process them into something they can carry, live with and cope with."

But the stories she hears linger long after each session ends, she admits; as the conflict grinds on, mental health workers across the country are increasingly stretched to capacity.

*Names changed for privacy and protection

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