From Zaporizhzhya to Lviv: How Rescue Assistance Centres Work

As of 26 April, 35,128 people had received assistance at the Centres. The overwhelming number of applications is women (79%). IDPs are also the main beneficiaries of the services (78%)," says Nina Lompart, coordinator of the network of Rescue Assistance Centres in Ukraine.

Socialportal tells about the work of Rescue Aid Centres on the example of Lviv, Odessa and Poltava

What kind of help can I get at the Rescue Aid Centres?

• Social assistance: Information about medical, humanitarian aid, state payments, temporary asylum.

• Psychological help: Consultations on normalisation of psycho-emotional state, assistance to child psychologists.

• Legal assistance: Legal counselling on various issues.

• Specialised assistance: Comprehensive support for victims of sexual violence.

General mission and principles of work

The Rescue Aid Centres in Ukraine were established to respond to the challenges of a full-scale war. They provide assistance to internally displaced persons, people who have left the combat zone or occupied territories, local residents, and anyone in need of help. The centres provide social, psychological, legal and specialised assistance, which includes comprehensive support for survivors of sexual violence.

The centres inform about opportunities for medical assistance, humanitarian support, government payments, temporary shelter and other forms of social support. For example, social workers provide information about support centres for internally displaced persons and other resources.

Specialists provide counselling on normalising the psycho-emotional state of victims. Centres also work with child psychologists who specialise in working with younger clients to help them cope with the trauma of war.

The centres provide legal advice on various issues, including document restoration, IDP status and other legal services that are important for war survivors.

Comprehensive support for survivors of sexual violence is provided through specialised programmes and specialists, such as case managers who coordinate assistance according to the individual needs of clients.

Rescue Assistance Centres have a significant impact on the communities in which they operate.

From June 2022 to April 2024, more than 35,000 people have been helped.

The bulk of the centres' clients are women and internally displaced persons, mostly in need of social and psychological support.

Feedback from clients indicates a reduction in psychological pressure and improvement in general well-being after contacting the centres.

Often, clients at the centres seek social services. The social worker provides information on humanitarian aid, state payments, temporary shelter, IDP support centres, medical assistance. The services are satisfied by referrals to partner state and non-state organisations, - says Natalia Deryabina, coordinator of the Centre in Poltava.

In turn, Victoria Pleshko, coordinator of the Centre in Odessa, adds that the centres are also engaged in identifying cases of sexual and other forms of violence as a result of the war.

Our Centre also employs psychologists who provide individual psychological assistance, and a lawyer who provides consultations on legal issues, assists in drafting applications, complaints, etc. The Centre's case manager provides comprehensive assistance to persons who have suffered from any form of violence. This is painstaking and individual work, which most often requires the involvement of other specialists and services. In any case, all services are confidential, unconditional and voluntary," emphasises the specialist.

She notes that most often people come for information about humanitarian support and document processing/restoration.

However, upon getting acquainted with our Centre, it usually turns out that there are many more needs and there are many issues we can help with," she says.

According to Myroslava, the coordinator from Lviv, there is still a very high level of stigmatisation of victims of sexual violence in society, they feel shame and guilt and do not believe in punishment of their abusers. Therefore, it is not immediately possible to identify such problems, says Natalia from Poltava. /p>

Victims are afraid of judgement, blame themselves, because they do not understand that in the conditions of occupation there is no concept of voluntary consent, some do not identify themselves with such victims. Also such victims, first of all, have an enquiry for the closure of their basic needs, most are not ready. to seek help," she says.

At the same time, Victoria, a coordinator from Odessa, sees this primarily as the victims' fear of reliving traumatic memories once again.

In my opinion, this is not shame. Survivors of this trauma try to blot out, forget about what happened. These attempts lead to isolation and seclusion, they try to overcome psychological and physiological consequences on their own, but this engages deepening traumatisation, - the expert notes.

How is assistance provided?

Assistance is free of charge, confidential and unconditional, without the need to prove that a person has been affected by war or violence.

CDO Lviv can be contacted offline or by phone number. We provide services to all those affected by war, confidentially and free of charge," says Miroslava Kvasnica, coordinator of the Centre in Lviv.

Addresses and contact information for the Rescue Assistance Centres can be found at https://ukraine .unfpa.org/en/SRC

No documents are required to apply. We work unconditionally and she can change her name if necessary (ensuring confidentiality). In case of necessity there is a possibility of referral to partners or state organisations or in case of manifestation of the victim's desire to apply to the Prosecutor's Office or the National Police, the affected person fills in a voluntary informed consent (the specialist informs the client about the plan of further work, the plan of the meeting and the intervention that we will apply ), without photo and video fixation, - the coordinator emphasises.

What criteria should a person fulfil, what documents should he or she have?

There are no conditions of application. It is possible not to submit any documents.

What state institutions or organisations can refer people who need help?

According to Nina Lompart, coordinator of the network of Rescue Assistance Centres in Ukraine, at the national level they cooperate with the Pro Bono Legal Aid, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

As well as a number of stabilisation and rehabilitation initiatives, such as the rehabilitation programmes of Maria Efrosinina's Masha Foundation and the Lesnaya Polyana institution. Co-operation has also been established with all UNFPA "friendly projects" - Ona-hub, women-friendly space "Svobodnaya", mobile brigades of psychosocial assistance to victims of domestic violence and a number of others. Also, all the Rescued Assistance Centres establish cooperation with the subjects of interaction at the local level in 4 areas of service provision. legal, psychological, social and medical, - says Nina Lompart.

The Lviv cell noted that they co-operate with the Department of Social Protection of Population of the Regional State Administration, as well as with the Office for Support of Servicemen and their Families

In Odessa, since the beginning of the Centre's work, working meetings have been held with city departments, which identified the appropriate persons to cooperate with the Centre.

The Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Labour and Social Policy provide operational support to the persons who applied to our Centre. There is also cooperation with medical rehabilitation centres, humanitarian headquarters, foundations, points of compact residence, employment centre, - says Victoria Pleshko, the Centre's coordinator in Odessa.

In Poltava, apart from state institutions, there is also a fairly extensive list of organisations where victims can be referred. Especially if the problem concerns sensitive issues or health:

• Space for Women and Girls Free, UNFPA;

• Mobile Brigades, UNFPA;

• Gynaecological rooms without barrier-free access (KP "City Clinical Maternity Hospital", KP "Fourth City Clinical Hospital"; Regional Clinical Hospital for Restorative Treatment and Diagnostics with Centres for Family Planning and Medical Genetics"

• BU "Light of Hope" (day centre with crisis room, shelter), shelter for women with children AICM Refuge;

• Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital of M.F. Sklifosovsky;

• Children's City Clinical Hospital of Poltava City Council;

• Poltava branch of the Lviv Prosthetic and Orthopaedic Centre "Orthotop";

• Gender Centre of the National University "Yuriy Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic";

• CF "Caritas"; NGO "Podsnezhnizhnik"; CF "SOS Children's Town"; CF "ADRA Poltava"; NGO "Women's Hub 2.0"; CF "Right to Defence".

Each of the Centres has its own specifics of work. We share the peculiarities of work of the three centres

Lviv

In Lviv, the Centre for Assistance to the Rescued focuses on providing socio-psychological and legal support. The Centre actively interacts with internally displaced persons in need of comprehensive assistance due to trauma from violence or war. Due to the high demand for legal services, the Centre provides consultations on issues such as document processing, restoration of civil rights and other legal problems. The Centre also provides psychological support and crisis intervention sessions for adults and children.

• Victims' experiences: "Survivors of this trauma try to blot out, forget about what happened. These attempts lead to isolation and seclusion, they try to overcome the psychological and physiological consequences on their own, but this engages the deepening traumatisation." >

• Dynamics of referrals: "Everyone who has contacted us can receive information support on available opportunities in the community on humanitarian assistance, medical care, settlement and employment and much more according to the request and needs of the individual or family."

Odessa

In Odessa, the Rescue Assistance Centre focuses on information support and assistance with paperwork. Given the large number of arriving IDPs who have escaped from the war zone, special attention is paid to providing information on available medical services, registering with local social services and completing the necessary paperwork to receive state payments and other social guarantees. The centre also offers psychological support to those who have experienced stress and trauma as a result of the war.

• Experiences of survivors: "The topic of sexual violence is quite stigmatised, survivors are afraid of being judged, blaming themselves, as they do not understand that there is no concept of voluntary consent under occupation."

• Dynamics of appeals: "During one year (2023) of the work of the SLC, 1721 people in total were received, 3190 services were provided."

Poltava

In Poltava, the main focus of the Rescue Assistance Centre is on psychological support and identification of cases of violence. The Centre implements programmes to identify and support victims of sexual violence through individual and group psychotherapy sessions. The Centre actively cooperates with local organisations and initiatives to ensure a comprehensive approach to solving victims' problems. Information campaigns are also an important part of the work, helping to raise public awareness of the problems of violence.

• Survivors' experience: "Yes, as the topic of sexual violence is quite stigmatised in our society, survivors primarily have a request for closure of their basic needs, most are not ready to seek help."

• Dynamics of appeals: "I would like to note that after opening the Centre and conducting an information campaign on the services that citizens can receive, the dynamics of appeals is stable, and the request for the services of psychologists and a lawyer is only growing."

What would the Centres like to change in providing assistance to victims?

Information campaigns should be expanded to raise awareness of available services, especially in remote and less accessible regions.

Additional promotion of the activities of the Rescued Assistance Centre by organising communication campaigns at the community level, involving local media to raise awareness of SNPC topics among the population," says the coordinator from Poltava.

For her part, Victoria Pleshko from Odessa believes it is important to encourage people to decide to seek help.

In my opinion, everyone can get comprehensive assistance if they want to, but there is a question of the first step. Exactly the availability of information, where exactly can get help, is a significant step in solving many issues, - she says.

How the dynamics of applications has changed

All three Centres have noted an increase in requests compared to last year, especially for psychological help and legal advice. This demonstrates the need for help among war victims. However, the problem of stigmatisation of victims of sexual violence remains relevant, especially in the context of public awareness and willingness to talk about their experiences.