Break out from the west

War has a weapon less obvious than rocket launchers, but no less dangerous: increasing aggression in society, which sometimes leads to tragedies. In 2022, the number of calls to the police about domestic violence increased by 40% compared to 2021. In the Dnipro region, domestic violence has been opposed by the network "Mrs. Patroness" for 3 years.

A similar surge in cases of domestic violence occurred in 2020 (208,748 appeals in 2020 compared to 141,814 appeals in 2019). Then the reason was the quarantine: people were forced to stay at home, lost their jobs, psychological tension grew, and those who were inclined to "lash out" at family resorted to it more and more often.

The "Mrs. Patroness" network was created in June 2020 precisely as a response to this disturbing trend. 10 public and charitable organizations of Dnipro have created an emergency response system for appeals about domestic violence in order to provide support to the victims: legal, psychological, social and material aid.

It is the integrated approach that allows women who have been living in a situation of domestic violence for years to break out of this trap. In the very first days of the network's existence, our phone received dozens of calls asking for help. In the first half of 2022, the public's attention was focused on the events of the armed conflict, and the number of requests for domestic violence decreased. But in 2023, the scale of the problem increased again. And we are ready for this new challenge.

Three lawyers, several psychologists and social workers currently work in the "Mrs. Patroness"; in addition to Dnipro, it opened branches in Kamianske and Pavlohrad.

In 9 months of 2023, the legal service "Mrs. Patroness" provided services to 526 clients. A total of 1,084 legal consultations were provided, and legal representation was provided 209 times. The network processes a wide variety of appeals, from cases of psychological violence to cases where bodily injuries resulted in death.

Our legal service makes every effort to inform people about the protection of their own rights in a domestic violence cases, to create precedents in the courts for the fair resolution of them. It is the legal service that needs funding the most, because legal representation in court can last for months and years, it is the constant tireless work of high-level specialists. The forces of volunteers cannot be dispensed with here.

So that our network works systematically and smoothly, support us financially! Let's make Ukraine safer together!