‘The trauma will stay with me for life,’ says survivor of sexual violence in war-torn Ukraine | EUROtoday
Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.
“As soon as I opened the door, he struck me in the face with the butt of his rifle,” mentioned Maryna, whose identify was modified to guard her id. “My teeth shattered. My face was covered in blood.”
This was just the start. After that got here lengthy hours of assault, intimidation and sexual violence, which left a deep inside scar on her soul, she recalled.
From village to battlefield
Before the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine in 2022, Maryna remembered her life stuffed with pleasure, particularly the times when she was a instructor.
“I never thought there would be a war. I reassured everyone, saying that perhaps there would be some provocations, but that there would be no war,” she mentioned.
Today, strolling by way of the half destroyed, half repaired college corridors, she appears transported again to happier occasions when her soul and ears have been stuffed with the laughter of youngsters.
Looking on the destruction shattered her idyllic reminiscence and the unimaginable thought that her village might grow to be a battlefield.
“I never thought that Russia, such a giant, could attack our beautiful Ukraine. I simply could not imagine it.”
A classroom in a Kherson college lies in ruins.
When the violence arrived
Maryna recounts how shortly all the things occurred. Her first encounters with Russian forces have been terrifying.
“We watched their actions with fear, how they went from house to house, how they took people’s belongings, how cruelly they behaved.”
When Maryna was left alone, the fear intensified.
“For the rest of my life, until my very last day, I will remember the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 12 July because that was the day I personally suffered.”
After getting into her dwelling, the assault started.
“He threw me onto the sofa and began choking me. He pressed so hard with his fingers that for two weeks I could not eat solid food.”
“The torture continued. Then he began tearing my clothes off. I resisted as much as I could, but our strength was not equal,” she defined. “The psychological trauma will stay with me for life. It is painful even to remember this.”
Maryna exhibits a scar on her abdomen, a results of the assault at her dwelling in Kherson, Ukraine.
Life beneath fixed menace
Maryna spent weeks hiding in basements and kitchens of deserted homes, making an attempt to outlive. Utilities have been gone. She cooked secretly, averted detection and feared each knock or shadow.
“At that time, we had no electricity, no water, no gas. I did not tell them where I got water or food, because I feared they would move there as well.”
She describes the presence of the Russian army forces as “constant, oppressive and dehumanising”.
“They carried automatic weapons everywhere. It was very hard to feel safe, even in my own home.”
Escape and the lengthy path to security
After days of terror, Maryna managed to depart Kherson with a humanitarian convoy, bruised, injured and exhausted. Her journey to security took days, passing by way of stretches of roads, checkpoints and minefields.
“When we reached Ukrainian-controlled territory, we got out of the car and kissed the ground.”
Medical care revealed damaged ribs, accidents from the assault and sicknesses contracted whereas hiding in basements. With the help of the UN and NGOs, she received on the highway to restoration.
Damaged books are piled up inside a destroyed classroom in Kherson, Ukraine.
From survival to advocacy
Nowadays, Maryna works to make sure that the voices of survivors are heard and that recognition, rehabilitation and safety can be found to all conflict-related sexual violence survivors.
“This is a terrible crime, a crime against humanity. I want peace so that nowhere in the world people experience such horror.”
Her story is a reminder of the ache of survivors that’s translated into help to others for the combat in opposition to violence and a transparent demand for confidential, trauma-informed care, sturdy help networks and understanding that the deepest scars of warfare are sometimes invisible and might take a very long time, or perhaps a lifetime, to heal.
Maryna walks by way of a destroyed college in Kherson the place she used to show.
Standing with survivors
Survivors of conflict-related sexual violence usually face stigma, concern of retaliation and lack of entry to providers. Maryna emphasises the significance of secure, skilled help.
Programmes supplied by the survivors’ networks and survivor-led organizations with help of the UN, Ukrainian Government and native NGOs are important for serving to survivors like Maryna regain dignity and rebuild not solely their lives, however the lifetime of the entire neighborhood with out retraumatisation.
https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2026/02/1167047