The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs spoke about the evacuation of families with children, the fight against the trafficking of Ukrainian refugees and domestic violence

With the start of a full-scale war with the Russian Federation, Ukraine faced numerous security challenges. One of the most pressing issues was ensuring the evacuation of families from the frontline areas, especially children. However, other issues that existed before February 24, 2022 also remain relevant. Among them is the fight against domestic violence, human trafficking and other challenges that require immediate solutions.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Kateryna Pavlichenko reported, that units of the National Police of Ukraine cooperate with Europol and Interpol in matters of human trafficking for further sexual exploitation. We are talking about Ukrainian refugees who are currently abroad.

Pavlichenko said that according to Europol data, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, about 60 signals about possible human trafficking, where the victims are Ukrainians, have been recorded. These signals came through Europol channels, in particular, from Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Latvia, Romania, Poland, the Netherlands, and Germany. All this information is checked, researched, but not all of it is confirmed.

“Here it is necessary to understand that everything that is done on the territory of other states is under the jurisdiction of the police of this or that country. Therefore, our citizens who are abroad, accordingly, first turn to the police of the state where they are, if they have suffered from certain crimes.

Sometimes Ukrainians abroad apply to diplomatic institutions, and information from diplomatic institutions is already sent to the National Police of Ukraine for verification. When our citizens turn to the local police of another country about falling into human trafficking, we may not receive this data, because it remains in the law enforcement agencies of the country where the person is located.

It is important to understand that information about a victim of human trafficking is protected by the state to which this data is reported. That is, other countries have their own laws that protect this information from distribution, there is a certain confidentiality. In addition, if a person already has the established status of a victim in a criminal case, then this is generally a secret of the investigation, and this must also be taken into account.” Pavlichenko said.

In addition, she believes that the creation of a safe educational environment for children, particularly in schools, is a big problem now. In this connection, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has introduced the “Educational Security Service” project.

“The threats that were there before remain urgent even today – these are bullying, cyber threats, etc. In addition, there are threats caused by war, including a lot of weapons, ammunition, and so on. Therefore, one of our tasks now is the formation of a culture of safe behavior in society, including for children.

An Education Security Officer is a carefully selected and trained police officer who will work in and be assigned to a specific school. He will perform not only law enforcement and educational functions, but also will be a mentor for all students who will study at this school.
Now the selection and training of these specialists is underway. All this happens in several stages. Today, the number of police officers who have already passed both selection and training is almost 800. But in addition, selection and training are still ongoing.

A lot of applicants are eliminated either at the selection stage or at the training stage, because there are really very high requirements for these specialists.
The first of these policemen will work in schools already at the beginning of this school year.” – reported the deputy minister of internal affairs.

She also noted that an equally important issue is the evacuation of the population from safe areas. According to her, police officers, risking their own lives, go to safe regions and evacuate the civilian population, primarily children and the elderly.

“We conduct large-scale informational and explanatory work in this regard, but there are cases when adults, including parents with children, refuse to evacuate. Unfortunately, in the case of the family of Elina Fedorenko from Avdiivka, the tragedy could not be prevented. This six-year-old child died of a heart attack, and before that her relatives refused to leave the city with her. The tragedy could have been avoided if these people had agreed to the evacuation in time. If parents or other adults refuse such an evacuation, the police officers are forced to take certain legal measures. Here it is worth emphasizing that the priority is the safety of children, not the punishment of parents.

However, sometimes administrative materials are drawn up against parents – for failure to fulfill their obligations regarding the upbringing of children. In some cases, criminal liability already arises – when it comes to, for example, leaving in danger, etc. I would like, of course, that there were fewer such cases. And also for people to understand and be aware of the danger, even if there is a child in the family, and to agree to evacuation.” – believes Pavlichenko.

As you know, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, stated that since the beginning of 2024, the level of domestic violence in Ukraine has increased by 14%, it continues to rise, and currently there is a correlation between the increase in domestic violence and PTSD in veterans who have returned from the war.

“The increase in the number of cases of domestic violence in Ukraine is influenced by many factors, and most of them are related to the war. The return of veterans from the front is one such factor.
It should be taken into account that those who are now military were civilians a few years ago, and some of them had certain difficult situations in their families, which was also reflected in possible domestic violence.

In fact, war creates fertile ground for violence in general. It is obvious. This is both constant anxiety and losses – someone lost their home, someone lost relatives, someone was forced to move. All this forms the emotional exhaustion of our society, and in some cases causes oppression, sometimes – aggression.

Domestic violence is a complex problem that requires a systemic approach and systemic analysis of this situation in general. At the same time, it is also important to respond to it on the part of the police. We should pay attention not only to the number of facts and appeals about domestic violence, but also to how the police react to these facts and how they bring perpetrators to justice.” – believes the deputy minister.