The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation in Ukraine

The organisation was founded in 2015 in Ivano-Frankivsk by a group of internally displaced persons that had fled from the East of Ukraine. The main target group for the organisation is internally displaced persons in and around Ivano-Frankivsk.

Founded in 2017, Fight for Right works for the rights of people with disabilities in Ukraine—to ensure that every person with disabilities knows their human rights and is free to exercise them. The organisation is also advocates for the protection of human rights of persons with disabilities at the national, regional and local level.

With the support from Kvinna till Kvinna, Fight for Right reduces the psychological burden for women with disabilities suffering from consequences of the war by providing legal consultation, psychological support and coordination support, for example for those needing to relocate within Ukraine. Moreover, they work to increase the level of visibility and consideration of the needs of women with disabilities in the planning of humanitarian actions.

Insha was formed in 2014 in Kherson as a feminist LBTQ inclusive organisation, working to solidarise and consolidate the efforts of feminists and LBTQ activists in the fight for equal rights, gender equality and non-discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. Their areas of work include protection of women’s rights, protection of LGBTQ rights and promoting the elimination of inequality in all its manifestations. From March to November 2022, the city of Kherson was occupied by Russian forces during their invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces liberated the city on November 11th, 2022.

With the support from Kvinna till Kvinna, Insha is working to overcome the negative consequences of the occupation on women and queer people in Kherson. This is done through the provision of psychological assistance, including individual counselling, mid-term therapy and peer support groups. The organisation also works with psychologists, providing them with skills and knowledge on crisis counselling for those affected by the war, as well as counselling LGBT people and victims of gender-based violence in war conditions.

Slavic Heart was founded in 2015 in Sviatohirsk, Donetsk region, to provide comprehensive assistance to populations affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they have scaled up their work. The organisation runs women’s centres in the eastern parts of Ukraine, with special attention to the needs of women living along the contact line, women with disabilities, internally displaced persons, Roma women, elderly women and women living with HIV.

With the support from Kvinna till Kvinna, Slavic Heart works to increase the level of protection from gender-based violence and conflict-related gender-based violence for women living in Dnipropetrovska and Poltavska oblasts, including internally displaced women. This is done through awareness-raising activities on protection mechanisms against gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence for women, as well as providing legal support. Representatives of the state response system are also trained by Slavic Heart to improve their knowledge on how to respond to cases of gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence, using a victim-centered approach.

Since 2008, the organisation Sphere has worked to unite the women of Kharkiv, including lesbian and bisexual women. They work to raise awareness of the diversity of sexual, gender and other identities, and promote human rights, gender equality, equal rights and opportunities for women—in particular for LBQ+ women. Moreover, they focus on empowerment and mobilisation of vulnerable women and LGBTQI+ communities in the Kharkiv region, and in Ukraine overall.

With the support from Kvinna till Kvinna, Sphere provides women of target regions with individual psychosocial support. Apart from individual support, the organisation has a Women’s Networking Programme, with moderated meetings to support women in coping with the issues that arise during war. They also work to increase the visibility of women during the ongoing war, increasing equality and strengthening the position of women in the Ukrainian society.

Women’s Perspectives is a non-governmental organisation that has worked with the aim of protecting women’s rights and ensuring gender equality since 1998. Their main focus areas include the elimination of discrimination against women, combating domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence, and the promotion of gender equality at all levels of decision-making.

With the support from Kvinna till Kvinna, Women’s Perspectives’ local teams provide services and support to survivors of gender-based violence. Moreover, they train psychotherapists, shelters/social services for internally displaced persons, and representatives from centres for free legal aid from different regions of Ukraine to increase their knowledge and skills on a holistic approach to gender-based violence survivors’ rights protection, case management and services for women affected by war and violence.