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As Ukraine's women speak up on sexual violence, we must not ignore those affected by conflict

A new campaign is challenging taboos over speaking about sexual violence in Ukraine, but we need to include survivors of conflict violence too.

By Danielle Johnson
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June 2016: Donetsk Airport. (c) Igor Maslov / RIA Novosti. All rights reserved.

This month, an online campaign using the hashtag ##ЯНеБоюсьСказати (”I am not afraid to speak” in Ukrainian) brought domestic and international attention to the problem of sexual harassment and gender-based violence in Ukraine, Russia and other post-Soviet countries. Thousands of women opted to post their intensely personal stories in the very public setting of social media. In the process, they found widespread support and solidarity, and sparked quite a few ugly comments in the process. 

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0