In 2017, Ukraine initiated a reform of legislation on domestic and sexual violence. The now former president Petro Poroshenko signed a law (“On Preventing and Counteracting Domestic Violence”) which launched this reform process.
Ukraine’s parliament may not have ratified the Istanbul Convention on combating gender-based violence due to the presence of the word “gender”, which angers a certain section of parliamentary deputies. But this law still puts the Convention’s main provisions on protection, prosecution and policy into force.
Ukraine’s new domestic violence law came into effect in 2019. The changes and effects it has brought are praised from every side: lawmakers, law enforcement and experts see it as making a positive change.
