Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) has been a persistent feature of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014. Survivors have reported rape, electrocution, forced nudity, and the use of sexual violence to punish, humiliate, and intimidate. As of 2025, 363 cases of CRSV have been officially registered, but the real number is much higher.
On 19 June, the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, we reaffirm the need for a survivor-centred, coordinated response grounded in international standards and trauma-informed practice. Ukraine’s newly developed Standard Operating Procedures for investigating and prosecuting CRSV are a critical step forward. They focus not only on what must be done, but on how to do it effectively, and with dignity for survivors.
These efforts are about more than documentation. They are about building trust in the justice system.
Ukraine is not simply responding; it is working to set a standard for how justice for CRSV should be pursued in the context of modern armed conflict.
Anna Sosonska, Head of the Conflict-Related Crimes of Sexual Violence Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General, together with GRC’s legal advisor Julia Tetrault-Provencher, prepared an op-ed for Ukrainska Pravda on the newly developed SOPs on investigating and prosecuting CRSV.
The English version is available here.
The Ukrainian version is available here.