Seven complaints of sexual harassment in Armed Forces received in six months, two of them confirmed - Reshetylova
Olha Reshetylova, the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Servicemen and Members of Their Families, has received seven complaints about sexual harassment in the military in the six months she has been in office. Two cases were confirmed after checks.
She said this in a comment to hromadske, Censor.NET reports.
According to the ombudsman, this number of appeals does not mean that the problem does not exist, but rather that women who are in real danger are afraid to report it, "and others, unfortunately, allow themselves to be manipulated and slander their colleagues."
Reshetylova emphasized that the ombudsman's task is to build a system of protection for women in the military so that cases of harassment and sexual violence are impossible.
"And if it did happen, women would have confidence in the military ombudsman and be sure that they would be protected. This, by the way, also applies to men," noted the military ombudsman.
Reshetylova added that it is important to prevent "slander and score-settling in such a sensitive topic." That's why each case is studied in detail and checked.
What was the background?
The day before, Yelyzaveta Martsyniuk, a soldier of the 155th separate mechanized brigade, said that she had been repeatedly harassed by a fellow soldier. She said that she had asked for help from a psychological support officer in the Armed Forces, but he "refused to assist in opening an investigation."
Subsequently, military ombudsman Olha Reshetylova told the media that she had asked the Minister of Defense to appoint an inspection of the facts.
In addition, at the same time, the brigade appointed an internal investigation with the involvement of external experts.
