Kiev, December 8, 2017
Photo: www.irs.in.ua The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada has adopted a new law combating domestic violence, including forced abortions, taking into account the recently-articulated position of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO).
Bill No. 5924, “On Preventing and Counteracting Domestic Violence,” was adopted yesterday, reports the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The law will introduce additional steps to create measures and protective mechanisms to combat all forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, sexual harassment, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, forced sterilizations, and forced abortions, reports the Institute for Religious Freedom.
It is also envisaged to improve the work of support services for victims of violence, particularly state telephone hot lines.
In particular, the deputies heeded the request of the UCCRO to legislatively counteract domestic violence, especially against women, while avoiding the use of problematic new terminology (“gender,” “unconventional gender roles,” “sexual orientation,” etc.).
A meeting of members of the UCCRO with Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman was held July 4, in which a number of issues in the Church-state sphere were discussed, including the possibility of introducing the above-mentioned foreign gender terminology into the Ukrainian legal field.
The representatives of the Ukrainian religious organizations unanimously reaffirmed their opposition to the possibility of adopting the Istanbul Convention, which introduces new terms, foreign to the Ukrainian legal world, including the terms “gender,” “gender identity,” “gender sensitivity,” “sexual orientation,” which go beyond what is acceptable in Ukrainian society and distort the understanding of gender equality as equal rights for men and women.
In April, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health removed the “third gender” from the draft law “Declaration of Choice of Doctor for Primary Health Care.”
On the eve of the vote, the UCCRO urged the Rada leadership and parliamentary factions to pass bills 4952 and 5294 which would implement the main provisions of the Istanbul Convention against domestic violence, but without the unacceptable terminology.
As a result of the parliamentary discussion, the Rada did not support the proposal of a number of deputies who, referencing the requirements of the European Union, wanted to preserve such terminology in the text of the law.
