A UN agency has claimed that Ukrainian men are being sexually abused in Russian detention centers. However, the agency warned that cases of sexual violence against them are significantly under-reported. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has identified 114 male victims of sexual violence since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, the official figures in Ukraine are probably much lower than the actual situation.
The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has recorded information on these incidents. Besides, 202 women have also recorded incidents of victimization.
Another 10 to 20 cases went unreported, UNFPA said. These incidents have caused worldwide concern as serious evidence of human rights violations.
In March 2022, the UN Human Rights Council established an independent international commission of inquiry into Ukraine. In September, the commission reported that sexual violence in detention centers was used as a tool of systematic torture, particularly targeting men.
Sexual abuse of men in detention centers
According to the UNFPA, while the majority of victims of these crimes are women and girls, men, boys and people of different gender identities are also victims of this type of violence.
Massimo Diana, UNFPA's representative in Ukraine, told Al Jazeera that victims of conflict-related sexual violence face significant barriers to seeking help. Associated with this are issues related to deep feelings of stigma, shame and fear at the personal level.
These barriers are compounded for male victims, Diana said. Because they are often afraid of being misunderstood. They even fear association with sexual minorities.
Mental health and privacy challenges
Psychologists say building trust with victims and keeping them anonymous has been a challenge. Because footage and images of sexual abuse have been disseminated using digital tools. UNFPA says Russian forces sent videos of rape of Ukrainian male prisoners to their families only to humiliate them.
Horrible torture information
In July, Oleksandra Matvychuk, head of the Kiev-based Center for Civil Liberties, a Nobel Prize-winning human rights organization, told Al Jazeera that she had interviewed hundreds of victims who had returned from Russian captivity and found that many had been beaten, raped and subjected to electric shocks.
