A Government call center for combating violence must be fully operational from the beginning of 2021. This was emphasized by Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, during the interdepartmental meeting.

The meeting was dedicated to optimizing the work of the Government hotline 15-47 in 2021-2022 on combating trafficking in human beings, preventing and combating domestic violence, gender-based violence and violence against children.

"The problem of domestic violence exacerbated during the coronavirus crisis, as evidenced by the growing number of complaints from victims to the National Police. "The 15-47 hotline should become a highly efficient call center as soon as possible, to allows a person to call and be sure that he is guaranteed to receive professional advice or recommendation on further action or possible assistance," said Deputy Prime Minister.

As of today, the work of the hotline is provided by 15 specialists, including qualified lawyers and psychologists. The team guarantees the anonymity and confidentiality of the information of each call. At the same time, the capacity of this team needs to be optimized, as the number of calls for domestic violence due to the coronavirus pandemic has begun to exceed the group's physical ability to respond in a timely manner.

"Along with improving the efficiency of the call center, it is necessary to ensure effective coordination between the responsible authorities for the practical solution of domestic violence problems. It is obvious that the effective cooperation between the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Police, as well as the Legal Aid Center, should play a crucial role in overcoming and preventing domestic violence," Olha Stefanishyna stressed.

Backgound

The Government hotline service is available around the clock at 15-47.

Calls are free from fixed network and mobile phones, anonymous and confidential.

The hotline service provides:

- informational, psychological and legal advice to men and women who have suffered from domestic violence, gender-based violence, violence against children, or regarding the threat of committing such violence,

- psychological assistance to women, men and children being victims of domestic violence.

The national hotline "15-47" has been operating in experimental mode since February 11. In 9 months, the hotline received 8,859 complaints of domestic violence. In particular, more than 5,014 - from women, 785 - from men, as well as 2,441 appeals related to violence against children or against mother in front of the child.