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Response stories

Humiliation and discrimination of the OST patient

In connection with the beginning of a full-scale war, Halyna, an OST patient, with two young children was forced to move to Ivano-Frankivsk and live with her mother-in-law. From the beginning, the woman was against them moving in with her, so whenever possible, she humiliated Halyna and her children in every possible way.

One day, her friend came to the mother-in-law’s house, and physical violence was added to the psychological one. Halyna and her children hurriedly left the house and turned to the police department, where she wrote a statement about violence against her and her children.

Police officers told her that they could temporarily stay at a shelter for people affected by domestic violence. The police provided the address and called there in advance to warn of the client’s arrival.

When Halyna and her children came to settle in the shelter, the workers began to ask about her health, and, after learning that she was an OST patient, they placed her and her children in a shelter for a night’s stay, where most homeless people are left. The children were so frightened that they cried all the time, so the woman was forced to leave the proposed overnight stay as soon as possible.

In desperation, Galina wrote an announcement on social networks and asked for help. The owner of the hotel responded to her request, where she was placed with people who were forced to leave their homes due to the war.

Halyna turned to the REAct documentator to get advice on the legality of the shelter workers’ actions and psychological help for her and the children. The REActor contacted the social service in the city, informing them about this case. The documentator asked to explain the reasons for settling Halyna and her children in a shelter for the homeless, and not in a shelter for victims of violence, which is very close, and the conditions that were more comfortable for the woman and her children. She received a formal answer that the head of the institution was on vacation, and social service workers could not communicate with Halyna, as she had left the shelter early.

Currently, the woman continues to stay in the hotel, she and her children are provided with the necessary psychological assistance and food kits from the “Zahid Shans” Foundation and the “D.O.M.48/24” NGO.