Earlier this week, 30 September to 2 October we visited Kiev, Ukraine to examine the possibilities of conducting a reading of Seven there during the beginning of 2015.
The global problem of neglected women’s rights is present and current also in Ukraine. The number of domestic violence cases is increasing with 10 percent annually and in 2013 the Ministry of Interior had over 174 000 recorded cases of domestic violence by more than 92 000 offenders. According to the Office of the Ombudsperson and the UNDP he main problem is believed to be legislation that is not in line with international standards as well as a bottleneck for women subjected to domestic violence in the legal protection system.
These issues, amongst others were discussed with local project leader Ms Olesya Bondar from the Ukrainian Women’s Fund (UWF). The UWF is an organization that works with promoting human rights, facilitate the consolidation of the women’s movement etc. by providing civil society organizations (CSOs) in Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus with financial, information and consultation support. Learn more about them at their website!
We also met with Ukrainian director Alexander Kryzhanovskiy, who showed us possible venues for the reading as well as a tour around the lovely city of Kiev!
The visit also included a lunch with the Swedish Ambassador, Mr Andreas von Beckerath and representatives of the Embassy of Sweden in Kiev. We’re happy for the interest and enthusiasm shown by them in their support of the project.
The reading of Seven in Kiev, Ukraine is planned to be take place in the spring of 2015. Stay tuned for more information!