“We work for all victims” – Numo, Sestry! NGO head Liudmyla Huseyinova

During the forum, Free to Choose. Strong Together, dedicated to the anniversary of the activities of the Numo, Sestry! non-governmental organization, which united survivors of the terrible crime of Conflict-related Sexual Violence (CRSV), Liudmyla Huseyinova, the head of the Numo, Sestry! NGO, who was released from captivity three years ago, shared her main achievements and priority areas of work, the main one of which is the release of Ukrainian women who still remain in captivity.

After returning from captivity, Liudmyla Huseyinova focused on fulfilling the promise made to women who continue to be held in inhuman conditions. This is where her human rights activities began, which later grew into the creation of a public organization.

“For me, the most important thing was to fulfill the promise I made to the girls who remained in those cells, in terrible cells, in those torture chambers. They asked me not to forget about them. And therefore, my primary task was to talk about this woman, to question and appeal to all of Ukraine, to the whole world, so that we fight together for their release,” emphasized the head of the NGO.

She thanked the released sisters for the fact that, having set foot on their native land, they immediately began to talk about others who are still in captivity. Ms. Huseyinova believes that the fight for the release of civilian female prisoners should be a priority task for all of Ukraine.

Over the year of official activity, Numo, Sestry! has covered a number of important areas:

• Advocacy of victims;
• Justice and fairness;
• Support for women in captivity and promotion of their release;
• Nursing support for victims;
• International cooperation.

Liudmyla Huseyinova admitted that the work lacks human and financial resources, but expressed immense gratitude to partners for their support, in particular to UN Women, the Ukrainian Public Health Foundation, and the Ukrainian Women’s Fund. She expressed special gratitude to Kateryna Levchenko, the government commissioner for gender policy, who became the first state official to explain how one can work after liberation and what support the state provides.

Today, the organization unites 35 women, and this number is constantly growing. However, assistance is aimed not only at members of the organization.

“We work for all victims who are still afraid to talk about their problem, do not yet know how to talk about it, or do not know in principle that they are victims, because it seems that we talk about it a lot and publish information materials, but not all people realize what happened to them, in particular during the occupation,” explained Liudmyla Huseyinova.

An important role in achieving the goal of Numo, Sestry! NGO is also played by the communication component – bringing information about the work of the public organization to the public. Over the year, the organization’s members participated in about 100 events at the national and international levels. They gave about 50 interviews, which confirms the systematic nature of russian crimes against the civilian population.

Among the new initiatives:

• Training and rehabilitation: Programs have been launched to help women return to “feminine happiness” by creating different images. “It’s like on an airplane. You first have to put on a mask, and then to be able to help others,” Huseyinova compared, emphasizing the importance of self-help.
• Paralegals: A long-term project in which girls provide consultations and assistance to victims, which allows them to realize their ability to help.
• Child support: A separate duty is to care for the children of the affected women, in particular, participation in the Children of the Future
• Justice at the highest level: An appeal was made to the Pope, the President of Ukraine, the UN Secretary-General, the President of Azerbaijan, and a letter was delivered to the White House through cooperation with international partners.

Liudmyla Huseyinova also called on the organization’s members to cooperate with the Prosecutor General’s Office and the National Police, to give testimony to UN agencies so that russia’s systemic crimes are properly documented and shown to the world.

As earlier reported, Ukrainian women who survived captivity and violence are advocating for their rights at the UN, the European Parliament, other organizations, and at meetings with international leaders, demanding justice and immediate reparations.

NUJU Information Service