Natalya a 38-year-old woman
from Lugansk told me her story.
She had been captured in
late August 2014 by security forces of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s
Republic (LNR) and accused of cooperating with the Ukrainian army. She
described being held for 43 days in the basement of the former Ukrainian security
services building in Lugansk. The rape and sexual abuse started on the first
night, she said. During an interrogation, she was severely beaten on her head,
stomach, and legs. Her male interrogators threatened to pour acid on her
genitalia and kicked her stomach, saying she did not deserve to have children.
Natalya said eventually a guard injected her with a substance that caused her
to black out.
When she regained consciousness, she realized that the clothes
she was wearing had been ripped in several places. She said she also suffered
from vaginal bleeding. On another occasion during her first week in detention,
Natalya said she was taken by a male guard into an empty room, where she was
forced to perform oral sex on him and was threatened with rape by up to 12 men
if she did not comply.
Natalya also spoke about her cellmate,
Svetlana, who she said was repeatedly gang raped by guards until she was so
traumatized that they lost interest in her. Natalya said Svetlana was
taken out of the prison, supposedly to a medical facility. But she couldn’t
help but wonder if the guards murdered Svetlana instead to protect themselves.
Natalya also said some women prisoners were offered “protection” from being
raped by prison guards. The protection was provided in exchange for sex with
higher-ranking LNR officials.
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