Who we are
We are a horizontal feminist activist group called FemPodmoga created to support women who were forced to flee Ukraine because of the horrendous war.
We are coordinators, translators, evacuators, psychologists, volunteers working at railway stations and migration centers who take action to help refugees from Ukraine.
We act against violence and injustice. Our values are kindness, creation, and mutual support. Our goal is to help women who were forced to leave their homes. We use a variety of methods to reach this goal and would appreciate your support.
Women for peace, and women for women!
Safety cards for women
We have created safety cards and a chat bot for women who find themselves in another country, in unfamiliar legal, cultural, and language environments. You can help these women by distributing our cards among volunteer and refugee groups in EU countries. Your help counts, even if you only send the cards to one refugee.
All the information is available in the respective country-specific folders. Print and social media versions are available.
Self care
Free course for survivors of violence
This course was written by Dr. Jessica Taylor to help anyone who has been sexually abused as a child or adult.
The course covers a range of topics to support you in learning ways to take care of yourself and how to deal with your own memories and feelings of being abused, raped, trafficked, exploited or assaulted.
Important! This course can be used for self-help, but is not a substitute for working with a psychologist.
Free Translation
Together with volunteer translators, we offer free translation services to refugees from Ukraine.
You can make a translation request in our Telegram group chat or by calling our hotline (this option is only available in Poland for now):
Become a volunteer translator! Join our Telegram chat!
Learn languages for free
Together with volunteer teachers, we have organized free online foreign language lessons for adults and children who were forced to leave Ukraine. In addition to English, there is an option to study Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Hebrew, Turkish and other languages.You can also become one of our teachers.
Contact Us
Support Us
-
Distribute our cards in your social networks among the girls and women who have fled the war to foreign countries.
-
Help collect safety information in your country, if there is no safety card for it yet.
-
Sign the petition and send it to those who can support us.
-
Help find a lawyer in your country to draft and promote the petition on a national level.
-
Join our team of psychologists.
-
Join the FemPodmoga team.
-
Share your thoughts with us via our contact form.
Petition to the EU Parliament
According to information and belief there are ongoing attempts to lure women fleeing from the war into the sex industry. This is one of the most dangerous continuing threat facing women displaced by war.
Therefore, we ask the authorities of the European Union to adopt a series of measures to prevent the involvement of Ukrainian citizens in legal prostitution industry also known as sex work conducted in some EU countries (such as Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Latvia, or Greece) and stop enticement of Ukrainian women. We call on authorities to adopt measures to stop the enticement and recruitment of Ukrainian women for participation in sex work. In addition, we call on the police of those countries where prostitution is not legalized to pay close attention and adopt measures to thwart this criminal enterprise which is already relentlessly targeting Ukrainian girls and women fleeing the war.
Why this petition?
Key facts about prostitution and the risks women face
«In a regular job, we also sell ourselves...»
It is violence and an obstacle to achieving equality between men and women. Prostitution commodifies human relationships. What should be done by mutual consent and for mutual pleasure becomes rape for money.
• Article by Dana Levy - Can prostitution be a job? (in Russian | in English)
«They agree to it...»
The involvement in prostitution of refugee women who are in a situation of high psychological, financial and physical vulnerability greatly increases the risk of their re-traumatization and seriously limits the possibilities of adaptation and rehabilitation, reduces the chances of successful social integration.
• Prostitution and Trafficking in Nine Countries: An Update on Violence and PTSD (in English).
• Health risks for women involved in prostitution (in Russian).
«Prostitution is a choice...»
Displaced women refugees have the responsibility to earn and provide for all members of their family: children, parents, elderly relatives. In an unfamiliar country, deprived of home and a circle of support, women are often forced to choose between poverty and prostitution.
Lack of alternatives is not a choice!
Opponents of labor laws violations do not declare that workers themselves agree to work in violation of their rights. Mostly, people understand that in such cases, workers simply have no choice. It is those who profit from labor law violations proclaim “they chose to work this way”.
Most women and girls end up in prostitution due to a lack of options. Women and girls deserve other options!
• Sarah Ditum - Prostitution isn't a choice (in English).
• Netovar - «A choice» in prostitution is more complex than it seems (in Russian).
Experts’ comments
• Article on sexual exploitation of refugees and displaced persons (in Russian).
• Comments from a group of European experts (in German).
• Study held in nine countries shows that involvement in sex industry leads to trauma (in English).
• UNICEF calls for strengthened measures to protect children crossing from Ukraine into neighbouring countries (in English).
• European Network of Migrant Women calls for opportunities for migrants, such as labour market access, qualification recognition and family reunification rights (in English).