On 12 May 2025, the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) published its report exposing sexualised torture at a Russian temporary detention centre in Kherson.
From 2023 to early 2025, PJI accompanied our partners at IPHR on investigations into conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and other international crimes in Ukraine. We are proud to share “Missed Calls from Kherson: Russian Sexualised Torture at Temporary Detention Facility #1” (IPHR’s report) which is based on some of these investigations. PJI and IPHR collaborated on a victim-centric approach for this project, which was designed to bring victims’ and survivors’ stories to the forefront without retraumatising them during the investigation. Project partners—Blue Bird, Fight for Right, Truth Hounds, and JurFem—also integrated PJI methodology into their investigations.
IPHR’s report presents evidence of torture, inhumane detention conditions, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as arbitrary detention.
According to IPHR’s report, during the Russian occupation of Kherson between early March and mid-November of 2022, Russian forces erected ten detention facilities in the city to curb opposition by the local population. Recognising “the deplorable detention conditions and systematic severe violence against detainees” across Russian detention sites, this report focuses on one of the largest of these sites, Kherson Temporary Detention Centre No. 1 (TDC). The TDC was itself the location of widespread and systematic patterns of CRSV and other international crimes. IPHR’s report details a system of detention and torture at the TDC, based on 59 testimonies of survivors that IPHR and its partners collected over the course of twelve fact-finding missions to Kherson and neighbouring areas. The report describes how Russian guards tortured detainees from the moment they arrived at the facility and at all hours, including outside of interrogations. Torture at the TDC included a range of physical and psychological violence, including sexual violence. According to survivors, guards committed sexualised torture as a common policy and had names for specific torture methods (e.g., “call to Zelensky” or “call to Biden,” each referring to genital electrocution).
IPHR’s report also sheds light on the long-term consequences of detainees’ ill-treatment. Many survivors reported requiring medical attention and psychological rehabilitation. Past detention at the TDC continues to affect survivors’ day-to-day life. For example, one survivor shared that she is now afraid to use electrical appliances due to the prevalence of electric shocks at the TDC. By including examples from other survivors’ testimonies—a man who shakes at the sound of gun shots or the sight of soldiers; another who experiences suicidal thoughts; and more—the report exposes how these long-term consequences are a shared reality among survivors.
IPHR’s report documents the individual experiences of only a fraction of survivors. The testimonies incorporated into their report are the product of IPHR’s investigation, and they reflect the bravery of these victims and witnesses, as well as the outstanding work of our colleagues at IPHR and its other project partners. To realise a world in which victims and survivors of grave crimes have access to justice, their stories must be documented in a manner which empowers them and strengthens the evidence so that they are more likely to see tangible justice and accountability.
In June 2022, just over one-hundred days into the Russia-Ukraine War, a Ukrainian civil society representative told the UN Security Council that “[s]exual violence in this war is the most hidden crime.” CRSV—recognised under international law as a war crime, crime against humanity, crime of torture, and an act that can constitute genocide—is weaponized in wars worldwide, including by Russia. Today it is already much less hidden. As of June 2025, Ukrainian authorities had confirmed 366 cases of CRSV during the ongoing war.
Although funding for PJI’s project with IPHR was cancelled in the first quarter of 2025 due to geopolitical shifts away from supporting accountability and respect for human rights, PJI is so proud to have been able to provide technical support to IPHR, and honoured to have had the privilege to partner with them. PJI applauds IPHR’s continued work in service of affected communities, and we hope that their stories and this report help pave the path to justice for victims and survivors of CRSV in Ukraine.