Today, all Ukrainian families are going through tragic times. Mothers have to bury their sons and daughters. This is absolutely wrong and abnormal - the opposite is more natural.
We, the representatives of the All-Ukrainian public organization "Coalition for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities," are forced to address you publicly in connection with a tragic incident that occurred in one of the frontline cities of Ukraine.
At night, a mother strangled her adult daughter with a disability with a pillow with her own hands. The daughter had a complex disability, including intellectual and physical disabilities. The mother could not bear the burden of constant care and the lack of any effective help. She broke down and decided to commit an inhuman act. She was broken by fatigue, hopelessness and a complete lack of systemic support.
We are writing about this because this woman was part of our community: she was a member of the Board of the Coalition NGO and headed a local organization of people with disabilities. She stood out for her sociability, optimism, and strength of spirit, and worked three jobs to earn her living and pay for two assistants. The woman applied to social protection agencies and other public
organizations, looking for support - but none of the institutions had the resources to help her.
Moreover, she spoke openly about her psycho-emotional state, about despair, about the danger of the tragedy. However, she was left alone with this burden.
Frankly speaking, almost every mother of an adult with a severe disability and a great need for care has moments when such thoughts arise. Especially given that mothers are often left alone with a child who needs to be cared for at all times.
care.
Why is the state unable to recognize the obvious: the burden of caring for an adult with a severe disability exceeds human capabilities? Isn't it clear that no mother is a superhero?
How many more tragedies need to happen before officials stop creating beautiful but empty documents like the Strategy for Reforming Psychoneurological Institutions or deinstitutionalization programs? How many conferences and studies need to be held to recognize that without real changes and resources, these initiatives are worthless?
We ask a direct question: has anyone calculated the costs of these measures, comparing them with the pitiful amounts actually allocated for supported living, personal assistants, and temporary respite for caregivers?
How did it happen that the state budget for 2025 provides UAH 6.7 billion for people with physical disabilities - guaranteed and centralized - while UAH 0.0 kopecks is allocated for social services for people with intellectual disabilities and their families? The state shifts responsibility to local communities, which often respond: "We have no money". Just like decades before the war, we are not a priority, and help is "not in time."
We are convinced that if the state's policy had not discriminated against this mother, her daughter would still be alive. Social services of a personal assistant, supported living, and temporary respite for caregivers are as vital for people with intellectual disabilities as a wheelchair is for people with mobility impairments.
They should be guaranteed from the state budget as a separate line, and not depend on the whims of local funding.
In this regard, we are appealing personally to: Olena Zelenska - with a request to take this situation under her personal control within the framework of the initiative "How are you?" and to facilitate the development of a program to support the psycho-emotional state of mothers of people with disabilities since childhood. Halyna Tretyakova - with her demands:
- Initiate the introduction of a separate line in the state budget to ensure minimum state guarantees for adults with group I disabilities since childhood: in particular, for social services of supported living, social and labor adaptation, and temporary respite for caregivers.
2. Include in the list of basic social services a temporary rest service for persons caring for people with disabilities of groups I A and B.
Oksana Zholnovych - with a demand to initiate the creation of a national network of support services for people with disabilities from childhood and their families throughout their lives.
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine - with a call to create a round-the-clock crisis response service for emergencies in the lives of persons with intellectual disabilities, with a corresponding hotline and foster care for persons with intellectual disabilities
disability.
Tetyana Lomakina - with a request to include a separate section in the Barrier-Free Strategy dedicated to overcoming economic barriers to access to basic social services for people with intellectual disabilities and their families through the introduction of appropriate minimum state guarantees.
We are not demanding the impossible. We demand life, security and the right to human dignity for the most vulnerable members of Ukrainian society.
Sincerely yours,
Board of the NGO "Coalition for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities"
