CENTERS OF SOCIAL SERVICES AS SUBJECTS OF SOCIAL AND LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO WOMEN AFFECTED BY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical and analytical examination of centers of social services as important subjects of social and legal assistance to women affected by domestic violence. The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that domestic violence in contemporary conditions is a complex social and legal problem that violates fundamental human rights, negatively affects women’s physical and psychological health, destabilizes the family environment, intensifies the social isolation of survivors, and creates risks for children. This problem becomes particularly acute under martial law, internal displacement, economic instability, increasing psychological pressure on families, and the growing social vulnerability of women who require not only crisis response but also comprehensive social and legal support.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the role of centers of social services in providing social and legal assistance to women affected by domestic violence, to identify the main areas of their activity, and to outline prospects for improving the social and legal support of affected women. The research methodology is based on the use of a set of interrelated scientific methods: analysis of legal and regulatory acts in the field of preventing and combating domestic violence; generalization of scientific sources on social work, social and legal protection, support for women, motherhood and childhood; structural and functional analysis of the activities of centers of social services; systematization of the main areas of social and legal assistance; and generalization of current statistical data on the network of specialized support services for persons affected by domestic violence and/or gender-based violence in Ukraine.

The scientific novelty of the article lies in clarifying the role of centers of social services as a basic link in the system of social and legal assistance to women affected by domestic violence and in substantiating their place within the system of interagency response. It is proved that centers of social services perform not only the function of providing individual social services but also ensure the primary identification of the problem, assessment of the needs of the affected woman, provision of information about her rights and available protection mechanisms, facilitation of access to legal aid, referral to specialized support services, socio-psychological support, crisis response, and further social case management. The main areas of social and legal assistance are characterized: informational and consultative, social and diagnostic, human rights protection, socio-psychological, coordination, preventive, and support-oriented.

The conclusions establish that centers of social services are important subjects of social and legal assistance to women affected by domestic violence, as they combine the functions of primary response, social protection, legal information, psychological support, referral to specialized services, and social case management. The effectiveness of their activities depends on the accessibility of social and legal services in territorial communities, the professional capacity of specialists, the clarity of local referral pathways, sustainable funding, and well-established interagency cooperation. The prospects for improving the activities of centers of social services include the development of local referral pathways for assisting affected women, strengthening cooperation with the police, children’s services, healthcare and educational institutions, free legal aid centers, and non-governmental organizations, as well as training specialists on the basis of trauma-informed, gender-sensitive, and human rights-based approaches.