At night, the streets are often pitch-black.
Damage to Ukraine's energy infrastructure over the past year has led to frequent power cuts.
Women have reported being followed through the darkness and abused by men, with no way of identifying who they are.
"It's dangerous everywhere," a woman in Kharkiv said.
"There are no streetlights, so it's dangerous."
Other women refuse to leave their homes after 9pm over fears for their safety.
"I'm afraid," a caregiver in a rural area in Kharkiv said.
"There's a lot of our military. Yeah, our guys. But I don't know what they've experienced, what kind of trauma and what can be expected."
The ongoing war, now in its fourth year, has significantly intensified gender-based violence in Ukraine, according to a new study by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency.
Hundreds of women and girls across the country shared their experiences, describing how violence had increased inside and outside the home.
Ulla Muller, the UN agency's representative to Ukraine, said the conflict was contributing to new forms of gender-based violence and "greatly exacerbating" pre-existing ones.
"We've come to understand that even during continued shelling, home can be the most dangerous place for women due to growing stress related to the ongoing war," she told the ABC.
"Continued shelling fosters an environment of emotional exhaustion, prolonged stress and displacement, all of which contribute to increased gender-based violence."
WARNING: This story contains details about domestic violence and conflict-related sexual violence that may distress some readers.
Ms Muller said the study was "grounded in listening closely to women and girls".
The aim was to amplify survivors' voices and capture the daily realities and risks faced by women, girls and vulnerable communities throughout Ukraine.
This is what they said.
Feeling unsafe at home
Last year, the situation in Ukraine continued to deteriorate, with widespread insecurity and displacement throughout the country.
The 2024 Voices of Ukraine report heard from more than 360 participants and 56 experts to understand how women and girls were being affected.
Many reported feeling less safe and facing greater violence over the past year.
In particular, women described growing levels of intimate partner and domestic violence within the household.
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He gets drunk, comes over, beats her up, and what is she supposed to do about it?
— Displaced woman with a disability/caregiver in a rural area, Lviv,
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It exists, of course, but within the family it is tolerated.
— Older woman in a rural area, Kharkiv
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There have been more cases of physical violence, sometimes with hospitalisation, severe beatings. Aggression has increased and brutality in society.
— Gender-based violence expert, Lviv
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We have a girl who gets constantly beaten up by her own boyfriends. Her children see this.
— Older woman in a rural area, Kharkiv
Stress and substance abuse
Women said there were higher levels of stress within families and communities, and more people were turning to alcohol.
The report found women were often experiencing violence from partners and husbands who returned from the war zone.
Violence towards older women by their children was also reported to be rising.
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We are concerned … the situation is worsening in the community as most people have lost their jobs, abuse alcohol or drugs.
— Woman, Kharkiv
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A real situation from life: a man comes back from war on leave, beats up a woman, neighbours call the police, and the woman refuses to write a report because it's her husband, who's fighting in the war. The romanticisation of the military.
— Older woman in a rural area, Kharkiv
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The situation with boys and men, in general, is that during the occupation and after de-occupation many lost their jobs and just, as they say, went downhill, started to drink alcohol and not only.
— Woman caregiver, Kherson
Ms Muller said it was common for women to feel disrespectful reporting abuse by men who had served in the military.
Many felt forced into silence.
"Across Ukraine, women and girls have reported difficulty in speaking out against intimate partner violence, including when men returning from war are hailed as heroes within their communities," she said.
Displacement and crowded living
The report said people were spending more time at home because of curfews, electricity cuts, and security risks, which could lead to greater exposure to violence from family members.
And displaced families were often living in crowded shared housing.
Out of Ukraine's 37.9 million population, more than 4 million are internally displaced, according to the report.
Waves of evacuations from dangerous regions continued throughout 2024, and some areas were hosting large numbers of displaced populations.
Crowding and a lack of privacy in collective living situations for displaced families contributed to domestic violence and increased the risk of sexual abuse, the report said.
The lack of housing made it difficult for survivors to leave.
Women also described sexual violence taking place along their displacement route during evacuations, particularly on trains and when arriving at stations.
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For internally displaced people, the situation has been exacerbated by the lack of housing for mothers with children who have to live in a shared space, and sometimes in the same room, with other families.
— Displaced adolescent girl, Lviv
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The property issue encourages domestic violence. People don't have the money to distance themselves, rent or buy their own separate accommodation.
— LGBTQIA+ person
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There are several dysfunctional families in the hostel. The partner committed physical violence against his woman, even when she was pregnant … Also, the abuser poses a risk to the other residents of the hostel.
— Displaced woman in a collective site, Lviv
Jacqui True is a professor of international relations at Monash University and the director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW).
She said being displaced was a huge risk factor for gender-based violence.
"You're vulnerable. Often, there's less access to water, to shelter, to food, and the situations people are in are precarious," she told the ABC.
"That makes them vulnerable to those people who use violence."
Dark raises risks in public spaces
In both urban and rural areas, women and girls were feeling increasingly unsafe walking and navigating outside the home, according to the study.
Blackouts were common due to attacks on energy infrastructure, and some public lighting was reportedly turned off at night for security reasons.
Ukraine is currently operating with about one-third of its pre-war energy capacity.
In November, power was down 40 per cent of the time in some urban areas, according to the country's energy grid operator.
The report said electricity cuts and the resulting lack of public lighting was one of the main risk factors contributing to and exacerbating violence.
And it was frequently cited as a reason for women's growing sense of insecurity.
They felt unsafe without lighting spaces such as stairwells and hallways.
And many were afraid to be in underground shelters and parking areas, particularly in collective living situations.
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You know, what scares us more is the lack of street lighting in the village.
— Older woman in a rural area, Kherson
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It is dark out in the streets, creepy.
— Woman in a rural area, Kharkiv
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We are afraid. Well, when the man was walking behind me, you don't know what he wanted.
— Displaced adolescent girl in a rural area, Kherson
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There is no street lighting at all in the village. It used to be on 'till 10pm, but now there is none at all.
— Woman in a rural area, Kharkiv
A global issue
Professor True said it was also important to address the use of conflict-related sexual violence as a weapon of war in Ukraine.
Severe types of violence carried out by Russian forces have been documented by human rights organisations and Ukrainian prosecutors.
Last week, a UN commission of inquiry on Ukraine concluded that Russian authorities "committed the war crimes of rape and sexual violence as a form of torture" against women in detention.
"It's a very big and very significant issue in this conflict," Professor True said.
"It's not something we hear on the news every day, but that is what's going on."
Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations its forces have committed human rights violations during the invasion.
Professor True said gender-based and sexual violence was an increasing issue in conflicts globally and it was largely under-reported.
"It was positive to see that so many survivors in Ukraine were coming out and speaking about their experiences," she added.
The report noted that it was crucial to listen to the voices of women and girls to inform actions, policies, and humanitarian interventions moving forward.
The UN agency is calling for increased and targeted investment in gender-based violence programs and specialised services for survivors.
But Ms Muller said only so much could be done while the country was still at war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin last week rejected a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire plan, but agreed to suspend attacks on Ukrainian power infrastructure while talks continued.
"A ceasefire is a critical initial step toward a just peace, but what we truly need is lasting peace," Ms Muller said.
"Supporting women's mental and emotional healing is essential to achieving justice — and true justice depends upon lasting peace."
