In light of the approval by the upper house of the Parliament of Uzbekistan of a law criminalizing gender-based violence in the family, Heather McGill, Central Asia Researcher at Amnesty International, said:
“Women’s rights activists and human rights defenders have been campaigning in Uzbekistan for years for more protection against gender-based violence in the family. Today, Uzbekistan has become the fifth country in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region —after Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine— which defines gender violence in the family as a specific crime in its legal system.”
“The government of Uzbekistan has taken a decisive step to meet its international human rights obligation to eradicate gender-based violence, but much remains to be done to implement the new law, prevent gender-based violence in the family and address patriarchal attitudes in society.
“Amnesty International is concerned that although physical violence has now been criminalized, the problem of economic and psychological violence remains unaddressed.”
Additional information
On April 6, the upper house of Parliament (Oliy Majlis) of Uzbekistan unanimously approved a set of amendments to the country’s Penal Code and Civil Code that criminalize gender-based violence in the family and offer more protection mechanisms for women and children. The amendments will enter into force after the president’s signature.
The amendments establish, for example, imputability for the harassment and harassment of women, prevent early parole from being granted to those convicted of sexual crimes and exclude the possibility of claiming ignorance of the age of the victim of a sexual offense as a mitigation to get lighter sentences. Gender-based violence in the family remains a serious problem in Uzbekistan. Between January and November 2021, almost 36,000 cases of violence against women were registered, of which more than 12,000 were physical violence.
In addition, in litigation for gender violence in the family, the great importance attached to the preservation of the family often undermines the protections offered by the law, and state agents try to achieve reconciliation and reunification of families. more than the protection of women. An official statement published on the Parliament’s website celebrates the new law not only for preventing intra-family violence against women and children, but also for “strengthening the family institution.”