Identification of Gaps in the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On Security and Protection from Domestic Violence”

The Forum of Women’s NGOs conducted an analysis of the gaps in the current law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On Protection and Protection from Domestic Violence”. In the course of the analysis, the materials of the study of the Forum of Women’s NGOs within the framework of the program “Combating violence against women”, materials on this topic that are in the public domain, the results of interviews with women deputies of local keneshes, representatives of state bodies in the field of combating domestic violence, women activists and representatives of civil society organizations. At present, the topic of domestic violence remains relevant in Kyrgyzstan. Victims of domestic violence, and this is in 96% of cases women, do not find support in the face of the state and are under pressure from society, manipulation by relatives, and do not have financial assistance. The Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On Protection and Protection from Domestic Violence” contains gender-sensitive provisions that should be preserved, but it does not create sufficient mechanisms for ensuring gender equality and combating domestic violence, and therefore needs to be amended. The statistics speaks about the relevance and the need to adopt the amendments. To date, statistics on reported cases reflect an increasing number of cases of domestic violence. Thus, the number of protection orders issued by the internal affairs bodies on the facts of domestic violence for the period from 2012 to 2018 increased from 2415 to 7114 units.

There was a significant increase in administrative offenses on family violence considered by the courts (with the imposition of an administrative penalty), if in 2012 – 716 administrative cases, already in 2017 – 2547, thus, this indicator increased by 3.6 times.

Domestic violence is a gender issue – almost 98 percent of cases of domestic violence considered by the courts were committed against women by men – husbands (1542 persons), sons (375 persons), fathers (47 persons). Health statistics data show an increase in the number of people treated for diseases (injuries) up to 1527 in 2017 (in 2012 – 721) as a result of family violence, there is an increase in the number of victims who applied to family medicine centers – from 772 in 2012 to 945 in 2017 Data for 6 years indicate an increase in the number of criminal cases of this category considered by the courts (from 194 to 313).

The number of crimes committed on the basis of domestic violence against life and health and against sexual integrity has increased. This indicates that family violence is increasingly criminalized, family violence can have serious consequences for human health and life, including murders committed on family grounds. On June 2, 2022, in the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region, a 39-year-old woman died as a result of a beating by her husband. In 2020, 21 women died as a result of domestic violence in Kyrgyzstan. In 2021, the country’s law enforcement agencies began pre-trial proceedings on 9,800 crimes against women.

The Women’s NGO Forum of Kyrgyzstan carried out work to identify gaps in the current law on domestic violence and its implementation. It is necessary to establish stricter liability for domestic and sexual violence, including against children, as well as to improve important procedural aspects in this area. The law does not provide for all forms of domestic violence, the law applies only to cohabiting family members and persons equivalent to them. The current law protects victims of violence only from family members, and the civil husband does not belong to this category. There are other shortcomings in the implementation of the protection order. The law does not reflect the specifics of combating family violence against persons with disabilities, local governments and social development bodies remain ignorant of the facts of family violence. The vagueness of concepts makes it difficult to apply some rules.