Map source: Human Rights Watch

Last updated 14 March 2007

Contributed by: Nurgul Dzhanaeva, Kyrgyz National VAW Monitor

The new Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic guarantees equal protection. Article 13 states that "All persons in the Kyrgyz Republic are equal before law and the court. No person shall be subject to any kind of discrimination, violation of his rights and freedoms on the ground of origin, sex, race, nationality, language, religion, political and religious convictions or any other circumstances of personal or public character." The same article states that “In the Kyrgyz Republic men and women have equal freedoms and rights, and equal opportunities for their realization”. Nevertheless, economic, political, and social problems in Kyrgyzstan have presented many problems for Kyrgyz women. The new Constitution was adopted by the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of the Kyrgyz Republic on 30 December 2006.  The term “secular state” was taken out of the new Constitution.

Law of the Kyrgyz Republic on Gender Equality – Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Basics of the State Guarantees of Gender Equality” was adopted by the Parliament on 31 January 2003 and signed by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on 12 March 2003. This Law provides for equal rights and opportunities for persons of both sexes in social, political, economic, cultural, and other aspects of human life; it is designed to protect women and men against discrimination on the basis of sex; its purpose is to promote progressive democratic relations between men and women on the basis of national traditions; and it provides state guarantees of equality and equity to persons of both sexes. Since June 2006, this law has been in the process of review by experts with the purpose of changing the law or to introduce amendments.

The law applies to family members and relatives who reside with, and experience physical, psychological or other harm from, an abusive family member (Article 5). Article 1 provides definitions for domestic violence, physical domestic violence, psychological family abuse and sexual domestic violence. In addition, Articles 23 and 24 address temporary restraining orders, and Articles 25 to 27 address protective court orders.

The legal system of Kyrgyzstan includes a “Law on social and legal protection from violence in the family”: Kyrgyz Law on Social-Legal Protection Against Domestic Violence (unofficial translation) in Article 21, where temporary protective orders and protective judicial orders were introduced as special means of social-legal protection from domestic violence. This “Law on social and legal protection from violence in the family” was approved by the Legislative Assembly of Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of Kyrgyz Republic on January 31, 2003. The goal of this Law is to create a social–legal system of protection of the life and health of family members from domestic violence. It offers protection to the victims of domestic violence, and is based on compliance with international human rights standards. The present Law focuses on the creation of proper and healthy family relationships. The state has the special task of protecting minors and seniors from domestic violence. The law applies to family members and relatives who reside with, and experience physical, psychological or other harm from, an abusive family member (Article 5). Article 1 provides definitions for domestic violence, physical domestic violence, psychological family abuse and sexual domestic violence. In addition, Articles 23 and 24 address temporary protective orders and Articles 25 to 27 address protective judicial orders. Monitoring of the law is the responsibility of the police and court system. There were amendments to legislation regarding the consequences of the violation of this “Law on social and legal protection from violence in the family.” The Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On introduction of amendments into the Code of the Kyrgyz Republic on administrative liability” added three new articles into the Code: 66 –3, 66 –4 and 66 –5. Articles 66-4 and 66-5  on “Non-implementation of temporary and judiciary protective order provisions” state that non-implementation of the temporary and judiciary protective order provisions lead to administrative fines or administrative arrests for up to 10 days and 15 days.

According to the Center for Public Opinion Study “El Pikir” 2004 research on “Domestic Violence in Kyrgyzstan: causes, scale, efficiency of actions”, the problem of domestic violence is one of the urgent issues in the country; special concern is raised by the constant increase in cases of violence against women. In 2001, 3353 crimes against women were registered by the police, and in 2003, this figure was 3631. The growth of violence against women from 2001 to 2003 was 8.1%. Domestic violence is rooted in historical patriarchal stereotypes and the dependent status of women in society and in the family. The general perception of domestic violence is that it is a private issue. There is a lack of social and legal mechanisms of protection for victims of violence. This research contains a series of suggestions.

A study was published in December 2005 in the framework of the United Nations Development Program Project “Gender and the MDGs in Kyrgyzstan,” which was executed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women.  According to this Study, entitled “Gender and Millennium Development Goals in Kyrgyzstan” (2005), annually about 3000 women of an average age of 16-26 years old visit ten crisis centers, and up to 50% of these visits are due to domestic violence. This study refers to research of the American University in Central Asia (located in Bishkek) that showed the growth of cases of bride kidnapping from 1994 to 2004. Prostitution and trafficking in women are affecting more young rural women. Despite the Criminal Code, which prescribes a 7-year-maximum detention for marriage kidnapping, it has rarely been enforced. Every year, this barbaric “custom” ruins the lives of many girls, who are forced into marriages against their will. Very often, the victim’s relatives conceal the crime since according to custom, it brings disgrace to the family. The community and the

state show indifference towards bride kidnapping. Unfortunately, there is no hard data to ascertain the scale of the problem and its social and economic effects on the girls and their parents.

According to the Assessment of the “National Action Plan on Reaching Gender Equality in the Kyrgyz Republic,” there are special provisions concerning violence against women. They are formulated in the strategic goals section and in the matrix of actions on implementation of the National Action Plan.

The 6^th strategic goal is on violence against women: The Sixth Strategic Goal of National Plan for Action to Achieve Gender Equality in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2002-2006. It is called “Decreasing all forms of violence against women”. It has four main goals in the area of violence against women:

• Prevent and eradicate gender violence in society
• Prohibit trafficking in persons, as well as provision of protection and support to trafficking victims
• Protection of women in zones of armed conflicts
• Awareness-raising among the public on issues of violence[1].

The sixth strategic goal is translated into types of actions with deadlines and responsible actors and resources in the Matrix of actions on implementation of the National Action Plan.

According to third periodic Country report to CEDAW Committee: “This situation of women is particularly dire in the countryside, where poverty levels are as high as 82%. To support their families and children, many women today seek various ways of employment in other countries. Frequently, however, they unwittingly fall into a web of criminal organizations, become victims in a slave-like trade and bear relations based on violence. This jeopardizes women’s health and human dignity.”

Reports by NGOs were not on the implementation of the section on violence against women, but were part of an alternative report to the CEDAW Committee which was done in January of 2004. The following is a brief summary of the NGOs’ report and main conclusions:  The legal system is not effectively addressing violence against women. Forms of VAW that are considered by the report are: domestic violence, forced marriage, sexual violence, sexual harassment, trafficking and slavery. Violence against women is widespread in Kyrgyzstan and seems to be increasing. According to the 2004 alternative report to CEDAW Committee, “More disturbingly, employees of law-enforcement, judicial and state bodies fail to use or apply the law in practice. In a survey conducted by Association of Crisis Centers, of 150 law-enforcement personnel and criminologists, judges, teachers and doctors, only 15% responded positively to the question, “Did you know that the law on violence [in the family] was adopted?”

The Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women considered Kyrgyzstan’s second report at 632^nd & 633^rd Meetings of the 30^th session on 14^th January 2004. Concluding Comments of CEDAW Committee to the State second report for the country included comments on trafficking, prostitution, domestic violence, sexual violence, sexual harassment in the workplace, bride abduction, polygamy; lack of information, inadequate performance of police, the need to intensify State efforts to combat VAW, the need to address root causes, protection of victims, including from penalization, the need to increase the related capacity of police and the judiciary, and the need to raise public awareness. The Committee urged the State party to ensure that Kyrgyz law provides adequate, accessible and affordable enforcement procedures and legal remedies for violations of women’s human rights. The Committee urged the State party to introduce education and training programs on the Convention and on existing laws to promote gender equality, in particular, for the judiciary, law enforcement personnel and parliamentarians. It recommends that awareness-raising campaigns targeted at women be undertaken to enhance women’s awareness of their rights and to ensure that women can avail themselves of procedures and remedies for violations of their rights under the Convention and these laws. The Committee urged the State party to intensify its efforts to combat trafficking in women and girls. It called on the State party to ensure that victims of trafficking have adequate support and that they are not penalized. The Committee recommended that an extensive public awareness-raising campaign against violence in the family be launched nationwide and that strengthened training programs for the police and the judiciary be provided so as to ensure that the rights of domestic violence victims are properly protected. The Committee is concerned about the continued existence of bride abduction and polygamy, despite the legal prohibition of these practices.

According to the Human Rights Watch Report entitled “Reconciled to Violence. State Failure to Stop Domestic Abuse and Abduction of Women in Kyrgyzstan”, although Kyrgyzstan has progressive laws on violence against women, police and other authorities fail to implement them. As a result, women remain in danger and without access to justice. Based on in-depth, firsthand interviews with victims of violence, the report tells the stories of women who have been kicked, strangled, beaten, stabbed and sexually assaulted by their husbands. The report also tracks what happens when women seek help from the authorities. Instead of attaining safety and access to justice, they are encouraged to reconcile with their abusers.

According to Winrock’s Baseline Assessment “Preventing Human Trafficking in Kyrgyzstan”.  (December 2003 – January 2004), “In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the problem of human trafficking in Kyrgyzstan. Today, Kyrgyzstan is known as a source, transit and destination country for victims of human trafficking. The dynamics of human trafficking in Kyrgyzstan are very complex and cover a wide spectrum ranging from exploitation of labor migrants to forced prostitution.  … Another type of human trafficking that is also very urgent, particularly for young women, is trafficking for sexual exploitation. Kyrgyz women are recruited for work in countries like UAE, Turkey, South Korea and other countries. … Internal trafficking of women appears within the country as well, when young girls, mostly from rural areas, are involved in the sex-industry, either by false promises of employment or even kidnapping. Oftentimes, under-aged girls from rural regions of Kyrgyzstan are forced to work as prostitutes in the capital or other major cities.  …According to statistics from law enforcement agencies, investigation of cases of human trafficking have increased over the past two years, but nevertheless the number of investigations is significantly less than the actual prevalence of this crime.”

The Draft of Country Development Strategy (CDS) 2006-2010 dated 12.01.2007 Country Development Strategy (CDS) is the most important concept paper that outlines midterm vision of the Kyrgyz Republic and determines major directions of development and country activities in 2006-2010. Urgency for drafting and approval of the new midterm vision of Kyrgyzstan’s development is first of all based on social and political changes and reforms we’ve been witnessing in the Republic lately. The document has been viewed through the prism of the development priorities as determined by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in his Message to the people of Kyrgyzstan «On national development strategy and immediate tasks» dated September 28, 2006. This document includes Action Plan for 2006-2010, where gender issues are integrated. They are in: in part 5.2.1. “Political reform” with a gender measure “To introduce elections to Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic and local authority organs based on party lists, at the same time introducing privileged registration for female candidates”; in  section 5.2.4. “Capacity building of public servants” includes a gender measure “To strengthen human resource divisions of executive organs, allotting special structural subdivision in each of them (or specialist) on human recourse management and having conducted special training, including gender”; in section 5.3. Human and social development “Improvement of expert examination (including gender) and approbation of educational publications based on the work of expert panels”. http://www.minfin.kg/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=637

Decree of the President of the  Kyrgyz Republic  “On the National Program ‘Human Rights’ for the period 2002-2010 (In the edition of 7 July 2004, Decree of the President # 219):” In ensuring a strategy for sustainable political, economic, social and cultural development, a principal role should be given to human rights. Goals of the national program are the determination of the short- and long-term humanitarian policy of the Kyrgyz Republic to improve the protection of human rights, ensure human dignity, and the implementation of international legal norms.

See also:  State program on the rights of children of Kyrgyzstan  "New generation". Governmental resolution of the Kyrgyz Republic  of 14 August 2001 года # 431 “On the State program on the rights of children of Kyrgyzstan "New Generation" till 2010.” (In the edition of the governmental resolution of 30 September 2004 # 728.)

Code of the Kyrgyz Republic on Children, Bishkek, 7 August 2006, # 151.

Millennium Development Goals Progress Report – 2003.

Promote gender equality and empower women:Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.

The MDGs are fully in compliance with the objectives set up by the people of Kyrgyzstan and which are reflected in the Constitution of the country, CDF and NSPR. These fundamental documents formulate the vision of goals and objectives for the development of Kyrgyzstan in the first decade of the XXI century and establish the principles and mechanisms of their implementation. The CDF and NSPR emphasize three major components of the overall goal of Kyrgyzstan's development, which, in their essence, coincide with the MDGs:

• Enhancement of effective and transparent governance;
• Building a fair society, ensuring protection for every citizen and human development;
• Ensuring sustainable economic growth.

For the MDG monitoring to ensure maximum coverage of problems, the UN initiated preparation of reports on the progress in attaining MDGs at a global level and for each UN member country separately. The present report is the first of such for Kyrgyzstan. Click here to download Millennium Development Goals Progress Report - 2003 in PDF format.

Gender analysis of the human resources in Kyrgyzstan –cases of Ministry for economy and finance of  Kyrgyzstan (Гендерный анализ кадровой политики в Кыргызстане на примере Министерства экономики и финансов Кыргызской Республики). Published by: UNDP, 2006.

According to the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Kyrgyzstan is considered a country of primarily origin and transit for human trafficking. Women, usually under twenty-five years of age, are trafficked into sex work to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China, Germany and Greece.  Eurasianet reports that there is little reliable information as to the number of Kyrgyz women who are trafficked, although past estimates indicate that approximately 4000 Kyrgyz women are trafficked each year.  Trafficked women who pass through Kyrgyzstan generally come from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.  Eurasianet reports that some estimates project that "as many as 200,000 women each year pass through Kyrgyzstan to be sold as sexual workers abroad." The U.S. Department of State and Eurasianet report that, in August 2003, the Kyrgyz parliament passed a law criminalizing trafficking in persons. A draft of this law is available on Legislationonline here.  Trafficking perpetrators may be sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3 to 20 years.  According to a 2003 U.S. Department of State report, trafficking-related offenses may also be prosecuted under other laws, such as kidnapping, trading in children, recruiting persons for exploitation, coercion into prostitution, rape, and deprivation of freedom, as there are no laws specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons. For example, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights cites that Article 124 prohibits recruiting people for exploitation, and Article 125 prohibits the illegal deprivation of liberty. Laws such as these have enabled the government to convict a handful of traffickers thus far, although specific legislation prohibiting human trafficking, proper training for police, and resources to assist returning victims are needed.  There are few trafficking prosecutions in Kyrgyzstan.  When prosecuted, traffickers receive light sentences or fines. In addition, victims of trafficking are at risk of prosecution.  Investigations conducted by the government anti-trafficking unit established in June 2003 resulted in the conviction and sentencing of only one person under the new trafficking legislation in 2003. Six of 96 persons investigated for trafficking-related offenses were also convicted. The U.S. Department of State reported that, in early 2004, Kyrgyz police apprehended three individuals involved in a trafficking operation, which individuals included an immigration official and a former employee of the state passport department.  These arrests exemplify the official corruption that frustrates attempts by the Kyrgyz government to combat trafficking.  According to the U.S. Department of State, "victims reported smooth and highly organized trafficking operations that often involved the cooperation of local police, immigration officials, and airport security."  Eurasianet reports that, in March 2004, the government made additional efforts to investigate and combat these trafficking operations when it formed a special division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to investigate trafficking cases.    The Public Broadcasting System reports that bride kidnapping (ala kachuu in Kyrgyz), the kidnapping of women for the purpose of coercing them to marry, is a practice that is increasingly prevalent in Kyrgyzstan.  This practice has characteristics which are similar to those of trafficking in women, and may be considered a form of violence against women that violates women's human rights.  The practice of bride kidnapping is illegal but it occurs more and more often in Kyrgyz villages in particular.  The Public Broadcasting System states that "It's been estimated that up to a third of all ethnic Kyrgyz women in Kyrgyzstan may have been wedded in nonconsensual bride kidnappings."   The U.S. Department of State reports that sexual harassment is proscribed under Kyrgyz civil and criminal law.  Perpetrators of sexually harassing behavior may be required to pay fines or may be imprisoned. Compiled from: "Kyrgyzstan Struggles to Stop Slave Trade", Aigul Rasulova, Eurasianet.org, 29 June 2004. < PDF and HTML, 274 pages). The Kyrgyz Republic section begins on page 152.  "Kyrgyzstan--The Kidnapped Bride", Frontline World, Public Broadcasting System, March 2004. 2003 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Kyrgyzstan, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 25 February 2004. 2002 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Kyrgyzstan, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 31 March 2003. Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective - Violence Against Women, Addendum 1, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 27 Feb. 2003. (PDF, 435 pages).  Women 2000- An Investigation into the Status of Women's Rights in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, 5 November 2000. (PDF, 13 pages).