Despite the work of women's rights activists, Tajikistan has not yet enacted a law making domestic violence a specific offense. A draft bill was created by the government’s Committee for Women’s and Family Affairs in 2003. Five years later, a coordinating council was set up to assist its progress, but the bill has yet to become law. Even though the criminal code in Tajikistan bars physical injury, experts say the absence of penalties for violence in the home undermines efforts to support victims.
Alla Kuvvatova, head of the Association for Gender Equality and the Prevention of Violence Against Women, said that currently Tajikistan only has “...half-measures that don’t contribute to [the] country’s development or to the emergence of a normal position for men and women.” Kuvvatova did receive word that President Imomali Rahmon supports passage of the bill, but his administration has not taken the steps necessary to move the bill forward.