WUNRN
IWPR - Institute for War & Peace
Reporting
CENTRAL ASIA CONFERENCE ON ABUSE OF
WOMEN
By Lola Olimova, Dina Tokbaeva - Central Asia - 13 Apr 11
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Women’s rights experts, activists and
politicians from across Central Asia came away from an IWPR conference on
domestic abuse saying learning about issues facing colleagues in other
countries would give new impetus to their own efforts to tackle the problem.
The round-table forum on March 29-30 was
held in
It was an opportunity for activists to meet
government officials, judges, police, and journalists from across the region to
share experiences on drafting legislation and taking practical action to end
violence against women.
Although violence against women is common
in the Central Asian states, there is a reluctance to talk about it openly
since many victims feel only shame, and others believe it is an area of private
family life where the state should not intervene.
“The concealed nature of domestic violence
obstructs an assessment of the extent of the problem,” Irina Unjakova, who
chairs Status, a women’s association in Kazakstan, said.
The debate reinforced participants’
conviction that cultural relativism – saying criminal action is “allowed” by a
specific culture or religion, or excusable because of social and economic
conditions – does not hold water.
“This is a universal problem; it’s
identical in every country in the region,” Abakhon Sultonnazarov, IWPR Central
Asia regional director, said.
Bubusara Ryskulova, head of the Sezim
crisis centre in
“We’ve heard about what governments are
doing, the experience of NGOs, and media coverage of the issue not only in our
country but also in
Innovative ideas that might be copied
elsewhere include a scheme in
Kazakstan and
Nasrullo Mahmudov, a member of the
parliamentary group drafting the final bill, said it should go before
legislators later this year.
“This round-table has helped me see how
things changed in Kazakstan and
Efforts to finally push the law through
parliament have been assisted by a lobbying campaign by local NGOs, supported
by IWPR. (See Work on Domestic Violence
Helps Push Legislation from January 2011)
Noting the public debate generated by the
campaign, Supreme Court judge Larisa Kabilova said that “moreover, this
round-table has discussed additional issues that will feed into the process of
passing this law”.
At the meeting, women’s rights activists
cautioned that simply passing progressive laws was not enough; governments
needed to ensure the will and the money was there to ensure they were put into
practice.
The meeting generated a set of practical
recommendations for state institutions in
As well as discussions, the event also
showcased film screenings and a photographic exhibition on domestic violence
themes.
The films will be distributed among women’s
rights groups and others. Lola Otaboeva, a colonel in