Kazakhstan: new law to protect women improved, but incomplete
Source: Human Rights Watch
(Berlin, April 23, 2024) – Kazakhstan’s President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev signed a new law on April,15, 2024, to strengthen protections from violence for women and children, including domestic violence survivors, but it falls short in key areas, Human Rights Watch said today. The law aims to advance women’s rights and enhance their safety, but among other concerns, it fails to explicitly make domestic violence a stand-alone offense in the criminal code or elsewhere.
“It is significant that Kazakhstan’s leadership has prioritized protecting women and children from violence, and adopting this law is an important step forward,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But more should be done to ensure that women and children are protected from family abuse in accordance with international human rights standards, including by criminalizing domestic violence as a stand-alone offense.”
The new law, known as Kazakhstan’s “domestic violence” law, introduces amendments to Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code, the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence, the Law on Marriage and Family, and other laws. The passage of the new law coincides with the ongoing high-profile trial of Kuandyk Bishimbayev, Kazakhstan’s former economy minister, who is charged with the murder of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova. The trial has drawn national and international attention and ensured a focus on the urgent need to tackle domestic violence with adequate sanctions for abusers and trauma-informed support for survivors.
Read here the full article published by Human Rights Watch on 23 April 2024.
Image by Human Rights Watch
(Berlin, April 23, 2024) – Kazakhstan’s President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev signed a new law on April,15, 2024, to strengthen protections from violence for women and children, including domestic violence survivors, but it falls short in key areas, Human Rights Watch said today. The law aims to advance women’s rights and enhance their safety, but among other concerns, it fails to explicitly make domestic violence a stand-alone offense in the criminal code or elsewhere.
“It is significant that Kazakhstan’s leadership has prioritized protecting women and children from violence, and adopting this law is an important step forward,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But more should be done to ensure that women and children are protected from family abuse in accordance with international human rights standards, including by criminalizing domestic violence as a stand-alone offense.”
The new law, known as Kazakhstan’s “domestic violence” law, introduces amendments to Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code, the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence, the Law on Marriage and Family, and other laws. The passage of the new law coincides with the ongoing high-profile trial of Kuandyk Bishimbayev, Kazakhstan’s former economy minister, who is charged with the murder of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova. The trial has drawn national and international attention and ensured a focus on the urgent need to tackle domestic violence with adequate sanctions for abusers and trauma-informed support for survivors.
Read here the full article published by Human Rights Watch on 23 April 2024.
Image by Human Rights Watch