CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Abdulkhafizova, Zalina |
|---|---|
| Title | Legal Response To Domestic Violence In Kyrgyzstan |
| Summary | “Violence against women is a manifestation of the historically established unequal balance of power between men and women, which has led to domination of women and discrimination against women by men, as well as hindering the full advancement of women, and that violence against women is one of the fundamental social mechanisms by which women are forced to occupy a subordinate position compared to men” . The Kyrgyz Republic, being a member of the international treaties, has undertaken obligations to align the legal basis to eliminate gender-based discrimination and violence against women and children. The Human rights watch World report 2020 highlights the violence against women and children as a long-term human rights concern . Taking into account the worldwide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the life and freedoms of humankind, it is important to note the negative impact on discrimination against the rights of women and children, as well as the worsening situation of domestic violence. According to the official statistics provided by the Office of the Prosecutor General, the cases of the domestic violence registered in the Unified register of crimes and minor criminal offences increased by 65 %, i.e. 1404 cases in 2019 vs. 2319 in 2020. Major laws regulating this subject matter are Criminal procedure code, Code on misconduct, the law “On Safeguarding and Protection from Domestic Violence”. The latter promulgated by the President in 2017, is considered one of the most progressive in the post-soviet region and contains norms that envisage better procedural guarantees and safeguards for the survivors of domestic violence, including restraining orders. Restraining order is a document that provides state protection to a survivor of domestic violence and entails the application of measures of influence defined by this Law to a person who has committed domestic violence. However, the established practice and statistical indicators, as well as, number of media reports on brutal cases of domestic violence, indicate that the legal and policy response to the issue of domestic violence is insufficient. The number of legal and policy level inconsistencies, like difference in definitions in the Criminal procedure Code and the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On Safeguarding and Protection from Domestic Violence”, outdated instructions (Standard operating procedures) for the police officers, lack of instruments to monitor the execution of the terms of the protection order, insufficient statistical data, lack of coordination with the social services do not allow for comprehensive and efficient work on combating domestic violence. This capstone project will: - analyze the scale of the domestic violence in Kyrgyzstan (statistics and individual cases in media); - analyze the legal framework for curbing domestic violence: Criminal procedure code, Code on misdemeanors and the law "On Safeguarding and Protection from Domestic Violence"; - anal yze international practice specifically on implementation of measures like restraining order, qualification of domestic violence legally, interagency cooperation; - include recommendations to improve the implementation of the law (practical side based on the analysis of the legal framework); map of stakeholders interaction in cases of domestic violence. This capstone project builds upon the existing body of literature and analysis of inconsistencies in the laws of the Kyrgyz Republic legal response to domestic violence at the pre-trial stage. The focus of this project is on providing procedural guarantees and protection mechanisms to the victim of domestic violence at the early warning, prevention and pre-trial stage of criminal investigation. The analysis was complemented by interviews with practicing lawyers, NGOs working in the field of combating domestic violence, and Ministry of Interior. The departments of the Ministry of interior were contacted in the framework of functional analysis of the Bishkek Police Department conducted with the team of the “Rule of Law Programme in the Kyrgyz republic – phase 2” in March – July 2020. The study also incorporates the successful experiences of foreign countries to provide recommendations for improving legal measures to provide effective legal response to domestic violence. |
| Supervisor | Krizsan, Andrea |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/abdulkhafizova_zalin.pdf |
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