{"id":14283,"date":"2021-01-27T10:43:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T10:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=155113"},"modified":"2021-01-27T10:43:41","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T10:43:41","slug":"kyrgyzstan-seeks-to-stop-wives-from-staying-in-abusive-marriages-at-all-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/27\/kyrgyzstan-seeks-to-stop-wives-from-staying-in-abusive-marriages-at-all-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyrgyzstan Seeks To Stop Wives From Staying In Abusive Marriages At All Costs \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

BISHKEK — In the space of a single month, three Kyrgyz women from different walks of life killed themselves in the northeastern Issyk-Kul region in separate cases linked to domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Among them was Aruuzat, a 33-year-old schoolteacher from the city of Karakol who died in the hospital on December 29 after consuming a fatal dose of vinegar.<\/p>\n

In a WhatsApp message sent from her deathbed, Aruuzat told her colleagues that she had decided to end her life because her family wanted her to reconcile with her abusive husband despite being beaten by him.<\/p>\n

Aruuzat, a mother of three, also sent photos of what she said was her bruised body after the latest abuse at the hands of her spouse.<\/p>\n

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They don\u2019t get any support from their relatives, and they also fear disgrace in society. Therefore, most of them go back to their abusive husbands in the end.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Her colleagues told RFE\/RL they had been aware of her situation but that she didn\u2019t want them to report her husband to the police.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had told us about the beatings. She said if she ran away, her husband would find her using the phone geolocation and torture her even more,\u201d Aruuzat\u2019s colleague and friend, Nazira, told RFE\/RL. \u201cShe was terrified of her husband.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was only after Aruuzat\u2019s death that her colleagues reported to police about the domestic abuse she had suffered. Despite that, Aruuzat\u2019s mother, siblings, and other relatives still remain silent on the subject.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a long-standing tradition for abuse to be quietly accepted in Kyrgyzstan — a country where divorce is shunned and women are encouraged to keep their marriages intact at almost any cost.<\/p>\n

Impunity often remains a norm for domestic violence in the Central Asian country, where some women — like Aruuzat — end up paying the ultimate price.<\/p>\n

But the Kyrgyz parliament is finally taking a decisive step to prevent families from putting pressure on the victims of domestic violence and to reconcile with their abusive spouses.<\/p>\n

In an unprecedented move, the parliament passed a bill that bans such reconciliation if one of the parties in the marriage subjects his or her spouse to physical or mental abuse.<\/p>\n

The bill also calls for harsher punishments for domestic violence.<\/p>\n

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\"Lawmaker<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lawmaker Ishak Pirmatov, who initiated the bill: \u201cCriminal behavior will continue if there is no punishment.\u201d (file photo)<\/span><\/div>\n

Initiated by lawmaker Ishak Pirmatov, the amendments to the law on domestic violence were approved by parliament on the second reading on January 20.<\/p>\n

Domestic violence has always been a hot topic in Kyrgyzstan, where police record thousands of cases every year. Thousands of other incidents of abuse go unreported.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Kyrgyz police recorded 9,025 cases of domestic violence, a 65 percent rise compared to previous years.<\/p>\n

But only about 940 of the cases were sent to courts, authorities say. In all other cases, the victims — the majority of them women — withdrew their complaints, telling police they had changed their minds.<\/p>\n

‘Crime Shouldn’t Go Unpunished’<\/big><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cThere are many cases in which the victim opts for reconciliation under the pressure of the family. As a result, the case doesn\u2019t go to court, while the victim still remains unprotected,\u201d lawmaker Natalia Nikitenko said during the parliamentary debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, the bill introduces new standards that prohibit the reconciliation of the parties if it puts one of the parties in harm\u2019s way, or in cases in which one of the parties has already been subjected to violence,\u201d Nikitenko said.<\/p>\n

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\"Lawmaker<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lawmaker Natalia Nikitenko: \u201cIt will no longer be possible to hide [the crime] in the name of reconciliation.\u201d (file photo)<\/span><\/div>\n

Current law states that if the victim withdraws a complaint, the police can drop the case. Under the new bill, however, police are required to launch a probe into suspected domestic violence even if the alleged victim takes back his or her initial complaint.<\/p>\n

According to Nikitenko, \u201cIt will no longer be possible to hide [the crime] in the name of reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some lawmakers spoke against the bill, arguing that marriage is a complex and delicate issue and that the best option for all sides is to save the union.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything can happen in a family,\u201d said lawmaker Kamchybek Zholdoshbaev, who advocated reconciliation at all costs. \u201cMaybe we need to look for other solutions? For example, the [couple’s] elders should be consulted, or a representative of the local councils should get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

But parliamentarian Pirmatov insisted the victims cannot be protected if the perpetrators know they can get away with a crime under the pretext of reconciliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cCriminal behavior will continue if there is no punishment,\u201d Pirmatov said.<\/p>\n

The bill must pass a third reading and be signed by President Sadyr Japarov for the bill to become law.<\/p>\n

Helping The Victims Isn’t Always Easy<\/big><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Just days after Aruuzat\u2019s death in Karakol, another woman\u2019s life was cut short by domestic violence in the nearby Tyup district.<\/p>\n

Issyk-Kul regional police confirmed that 40-year-old housewife Gulmairam Taktasheva was strangled to death by her husband at home in the village of Dolon on January 9.<\/p>\n

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\"Gulmairam<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Gulmairam Taktasheva<\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cHer husband, Aibek, had been drinking a lot lately,\u201d Taktasheva\u2019s sister told RFE\/RL. \u201cWhen Gulmairam got upset and moved to our parents\u2019 home, Aibek begged her to come back. They reconciled, but soon after he killed her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taktasheva\u2019s husband subsequently committed suicide, leaving the couple\u2019s four children without parents.<\/p>\n

On January 12, another woman in Karakol killed herself amid allegations of domestic abuse. The 29-year-old mother of three worked at a local television station. Police said they were unable to open a criminal probe as there were no witnesses, no reports of a crime, and no complaints.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s rights advocates in Kyrgyzstan have welcomed the latest legislation, but they say more is needed to protect domestic violence victims. They are urging the government to set up special crisis centers where abuse victims can seek help with counseling and rehabilitation to recover from the abuse and rebuild their lives. Some of the victims are in desperate need of shelter and employment.<\/p>\n

There are only 17 crisis centers for women in a country of some 6.5 million people.<\/p>\n

In reality, helping the victims is not always as straightforward as it might seem, said Marina Lichanyu, the coordinator of Karakol\u2019s Center for Rehabilitation and Support, who has extensive experience working with domestic violence victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 80 percent of the women who approached our center for help don\u2019t have adequate education,” Lichanyu told RFE\/RL. “Most of them were married young or ended up in marriage through the bride-kidnapping tradition.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to find them jobs and create favorable conditions in which they could independently support themselves and raise their children. They don\u2019t get any support from their relatives, and they also fear disgrace in society. Therefore, most of them go back to their abusive husbands in the end,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

There have also been several dozen cases of men reporting abuse and cruel treatment at the hands of their wives.<\/p>\n

Kyrgyz authorities say they are committed to helping the victims. This week, the government launched a hotline — free phone line 117 — for victims of domestic abuse to report a crime and seek help.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BISHKEK \u2014 In the space of a single month, three Kyrgyz women from different walks of life killed themselves in the northeastern Issyk-Kul region in separate cases linked\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,337,4,23,26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14284,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14283\/revisions\/14284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}