Roundtable “The impact of the state of emergency on the protection of victims of family violence: the current situation and prospects.

On April 30, 2020 the round table “Impact of the state of emergency on the protection of victims of domestic violence: current situation and prospects” was held.

The round table was organized by the Program “Rule of Law in the Kyrgyz Republic – Phase 2” together with the project “DatkAiym”, implemented by the NGO “Agency for Social Technologies” and the Center for Creative Development Danilo Dolci with the financial support of the European Union.

Within the framework of the round table the issue of the current situation with domestic violence in the state of emergency and legal protection of victims of gender crimes and misdemeanors were discussed.

Zulfiya Kochorbaeva, Director of NGO “Agency of Social Technologies” in her presentation “Overview of the situation with domestic violence in the state of emergency” noted that in Kyrgyzstan against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the state of emergency there is an increase in cases of domestic violence. Thus, between January and March 2020, there was a 65% increase in cases of family violence, compared to the same period in 2019. And reported misdemeanors between March 25 and April 9, 2020, according to the Association of Crisis Centers, under Article 75 of the Code, Domestic Violence, were 354 cases, an average of more than 2 times as many as the same period last year.

It should be noted that about 95 per cent of the incidents of domestic violence are committed against women.

The experts noted that in the state of emergency victims of family/gender violence face multiple difficulties in obtaining legal, psychological and other types of assistance.

The participants of the round table discussed the importance of developing mechanisms and actions to protect and defend victims of gender crimes and misdemeanors in order to improve the current situation.