16 Days Campaign: Cabinet Deputy Chair Baisalov: Whoever raises a hand against a woman will deal with the entire state and with all the force of the law

The campaign goes for 16 days each year, beginning on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and ending on 10 December, the Human Rights Day.

In his address the Deputy Chair of the Cabinet of Ministers Edil Baisalov stated:

“The main purpose of the campaign is to increase public intolerance for domestic and gender-based violence, to raise public awareness through measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women and children, to educate the public, to draw public attention to this problem.

In the first 10 months of 2021, 9,378 cases of domestic violence against women were registered, which is 955 cases or 4.3 percent higher than the same period in 2020, when 8,989 cases were registered.

8,322 temporary protection orders were issued to victims of domestic violence: 7,807 for women, 278 for men, and 237 for minors.

Since the independence of the Kyrgyz Republic, several national programs have been approved aimed at creating the basis for the institutionalization of equal rights, the elimination of gender inequality, and the socio-economic and socio-political development of women.

An appropriate normative and legal framework has been created and key laws have been adopted to ensure equal rights and opportunities for men and women. In terms of protection against domestic violence, our country was one of the first in the CIS to adopt a law on social and legal protection. However, the increase in the number of cases of domestic and gender-based violence from year to year shows that the work being done in this area is not enough.

In our country today, more than 50% of the total population are women. No country in the world can develop, if the potential of half of its population is not used, and they are left behind, and their rights are violated.

We must create conditions to channel the opportunities, knowledge and strength of women in Kyrgyzstan towards the country’s socio-economic and socio-political development.

Our girls and women living in rural areas are the source of strength and inspiration of our country, as they make a significant contribution to the agrarian, social and economic development of the regions where they live.

We must acknowledge the fact that domestic violence is no longer a private matter. This is evidenced by the above data on the number of appeals to the law enforcement bodies, data from courts and health institutions, studies by the National Statistical Committee.

Our task is to convey to every citizen that domestic violence, violence against women, violence against children is unacceptable.

This is a watershed moment for our country to make the legislative base more modern and introduce an effective systemic mechanism for ending domestic violence, bringing the perpetrators to justice, so that each of our citizens, in the village or in the city, so that we know that a woman’s rights are inviolable, that whoever raises a hand against women will deal with the entire state and with all the force of the law.

I want to emphasize once again that the effective implementation of our policy in this regard, the elimination of violence in our country depends on the well-coordinated work of all state bodies, but also of all our citizens, in the family, in the city, in the village, on every street. We all need to take an active part in this.

The state will pay attention to this issue not just in words. The current Cabinet of Ministers has already announced a threefold increase in funding for shelters. Previously, seven million soms were allocated for this purpose, and now we have decided to increase this threefold, as well as allocate an additional five million soms for a broad public campaign throughout the country, ”said Edil Baisalov.

He also thanked the international partners, UN agencies and the Spotlight Initiative, for their support and stressed that the issues of violence against women is a matter of society and the government, local authorities, self-government bodies of the Kyrgyz Republic and that it will be addressed at all levels of government.

All photos are in this album.