Twinning Fiche Project Title: Strengthening the capacity of State bodies and local level referral mechanisms to provide safety and support to victims of domestic violence in Azerbaijan Beneficiary Administration: The State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Twinning Reference: AZ/16/ENI/JH/01/19(55) Publication Notice Reference: EuropeAid/165631/DD/ACT/AZ EU Funded Project TWINNING TOOL 1 1. Basic Information 1.1. Programme: Annual Action Programme 2016 for the Republic Azerbaijan ENI/2016/039-391 For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of Article 12.2 of the General Conditions 1 to the grant agreement. 1.2. Twinning Sector: Justice and Home Affairs 1.3. EU Funded Budget: 1 million Euro 2. Objectives 2.1. Overall objective: The overall objective of the Project is enhancing legal protection and support for victims of domestic violence in approximation with the EU standards. 2.2. Specific objectives Strengthening the capacity of State bodies and local level referral mechanisms to provide safety and support to victims of domestic violence in Azerbaijan. 2.3. The elements targeted in strategic documents i.e. National Development Plan/Cooperation Agreement/Association Agreement/Sector Reform Strategy and related Action Plans EU-Azerbaijan Agenda The EU adopted Annual Action Programme 2016 (AAP) on the assistance to Azerbaijan in the areas of economic, financial and judicial governance. The AAP 2016 foresees an increase of legal protection, safety and support for women, victims of domestic violence, through an increased capacity of local referral mechanisms and State bodies. Particular attention will be given to training of professionals that come in contact with victims of gender based violence, strengthening the knowledge and capacity of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs to regulate and guide professionals involved in referral mechanisms (police, social workers, legal assistance). NGOs are also provided with means needed to join hands with State authorities in increasing awareness about gender-based violence as a way to prevent such violence. Governmental Policy and Strategy Azerbaijan’s Constitution guarantees full gender equality between men and women (Art.25), provides the equal status of men and women within marriage (Art.34), reflects the requirements of all international treaties (Art.12), including Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (“CEDAW”); 2 The Law “On Guarantees of Gender Equality” (“Gender Equality Law”) enacted in 2006 prohibits gender discrimination in employment, education, economic and social relations, advertisements, and politics. Article 2 provides definition of gender discrimination as, “sexual harassment, any distinction, exclusion or privilege [sic] curtailing or denying exercising rights on the grounds of gender.” The law provides equal pay for equal work between men and women, and prohibits discriminatory hiring practices except where positive discrimination allowed by the Labour Code of Azerbaijan. The law grants victims of discrimination the right to recover monetary damages. In addition, the Government adopted a number of laws conducive to the elimination of discrimination against women and promoting gender equality, including the Law on Amendments to the Family Code, setting the minimum age of marriage at 18 years for both women and men, in 2011; Amendments to the Criminal Code criminalising trafficking, including a provision on forced and child marriages (art. 176-1), in 2011. The most important legal document on domestic violence is the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Prevention of Domestic Violence adopted in 2010. The adoption of the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence has yielded certain results and Azerbaijan received 28 recommendations during its 2013 Universal Periodic Review surrounding the state of women’s human rights in the country, relevant to issues of domestic violence. Even if Azerbaijan has accepted all recommendations and the Government is taking efforts on implementation of these recommendations, this process needs to be monitored which requires further efforts from the Government. The Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence aimed to provide comprehensive measures for the social, medical and psychological protection for victims of violence. The Law provides regulations of activities carried out to prevent violence committed by the close family members, current or former, living together and generated negative legal, medical and social consequences. The Law also provides social protection and legal aid for persons affected by domestic violence, as well as eliminates the circumstances leading to domestic violence. The Law provides the procedure for consideration of complaints; organises the issuance of “Protection orders” to victims of domestic violence. 3. Description 3.1 Background and Justification Violence, including domestic violence is still an ongoing issue in the country. In addition, the situation was complicated by the fact that in 2012 a fine replaced the criminal liability for causing physical harm. All this is just "unleash" the hands of those who systematically are abusing women. Data for the last two years indicates an increase in domestic violence in the country. In 2016, 897 crimes relevant to domestic violence 3 were registered. Out of them, 791 women and 4 children affected. 29 women were killed. In addition, 102 men suffered from domestic violence1. According to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2017, 2145 crimes, acts of violence, have been committed against women, 39 of these crimes ended fatally for women. The number of domestic violence crimes, based on family disputes or/and jealousy, etc. were 954. The total crimes committed against women include 65 intentional murders, 178 sexual assaults, 191 deliberately causing suicides, 1157 deliberate minor injuries, 165 deliberate harms to health, 9 tortures, 22 kidnappings (19 - bride kidnappings for marriage)2.For these unlawful acts, 2993 people were indicted (brought to judicial responsibility). No public records of forced marriage or limitation of women’s rights were registered during this period. In comparison with previous years, the number of such crimes has declined3. Institutional Framework The State Committee for Family, Women and Children The State Committee on Women’s Affairs, established by a Presidential Decree on January 14th, 1998, was given a broadened mandate on August 9th, 2006 (Presidential Decree N° 444), when it was reformed into State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs (SCFWCA). The SCFWCA is national machinery responsible for formulating and pursuing State policy on all aspects of women’s rights and empowerment, along with the implementation of CEDAW. According to a Charter of the SCFWCA approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2006, the Committee is a central executive power body implementing and regulating the state policy on family, women and children’s issues. The duty of the Committee is to: 1) Ensure human and civil rights and freedoms, particularly those of women and children and prevent violation of these rights within its authority; 2) Implement normative regulation in the appropriate field concerning its competencies given by the legislation; 3) Participate in elaboration of state program drafts in the appropriate field; 4) Ensure implementation of state programs and development conceptions within its authority; 5) Coordinate other executive bodies’ work in the appropriate field; 6) Ensure implementation of the national treaties ratified by the Republic of Azerbaijan within its authority; 1T.Ibragimova, the Head of the Legal service Department of the SCFWCA.Article of the Azeri Today newspaper.https://azeri.today/articles/4062/ 2 Data collected from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. October 2018. 3 Data collected from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. October 2018. 4 7) Consider applications and complaints connected with the Committee’s activity and measures according to the state legislation; 8) Elaborate legal act drafts in appropriate field and participate in their elaboration; 9) Conduct research, analysis and generalisation on the appropriate field, prepare analytic information and give recommendations; 10) Elaborate and implement projects covering television and radio programs. The full text of the presidential Decree establishing the SCFWCA is presented in Annex 3 of the present twinning fiche. 3.2. Ongoing reforms In order to ensure a harmonised approach in the realisation of gender equality in the country gender focal points were appointed at the ministries and in the offices of the local executive powers in all districts of the country. In the framework of the pilot project implemented by the INGO Save the Children Family and Children Support Centres were established in 2006 to serve people with disabilities and those at risk. Currently, these Centres are acting under the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs