Kyrgyzstan HUMAN Reconciled to Violence RIGHTS State Failure to Stop Domestic Abuse and Abduction WATCH of Women in Kyrgyzstan September 2006 Volume 18, No.9 (D) Reconciled to Violence State Failure to Stop Domestic Abuse and Abduction of Women in Kyrgyzstan Introduction to the Report........................................................................................ 1 Summary ............................................................................................................ 1 Methodology.......................................................................................................3 Background ........................................................................................................3 Political and economic development in Kyrgyzstan ........................................3 Women’s status in society and the family in Kyrgyzstan ................................ 6 Women’s rights NGOs, crisis centers and shelters........................................ 11 Kyrgyzstan’s international legal obligations ................................................. 12 Domestic Violence..................................................................................................19 Overview: A Coordinated Response Needed, including Law Enforcement...........19 Absence of empirical data on scope of domestic violence in Kyrgyzstan.......20 Attitudes about Domestic Violence ................................................................... 21 Domestic violence and women’s rights a low priority for the government .....23 Views on Factors Contributing to Domestic Violence..........................................23 The Experience of Domestic Violence ................................................................26 Beatings and psychological abuse...............................................................26 Isolation and restricted movement ..............................................................28 Deprivation of food......................................................................................29 Consequences of Domestic Violence.................................................................30 Physical abuse leading to serious injury ......................................................30 Physical abuse causing death...................................................................... 31 Psychological damage and emotional impact ..............................................32 Effect of domestic violence on children........................................................34 Redress ............................................................................................................36 The laws on domestic violence ....................................................................36 Reasons why women do not turn to the police ............................................. 41 Police failure to act to stop domestic violence .............................................43 Failure to prosecute.....................................................................................50 Consequences of police failure to act .......................................................... 55 Prosecutions in cases of death ....................................................................57 Police perceived as perpetrators of domestic violence ................................ 60 Police and the aksakal courts ......................................................................63 Aksakals and the law...................................................................................63 Consequences of police passing cases to the aksakals................................65 Aksakals view reconciliation as the best solution to domestic violence....... 66 Government and NGO views and aksakals’ influence in domestic violence cases ......................................................................................................... 69 Emphasis on reconciliation as the primary solution to domestic violence..... 71 Leaving a Violent Home.....................................................................................73 Women’s escape stories..............................................................................73 Obstacles to leaving a violent home ............................................................75 Imposition of waiting periods hindering access to divorce ...........................81 Difficulties asserting women’s rights to property, alimony, and child custody ...................................................................................................................82 Bride-kidnapping .................................................................................................. 86 A Note on Terminology ..................................................................................... 86 Background ......................................................................................................87 Abductions for Forced Marriage on the Rise...................................................... 89 Pattern of Abduction .........................................................................................91 Motivations for Abduction.................................................................................92 Men pressured to marry and to kidnap.........................................................92 Many men who kidnap not considered “good matches”...............................94 Kidnapping as a violent expression of male power.......................................95 Men who kidnap not held accountable ........................................................97 Anatomy of an Abduction..................................................................................97 Abductions are carried out by acquaintances or strangers ...........................97 Abductors may use physical force to capture a woman ..............................100 Abductors may use deception to kidnap a woman ..................................... 103 Abductors use psychological coercion ....................................................... 104 Absence of consent is ignored in the wedding ceremony............................ 105 Abductors isolate women to prevent them from escaping .......................... 107 Women are forced to stay with their kidnappers out of fear of social stigma .................................................................................................................109 Consequences of Abduction.............................................................................114 Physical and emotional pain and suffering..................................................114 Domestic violence ......................................................................................117 New brides forced to work as unpaid servants for their in-laws .................. 118 No Justice for Victims of Abduction.................................................................. 119 The law against bride-kidnapping.............................................................. 119 The law not enforced ................................................................................. 121 Recommendations ...............................................................................................126 To the Government of Kyrgyzstan .................................................................... 126 To Donors ....................................................................................................... 132 To the United Nations ..................................................................................... 133 To the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe............................. 133 To the European Union.................................................................................... 133 To the United States Government .................................................................... 133 Acknowledgements.............................................................................................. 135 Appendix ............................................................................................................. 137 Selected Articles of the Criminal Code............................................................. 137 Selected Articles of the Administrative Code ................................................... 140 Introduction to the Report Summary Domestic violence and abduction for forced marriage (bride-kidnapping) are pervasive forms of violence against women in Kyrgyzstan. Although statistics are not available, great numbers of women and girls in Kyrgyzstan have experienced these serious violations of their most fundamental human rights. The problems of domestic violence and abduction have long been neglected by government officials, and urgently need to be addressed. Perpetrators of domestic violence variously beat, kick, strangle, stab, rape, and shoot their wives. Women are locked in their homes to isolate them from their natal families and to prevent them from seeking assistance; are denied food; and are beaten with bricks, pipes, and other heavy objects. They are humiliated and demeaned. Some women are hospitalized due to domestic abuse; some suffer permanent injury. Women are severely traumatized by the violence they experience, and some commit suicide as a result. Some are killed by their husbands. Kyrgyzstan is not alone in having a serious domestic violence problem. Statistical data on domestic violence is inadequate worldwide, but available data shows disturbingly high levels of domestic violence in many countries.