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Gender-based violence

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a form of violence which includes physical, sexual, and/or psychological violence perpetrated by men against women and girls. GBV is a gross violation of human-rights and universal values, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international documents, and unfortunately remains prevalent worldwide, cutting across national and socio-cultural boundaries.

Gender inequality persists in Uzbekistan as well, including negative gender stereotypes, limited representation, and participation of women in decision-making spaces, in social, and economic life. Traditional views on gender roles are widespread, lowering women’s participation in higher education and encouraging child marriage (7.2%), especially in rural areas (UNICEF global databases, 2021). Another major problem pertains to domestic violence, which saw a rapid increase since the pandemic hit. In addition, journalists face censorship making dissemination of the problem almost impossible.
IN SPECIFIC:

• In 2021, over 93,000 girls under the age of 20 got married – 305,000 marriages were registered in total

• Neither domestic violence nor marital rape are explicitly criminalized. Domestic violence is perceived as a family issue and not an actual crime.

• In over 7,600 cases, women and girls in Uzbekistan experienced violence inside their own families. And in almost 5,920 of these cases, the aggressors were their husbands.

The majority of cases remain unreported

4,847 women filed GBV cases to the police in 2020 alone, with physical violence sharing the highest percentage of cases reported at 49.9 % followed by physiological violence at 40.2 %. 89 % of reported GBV cases occurred at home, with Ferghana region being the second highest GBV reporting region following Tashkent city.

The country is still in the 133rd/180 place in the World Press Freedom Index 2022, and journalists continue to face criminal penalties for a variety of offenses related to their work.

The problems faced by NGOs working to prevent domestic violence include:

• insufficient personnel capacity

• unexperienced psychologists, lawyers, trainers and social workers

• insufficient knowledge and experience in organizing temporary (shelters) for abused women

• financial instability and insufficient knowledge of fundraising

• inadequate knowledge and skills on international legal mechanisms

EQUAL PROJECT  in Social Media