Women's councils are being revived in Kyrgyzstan to combat gender-based violence

Bishkek, June 7, 2022 / Kabar /. Women's Councils are being revived in the regions of Kyrgyzstan and are actively working to combat gender-based violence, Baken Dosalieva, executive director of the Women's Assistance Center Public Union told at a press conference at Kabar News Agency.

She said that a lot of work has been done in partnership with local self-governments to revive and strengthen the role of Women's Councils in the regions.

“Women's Councils were provided with the following support: multi-stage trainings on gender legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, peacebuilding, mediation, etc. Technical support was also provided - offices were opened to receive victims and provide consultations by Women's Councils, computers were purchased for the work of women's councils, etc.,” she noted.

Dosaliyeva noted that within the framework of the project, Women's Councils from Osh, Chui and Naryn Oblasts (Kara-Suu, Uzgen, Kochkor, At-Bashy, Alamedin, Sokuluk regions) implemented a number of local initiatives / actions in order to inform the population and local communities about the scale of the increase in violence against women. “Women's councils held such sports events as volleyball, football with a call against the theft of girls, early marriages, forum theaters that clearly reveal the above problems, etc.,” she added.

Dilfuza Atabayeva, chairwoman of the Women's Council of Kara-Suu, said that the women used to be embarrassed to turn to someone for help and many problems in the family remained closed.

Atabayeva noted that earlier the Kara-Suu region was in the first place in terms of early marriage and divorce. “Now there are already results due to joint work with local self-governments and other government agencies,” she added.

In turn, the chairwoman of the Women's Council of the village of Kum-Dobo, Kochkor region, Minakan Imankulova, said that they conduct seminars and trainings on the issue of preserving the family and relationships. “For victims of domestic violence, we can assist in contacting law enforcement, in obtaining a protection order, in finding temporary shelter, together with local governments,” she said.

Also, the chairman of the Women's Council of the village of Kurshab, Uzgen district, Aminakhan Kalykova, noted that most often women ask help because of family scandals. “The reason for violence in the family, first of all, is social status, lack of money, unemployment. In order to improve relationships in the family, preventive conversations are held with relatives - mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, who most often interfere in the relationship between husband and wife. Now people understand that even raising your voice is also violence,” she said.

The participants of the press conference noted that they are provided with local offices, computers, stationery.