Kazakhstan’s Domestic Violence Law Advances Protection, Yet Concerns Persist

 On April 15th, 2024, Kazakhstan’s President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev signed a new law aimed at strengthening protections for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. While this represents an important step toward addressing gender-based violence in the country, some concerns have been raised about the completeness and effectiveness of the law.

The newly passed legislation, commonly referred to as Kazakhstan’s “domestic violence” law, introduces reforms to several legal systems, including the Criminal Code, the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention, and the Law on Marriage and Family. The main goal is to bolster safeguards for women and children who experience domestic abuse by implementing measures to prevent and respond to such violence within domestic settings.

However, despite the laudable objective of enhancing protections for survivors of domestic violence, several issues have been identified with the new law. Most notably, it fails to explicitly criminalize domestic violence as a standalone offense. While reforms were made to existing laws, the legislation does not provide a separate definition or criminalization of domestic violence between family or household members. This omission undermines efforts to adequately address domestic violence according to international human rights standards.

At the same time, the law does include some important developments in addressing domestic violence in Kazakhstan. For example, it assigns responsibility for collecting evidence in these types of cases to police rather than survivors. The law also mandates that police must register and investigate all domestic violence reports, even without a formal complaint from the victim. Additionally, it removes the option to seek reconciliation between parties in cases of repeated assault and minor bodily harm, underscoring the seriousness of such offenses.

Going forward, proposals have been put forth to strengthen the law. These include criminalizing domestic violence as a distinct offense within the Criminal Code or Domestic Violence Prevention Law. Doing so would align with international standards and ensure domestic violence is treated as a grave crime against individuals and society. Establishing a monitoring mechanism and ratifying the Istanbul Convention on preventing domestic violence have also been recommended. Raising public awareness about the law and ensuring survivors’ access to justice, services, and support — especially in rural areas — also need to be prioritized.