ISSUE 1 [May 28, 2024]
Civic activism in Kazakhstan achieved the long-awaited legislative changes strengthening punishments for domestic violence, which President Tokayev signed on April 15, 2024. While the new legislation aims to deter the perpetrators more effectively than the previous lenient measures, its implementation remains uncertain, the success contingent on comprehensive institutional reforms.
Despite these legal advancements, deeply rooted cultural attitudes that downplay gender-based justice in Kazakhstan pose significant challenges within law enforcement agencies. They have been the root cause of institutional resistance to criminalization and gender inequities in day-to-day policing. Stories often reveal that perpetrators' crimes are met with "a cigarette from a policeman, instead of hard detention", revealing the inadequacy of police responsiveness to cases of domestic violence.
While civic society has shown increasing sensitivity to women experiencing domestic abuse in recent years, this progress has not been mirrored by the more rigid governmental institutions. Our first issue closely examines the mismatch between police behavior and the progressive attitudes emerging in civic society, which have translated into political will.
Read on our website
Civic activism in Kazakhstan achieved the long-awaited legislative changes strengthening punishments for domestic violence, which President Tokayev signed on April 15, 2024. While the new legislation aims to deter the perpetrators more effectively than the previous lenient measures, its implementation remains uncertain, the success contingent on comprehensive institutional reforms.
Despite these legal advancements, deeply rooted cultural attitudes that downplay gender-based justice in Kazakhstan pose significant challenges within law enforcement agencies. They have been the root cause of institutional resistance to criminalization and gender inequities in day-to-day policing. Stories often reveal that perpetrators' crimes are met with "a cigarette from a policeman, instead of hard detention", revealing the inadequacy of police responsiveness to cases of domestic violence.
While civic society has shown increasing sensitivity to women experiencing domestic abuse in recent years, this progress has not been mirrored by the more rigid governmental institutions. Our first issue closely examines the mismatch between police behavior and the progressive attitudes emerging in civic society, which have translated into political will.
Read on our website