Domestic violence has been officially declared a crime in Uzbekistan. Responsibility for stalking and molesting women was established. Persons who have committed sexual violence are not eligible for early parole. A register of pedophiles is also maintained. The penalty for forcing a woman to have an abortion has been strengthened.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a law aimed at protecting women and children from violence. Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the branch of the PA Executive Office, informed about this.
Mirziyoyeva congratulated activists on the adoption of this important law.
“I am proud of this victory and I am grateful to everyone who participated in it! There is a long and difficult road ahead for these articles to work and for society to change.
I call on all government bodies, civil societies, activists and media – everyone to join this process and become a single mechanism for fighting violence. Violence is a crime. Violence is not our culture!” she wrote on her Telegram channel.
It should be recalled that a group of officials and public activists worked on this law.
One of the main innovations in the document is that persons who have committed sexual violence will not be released on parole, their sentence will not be replaced by a lighter one. The punishment for such crimes is also getting tougher.
In addition, the register of pedophiles has finally been kept in Uzbekistan. Persons who have raped children are included in this register and they are prohibited from working in the field of education. In general, they are forbidden to engage in any type of activity that involves working directly with children.
Another important innovation: in the legal assessment of sexual crimes, the controversial rule is being removed. That is, even if the guilty party does not know how old the victim is, this cannot be a reason to give him a light sentence.
This law also criminalizes domestic violence. In addition, for the first time, liability is being established for stalking women and committing sexual acts against them.
The new law also provides for tougher penalties for crimes such as forcing a woman to have an abortion, raping her, satisfying one’s sexual desire in an unnatural way, forcing her to have sex, having sex with a person under the age of 16, performing obscene acts against a person under the age of 16, preparing and distributing pornography.
