In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, the chairperson of the Committee for Family and Women’s Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan, Ms. Idigul Qosimzoda, revealed on February 15 that they received some 1,500 domestic violence complaints last year.
“Criminal proceedings have been instituted over 281 complaints,” Ms. Qosimzoda said,
“2,100 divorces were reported in Tajikistan last year,” she said, that mainly young couples were divorced.
According to her, 497 suicide cases were reported in Tajikistan last year, which was 99 cases less than in 2016 (596 suicide cases were reported in the country in 2016).
On the female suicide problem in the country, Qosimzoda noted that the suicide rates were high among women in the Sughd province.
Domestic violence in Tajikistan is very high, due to traditional Tajik family values, as well as a reluctance by the authorities to intervene in what is viewed in Tajikistan as a “private family matter.”
In Tajikistan, a bride traditionally moves to her in-laws home and joins a large extended family. This means she has little protection from her own relatives and is vulnerable to systematic bullying and abuse. Domestic violence is common.
With divorce frowned upon and family affairs considered strictly private, young women are sometimes driven to desperate measures.
