A 2016 study conducted by the Committee on Women and Family Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan together with the international association Oxfam (Oxfam) covered 400 people in six regions of Tajikistan. According to the study, 97% of men and 72% of women believe that women are obliged to tolerate domestic violence in order to keep it.
CABAR.asia says the Committee on Women and Family Affairs receives calls on a daily basis, most often victims reportedly suffer from psychological violence from husbands or relatives. Most women come solely for talking to a psychologist about their family situation. When a woman is offered to invite her aggressor (often her husband), she often refuses.
According to psychological consultations, one conversation is not enough; conversations often last for several days. There are women who contact the Committee every year.
The Committee together with the PDV project of public international organization on prevention of domestic violence annually publishes a directory in which all support centers, shelters, temporary detention rooms, legal and psychological consultations are recorded. The guide is distributed to the population during information activities.
There is a focal point in practically every city of country, a department, division and sector for women’s and family affairs.
Inquiries are reportedly also received in Dushanbe from other cities and districts. Awareness of the population on this issue, however, remains low, as in most remote areas of the country the population leads a rather hidden way of life. People simply do not know about the existence of crisis centers, shelters and free counseling.
A shelter is a temporary shelter for people in difficult situations, including victims of domestic violence or victims of human trafficking and others. There is no single form of shelter. Shelters can be of different formats, i.e. they can help only women, men, children, or women with children.
A shelter provides: temporary accommodation; safe living conditions for the victim; availability of trained personnel; and free provision of medical, legal, psychological assistance independently or in cooperation with other organizations.
The victim is kept in the shelter for the period necessary for his or her psychological and social rehabilitation. It is important to note that in order to provide full protection to the victim, the location of the shelter is hidden from the public.
As far as a crisis center (support center) is concerned, it is a social institution designed for social protection and rehabilitation. There are various forms of assistance from a crisis center: a telephone helpline; face-to-face counseling means a personal conversation with a specialist (assistance is provided in the form of social and psychological support and legal counseling).
Another form of crisis center work is the shelter. Not all crisis centers (support centers) have the resources to set up shelters, since this is a labor-intensive task both financially and legally.
The approval of a model regulation and statutes for support centers falls under the purview of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act. There are a total of 14 crisis centers throughout Tajikistan – they are private, mostly working under public organizations.
