Thousands of Kazakhstanis demand authorities criminalize domestic violence
According to the Senate, the upper house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, regular citizens sent them 5,070 requests demanding the adoption of a law that would protect women and children from domestic violence. The campaign has been launched by Erkindik Qanaty, a public foundation calling for the criminalization of domestic violence
«As of April 9, the Senate received 5,070 official requests from regular citizens, public and human rights organizations supporting the adoption of a law protecting women’s rights and children’s security,» the Senate said in a statement.
The Write a Letter to the Parliament campaign with the #LawSaltanat hashtag was launched by Erkindik Qanaty five days ago. The initiative calls for Kazakhstanis to send letters to parliament until a new law is adopted. The foundation has given detailed instructions on how to send a letter to the Senate via e-Otinish, a platform for public requests, in its social media channels.
This is not the first civil initiative supporting criminalizing domestic violence. In November 2023, after the tragic death of Saltanat Nukenova, more than 150,000 Kazakhstanis signed a petition against domestic violence.
The context. On November 9, 2023, the police received a signal about a conflict in the BAU restaurant in Astana. Later that day, the police detained Ex-Minister of National Economy Kuandyk Bishimbayev, accusing him of the brutal murder of his wife Saltanat Nukenova.
Thousands of Kazakhstanis have been watching the litigation in real-time over the past few weeks. According to Aitbek Amangeldy, a sibling of the late Nukenova, his sister was suffering from abuse and violence in her marriage with Bishimbayev and tried to break up with her husband on several occasions.
Bishimbayev, who’s been accused of brutal murder and torture of his wife, pleaded not guilty, insisting he simply slapped Nukenova four times. However, according to forensic experts and CCTV video from the restaurant, Bishimbayev punched the girl’s head 12 to 13 times with full force.
