24th September 2026
Tajikistan urged to strengthen laws on rape, domestic violence and child marriage, joint submissions to UN Committees say
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A joint submission to the CEDAW Committee and a joint submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child find that Tajikistan has made insufficient progress in addressing violence against women and girls.
Dushanbe, Tajikistan, September 22, 2026: Women and girls in Tajikistan continue to face significant gaps in legal protection from domestic violence and sexual violence, as well as child and forced marriage, despite recommendations issued by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee), according to two joint submissions by Equality Now, the Public Foundation “Your Choice,” and Women Lawyers for Development.
In 2022, Tajikistan submitted its seventh periodic report to the CEDAW Committee, outlining the measures taken by the Government since the Committee’s previous review of the country in 2018 to fulfil its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. As required under the treaty, the Government’s report detailed actions, progress made, and challenges encountered in eliminating discrimination and advancing the rights of women and girls.
In 2024, in its concluding observations (CEDAW/C/TJK/CO/7), the Committee identified several areas of concern and issued recommendations to the Tajik authorities on actions needed to address gender-based violence against women, including domestic and sexual violence. The Committee called on Tajikistan to strengthen the legal framework on violence against women and improve access to justice for survivors.
Combined sixth and seventh periodic reports submitted by Tajikistan are due to be considered by the Committee on the Rights of Child (CRC) during its 101st session, taking place from 1 to 28 September 2026. In its previous concluding observations (CRC/TJK/CO/3-5), issued in 2017, the Committee expressed concern about child marriage and violence against children. It urged Tajikistan to eliminate all exceptions to the minimum marriage age of 18 and take the measures necessary to eradicate child marriage.
The Committee also raised concern about religious marriage ceremonies involving children under 18 and called for stronger action to protect children from all forms of violence.
The ‘Submission to the CEDAW Committee for the Follow-up Assessment of Tajikistan’ focused on recommendations regarding the criminalisation of violence against women and girls, and access to justice for survivors.
Under the Committee’s follow-up procedure, Tajikistan was required to report on progress made in implementing a limited number of priority recommendations within a specified timeframe.
The submission informed the CEDAW Committee’s assessment of Tajikistan’s implementation of those priority recommendations. The submission formed part of the information the CEDAW Committee considered when assessing Tajikistan’s implementation of those priority recommendations, and was intended to inform the Committee’s assessment and any further guidance on legal and policy reforms to strengthen protection for women and girls.
In its follow-up assessment, adopted 31 July 2026, the CEDAW Committee concluded that Tajikistan has not implemented its recommendation to criminalise all forms of gender-based violence against women and to adopt a consent-based definition of rape, rating the government’s response “unsatisfactory.” The Committee found that drafting of a new Criminal Code, which was first launched by presidential decree in 2019 and repeatedly cited by the government as evidence of reform in progress, has now been “postponed indefinitely,” with no interim amendments made to existing law. The Committee’s assessment drew directly on the joint submission’s analysis, including its finding that the pending draft Code has functioned as a justification for inaction rather than a path to it.
A second submission, prepared for the CRC Committee’s 101st session, provides information on child marriage and sexual violence against girls. It finds that both remain persistent problems in Tajikistan and have been largely overlooked in the State party’s report and replies to the Committee’s list of issues. The submission proposes targeted recommendations to strengthen Tajikistan’s legal and institutional response.
The submissions find that the State’s response remains inadequate both procedurally and institutionally, with major gaps remaining in legal and institutional responses to gender-based violence against women and girls.
“Women and girls in Tajikistan continue to face serious difficulties obtaining protection from violence and access to justice. We hope that the recommendations of the UN committees will help accelerate the necessary legislative reforms and strengthen support for survivors. Every woman and girl should be able to live in safety and free from fear of violence,” commented Zebo Sharifova, Director of the Public Association “Women Lawyers for Development.”
The country’s sexual violence legislation does not include a consent-based definition of rape, and so fails to meet international human rights standards. Tajik law focuses on the use of force, threat of force, abusing the helplessness of the victim, and various forms of coercion, rather than focusing on the absence of free and voluntary consent.
Domestic violence is not criminalised as a distinct offence, leaving survivors without comprehensive legal protection. Furthermore, marital and intimate partner rape are neither separately criminalised nor treated as an aggravating factor. Society and law enforcement do not take marital rape seriously, resulting in many acts of sexual violence within a marital or intimate partnership going unpunished.
“Delaying reform of the Criminal Code leaves women and girls in Tajikistan without adequate legal protection. We urgently need to introduce a clear, consent-based definition of rape and criminalise domestic violence as a distinct offence. Without these steps, as well as recognising accountability for marital rape, we will not be able to ensure survivors have full access to justice or overcome a culture of impunity,” said Larisa Aleksandrova, Public Foundation “Your Choice.”
The CRC submission also identifies serious gaps in the laws and practices addressing child, early and forced marriage. Article 13(2) of the Family Code continues to allow courts, in “exceptional circumstances,” to lower the minimum marriage age of 18 by up to one year, without defining the circumstances or criteria that justify such a reduction. During the first six months of 2026, Tajik courts granted 423 of the 503 applications they considered to reduce the minimum marriage age.
Tajik law does not require state registration of a marriage before a religious marriage ceremony, known as “nikoh,” is conducted. This legal gap increases the risk of child, polygamous and forced marriages and can leave women, girls and their children without the legal and economic protections associated with a registered marriage. Forced marriage and forced cohabitation are also not expressly criminalised, and Tajikistan lacks a comprehensive national strategy or action plan to eliminate child and forced marriage.
The CRC submission further raises concern about the treatment of sexual violence against girls. The framing and interpretation of some sexual offences can foster the assumption that a child under 16 consented to or initiated sexual activity, despite being legally incapable of consent. Prosecution also depends on whether the perpetrator knew or ought to have known the child’s age, opening the door to impunity.
These legal gaps are accompanied by a serious lack of protection and support services available to survivors across the country, with insufficient access to 24/7 hotlines, free legal aid, adequate shelters, medical treatment, psychosocial counselling, and economic support.
Analysis also finds that reform of the Criminal Code, which the Tajik government has repeatedly committed to carrying out, has been delayed for years, with limited transparency and insufficient consultation with civil society and independent experts.
The persistence of violence is closely linked to harmful gender stereotypes and discriminatory social attitudes that normalise and justify abuse. Survivors face challenges in reporting violence and accessing justice, and women and girls subjected to intersecting discrimination experience even greater obstacles that hinder access to protection and remedies. This is particularly acute for women and girls with disabilities, especially those with psycho-social needs.
National legislation and policies do not mandate comprehensive, regular training for law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, healthcare workers, social workers, and other frontline professionals, while existing guidance does not provide a coherent, unified coordination mechanism and awareness of referral pathways remains low.
The CRC submission also highlights the lack of specialised, child-sensitive protocols for responding to violence against children, inconsistent implementation of procedural safeguards, and insufficient training for professionals working with child victims of sexual violence.
There is also a serious and persistent lack of systematic data collection and monitoring on violence against women and girls in Tajikistan. The authorities do not collect or publish comprehensive, disaggregated data on all forms of violence against women and girls. The absence of reliable and sufficiently disaggregated data seriously impedes an accurate assessment of the scale, nature, and patterns of violence against women and girls. It also prevents effective monitoring of the authorities’ response, obscures gaps in protection and accountability, and undermines the development of evidence-based laws, policies, and prevention measures.
Strengthening legal protections against gender-based violence against women and girls:
Practice and procedural changes:
Training professionals:
Data collection and monitoring:
Awareness-raising and addressing harmful stereotypes:
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For media requests, contact Tara Carey, Associate Director, Media, at Equality Now, E. Tcarey@equalitynow.org
Equality Now is a worldwide human rights organisation dedicated to securing the legal and systemic change needed to end discrimination against all women and girls, everywhere in the world. Since its inception in 1992, it has played a role in reforming over 135 discriminatory laws globally, positively impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of women and girls, their communities and nations, both now and for generations to come.
Since 2019, Equality Now has consistently analysed laws, policies and procedures relating to violence against women in Tajikistan, particularly in the areas of sexual violence and child and forced marriage. www.equalitynow.org
The Public Foundation “Your Choice” is a human rights organisation in Tajikistan that actively promotes amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan in connection with all types of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, and works to prevent domestic violence and other forms of violence in the Republic of Tajikistan.
Women Lawyers for Development is an NGO working on prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence in Tajikistan. Their work is aimed at creating a safe and enabling environment for vulnerable women by providing them with legal assistance in the form of counselling, legal aid, and empowerment through education, increasing the effectiveness of measures to punish perpetrators and promoting long-term changes in society aimed at creating a safe and equal environment for all women and protecting their social rights. They conduct advocacy campaigns for awareness-raising for women in society, changing negative stereotypes and creating conditions for a dignified life and gender equality. /www.facebook.com/WomenLawyersforDevelopment
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