Women with disabilities unprotected against sexual violence in Central Asia

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Kazakhstan, Astana, December 8, 2025 – A new report reveals how women with disabilities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are at heightened risk of sexual violence, with abuse frequently overlooked, dismissed, and unpunished. Harmful gender- and disability-based stereotypes, institutional neglect, and criminal justice systems that fail to accommodate diverse disability-related needs are among the obstacles preventing survivors from accessing justice and support.

Women with disabilities are commonly denied their right to autonomy and legal capacity, meaning they aren’t permitted to make key decisions about their own lives. Instead, a guardian – often a relative or institution – is legally empowered to decide on their behalf. When abuse occurs, women under guardianship are frequently prevented from filing complaints, giving testimony, or accessing services. If their abuser is also their guardian or caregiver, obtaining justice becomes almost impossible.

These and other findings are detailed in Seeking justice: Sexual violence against women with disabilities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, a report by Equality Now that examines how criminal justice systems respond to sexual violence against women with disabilities. Interviews with survivors, disability rights advocates, academics, and criminal justice professionals provide rare insight into a hidden crisis underpinned by significant legal and

procedural shortfalls.

Dariana Gryaznova, Equality Now’s Eurasia Legal Advisor, explains, “Despite some areas of progress by authorities, women with disabilities who experience sexual violence in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan continue to be frequently silenced, disbelieved, and denied their rights.

“Governments must act now to dismantle discrimination embedded in justice systems that remain inaccessible and filled with obstacles that make proving abuse extraordinarily difficult. Further comprehensive, rights-based reforms are essential to ensure survivors can access the justice and support they deserve.”

Need for consent-based legal definitions of rape

In Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, legal definitions of rape are based on the threat or use of violence and helplessness, rather than the absence of consent. Evidence of physical resistance is required in practice, which disadvantages survivors who don’t or can’t fight back or report swiftly. Justice is seldom served when violence leaves no visible injuries or a victim’s response is to freeze.

Harmful stereotypes are used to undermine women’s credibility by claiming they are incapable of providing reliable testimony. Survivors are routinely subjected to psychiatric or psychological examinations aimed at assessing their perceived “reliability” and “competence” as witnesses. If deemed “unreliable”, their testimony is excluded, and cases are dismissed without adequate investigation or prosecution.

Unrealistically high and often irrelevant evidentiary requirements for prosecution enable many perpetrators to avoid punishment. This is illustrated by a lawyer in Kazakhstan recounting a case in which four culprits were identified using surveillance cameras, sexual contact was proved, and biological evidence was collected. However, because the victim didn’t resist the attack, investigators said they couldn’t prove rape in court without physical injuries, and the case was closed.

Discrimination, underreporting, and a lack of disaggregated data on sexual violence 

Sexual violence against women and girls with disabilities remains effectively invisible within national data systems because official statistics are often not disaggregated by sex and disability, and existing data are fragmented, incomplete, and hard to access.

An indication of the extent of the problem comes from the Union of People with Disabilities “Ravenstvo” in their 2025 Kyrgyzstan survey. Over one in four women with disabilities (27%) reported experiencing sexual violence, and 140 out of 150 (93%) had experienced at least one form of violence, including sexual, physical, psychological, digital, or economic.

Multiple barriers prevent survivors from speaking out. Many don’t have adequate communication support for reporting tailored to their disability, and often fear disbelief, retaliation, and stigma. Individuals are also deterred from seeking help due to a lack of information about their rights and protection services, and the risk of losing care.

Institutionalisation of women with disabilities remains common, with those in psychiatric hospitals and residential care homes facing heightened risks of abuse and difficulties reporting due to considerable power imbalances between staff and residents.

Family members, carers, and institutional staff may pressure survivors not to report abuse, block access to authorities, or even be the perpetrators. In Uzbekistan, a survivor with hearing and speech impairment described how, after becoming pregnant by her brother, her mother forced her to have an abortion and committed her to a psychiatric hospital.

She recounted: “When the police questioned me, my mother answered on my behalf, but I do not know what she said because she had taken away my phone and did not allow me to contact a sign language interpreter. No investigation was initiated because my mother was categorically opposed to it. She was afraid of being shamed in front of relatives and of my father finding out, as he had been unaware of everything that had happened to me.”

Discrimination persists throughout justice systems in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Interviewees for Equality Now’s report described how law enforcement officers presume women with disabilities couldn’t be targets of rape due to perceived unattractiveness, and survivors and their supporters are sometimes accused of fabricating allegations.

Investigations are frequently delayed or prematurely closed due to systemic failures and inadequate procedural accommodations. Investigative authorities and courts often lack accessible infrastructure and other necessary adjustments to provide equal participation for survivors.

Legal and policy reforms to protect women with disabilities

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are legally obligated under international human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to protect women and girls with disabilities from violence and ensure equal access to justice.

Comprehensive, human rights–based legal and policy reforms are essential. Gryaznova explains, “Overall, laws, policies, and enforcement practices in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan still fall short of meeting international obligations to protect the rights of women and girls with disabilities.

“Governments need to continue and strengthen their efforts by urgently advancing reforms, including adopting consent-based definitions of rape, removing discriminatory stereotypes and evidentiary requirements, and recognising full legal capacity for persons with disabilities.”

Appropriate support throughout legal proceedings should be ensured. Police and justice sector professionals, medical staff, social workers, and crisis centre personnel need mandatory training grounded in survivor-centred, gender-responsive, disability-sensitive approaches.

Countries must establish coordinated systems to collect, analyse, and publish comprehensive sexual violence data, disaggregated by age, sex, and disability. This includes tracking complaints, investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing outcomes.

Gryaznova concludes, “Reforms must be developed and implemented with the meaningful participation of women with disabilities and their representative organisations. Governments must ensure effective identification of violence, accessible reporting mechanisms, survivor-centred investigations and court procedures, and provide comprehensive, tailored support services that meet the diverse needs of all sexual violence survivors.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

For media enquiries, contact Natalia Amaglobeli, Eurasia Communications Officer, namaglobeli@equalitynow.org,  T. +995 555 505044  (available on WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal).

Equality Now extends its sincere appreciation to all experts, researchers, and partner organisations who contributed to the preparation and publication of this report. Its completion was made possible thanks to the information, research, and analysis they provided, as well as their professionalism, commitment, and collaborative effort. Organisations include:

Istiqbolli Avlod – Uzbekistan

Kibrai District Disabled Women’s Society “Opa Singillar” – Uzbekistan

“NIHOL” Initiative’s Development and Supporting Centre – Uzbekistan

Public Association “Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan” – Kyrgyzstan

Public Association “Union of People with Disabilities ‘Ravenstvo’ (Equality) – Kyrgyzstan

Shyrak Association of Women with Disabilities – Kazakhstan

About: 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. Since its inception in 1992, it has played a role in reforming 120 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.

Working with partners at national, regional, and global levels, Equality Now draws on deep legal expertise and a diverse range of social, political, and cultural perspectives to continue to lead the way in steering, shaping, and driving the change needed to achieve enduring gender equality, to the benefit of all.

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