We respectfully submit this report for consideration during the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (‘the Committee’) review of Tajikistan at its 87th Session (29 January – 16 February 2024). We are writing to express our concerns with regard to laws related to rape and other forms of sexual violence, procedures and practices which effectively deny access to justice for survivors of sexual violence in violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (‘the Convention’).
The legal provisions and practices detailed in our submission highlight the failure of the State of Tajikistan to comply with its duties to provide equal protection under the law to survivors of sexual violence (Article 2(c) of the Convention) and failure of law enforcement to protect women from sexual violence (Article 2(c) and (e)). We submit that the root cause of the failures of the State is its non-compliance with the obligation to end discrimination against women in law and practice and address stereotypical and gender-discriminatory attitudes towards women and girls, contrary to Articles 2(f) and 5(a) of the Convention and the obligation to combat violence against women and provide access to justice to survivors, as provided for in General Recommendations 19, 33 and 35 of the Committee.