Our joint submission details our concerns with regard to laws related to rape and other forms of sexual violence and procedures and practices which effectively deny access to justice for survivors of sexual violence. Specifically, Kazakhstan’s legal system provides a number of opportunities for perpetrators to escape criminal liability or punishment, namely through the way sexual violence crimes are defined; allowing for the direct release of a perpetrator from liability or punishment in certain circumstances; and through the way sexual violence crimes are investigated and prosecuted, including with respect to adolescent girls.
We recommend questions to be put before Kazakhstan by the Committee and the legal and practice change required to ensure that perpetrators of sexual violence are brought to justice and that survivors access justice.