Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. “Our hands were shaking when we were waiting for the first call”: how they built a system of assistance to victims of violence in Kyrgyzstan Women
In the early 1990s, domestic violence was not talked about out loud in Kyrgyzstan. Today the country has a law on protection from family violence, crisis centers and hotlines. But the path to this took decades.
Honorary President of the crisis center “Sezim” (“Feeling”) Byubyusara Ryskulova has been helping women and children affected by violence for more than 30 years. She attended the ongoing 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, where representatives from more than 100 countries are discussing access to justice and protecting women’s rights.
“My work for more than 30 years has been related to the topic that is being discussed today at this session,” says Ryskulova. – We have a very representative delegation: at the level of the Deputy Prime Minister, Ombudsman, Deputy Prosecutor General, Supreme Court, ministries. I was the only representative of civil society. For me, this is an opportunity to get acquainted with the experiences of other countries. You hear a lot of criticism in your own country, but you still learn a lot by comparison.”
According to the human rights activist, Kyrgyzstan has managed to make significant progress in this area, but problems still persist.
The Sezim Crisis Center is one of the first in the region. It was created in 1998, when the very idea of helping victims of violence was new to the country. Before this, Ryskulova worked in another center – “Umut” (“Nadezhda”).
According to her, the decision to devote herself to this work arose after a trip to the USA in the late 1990s.
“I am often asked: why a crisis center? I answer – I accidentally fell into this area. In 1998, four of us were invited to the United States to exchange experiences, and we traveled around seven states. It was the first time I saw how the help system works. But we didn’t talk about this out loud at all before. When they started teaching us what a public organization is, what an NGO is, I studied like a schoolgirl: everything was new and very interesting. But I knew even then that our problems were very deep.”
Even today, she says, it can be difficult to discuss violence openly.
“Since the early 1990s, our religiosity has increased, and sometimes people perceive many things through religion. There has been some backsliding on some women’s rights issues. For example, in the village where I come from, there is one school and two mosques. And in a short time, religiosity has grown greatly. That’s why it’s still difficult to talk about violence.”
Bubyusara Ryskulova, honorary president of the Sezim crisis center.
Nevertheless, there is progress. In 2003, Kyrgyzstan was one of the first in the post-Soviet space to adopt a law on domestic violence, after a campaign by public organizations and the collection of signatures. It was updated in 2017.
“At the legislative level, it’s a sin for us to complain,” says Ryskulova. – But the law is one thing, and its execution is another. Therefore, we are now working more on the ground, protecting specific people. We have a shelter; specialists have been working for over 30 years. I myself received a second diploma – a practical psychologist. And now I often represent the interests of victims in courts. Our law allows you to do this by proxy, even if you are not a lawyer.”
According to her, sometimes it is such cases that become resonant and help change the system.
“In recent years, our organization has had about 40 court cases, and almost 90 percent of the decisions were in favor of the victims. These were very difficult cases – murders, rapes. We work and then raise a public outcry. But if a woman does not want publicity, we completely maintain anonymity,” says the human rights activist.
Today the situation is gradually changing in the professional sphere. If in the early 1990s there were almost no practicing psychologists in the country, now many universities train them.
But the beginning was very difficult – especially when the first hotline appeared.
“When we opened the helpline, we just sat and waited to see if they would call or not. And no one called for a long time. When the first call finally rang, they told me: pick up the phone yourself. But I had almost no experience, my hands were shaking. But that’s how we started,” recalls Ryskulova.
International cooperation, including with UN agencies, played a major role in the development of crisis centers. Ryskulova recalls that one of the first partner organizations was the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“It was there that I first heard about sexual slavery. I then said: “What are you even talking about?” And then we opened a hotline specifically on this topic. I remember one of the first girls – a minor, pregnant. I met her at the airport myself. She said that she did not want to live, that she would commit suicide if this child was born. We literally had to be on duty at her bed in the hospital so that she wouldn’t do anything to herself,” says the human rights activist.
Today the Sezim center continues to work with UN agencies such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Women.
“This is very important for us – exchange of experience, training of specialists, joint projects. Venues such as the session of the Commission on the Status of Women provide an opportunity to see what is happening in the world and what still needs to be learned,” says Ryskulova.
Despite decades of work and noticeable changes, Ryskulova is confident that helping victims still requires daily effort.
“Seminars and trainings are important, prevention is important. But if even one person who suffered is left without protection, then we have not yet done everything we should,” she says.