ASTANA – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev endorsed on April 15 the law on protecting women’s rights and enhancing child safety. The adoption of the law is a victory for every child and woman in Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Dinara Zakiyeva wrote on her Facebook page on April 15.
Dinara Zakiyeva. Photo credit: Facebook
“Each amendment can be named after a child or woman who died due to violence,” she repeated. “Childhood should be happy and safe. And this law is a big step towards realizing this goal.”
The Senate, an upper house of the Kazakh Parliament, adopted the bill on April 11.
Zakiyeva presented the bill to the Prosecutor General’s Office in September last year, advocating for its passage in both lower and upper houses of the Parliament.
In her social media post, she noted that the law contains over 70 amendments aimed at creating an infrastructure for families and children, implementing prevention tools, and toughening penalties for all forms of violence against children by criminalizing such acts.
“The work on the bill united proposals and efforts of non-governmental organizations, human rights activists, social activists and is the result of everyone,” Zakiyeva stated.
According to State Counselor Erlan Karin, the new law is one of the implemented measures of the nationwide campaign initiated by the President at the National Kurultai to combat the five vices of society, including domestic violence, bullying, and aggression.
“At the same time, it is important to understand that for effective counteraction to domestic violence, it is necessary to create an atmosphere of zero tolerance to aggression in any form in society and to cultivate values of mutual respect and friendly attitudes towards other people,” he wrote.
