'Spotlight' Initiative (EU/UN) 2020: Brief overview of the gender-based-violence cooperation mechanism at local level in Rudaki district, Tajikistan

This 2020 reference booklet — produced under the EU–UN “Spotlight” («Луч света») Initiative to end violence against women and girls, and published for Rudaki district (район Рудаки) of Tajikistan — sets out the local-level cooperation mechanism for gender-based-violence (GBV) cases. The document reports definitions drawn from the UN CEDAW Convention, CEDAW General Recommendation No. 19 and the 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and from Tajikistan’s Law “On the Prevention of Violence in the Family,” distinguishing physical, psychological, sexual and economic violence. The booklet lists national-level helplines of the Tajik Ministry of Health and Social Protection (511 round-the-clock, 311 COVID-19 line, 103 ambulance), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (221-21-21 trust line, 19-19 help service), the Ministry of Justice (30-40 free legal consultations), and the Government’s Committee on Women’s and Family Affairs (13-13 hotline for GBV survivors). It maps the services to which survivors can be referred: district police inspectors and violence-prevention inspectors, Women and Family Affairs departments, resource-information consultative centres, medico-social rehabilitation rooms, forensic-medical examination centres, youth medico-consultative units, commissions on children’s rights, the Ombudsperson for Human Rights and for Children’s Rights, state legal-aid bureaus (“Centre for Legal Aid”), courts, social-protection sectors, crisis centres, shelters and NGO support centres. The booklet sets out survivors’ rights under Article 6 of the Law (medical, psychological, legal and social aid; placement in shelters with written consent; access to justice) and the functions and referral rules for each service, including confidentiality, informed consent, coordination and COVID-19 safety measures. It also lists the bodies that produce statistics on violence against women (MVD, Prosecutor’s Office, Supreme Court; Committee on Women’s Affairs, MLSPP, MoH; NGO crisis centres, helplines, shelters). Sources cited: CEDAW, 1993 UN Declaration, Tajikistan Law “On the Prevention of Violence in the Family,” EU/UN Spotlight Initiative.