In Uzbekistan, the number of cases of harassment and violence against women has increased since the beginning of 2025. According to official statistics, the largest number of cases was recorded in the Tashkent region.

Thus, according to statistics, in the first half of 2025, 48,303 cases of harassment and violence were registered in the republic, which is 121% more than in the same period last year, the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan reports in a request sent to the chairman of the Committee on Family and Women, Zulaykho Makhkamova.

The largest number of cases was registered in Tashkent region (9,414), Bukhara (5,612), Kashkadarya (5,268) and Andijan (4,808) regions. During this period, 930 women were issued repeated protection orders.

According to the Ferghana news agency, one of the reasons for the increase in statistics on violence may be that Uzbek women have become more likely to seek help rather than hush up the problem.

It is also reported that in early August, the press secretary of the Supreme Court, Aziz Abidov, said that in the first six months of this year, more than 6,000 people were prosecuted for domestic violence and sexual harassment in Uzbekistan. In particular, 4,952 people were held administratively liable under article 59-2 ("Family (domestic) violence"), of which 3,200 were fined and 1,752 arrested. 231 people have been convicted of these crimes in criminal cases, including 65 sentenced to imprisonment.

"From January to June 2025, 358 people were fined and 628 arrested for sexual harassment; a total of 986 violators were brought to administrative responsibility. In addition, 99 people were convicted of illegally disclosing information discrediting the honor and dignity of a person (article 141-3), 24 of them received prison sentences.

According to the press service of the National Agency for Social Protection, over 41,000 protective orders were issued to women who suffered violence in the first six months. The Inson social service centers provided assistance to 11,914 women. In the primary support rooms, 4006 women received assistance. 512 women and 709 children were placed in rehabilitation centers, where they were provided with social and psychological support," Ferghana writes.

Tajikistan: violence has also increased

Meanwhile, at a press conference of the Committee on Women and Family Affairs of Tajikistan, it was reported that 1,763 complaints of violence by men were received from women in the first 6 months of this year. This is 256 more cases compared to last year.

During this period, 102 women and 30 underage girls committed suicide.

In addition, 251 complaints from men about violence by women were also received over the past six months, which is 86 fewer cases compared to the same period in 2024.

In just 6 months of 2025, 2,121 cases of violence were registered in Tajikistan, which is 277 more cases than in the same period last year.

According to the Chairman of the Committee on Women and Family Affairs, Bunafshi Fayziddinzoda, the causes of physical violence in the family are most often misunderstandings between spouses, unreasonable jealousy, interference by third parties and illnesses of one of the spouses. According to her, there have also been cases of sexual and economic violence.

"Violence against men is committed by relatives of wives, including brothers, fathers and uncles of the wife," she said.

Fayziddinzoda also said that since the beginning of July, the Committee has been operating the 1313 hotline, which received 58 complaints during the month, 9 of which were from men. According to Committee representative Mahbuba Asimova, men mostly complained about their wives, daughters-in-law, their wives' relatives, and even their mothers and relatives.

It should be noted that human rights defenders and gender activists in Tajikistan have been lobbying for the inclusion of an article on domestic violence ("Domestic violence") in the Criminal Code for many years. At the last press conference at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan in early August, the head of the Department, Muzaffar Ashurien, said that the new version of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan had been prepared by a working group, this article was included in it, and now the draft was under consideration by the government.

The minister added that the specialized UN bodies recommended introducing this article into the Criminal Code.

For more information about why we need an article on domestic violence in the Criminal Code, Asia-Plus wrote in this article.