Azerbaijan has no statistics on violence against women: expert

Baku / 28.11.18 / Turan: Of all forms of violence against women, in Azerbaijan the most common is physical and psychological, said in an interview with the Azerbaijani service of Voice of America,Shahla Ismail, the head of the Society for Women for Rational Development on the occasion of the International Day against Violence Against Women, celebrated on November 25.

According to her, violence against women is classified into 4 types: psychological, economic, physical and sexual.

In Azerbaijan, there are manifestations of all these species. However, the most common are physical and psychological.

At the same time, if physical violence has a definition and provides for penalties established by law, then psychological violence does not have clear wording.

In many families, this is even perceived as the norm, although psychological pressure is no less a serious problem. Often physical, sexual abuse, comes just from psychological pressure.

She stated the absence in Azerbaijan of official statistics of acts of violence against women.

It is true, the State Committee on the Problems of Family, Women and Children has created a certain database, but there is no direct statistics on cases of violence.

"In 2016-2017 we have investigated. To measure the scale of violence against women, we wanted to determine the number of murders of women. We used as sources the criminal records of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the monitoring of the media. Referring to these sources, it is necessary to state a tendency to increase. We conducted a review for 6 years.

In 2016, 91 cases of murder of women were recorded, then in 2016 - 110.

True, we do not have data that all the killings were committed on the basis of domestic conflicts. However, we are more likely to talk about a high proportion of murders motivated by domestic violence. In addition to murders, our attention was attracted by the statistics of attempted murders.

According to this indicator, an increase is also observed. If in 2010 there were 89 attempted murders, then in 2016 - 121,"said Ismail.

Shahla Ismail considers that for an effective fight against violence it necessary to consolidate the efforts of all parties - the state, society, NGOs, academic institutions, and work out a special program.

Before it is necessary to investigate and determine the extent of the problem. To do this, it is important to operate with concrete figures, to establish the number of victims of violence, to assist them.

As a preventive measure, enlightening work is necessary on this issue from an early age.

Special training programs should be developed so that new generations will grow with a different perspective on the problem.

It is important to develop mechanisms to help victims of violence, eliminate the effects of physical and psychological trauma.

At the same time, punishment for violence against women should be increased.

In addition, Azerbaijan must accede and abide by the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Female and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) of August 1, 2014, and take advantage of the mechanisms it offers. -16D06-