Tatyktuu Zhashoo (Living in Dignity): Ensuring key messages on preventing violence against women and girls reach religious communities

In Kyrgyzstan, it is repeatedly denied that violence against women and girls (VAWG) is an endemic problem, despite increasing visibility (in the media but not in terms of empirical evidence) and escalating numbers of affected women during quarantine related to COVID-19. It can be argued that momentum is building slowly; however, progress is painfully slow. For example, while parliamentarians debated recently modifying the criminal code to increase the severity of domestic violence, changes were rejected on the grounds that VAWG was insufficiently serious to warrant criminal charges. This rejection of VAWG is shared by other leaders, both official and unofficial. It is particularly pronounced in religious communities, where the topic is distinctly taboo (as it is viewed as interference in family affairs) and religious leaders carry significantly more respect than elected officials. While there have been attempts to shift the narrative by members of religious communities, the penetration of these messages remains limited. This project aims to gain the support and involvement of religious leaders in the implementation of the National Action Plan on Gender and in a targeted communications campaign for different religious communities on preventing violence against women and girls to respond to the sharp increase in gender-based violence related to the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e. quarantine and the longer-term effects, such as food and economic security which dive violence against women and girls.