Lessons & best practices from 4 foreign countries of Finland, Sweden, Türkiye and Timor-Leste

Gender-based violence (GBV) and domestic violence (DV) against women and girls remains a pervasive problem around the world. Accordingly, globally one in three women (35%), suffer from physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, mostly by an intimate partner. Furthermore 38% - 40% of murders of women are a result of intimate partner violence.

A research study focusing on GBV including DV and the gendered aspects of access to justice and legal aid in four foreign countries of Sweden, Finland, Timor-Leste and Türkiye was undertaken by UNDP ‘Strengthening the rule of law and human rights protection in Uzbekistan’ project to understand the importance of ensuring that access to justice and legal aid is gender-sensitive especially to GBV and DV survivors in Uzbekistan.

GBV and DV in Uzbekistan 

In Uzbekistan approximately 40,000 cases of GBV are reported annually, with almost all GBV survivors being women. The portrayal of the GBV survivors as a ‘wife’ a ‘mother’ rather than seen as a ‘human’, has deepened GBV due to the stigmatized role of women within society. In Uzbekistan the most prevalent type of GBV is domestic violence with 21,871 women applying for protection orders within the first seven months of 2023 where 84.7% required protection from family members such as from the husband and mother-in-law.

Enough is Enough

Legislation against GBV has been strengthened through a new groundbreaking law signed by the President of Uzbekistan on 11 April 2023, where violence against women and children is not acceptable and punishable by law. The new law introduced criminal and administrative penalties for domestic violence which also covers psychological and economic violence and extended protection orders to one year. 

Some Best Practices and Lessons to Uzbekistan from foreign countries 

International normative frameworks and treaties such as UN CEDAW (1979), Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), Istanbul Convention (2014) etc., are a few landmark treaties that highlight the need for gender-sensitivity when addressing GBV and DV. The UN Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems (2013) and the General Recommendation (GR) No. 33 of the CEDAW Committee (2015) on women’s access to justice highlight the obligations of States parties to ensure that women have access to justice.

Acts/ laws / regulations on legal aid and associated reforms are well placed to provide primary and secondary legal aid in countries studied, except in Uzbekistan where while secondary legal aid is provided, primary legal aid is at initial level

In Finland the State funded legal aid framework and Act is in place and GBV / DV survivors are provided with primary and secondary legal aid. Victim support Finland staff are trained on responding to GBV and support survivors without discrimination. In Sweden according to the Legal Aid Act (1996:1619) legal assistance is provided to individuals who cannot afford these services, including survivors of GBV. 

This Act introduced the concept of ‘victim’s counsel’, providing survivors with legal representation throughout the criminal justice process. Legal aid in this context covers all aspects from court representation to advice on how to proceed with claims for compensation or other civil actions regardless of their financial circumstances. In Timor-Leste too State institutions are setup to provide legal aid and the Public Defender’s Office has a mandate to represent survivors of GBV, and provide primary and secondary legal aid. CSOs   also support the action of the State as required.

Legal aid provision is more effective when NGOs and Women’s groups are engaged 

It is observed that in Finland and in Timor-Leste, the State engages well with CSOs and Women’s groups at a supportive level. Legally also there are no barriers for CSOs /NGOs and the State to provide primary and secondary legal aid. Management of women’s shelters too is effective when operated by (Women-led) CSOs with financial support from government. In Sweden to ensure a holistic approach to supporting survivors, there is emphasis to coordinate legal aid with other social services. Survivors can receive legal advice while also accessing psychological counseling, safe housing and assistance with child protection issues.

Initiate and sustain dynamic public awareness programmes and campaigns to reach women and girls 

Many survivors report their experiences of GBV to someone ‘close to the survivor,’ hence awareness programmes on access to justice and legal aid provision needs to target the general public, community groups, women and girls. Reporting in Finland was found to be highest to a person ‘close’ to the GBV survivor when assessing intimate partner and non-partner violence. This indicates the importance of reaching the general public, especially women and girls. 

In Sweden Prevention efforts have been strengthened to address GBV in the school curricular andmove away from normalizing sexual harassment.

Importance for gender-sensitization of the judiciary, including all actors in the penal chain 

Measures taken by Türkiye to strengthen its response to DV include, workshops for judges of cautionary court (family courts) and public prosecutors working in DV investigation bureaus. In addition, a comprehensive guide on Law No. 6284 implementation for the judges and prosecutors and booklet on VAW legislation was formulated.

Informed by these lessons from foreign countries, recommendations for Uzbekistan…..

• Formulate a National Legal Aid Act and Policy that is gender-sensitive providing both primary and secondary legal aid.

• Undertake a gender analysis/ assessment of women’s access to Justice and legal aid provision for women and other vulnerable groups.

• Initiate and institutionalize gender-sensitive survivor centered training programs on access to justice / legal aid for justice sector actors and address judicial bias.

• Enhance capacity and awareness among women and girls about their ‘rights’ to access justice and legal aid.

• Availability of free legal aid to survivors of GBV/ DV in a speedy, efficient, manner by engaging with other legal providers such as NGOs and increase government funding for drop-in centers/ shelters.