On November 14, the President of Uzbekistan signed the long-awaited the Protection of Children from All Forms of Violence Bill into Law.

The National Agency for Social Protection under the President, the Ministry of Justice and UNICEF have been developing the Law since October 2023. The main goal of the Law is to create a system for preventing violence, working with children who have suffered from it, and ensuring the well-being of families. The Law will come into force on May 15, 2025.

According to the Law, actions or omissions that infringe on the life, health, sexual integrity, honor, dignity and other rights and freedoms of a child protected by Law, which cause physical or psychological suffering and contradict his basic needs, including actions using the Internet shall be deemed as violence against children.

Physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, neglect, exploitation and bullying are the forms of violence against children and are prohibited and prosecuted by Law, it says.

Types of violence against children

Physical violence — causing bodily harm of varying severity, leaving them in danger, failure to provide assistance to children in a dangerous condition for their life and health.

Sexual violence — an attack on the sexual integrity of a child by committing acts of a sexual nature against him, including:

• rape;
• violent satisfaction of sexual needs in an unnatural form;
• coercion to engage in sexual intercourse;
• engagement in sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years of age;
• involvement of a minor as a performer in actions of a pornographic nature;
• pimping, organizing dens of debauchery with the involvement of a minor or committing indecent acts against him;
• committing acts of a sexual nature by deception or abuse of trust or by taking advantage of a helpless state;
• sexual harassment, as well as any other acts of a sexual nature prohibited by Law.

Psychological violence - insulting children, slander, threatening, humiliating their honor and dignity, humiliating them, as well as other actions aimed at limiting the basic needs of children, including actions (inactions) that caused the victim of violence to fear for their safety, resulting in the inability to protect themselves or causing harm to mental health.

Neglect - failure to meet the basic needs of a child in the care of parents who have the necessary opportunities, knowledge and skills for this, including the ability to use state, medical, educational, social and other services, leading to violations of the health, physical, mental and moral development of the child.

The basic needs of a child are provision of food, housing and other necessary conditions for the full development of the child, his physical and mental health, creation of conditions for safety, education, establishment of social contacts, development of life skills and realization of opportunities.

Exploitation of children is the use of a child for economic, sexual and other purposes, including human trafficking, involvement in antisocial behavior and begging, sexual exploitation, as well as coercion with the use of physical or psychological influence to enter into marriage or cohabitation, to receive a certain religious education, forced labor in any form.

Bullying is the use by a group of children or one child of offensive nicknames in relation to another child, boycott of any communication with him, taking away and causing damage to his property, publicly discussing his physical, psychological or intellectual characteristics, humiliation of his honor and dignity or causing harm to his health and life, including prolonged psychological and physical aggressive influence carried out using the Internet.

The document establishes that the state must take legal, administrative, social, economic and other measures to protect children from all forms of violence, including support for the child and his family, and create mechanisms to identify and prevent cases of violence against children, report cases of violence, investigate these facts, ensure the inevitability of bringing the perpetrators to justice, rehabilitate victims of violence and restore their rights and social adaptation.

The National Agency for Social Protection under the President of Uzbekistan has been appointed as the authorized state body in the field of protecting children from all forms of violence.

Rights of victims of violence

A victim of violence is a child who has suffered from any type of violence. A victim of violence has the right to:

protection from all forms of violence;

appeal to government agencies, organizations or the court directly or through a legal representative with a statement about the commission or threat of violence;

receive free legal, economic, social, psychological, medical and other assistance, including assistance provided by a helpline;

appeal to government agencies directly or through their legal representative with a request to issue a protection order, and in the event of a violation of the terms of the protection order, informing about it;

compensation for material damage and compensation for moral harm due to violence.

The rights of the child are protected by his or her parents or guardians, guardianship and trusteeship authorities, the prosecutor or the court.

A victim of violence and his or her legal representative, when applying to the court with a statement about compensation for material damage and compensation for moral harm, are, according to the Law, exempt from paying the state fee.

Measures to protect children from violence

The Law lists general and individual measures to protect children from all forms of violence.

General measures include creating a safe environment for children, preventing and eliminating factors of violence, supporting families, raising awareness of children's rights and responsibility for violating them.

Individual measures:

• issuing a protective order;
• providing legal, economic, social, psychological, medical assistance to children who have suffered from violence and are at risk of its commission;
• strengthening and supporting the families of children who have suffered from violence and are at risk of its commission;
• removing a child who has suffered from violence or is at risk of its commission from parents (one of them) or guardians, if there is an immediate threat to the child's life or health;
• undergoing correctional programs to change violent behavior by persons who have committed violence against children;
• restricting the rights of persons who have committed crimes against health, sexual freedom, family, youth and morality.

Grounds for applying individual measures to protect children from violence:

• complaints from a victim of violence or their legal representative;
• messages from individuals or legal entities;
• direct identification by government officials of facts of violence against children or attempts to commit them;
• publications in the media and social networks.

A confidential 24-hour helpline will operate throughout Uzbekistan to provide information on measures of assistance, consultation and prevention of cases of violence against children.