Bishimbayev convicted of murder: A watershed moment for women’s rights in Kazakhstan8 min read
On 13 May 2024, a jury found Kazakhstan’s former Minister of Economy, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, guilty of torture and murder with extreme cruelty towards his partner Saltanat Nukenova, sentencing him to 24 years in a maximum-security prison. The verdict was the culmination of a months-long, high-profile trial that captured the attention of the international community and sparked country-wide conversations about the prevalence of domestic violence in Kazakhstan.
During the trial, Bishimbayev admitted to beating his wife, but claimed that some of her injuries were self-inflicted. He denied torturing or planning to murder her, and slandered Nukenova’s character in an attempt to excuse his own actions. His not-guilty plea to the court was rejected, as was his subsequent appeal.
Outraged by Bishimbayev’s victim-blaming, millions of viewers in Kazakhstan and beyond tuned into the trial’s live broadcast. Kazakh diaspora activists and international feminist groups organised protests in 15 European and American cities, including London, New York, Rome, and Budapest. Online, influencers carefully analysed witness testimonies, and social media users raised awareness of gender-based violence in Kazakhstan with the hashtag #ЗаСалтанат (‘For Saltanat’). The public response to the case was unparalleled, marking a watershed moment in the fight for women’s rights in Central Asia.
A deeply rooted socio-cultural issue in Kazakhstan
Whilst the Bishimbayev trial captivated audiences around the world, Saltanat Nukenova is just one of hundreds of women who suffer violence at the hands of their partners in Kazakhstan each year. According to government statistics, 17% of women in Kazakhstan aged 18 to 85 experienced gender-based violence in 2017, with studies indicating yearly increases in cases and reports. According to a 2018 UN Women study, 400 women are killed by their partners each year in Kazakhstan.
In reality, these figures are likely higher due to unreported cases and the reluctance of women to bring domestic violence cases to court. The issue of underreported cases stems largely from inadequate legal protection and a pervasive societal view that regards domestic violence as a private issue rather than a human rights violation, report Equality Now and Human Rights Watch. Survivors of gender-based violence identify stigmatisation, social pressures, fear of recurrent abuse, and economic dependency as the main barriers to seeking justice.
Survivors also condemn the inadequacies of law enforcement, such as the failure to routinely inform women of the resources and services available for their support and protection. Police officers often encourage victims to drop complaints and reconcile with their abusers, heightening womens’ vulnerability to further violence and reinforcing the social construct of women as passive, subservient beings.
According to Elena Shvetsova, director of the human rights organisation Erkindik Qanaty, women in Kazakhstan rarely feel safe filing a complaint against male aggressors. “Imagine you’re being beaten at home,” explains Shvetsova, “How do you call the police? Because if you call the police and the abuser is near, it will make the situation worse.” To better protect victims seeking support, Shvetsova recommends creating an online form for “women to file complaints without fearing for their lives.”
In addition, Shvetsova argues that there should be a shelter in every city. Currently, Kazakhstan has 49 crisis centres which, according to Human Rights Watch, is insufficient for a country of over 18 million inhabitants. To make matters worse, human rights organisations report that the standards of services provided to victims do not comply with international quality standards.
Gender-based violence is not a recent phenomenon, but has deep roots in Kazakhstan’s patriarchal culture. According to the 2023 Gender Social Norms Index, more than 93% of Kazakh individuals hold gender biases against women. From a young age, boys are raised to be strong and dominant, while women are brought up to be submissive and obedient wives whose primary role is to serve their husbands and resolve conflict within the family.
The social construction of female vulnerability is best exemplified through the custom of uyat. Loosely translated as ‘shame’ in English, uyat is shorthand for a systematic set of rules that justifies the social oppression of women. Dressing in clothing considered revealing, exploring one’s sexuality, and embracing progressive agendas all constitute behaviour seen as shameful and in violation of the customs presupposed by uyat. The tradition also views fleeing an abusive partner as disgraceful, with many women remaining silent out of fear of “what the neighbours will say.” Clearly, uyat plays a direct role in perpetuating domestic violence and victim-blaming.
Many Kazakh proverbs associated with girls, their roles, and their responsibilities likewise reinforce hegemonic expressions of masculinity. Two examples are the phrases Kuyeu zhaman bolsa kyzynnan, translated as “If your husband treats you badly it is your fault and you deserve it,” and Zhol maksaty-zhetu, kyz maksaty-ketu, translated as “The main goal of a girl in this life is to get married and leave her parent’s house.”
Although these proverbs are outdated, they continue to permeate contemporary discourses throughout Kazakhstan, shaping social dynamics and encouraging female victims to remain silent in the face of violence. “A big part of empowering women is changing how society views their roles,” says Dinara Zhakhynbek, co-founder of ESD Central Asia, “Unfortunately, in Kazakhstan, traditional expectations still heavily influence what women can and can’t do.”
Advancement of women’s legal rights: Are they enough?
During the harrowing Bishimbayev case trial, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed two amendments on “ensuring women’s rights and child safety” on 15 April 2024. These reforms aim to close the gaps in legal protections against domestic violence. They were dubbed Saltanat’s Law in memory of Saltanat Nukenova and other victims of domestic violence.
These changes were widely welcomed by international organisations and Kazakhstani women, marking the apex of an extensive battle of survival for female citizens. However, Diana Zhakhynbek points out that laws intending to protect women are not always enforced effectively. Furthermore, the new amendments fall short of provisions for preventive programmes for offenders and the issue of crisis centres remains a pressing matter in Kazakhstan.
With these amendments, Tokayev reversed the decriminalisation of domestic violence by former president Nursultan Nazarbayev. The 2017 amendments had worsened women’s position in Kazakhstani society, as they stopped considering the infliction of minor harm and beatings as criminal offences and recategorised them as mere administrative offences, lowering the penalties. The main arguments for this change were the preservation of traditional values and the rehabilitation of offenders. The consequences of this legal change for Kazakhstani women were grave, as it allowed domestic abusers to get away with their crimes, essentially granting them impunity.
According to the Special Report on Combating Domestic Violence, the peak of domestic violence against women in Kazakhstan occurred in 2020, during the Coronavirus pandemic (1,072 cases). While the end of the lockdown and the return to normalcy contributed to a slight decline in cases in comparison to 2020, the situation did not improve drastically. In 2023 alone, 108 murders were committed in the domestic sphere, which means every fourth murder in Kazakhstan was a result of domestic violence and approximately every three days someone died from domestic violence.
Over the course of the Tokayev presidency, this question has become a heated topic of discussion due to pressure from rights activists calling for concrete measures from the government. Despite multiple attempts from lawmakers to propose several amendments to address this acute problem, their implementation was delayed due to extended revisions.
The delay in legal changes does not mean that prior grassroots attempts to address the government and change the actual situation were weak. Since 2017, feminist groups KAZFEM and Feminita have organised rallies to raise awareness of gender inequality and show support for women in Kazakhstan. However, Almaty authorities did not support these movements. For the first two years, they denied the groups’ authorisation to hold the demonstrations. Finally, in 2019, they received the permission and have since been organising yearly peaceful protests.
Another initiative, the public foundation NeMolchi.KZ (Do Not Be Silent), launched an online petition in 2020 titled “Stop Violence Against Women”, which was supported and signed by over 10,000 people. This number serves as a piece of evidence that public opinion regarding domestic violence was slowly but surely shifting towards intolerance of such human rights violations.
Education and awareness-raising are crucial in tackling this problem according to Shvetsova of Erkindik Qanaty. The protection of women is not purely a legal issue but also about prevention: “Human rights should be introduced into educational institutions,” Shvetsova says, “so that children understand what they are.” She believes this is the only way to eradicate gender-based violence and other forms of discrimination in patriarchal societies like Kazakhstan.
Erkindik Qanaty, along with other prominent Kazakhstani human rights advocates, launched an initiative to send letters to Kazakhstan’s senate in support of the bill on ensuring women’s rights and children’s safety earlier this year. This initiative streamlined the appeal process for many people and ensured that their voices were heard in their struggle to assert their rights and democratic voices.
Kazakhstan is a country where various beliefs and ideas clash, reflecting the region’s tumultuous past and present state. Yet, there is hope that the anachronistic pieces of wisdom expressed in proverbs, combined with modern perceptions of the past, will pave the way for a new way of thinking suitable for a modern and progressive Kazakhstani society of the future.
