Fighting Domestic Violence

Turkmenistan

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1. Legal provisions
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1. Legal provisions Start Comparison
1.1 What are the relevant statutes and codes?

The relevant statutes and codes are the Penal Code of Turkmenistan ("Penal Code"), the Family and Marriage Code ("Family Code") and the recently amended Constitution of Turkmenistan ("Constitution").[1] There are provisions within this collection of legislation that prohibit intentional infliction of injury and mandate gender equality; however, there are no provisions or stand-alone laws specific to domestic violence.

1.2 What is the controlling case law?
There is little to no identifiable case law regarding instances of domestic violence in Turkmenistan. Reports from the United Nations (UN) and nongovernmental organizations such as Keik Okara, which operates a shelter for victims of domestic violence, report that most cases of domestic and spousal abuse go unreported due to cultural bias against acknowledging or reporting violations of women's rights.[2]
1.3 What are the specific parts of the court system that address domestic violence?
As there is no specific legislation addressing domestic violence, the criminal court is the primary system that generally deals with intentional infliction of injury, abuse and rape, including spousal rape, through the relevant provisions of the Penal Code.[3]
1.4 What are potential causes of action?

A number of causes of action in the Penal Code may apply to victims of domestic violence. For example, Article 134 prohibits rape, which includes marital rape, and it is punishable by three to 10 years in prison. Article 162 prohibits compelling or hindering a woman's right to enter into marriage and Article 27 prohibits kidnapping women for the purpose of marriage. Article 129/1 criminalizes sex trafficking with penalties ranging from four to 10 years of imprisonment for offenses involving adult victims and eight to 15 years of imprisonment for offenses involving child victims. Other provisions prohibit intentional infliction of injury and give rise to penalties ranging from monetary fines to up to 15 years in prison.[4]

The Family Code and the Constitution also state that men and women have equal rights to marry and they are permitted to marry foreign citizens.[5]

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