Domestic violence was not something people spoke about openly in Kyrgyzstan in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but after a long road of dedicated efforts, there are now laws addressing family abuse, crisis centres and hotlines while human rights defenders tackle such new challenges as sexual slavery.
Bübyusara Ryskulova has been on the frontlines for more than three decades. Honourary president of the crisis centre Sezim (which means "feeling"), she has worked towards helping women and children who survived violence.
While Kyrgyzstan has made significant progress in strengthening protections against domestic and family violence, challenges remain, she told UN News during the recent Commission on the Status of Women session (CSW70) at UN Headquarters in New York, where representatives from more than 100 countries discuss access to justice and the protection of women's rights.
"My work has been connected to the very topic discussed at this session for more than 30 years," said Ms. Ryskulova, who was the only civil society representative in a "very strong delegation" that included the deputy prime minister, ombudsperson, deputy prosecutor general, Supreme Court and various ministries.
"For me, it's a chance to see how other countries work," she said. "At home, you hear a lot of criticism, but still, comparison puts things into perspective."
'I knew how deep our problems were'
Ms. Ryskulova said she "came into this by accident", explaining that her decision to dedicate herself to this work was inspired by a previous visit to the United States in 1998, when an exchange programme brought her to seven states to learn about ways to address domestic violence.
"I saw for the first time how a support system actually functions," Ms. Ryskulova said. "Back home, no one even talked about these issues out loud. When they started teaching us what a public organization is, what an NGO [non-governmental organization] is, I was learning like a schoolgirl. Everything was new and very interesting. But, even then, I knew how deep our problems were."
'Rollback' of women's rights
One of the first crisis centres in the region, Sezim was founded in 1998, at a time when the very idea of helping survivors of violence was new to the country.
Even today, speaking openly about domestic violence can still be difficult, Ms. Ryskulova said.
"In the early 1990s, there's been a noticeable rise in religiousness, and sometimes people interpret many issues through the lens of religion," she said. "For example, in the village where I'm from, there is one school and two mosques. So, talking about violence can still be hard, and in some areas of women's rights, there has been a certain rollback."
Tough start
The early days were incredibly tough, especially when the first hotline was launched, she said.
"When we opened the hotline, we just sat there waiting. Will anyone call? And for a long time, no one did," she recalled.
"When the first call finally came, they said, 'take it'. I had almost no experience. My hands were shaking, but that's how we started."
Progress is undeniable
Progress is undeniable. The professional landscape is slowly changing. While the country had almost no practicing psychologists in the early 1990s, now many universities train them.
After a civil society campaign and a major petition drive, in 2003, Kyrgyzstan became one of the first post‑Soviet countries to adopt a law on family violence, with legislative updates adopted in 2017.
"At the legislative level, we really can't complain," Ms. Ryskulova said.
"But, the law is one thing, and its implementation is another. That's why now we work more on the ground, protecting specific people. We have a shelter, and our specialists have been working for more than 30 years. I received a second degree myself, as a practical psychologist and today I often represent survivors' interests in court. Our law allows that, through a power of attorney, even if you're not a lawyer."
Sometimes, she says, these cases become high‑profile and help push the system forward.
"In recent years, our organization has handled around 40 court cases, and almost 90 per cent of the decisions were in favor of the survivors. These were very difficult cases [including] murders, rapes. We work on them, and then we raise public awareness. If a woman doesn't want publicity, we protect her anonymity completely."
Tackling threats like sexual slavery
International cooperation, including with UN agencies, played a major role in the development of crisis centres in Kyrgyzstan, with the International Organization for Migration ( IOM ) being one of their earliest partners.
"That's where I first heard the term 'sexual slavery'," she said.
"Then we opened a hotline specifically for that issue. I remember one of the first girls was underage and pregnant. I met her at the airport myself. She said she didn't want to live, that she would end her life if the baby was born. We had to take turns sitting by her hospital bed so she wouldn't harm herself."
Helping survivors requires daily effort
Today, Sezim continues to work with UN agencies such as the UN refugee agency, UNHCR , and UN Women .
"For us, this is very important [for] sharing expertise, training specialists [and] joint projects," Ms. Ryskulova said. "Platforms like the Commission on the Status of Women provide the opportunity to see what is happening in the world and understand what we still need to learn,"
Despite decades of work and visible progress, she is certain about this: helping survivors still requires daily effort.
"Seminars and trainings matter and prevention matters," she said, "but if even one person who has suffered remains without protection, then we still haven't done everything we must."
