Ten representatives of Turkmenistan's law-enforcement bodies, state institutions and civil society discussed best practices in the area of prevention and response to gender-based violence during a study visit to Dushanbe that took place from 5 to 8 October 2026.
The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, together with the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, organized the study visit to enable participants to gain first-hand insights into the modalities of OSCE support and co-operation with national and local authorities in the area of prevention and response to gender-based and domestic violence.
"The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe has been supporting the work of the Women's Resources Centres since 2004, and has accumulated significant experience in addressing gender-based and domestic violence," said William Leaf, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.
"The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat initiated this study visit to provide participants with the opportunity to exchange experiences with their Tajik counterparts in providing comprehensive support to survivors of GBV and women in need," added Leaf.
Participants visited the Committee on Women and Family Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan, the Ombudsperson's Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the General Prosecutor's Office where they discussed Tajikistan's mechanism for prevention and response to the gender-based violence, and relevant legislation as well as police response to gender-based violence, referral mechanism and protection orders.
During the meeting at the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the delegation learnt about medical support provided to victims of domestic violence, referrals and reporting between healthcare and other agencies.
Participants also visited the Women's Resource Centre Ma'rifat, Khuroson and shelter run by Korvoni Umed public organization. The visit to Levakant city provided them with a unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience of behavior change programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence in the consultation room and meet with Women's Committee and local administration in Levakant.
The study visit was organized as part of as part of the OSCE extra-budgetary project on preventing and combating gender-based violence (GBV) funded by the government of Norway, the United States and Finland.
