In recent years, Uzbekistan has made a great effort in protecting the rights and legitimate interests of women, enhancing their role in society, as well as implementing a strong social policy. In 2018- 2019 several turning laws were adopted to support women - "On measures to improve the system of social rehabilitation and adaptation, as well as the prevention of domestic violence"; "On guarantees of equal rights and opportunities for men and women" and "On the protection of women from oppression and violence". However, the efforts of state bodies and organizations in this direction are not enough and gender-based violence (GBV) still remains a significant issue in Uzbekistan as according to Women’s Committee, in 2018, there were 5.7 thousand cases of violence against women with more than 900 women suffered as a result of crimes committed. Lack of appropriate statistical data on GBV only hinders effective intervention and relevant policy implementation. This project was a joint effort of UNDP Uzbekistan, Ministry of Support of Mahalla and Family and ERGO Analytics.

The tasks of the research were:

(i) Review of national legislative documents, concept documents and other preparatory documents aimed at regulating violence against women and carried out by the Government of Uzbekistan;

(ii) Overview of social, economic and political rights of women in Uzbekistan, emphasizing their status in society;

(iii) Carry out rapid assessment of females in rehabilitation and adaptation centers who were exposed to sexual, physical, economic and psychological violence to draw the general portrait of women who are prone to gender-based violence;

(iv) Collect data from hotlines to identify the number of application and the most widespread type of violence against women;

(v) Review global best practices, policy measures and case studies in eradicating gender-based violence;

(vi) Deriving relevant policy conclusions on potential channels and policy measures on combating GBV in Uzbekistan. In the conclusions and recommendations section include proposals for both the government and public sectors. If possible, group recommendations by areas: economic, political, social, humanitarian and cultural, etc;

(viii) Prepare a policy brief based on the findings of the research, conclusions drawn from the results of the data analysis, as well as recommendations for policy makers.