Implications of decriminalising domestic violence in Iran and Kazakhstan

Abstract

The problem of domestic violence has unique characteristics depending on the social, religious, and political environments in which it takes place, however, it is also an issue that disregards borders and impacts both developing and developed nations. One pattern that is present among cases across the world is that domestic violence disproportionately affects women. The United Nations defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.". This definition includes intimate partner violence or domestic violence – any behaviour that is used to gain or maintain power and control over a partner through the means of physical, sexual, or psychological violence. While the problem is still persistent in the western world, a special focus should be dedicated to domestic violence in developing nations due to their deep-rooted nature, environmental factors and larger economic impact. This paper will be focusing on domestic violence in Iran and Kazakhstan because of the absence of laws criminalising it, as well as both countries having similar cultural patterns such as the shared religion of Islam and colonial pasts. An analysis of reasons and risk factors specific to these societies is included, as well as discussions on the development’s and globalisation’s impact on the problem. This paper will be focusing on domestic violence among heterosexual couples due to the place where the abuse happens – as Iran has laws criminalizing homosexuality and Kazakhstan maintains a huge stigma surrounding such relationships, it is almost impossible to analyse violence within homosexual couples due to the lack of data and high secrecy within LGBTQ+ community in those countries. It also focuses specifically on violence inflicted on women by men due to highly patriarchal societal structures and general trends.