Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 24 January this year, a discussion was held on the draft law "On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with the further improvement of the system of reliable protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of women and children", developed by the working a group created under the Senate of the Oliy Majlis.

Today’s meeting of the working group was actively attended by senators, a senior official of the Commissioner for Children’s Rights of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan (children’s ombudsman), representatives of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the international organization "UNICEF", non-governmental non-profit organizations , as well as legal scholars, social activists and media representatives.

At the beginning of the discussion, information is provided on the work done by the working group over the past period. It was noted that the draft law was prepared after studying foreign experience in the field of women’s and children’s rights, analyzing national legislative acts, and widely discussing the opinions of specialists and practitioners at meetings of the working group.

At the center of the working group’s discussion was the issue of taking strong legal action against domestic violence, which is one of the most painful problems in our society today. In particular, all members of the working group unanimously supported the proposals to establish in the discussed bill not only the concept of domestic violence, but also recognizing it as a separate crime and establishing criminal liability.

As noted, the bill envisages increased administrative and criminal penalties for acts of violence committed against women and children and shameless immoral acts, establishes liability for harassment in public places.

It is noteworthy that humanitarian acts in the form of early conditional release from punishment or replacement of punishment with a milder punishment do not apply to convicts who have committed crimes against women and children. This indicates the irreconcilable position of the state in relation to this category of crimes.

Also, existing measures for committing crimes such as forcing a woman to have an abortion, rape or sexual intercourse with minors are also being strengthened.

Responsibility is established for failure to fulfill the obligation to appoint a guardian or custodian to minor children for the period of temporary absence of a parent at the place of residence or inability to fulfill their parental duties.

At the end of the meeting, the participants agreed that the discussion process will continue, and the proposals and comments made by the members of the working group will be taken into account when further improving the draft law.