Azerbaijani activists find actions against domestic violence to be efficient

The Azerbaijan's accession to the Istanbul Convention will oblige the country's authorities to open statistics on domestic violence and more efficiently protect women's rights, activists have stated. After the actions held in defence of women in Baku, the police began more actively reacting to cases of domestic violence.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 20, about 50 people held an action in Baku, demanding from Azerbaijani Govt to join the Council of Europe's Convention on the Prohibition of Violence against Women.

Azerbaijan still has strong patriarchal social traditions and stereotypes about the man's leadership in the family, Aigyul Djafarova, an activist, has stated.

"Unfortunately, in the 21st century, women are beaten and even killed in our families ... From January to September 2019, 118 cases of domestic violence against women were recorded, 33 of the victims died," she has added.

The Istanbul Convention toughens the punishment not only for violence against women, but also for forced marriages and abortions, and harassment of women.

The October 20 action gave a noticeable result, the activist believes, since the State Committee for Women, Family and Child Affairs has already announced the Azerbaijan's preparation for joining the Istanbul Convention.

The Convention is a unique document creating a mechanism for preventing domestic violence, Mekhriban Zeinalova, the head of the NGO "Clean World", has stated.

The prejudices against women are still strong in Azerbaijan, the journalist Khadija Ismayilova, has noted. "There are families where it is adopted that women should not study and work," she said. According to her story, women face discrimination also in politics.