Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry is changing its approach to handling victims of sexual violence. Deputy Minister Sanzhar Adilov announced at a roundtable in parliament that such cases will be assigned exclusively to female investigators to reduce the risk of additional psychological trauma for victims and increase trust in investigative bodies.

The ministry believes that a conversation with a female investigator will make the process less painful for victims of violence. This measure is designed taking into account the emotional state of victims, especially in cases of sexual violence.

At the same meeting, the ministry presented figures highlighting the scale of the problem: in 2026 alone, over 41,000 offenders were detained for domestic violence. More than 11,000 of them were subjected to administrative arrest, and over 35,000 protective orders were issued.

Courts imposed special behavioral requirements on 9,200 aggressors, of whom 8,300 were banned from consuming alcohol. For violating these restrictions, over 10,000 people were held accountable, all of whom were assigned mandatory psycho-correctional programs.

Concurrently, the ministry is revising the article on stalking. The impetus was cases where convicted individuals continued to pursue their victims even after sentencing and serving their punishment. The stalking article was introduced into the Criminal Code only in July 2025, but in less than a year, 83 cases have been referred to court. Now the ministry proposes to tighten it by adding a criterion of repeated commission.

Source: podrobno.uz