In the first eight months of 2026, Kyrgyzstan registered 18,862 cases of domestic violence, 32% more than in the same period last year, 24.kg reports, citing data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).
The rise in reports comes with an increase in serious domestic crimes. According to the MVD, 26 murders linked to domestic violence were registered over the same period, along with three criminal cases of driving a person to suicide.
In total, 440 criminal cases were opened over the eight months over domestic violence, 53 more than a year earlier. Of these, 276 were sent to court, 123 were dropped, and 41 remain under investigation.
The MVD report does not break down the 26 murders by the sex of the victim. However, in law enforcement reports on family-conflict murders in 2026, the victims were women. In January, investigators said a 28-year-old woman was killed by her husband in the Suzak district. In April, a man in Batken region killed his wife and then took his own life. On September 23, a woman's body was found in Kara-Balta, and her husband was detained on suspicion of murder.
The number of protective measures is also growing. Over the eight months, police issued 15,690 temporary protection orders. Of these, 14,346 went to women, 922 to men and 424 to minors (250 girls and 174 boys).
Risk assessments found no threat in 8,255 cases. The risk was deemed present in 4,998 cases and high in another 2,437.
Police drew up 531 reports for violations of temporary protection orders. As a result, 380 people were arrested, 82 were sentenced to community service and 10 were fined, while the court dropped 24 cases.
Under the «Domestic Violence» article of the Code of Offenses, 6,453 reports were drawn up, and 6,290 of them were sent to court. Courts ordered arrest in 3,299 cases and community service in 1,906. In 362 cases, at the state prosecutor's proposal, courts imposed fines of 10,000 soms ($114). Another 218 reports were dropped because no offense had occurred or the elements of an offense were absent.
Domestic violence cases are most often considered in the context of femicide, 24.kg notes. The killing of women because of their sex, including in cases of domestic violence, remains understudied in Kyrgyzstan, and official statistics do not give a full picture. Still, individual cases of women killed in family conflicts provoke public outrage. In January 2026, in the village of Masaliev in Batken region, a man strangled his 23-year-old wife during a family quarrel. After the incident, Kamchybek Tashiev, then head of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB), made a special appeal to women, urging them to contact the state security directorate directly.
In October 2025, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov signed a law tightening liability for domestic violence. It raised the maximum term of administrative arrest from 7 to 14 days, introduced electronic monitoring with GPS bracelets for offenders for up to three months, and added the concept of «stalking» to the domestic violence article.
Despite the legal changes, the problem remains acute. In 2023, Kyrgyzstan was named the least safe country for women in Central Asia, ranking 95th out of 177 in the Women, Peace and Security Index. According to 2021 data, fewer than 7% of domestic violence reports reached court.
