Gender-based violence and early marriages are issues faced by many countries around the world. According to statistics from UN Women, between 15 and 76 percent of women are targets for physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime and over 60 million girls are forced into marriage before the age of 18.

Unfortunately, these issues also affect Azerbaijan. According to official statistics, between 2010 and 2013 nearly 18,500 criminal acts involving violence against women were committed. Twenty three percent of these cases were the result of family conflicts.

There are also many cases of forced early marriages and early engagements in Azerbaijan.  Between 2011 and 2013, nearly 8000 early marriages took place in Azerbaijan and more than 10,000 children were delivered by mothers between the ages of 15 and 17. The situation is aggravated because the majority of such cases are most likely unknown to public, which means the figure could be much higher.

To improve this situation, local civil society, state agencies and international donors are working together. USAID recently joined the Government of Azerbaijan, the United Nations and Counterpart International to organize a conference to raise awareness on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The event entitled “Empowerment for Women - Progress for Society!” brought together key stakeholders to discuss gender-based violence and early marriage in Azerbaijan and to develop recommendations to submit to the government.

Hijran Huseynova, Head of State Committee for Family, Women and Children’s Affairs of Azerbaijan, declared that violence against women is one of the most serious global problems.  In order to fight this problem effectively, society itself should demonstrate adequate and strong reactions to cases of violence. She also added that it requires strong legislation and support of the government. Ms. Huseynova appreciated the strong cooperation of USAID and Counterpart International in raising public awareness about the negative consequences domestic violence.

Dereck Hogan, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires, applauded the Azerbaijani government’s efforts to tackle these issues by adopting the law on prevention of domestic violence, the law on equal rights for women and men, raising the legal marriage age from 17 to 18, and criminalizing forced early marriage. He also stressed the U.S. government’s commitment to combat gender-based violence and the importance of close cooperation with Azerbaijani state agencies in this regard.

The conference continued with discussions within three working group sessions: (1) legal framework on combating domestic violence and early marriages; (2) effective mechanisms for improving educational and professional opportunities for the women victims of domestic violence and early marriages; and, (3) the role of media in preventing domestic violence and early marriage. All three working groups presented a number of recommendations aimed at improving prevention of early marriages and combat against gender-based violence, including penalizing economical and psychological forms of domestic violence, creating a hot line for potential and actual victims of domestic violence, and raising awareness of schoolchildren and their parents about harmful consequences of early marriages. These recommendations were submitted to the relevant Azerbaijani state agencies for further review and consideration.