In 2021, 417 children in Kyrgyzstan were victims of violence and abuse. The Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Nadira Dzhusupbekova, reported this figure at the January 31 meeting of the Parliament’s social policy committee.

According to her data, 118 of these children were victims of sexual violence.

The press service of the Jogorku Kenesh also said that 4309 children experienced difficult living conditions in 2021. By the end of the year, 3893 of them had been removed from the difficult living conditions, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

The deputies also discussed a recent incident at a school in Lebedinovka. According to parents from the village, a female teacher beat their children.

Dzhusupbekova said that these kinds of incidents are not a system problem and that all teachers consistently strive to prevent violence against children.

In response, Deputy Dinara Ashimova criticized the Ministry of Education’s work. She believes that the agency is not good enough at preventing incidents of child abuse.

Ashimova also proposed that the Prosecutor’s Office partner with local governments to identify violence against children in educational institutions and families.

Since the start of 2022 in Kyrgyzstan, several prominent incidents of violence against children have been committed by teachers. The female teacher accused of bullying at the school in Lebedinovka resigned.

The director of School No. 83 in the Kara-Suu district of the Osh Region also resigned after being implicated in the assault of an eighth-grade girl. The director broke the child’s leg. Both incidents are being investigated by the police.

Translated by Grace Mitchell from Respond Crisis Translation