EU to spend €800,000 on combating gender-based violence in Kyrgyzstan

15:48, 11 декабря 2019, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Anastasia MOKRENKO

The European Union will spend more than €800,000 on combating gender-based violence in Kyrgyzstan. HelpAge International NGO in the Kyrgyz Republic reported.

The project «Intergenerational and Gender Borders — Communities Against Gender-based Violence in Kyrgyzstan,» designed for 30 months (from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2020), aims to change the norms, attitudes and behavior of representatives of different generations to overcome the practice of forced marriages and violence against women and girls of all ages.

From December 11 to December 24, large-scale events against gender-based violence will be held in 16 villages of Talas, Issyk-Kul, Batken, and Osh regions: a positive campaign «Heart on the Palm,» a quest game «How to Prevent Girl Abduction,» intergenerational flash mobs, and a competition «Fathers and Sons.»

The purpose of the events is to change gender stereotypes in society, promote gender equality, and strengthen intergenerational ties.

«Many parents raise their children in a patriarchal spirit, instilling gender stereotypes about what roles and functions are «assigned» to girls and boys: boy is stronger, can and should be able to do more, must maintain the family. Girls, on the contrary, play the role of keepers of the family hearth, they must sit at home and raise children. The intergenerational approach will help change this situation and revise attitudes towards gender roles in society,» says Nazgul Asangozhoeva-Baekova, Country Director of HelpAge International NGO.