CYBERSTALKING OF WOMEN IN UZBEKISTAN: CURRENT LEGISLATION AND PROSPECTS FOR REFORM
Keywords:
gender-based violence, cyberstalking, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, criminal law regulation, legislative gaps, protection order, legal reformAbstract
The article is dedicated to assessing the ability of Uzbekistan’s current legislation to qualify systematic digital harassment of women as an independent legal phenomenon. The relevance of the study is driven by the rapid digitalization of the country, despite the absence of special legal regulation in this field. Based on a doctrinal analysis of the national norms of the Code of Administrative Responsibility and the Criminal Code, as well as a comparative legal analysis of the legislation of Kazakhstan, Great Britain, and South Korea, four systemic gaps were identified: the absence of an independent prosecution structure, gender neutrality of existing norms, limited protection orders in the digital environment, and the absence of a provider liability mechanism. The research results can be used in developing legislative proposals to implement the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. UP-33 dated 2026. A four-component reform strategy is proposed: a national strategy for countering violence, the conceptual recognition of technologically conditioned gender-based violence in specialized legislation, an independent criminal legal framework, and an institutional infrastructure to support victims.
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