Kazakhstan plans to introduce criminal liability for forced marriage. This was announced by Mazhilis deputy Murat Abenov. This was reported by Tengrinews.kz here.
According to Deputy Abenov, over the past three years, there have been 214 complaints in Kazakhstan from individuals forced into marriage. Only 10 of these cases have reached the court. Hundreds of criminal cases have simply been closed.
"Even if the girl tries to prove she was kidnapped, jumped out of the car, and was forced, she achieves nothing," — says Abenov.
Members of the Parliament will soon develop amendments to be considered in the Mazhilis. They anticipate that penalties for "bride kidnapping" will be introduced in Kazakhstan. This will officially be called "forced marriage."
"We have named the amendment correctly and are covering all cases. The details are being clarified, but there will be serious fines. There is administrative responsibility, and for more severe cases, such as those involving minors, the use of force, or committed by a group of persons, there will be a more severe responsibility, even criminal liability — up to 5−7 years of imprisonment," — the deputy said.
According to him, the law might be developed by the end of this year.
In February, Murat Abenov announced his initiative to introduce criminal liability for bride kidnapping. At that time, the discussion was about imprisonment for 3−5 years.
In February 2024, Kazakhstan's human rights ombudsman Artur Lastaev reported a high-profile case of bride kidnapping in Shymkent. According to him, girls forced into marriage often become victims of sexual, physical, and psychological violence.
In the first three months of 2025, approximately 22.5 thousand marriages were registered in Kazakhstan. This figure is 16 percent (or 4.3 thousand unions) less than the same period last year.
Moreover, except for the anomalously low rates recorded during the coronavirus restrictions in the second quarter of 2020 when 16.6 thousand marriages were contracted, this is the lowest figure since the beginning of 2014. This is particularly true in Almaty (21 percent decrease) and Turkestan region (19 percent decrease).
