Lyailya Nurpeissova (she/her) is a junior at Georgetown University in Qatar’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, majoring in International Politics with a strong interest in gender, law, and state power in post-Soviet Central Asia. As a Gender⁺ Justice Fellow, she researches how Kazakhstan’s domestic violence legislation, though framed as gender-neutral, reproduces gendered harm and silences survivors. Last summer, she began conducting interviews with survivors, NGO workers, and legal advocates in Almaty, and she is currently co-producing a documentary film that explores their narratives of resistance and survival. Through this project, she aims to bridge feminist legal theory, human rights research, and visual storytelling to make issues of gender-based violence publicly visible and to amplify Central Asian feminist perspectives within global conversations on justice, contributing to more inclusive, survivor-centered approaches to legal reform.
Silenced by Law: Domestic Violence, Legal Invisibility, and Feminist Resistance in Kazakhstan
This project examines how Kazakhstan’s domestic violence legislation — though often framed as gender-neutral — reproduces gendered harm and silences survivors. In 2017, Kazakhstan downgraded first-time domestic battery and minor bodily-harm offences to administrative (non-criminal) status. On 15 April 2024, the country passed a new law restoring criminal liability for domestic violence and strengthening protections for women and children. However, major gaps remain: domestic violence is still not fully defined as a stand-alone offence, and forms such as psychological, emotional, and economic abuse are not comprehensively covered. Grounded in feminist legal theory and post-Soviet gender studies, this research explores how legal language conceals violence and how women navigate, resist, and reframe these silences.