In Kazakhstan, every 6th woman who had ever had a partner has experienced physical and sexual violence. Half of the women who experienced physical violence from a partner reported severe forms of violence.

November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which also marks the launch of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign. From November 25 to December 10, various campaigns are taking place around the world calling for the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls.

To honour the start of the campaign, 'Cyber Nomad' mural was opened in Astana's Triathlon Park at 4:00 pm on the 25th of November.

According to Kazakhstani artist Charli Sword, the author of the 'Cyber Nomad' mural sketch, she attempted to represent the issue of gender-based and domestic violence as a liberation and conscious opposition to the violence of the survivor herself:

“This is the first portrait from a series of works based on the same concept, the creation of which was inspired by a real persona. The image of a strong woman who knows her worth, who is liberated and active - the embodiment of the historical character of a nomadic woman."

The mural was presented by the  organisers of the event - representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Canadian Embassy in Kazakhstan. The purpose of this campaign was to raise awareness about the issues of gender-based and domestic violence: according to statistics, last year 157,884 crimes were registered in Kazakhstan, of which 61,464 were reported as domestic violence. According to the Minister of Internal Affairs, more than 100,000 cases of domestic violence have been registered in nine months of 2022, but in 60% of cases the police were unable to press charges as the survivors refused to file a complaint.

In his opening speech, Dr Ronny Lindstrom, UNFPA Country Representative in Kazakhstan, highlighted:

This year, on this International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UNFPA together with the Embassy of Canada have decided to reflect on how the future without violence will look like. And the best way to contemplate this was, in our opinion, through an art form.

I want to thank the talented artist, Charlie Sword for her artistic take at what the future world without violence would look like. And if this vision of the world were to come true, women would be safe; families would be more harmonious and better off financially; children would grow up safer and healthier.