A legislation aimed at criminalising domestic violence in Uzbekistan was approved unanimously by the parliament, a milestone reached after a long campaign from women’s and human rights activists. “According to women’s activists in Uzbekistan, many people believe that women ‘provoke’ or ‘deserve’ violence, that women victims of domestic violence are ‘masochistic,’ that ‘quarrels’ between husbands and wives are natural, and that victims of abuse are always free to leave their homes,” the report states. “We are concerned that although physical violence has now been criminalised, economic and psychological violence remain unaddressed