Kazakhstan criminalizes bride kidnapping and forced marriage

Kazakhstan on Tuesday enacted a law that makes bride kidnapping and other forms of forced marriage a criminal offence, authorities said, marking a legal clampdown on a practice that activists and officials say has long harmed women and adolescents.

A statement from Kazakh police said forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison and that the changes are "aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents." The statement said a previous provision that could spare a person from criminal liability if they voluntarily released a kidnapped victim has been eliminated.

The law, which took effect Sept. 16, 2025, establishes a specific criminal framework for cases that previously were difficult to prosecute because there was no separate article in the criminal code explicitly prohibiting forced marriage. Authorities and rights groups say reliable national statistics are scarce; a Kazakh lawmaker told media earlier this year that police had received 214 complaints related to bride kidnapping over the previous three years.

The practice, in which a woman is abducted and coerced into marriage, is known in parts of Central Asia and has at times gone unpunished amid social stigma and limited law enforcement response. Neighbouring Kyrgyzstan also records instances of the custom, rights groups say, where prosecutions have been rare and survivors often face community pressure not to report abuse.

The issue drew international attention more than a decade ago after a scene in the 2006 film Borat, in which the fictional Kazakh character attempts to abduct a celebrity as a bride, and resurfaced in Kazakhstan's domestic debate on women's safety following a widely publicised 2023 case in which a woman was killed by her husband, a former government minister. That murder prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to speak out against the practice. "Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified," Tokayev said in 2024.

Officials have framed the new legislation as part of broader efforts to protect vulnerable citizens and strengthen women's rights. The police statement reiterated the state's intent to prevent coercive marriages and to remove previous legal gaps that hampered prosecution.

Human rights advocates have welcomed the statutory change but said enforcement will determine its impact. They note that survivors often face social and institutional pressures that deter reporting, and that long-term change requires training for law enforcement, public awareness campaigns and accessible support services for victims.

The government has not yet released detailed guidance on implementation, nor has it published figures on prosecutions under the new law. Police and judicial authorities will be responsible for enforcing the measure as cases are reported and investigated.