Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan proposes to tighten measures against sexual violence and depraved acts against women and children. The relevant bill has been published for discussion.

The bill envisages a number of amendments and changes to the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan.

In particular, it is proposed to change the title of Art. 121 to "Forcing a person to have sexual intercourse", while the current title of the article is "Forcing a woman to have sexual intercourse".

In addition, the draft document proposes to make the following changes and amendments:

- in Art. 119 (Forcible satisfaction of sexual need in an unnatural form), it is proposed to add paragraph "e": if the crime is committed against a person whose disability is obvious to the perpetrator, which will serve as a basis for imprisonment from 8 to 10 years;

- in Art. 128 (Engaging in sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16) is planned to be supplemented with paragraph “c”: if the crime is committed by a relative or a person in charge of raising and caring for a minor, as well as a teacher or other employee of educational, medical or other institutions, which will serve as the basis for imprisonment from 10 to 15 years;

- in Art. 129 (Indecent acts against a person under the age of 16), it was proposed to add several new paragraphs at once, which provide for liability from 5 to 8 years in prison, including:

- in relation to a person under the age of 14, or a minor whose signs of disability are known in advance to the perpetrator;

- if the crime is committed by a relative or a person in charge of raising and caring for a minor, as well as a teacher or other employee of an educational, educational, medical or other institution, as well as through the use of the Internet.

It is also proposed to aggravate the existing liability for such crimes as:

- art. 115 (Forcing a woman to have an abortion). The following types of liability are proposed for this crime:

- a fine in the amount of 100 to 200 sizes of basic estimated value (in the current version, 50 sizes of basic estimated value are provided);

– deprivation of certain rights from 3 to 5 years;

- public works from 300 to 360 hours (in the current edition - up to 300 hours);

- correctional labor from 2 to 3 years (in the current edition - up to 3 years);

- in Art. 118 (Rape), it is proposed to change the liability in the form of imprisonment from 3 to 7 years to 5 to 8 years;

- art. 128 (Entering into sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16) - liability for this crime will be established in the form of imprisonment from 5 to 8 years;

- art. 129 (Indecent acts against a person under the age of 16) - it is proposed to introduce the following types of liability: restriction of liberty from 3 to 5 years or imprisonment from 3 to 5 years (in the current version, restriction of liberty provides for from 1 to 2 years or imprisonment freedom from 1 to 2 years).

The discussion of the project will last until 26 January 2023.