by MICHELLE TOLSON
Sükhbaatar Square, the central square of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. PHOTO/Michelle Tolson
One night while relaxing at home after a long day of horseback riding, I heard a loud banging on a door downstairs. It was a man adamant to be let in. He was probably drunk. This type of thing had happened before. I thought nothing of it, but then I heard a woman scream. I also heard the man yell and throw things. I wanted to help, but I was too frightened. I did not know what to do.
I wanted to call the police, but I did not know the number. Besides, I was new to the country and did not speak the language. Would they even understand me? What was my address anyway? There were other people in the building who were quiet during the episode. Why did they not do anything? I heard the man leave and the woman crying below.
This experience sparked my own investigation on what to do and how to help were I ever to be in the situation again. I met with Munkhsaruul Mijiddorj, Program Manager at the National Center Against Violence (NCAV) in Ulaanbaatar. She shared with me the complexities of the situation surrounding domestic violence in Mongolia.
Attitudes toward domestic violence have changed over time. Previously thought of as a private matter among family members, domestic violence was not recognized as a societal problem until 2004. It was not considered a matter for the state to intervene in, either with police action or within the court system. And on a societal level, there was apprehension from neighbors to intervene because this was seen as interfering in another family’s matters.
However, due to lobbying on the behalf of domestic violence organizations like the NCAV, Parliament created the Anti-Domestic Violence Law in 2004 stipulating that people have a legal responsibility to report domestic violence. Enforced in 2005, Mongolia’s Anti-Domestic Violence Law changed the perception of domestic violence to a human rights violation that requires intervention legally, psychologically, and socially.
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