The ethnic conflict in Kyrgyzstan, which erupted in the first half of June, has been marked by high levels of violence, widespread arson, looting and sexual violence. A total of at least 375, 000 people have fled from the conflict-affecting city of Osh and Jalal-Abad Province. More than 100,000 of them have sought refuge in neighbouring Uzbekistan.

Women have become targets in the fighting between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, and women fleeing the violence face difficult choices in seeking safety. Referring to the high price of safe escort to the border, one young woman explained, “Because all Uzbek girls are being raped at the moment, they explained that for this price they will guarantee only that we will not be killed.”

One woman shared the story of a 16-year-old relative who appeared to be distressed, and said she had been hiding in the attic as Kyrgyz mobs beat her father in their home. She said that when the girl game downstairs to bandage her father’s head, another group of attackers sexually assaulted her in front of him. Through tears she stated, “What they did to her-even animals wouldn’t do that.”

In the meantime, the vote in Kyrgyzstan for a new constitution went ahead without disruption, despite criticism that thousands of people, mostly the Uzbek minority, were unlikely to vote due to displacement. International observers and human rights groups have questioned the timing of the referendum, which takes place against a backdrop of the worst ethnic violence in Central Asia for two decades.

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Returning Uzbek’s shun referendum, Reuters Alert Net, 25 June 2010.

Kyrgyzstan presses ahead with constitutional referendum, Guardian UK, 27 June 2010.

Ousted Kyrgyzstan president calls referendum illegitimate, CNN World, 29 June 2010.

Joint letter to the UN Security Council , Human Rights Watch, 17 June 2010.

The conflict in Kyrgyzstan- Complex and Gendered, AWID, 1 July 2010.