Mongolia’s #MeToo Movement

In Mongolia, like many other Asian nations, gender-based violence (GBV) is a taboo topic. In the small nation of over 3 million wedged between China and Russia, nearly one-third of citizens live nomadically. Although today’s herders widely employ motorcycles and smartphones in their daily routines, the traditional dogma of “what happens inside the yurt stays inside the yurt” still reigns throughout much of Mongolian society.

While the wife-stealing days of Chinggis Khan are a thing of the past, the stigma against discussing GBV applies even in Mongolia’s rapidly growing urban areas, including the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, where roughly 1.4 million citizens reside.

“There are people being victimized all the time,” said Ganjavkhlan Chadraabal, founder of the non-profit organization Lantuun Dohio.

“No one wants to talk about it,” according to Ganjavkhlan, whose NGO works to combat the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children.

Nevertheless, Mongolians are starting to speak out.

As the “Weinstein Effect,” #MeToo and #TimesUp movements continue to draw attention to GBV in the West, activists, artists, and politicians in Mongolia are pushing for greater awareness of sexual violence against women and girls, and stricter laws to prevent such crimes.

A number of shocking and highly-publicized sex crimes in the final months of 2017 have drawn rare public attention to the issue of gender-based violence in Mongolia. While deep reticence to confront issues of sexual violence remains in both the personal and public spheres, the country’s fledgling civil society is pushing to mobilize the public and spur new government policies in response to a number of horrific sexual assaults on girls.

A Pattern of Horrific Crimes and National Outcry

A pivotal moment in Mongolia’s nascent public movement occurred this fall with the case of a 5-year-old rape victim. On October 14, 2017, Zolboot Batbold, a male bystander in the waiting room of the National Institute of Forensic Science – a location where medical exams for sexual assault cases are administered – posted a picture of a young girl on Facebook. In the post Batbold alleged that he overheard from the girl’s accompanying aunt and uncle that she was raped by her stepfather. He further alleged that her family wasn’t able to have her medically examined for official crime reporting purposes because they couldn’t afford the government’s examination fee of 10,000 MNT (around $4).

The Facebook post quickly spread throughout social media channels and attracted attention from major Mongolian TV and online news outlets, including Eagle News and TV 25. The girl’s stepfather, E. Vandanvaanchig, was a security guard and lived at his apartment guardpost, where he allegedly assaulted the girl while drunk when her mother was away.

The popular outrage spurred Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga to take action. Battulga held a press conference to address the epidemic of sexual violence against children and announced the removal of fees for sexual assault examinations at the location where the 5-year-old girl was turned away.

On November 27, Battulga also controversially initiated the formal process of reinstating the death penalty for sex crimes against children. (Capital punishment was formally outlawed on July 1, 2017 by his predecessor, former President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj.)

“Offenses of violence, particularly violence against minors and abusing children to satisfy own sexual desires, have become an urgent problem in our society,” began the Battulga administration’s official press release.

Opponents and human rights advocates were quick to decry the move, and criticized the president’s perceived knee-jerk reaction to the high-profile crime. Amnesty International issued a rebuke of the president’s policy in an open letter. Battulga’s chief human rights adviser, G. Uyanga, defended his actions publicly as strategic, just, and in line with the will of the majority of Mongolians.

In order for capital punishment to be reinstated for sex crimes, the president’s proposal and a subsequent law would need to be passed by the Great State Khural, Mongolia’s unicameral parliamentary body. It is unclear if the initiative will have enough momentum to move forward.

In the meantime, sex offenders are being tried and sentenced under criminal ordinances enacted this past summer. On December 13, 2017, the 5-year-old girl’s stepfather, E. Vandanvaanchig, was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison for sexual assault and crimes against children, in accordance with sections 12.1 and 12.1.4 of the national criminal code.

The October child rape incident was not the only high-profile sex crime in recent months. In late August, a 13-year-old girl was found dead in the Ochir Hotel in Ulaanbaatar’s Bayanzurkh district, with signs of extensive physical and sexual trauma in addition to an elevated blood alcohol content. Allegedly, the victim was lured inside by two older male teenagers – one a family friend – where she was coerced to drink alcohol, brutally beaten, raped, and murdered. One of the defendants in the case, B. Javlkhan, was awaiting a postponed prison sentence for a robbery he committed while underage.

The murder prompted immediate public outrage resulting in protests at the hotel, which shut down for two weeks and faced a fine of about $100 for allowing the minors to rent a room. Though a trial was held on January 11, 2018, the court case is still pending due to an inconclusive autopsy regarding the exact cause of death. The attorneys for the girl’s family claim the examination was poorly conducted and did not conform with established protocol. It is not the only instance of alleged irregularities in investigations and consequent legal proceedings related to sexual violence cases.

On November 30, 2017, the 17-year-old daughter of G. Gankhuyag, the former minister of mining, live-streamed a video on Facebook in which she said she was drugged and gang-raped by a group of teens on her birthday last July. Her alleged attackers are youths from Mongolia’s wealthiest and most elite families, and her allegations sent shockwaves throughout the country.

According to the UB Post, Gankhuyag’s court case is also pending amid accusations by her lawyers of irregularities in the investigation conducted by the First Police Department of Khan-Uul District and Special Crimes Unit of the General Investigation Agency. Her attorneys allege they were not permitted inside the room during her official statements. A large public backlash against the victim ensued following the publication of her video, leading her to announce a year leave from school.

“To date, as you all have seen, there have been serious sexual and physical violence against women and girls, causing public outrage,” said Naomi Kitahara, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Mongolia Country Representative.

A Sexual Violence Epidemic?

In the 1990s, during the fall of Soviet-style socialism, Mongolia established itself as a democracy and abruptly shifted to a market economy virtually overnight. The transition was turbulent and left many families facing financial ruin due to high rates of unemployment and rampant inflation. The stress manifested in many Mongolian households in the form of alcoholism, poverty, and domestic violence.

Reporting of gender-based violence is very low due to overarching cultural stigma, distrust of law enforcement, and pricey medical exam and administrative filing fees. Victim-blaming is prevalent and public education programs regarding sexual consent are all but absent.

In total, roughly 300 police reports of sexual violence against minors were filed in 2016. Ganjavkhlan, founder of Lantuun Dohio NGO, estimates that only about 20 percent of such crimes are reported. Due to pervasive taboos, it’s difficult to estimate the actual levels of violence. The UNFPA and the Mongolian National Statistics Office recently conducted the first nationwide GBV survey with more than 7,860 women interviewed; the results are expected to be released in early February.

“In Mongolia there is a problem of cultural impunity when it comes to violence against women and girls,” said Kitahara of UNFPA.

A. Sukhbat, a popular parliament member and former grand champion wrestler, said in a speech earlier this year that domestic violence is an Eastern tradition and shouldn't change due to new Western ideas.

“It’s part of our national identity,” he claimed in a statement made during a general session in December 2016.

Meanwhile, Mongolian women are better educated and live longer than their male counterparts. According to the National Statistics Office, 62 percent of all university graduates were female in 2015. They have higher rates of employment than Mongolian men, and live nearly a decade longer – on average over 75 years.

However, like in much of the world, Mongolian women are often discriminated against based on gender. In many Mongolian organizations a strong glass ceiling remains; the highest leadership positions are reserved for men, many of whom are less qualified than their females peers. Workplace sexual harassment and violence are common issues, yet are also chronically underreported.

“Even with all the attention given to these cases in the public, too many victims are being silenced or too afraid and traumatized to speak out, report, and seek help,” said Kitahara.

The Diplomat contacted three families of domestic violence victims, none who were willing to speak on the record – one specifically out of fear of police reprisal.

According to the National Police Agency, 871 crimes due to domestic violence were registered within the first 10 months of 2017, and eight people died as a result. Over 90 percent of reported domestic violence victims are women and domestic violence accounts for 10 percent of the total homicides in Mongolia.

Mongolia has a comprehensive policy framework addressing GBV, including the provision of essential services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. The revised Law on Combating Domestic Violence became effective in February 2017. It defines the duties and responsibilities of the health, justice, and social sectors, the police, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other service providers in the delivery and coordination of multi-sectoral services for GBV response. However, many of the key elements of the law are not sufficiently funded due to budgetary issues.

While there is a national domestic violence hotline, many survivors of abuse must overcome not only strong social and cultural barriers to seek support but bureaucratic ones to obtain services.

In order to provide additional support, the UNFPA has sponsored the establishment of six “One Stop Service Centers” (OSSC) throughout Mongolia.

The service centers are very different from shelters. In an OSSC, victims can get physical care, counseling services, police protection, and legal services if they choose to open a case. Victims don’t have to seek services across several different locations, which reduces the time to get help and also decreases the risk of re-traumatization that occurs for many survivors.

The director of an OSSC at an undisclosed location, E.B. (whose identity has been withheld for her safety), says that she sees around 150 patients a year. Some women stay for up to three days in the beds allotted.