The findings were based on detailed interviews with 20 victims of domestic abuse in 4 rural districts of 2 Provinces and 1 urban area. To obtain relief from family violence, each of the women had contacted her local community government organizations ("mahallas"), which are traditional institutions charged by law with regulating communal life and conducting many state functions. Human Rights Watch conducted these interviews in May and June of 2000. Also interviewed were dozens of women's rights activists, lawyers, judges, police, doctors, and government officials at the national, provincial, district, village, and mahalla levels. All interviews were anonymous at the requests of the interviewees. The findings showed that certain aspects of state policy, such as the encouragement of community involvement in cases of family abuse, were positive in that they removed the issue of domestic violence from the private sphere of the family and implicitly recognized the social harm caused by this crime; however, mahalla officials, effectively representatives of the executive branch of government, consistently blocked women's access to legal remedies, to divorce, or to criminal justice. This meant that the state permitted discriminatory barriers to women's equal protection under the law. Further, government policy ostensibly aimed at preserving the family provided a clear disincentive for mahalla officials and others to pursue or allow the criminal prosecution of abusers or divorce. Similarly, the failure of the police to respond effectively to women's complaints also indicated the state's failure to ensure legal equality to women. Based on these findings, Human Rights Watch offered recommendations to the Uzbek government, to Western governments, and to multilateral donor agencies. Particularly, Human Rights Watch was urging the government of Uzbekistan to take measures to ensure that domestic violence was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and to pass legislation to criminalize stalking and marital rape. The authorities should also make a special effort to ensure that women subject to or at risk of domestic violence have full access to community social services and material support, as well as access to civil remedies such as divorce.