History of Central Asia
Soviet Socialist Republics
By 1936, under Stalin's reign, Central Asia was divided into Soviet Socialist Republics: Kazakh SSR, Uzbek SSR, Turkmen SSR, Tajik SSR, and Kyrgyz SSR. With a culture founded on Islam, traditional adat laws and religious shariat laws governed the lives of the indigenous Central Asian people. However, with the "sovietization" of the region, strong attempts were made to remove Islamic influence and assimilate Central Asians into the Russian population. As "oppressed" members of a Muslim patriarchal society, women were the main targets of this assimilation under an ideology of gender equality and female emancipation. A new legal and judicial system was implemented across the Republics to weaken the control of women by male relatives, banning practices such as arranged marriages, polygamy, and the payment of a bride price. Attempts were also made to unveil women in order to remove the physical evidence of the practice of Islam, including restricting veiled women from participating in the labor force and forcing men to unveil their wives with the threat of unemployment. Another tactic of assimilation was the Communist Party's institutionalization of the Zhenotdel, the Women's Department of the Central Secretariat, in order to educate and mobilize women. The Zhenotdel set up women's clubs to raise political consciousness through social activities such as reading circles and literary classes. Though it played an important role of providing education and skills to attend schools and universities and obtain employment, the Zhenotdel promoted an "outsider" philosophy of sovietization.
Despite efforts of sovietization, Central Asians largely preserved their Islamic-based culture in the private sphere, through methods such as the sole recognition of marriages by Islamic law (rather than civil law) and the ostracization of acculturated women. The heavy-handed attempts to acculturate Central Asian women did not produce evidence of greater gender equality until the rise of a new generation of women in the 1960s. The benefits of greater gender equality under Soviet rule were produced with high costs of forced acculturation, and the reemergence of gender inequality in the public sphere following the independence of the republics has led to a questioning of the actual impact of the imposed gender equality tactics of the Soviet Union. It has been argued that the imposition of gender equality by the Soviet Union has resulted in the reinforcement of traditional Muslim gender values in the now-independent countries.
Since gaining independence in 1991, all the Central Asian countries have claimed to be democracies with parliamentary systems. However, all but Kyrgyzstan have been termed authoritarian. Since independence, there have increasingly greater barriers to employment for women, which has resulted in their underemployment across the region. The World Bank has raised a number of gender-based concerns, including the loss of state support for child care, deteriorating maternal health care, gender-based violence, and poor political representation. The disproportionate political representation of women is exacerbated by the greater struggles of women in households who have less time to participate in the civic life; the percentage of women in the parliaments range from 7% in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to 26% in Turkmenistan. Also, the increase in payments required for health care and education have resulted in the higher prioritization of male needs, which will have detrimental long-term effects.
[Tajikistan] [Uzbekistan] [Turkmenistan] [Kazakhstan] [Kyrgyzstan]Tajikistan Since Independence
Following independence in 1992, the quotas instituted by the Soviet government to promote gender equality were abolished, resulting in a deterioration of women's representative participation in government. The end of Soviet rule resulted in a brutal five-year civil war. During this time, Tajik women were affected by gender-based violence, trafficking and economic insecurity. Following the war, the country has continued in an extended period of unrest. This instability has resulted in a steady system of female trafficking from Tajikistan. This instability has had the greatest effect on women, who are bearing the greatest burden of economic transition. Since the end of the war, women have also been increasingly excluded from the peace-building process. Tajikistan is the poorest among the Central Asian countries, and a severe drought coupled with the instability in the region has resulted in catastrophic food shortages, which has disproportionately affected female-headed households and widows.
Violence against women has been an ongoing concern since independence, and this issue has been explicitly recognized by its inclusion in the National Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women.
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Uzbekistan Since Independence
Uzbekistan became independent in 1991 and has slowly been transitioning to a market-based economy. During this period of transition, the economy has deteriorated, which has had a disparate impact on women's well-being. They have been relatively more disadvantaged by the economic situation and accompanied reduction in social welfare. Women have also combated disproportionately with unemployment, and those women who are employed are disadvantaged by being in less well-paid sectors. Also, the transition period has disparately impacted women's access to education.
Women are associated with the private, family domain and the culture encourages the prioritization of domestic responsibilities. Following independence, there has been a resurgence of traditional gender relations, with patriarchal authority structures. The culture perpetuates the lower status of women and their sole position in the household, particularly in rural societies. This has resulted in a falling rate of women's participation in formal political structures. Though Uzbekistan legally grants women equal status, there is little implementation of these standards. Gender-based discrimination is grossly underreported, particularly in family settings, making the implementation of laws and prosecution more difficult. However, a growing civil society shows promise of a greater commitment to raising women's status in the family and society.
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Turkmenistan Since Independence
Turkmenistan declared its independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union. It is the most ethnically homogeneous of the Central Asians, the majority being Muslim Turkmens. The economy remains underdeveloped, and declining opportunities for women have resulted from the reduction of the public sector. Like many other Central Asian countries, independence has resulted in a resurgence of traditional gender relations. These traditional values have reasserted themselves despite the guarantee of equal rights in Article 17 of Turkmenistan's Constitution. The lack of implementation of the equal rights clause in the Constitution is reinforced by Turkmen women's lack of knowledge of their rights. Turkmenistan claims that women have the right to get involved in governmental bodies, and cites that 39% of women are involved in governmental bodies. They have also signed onto numerous treaties and conventions, including CEDAW, ILO Convention for Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers For Work of Equal Value, the ILO Convention on Discrimination based on Labor and Employment, International Deed on Economic, Social and Cultural rights. However, the government's implementation of its claim to equal rights and the definition of "discrimination" have been brought into question.
Turkmenistan had the second-worst freedom of press conditions in 2005 according to the Reporters without Borders index. However, since the election of Berdymukhamedov in 2007, there have been reports of Turkmenistan opening up to the outside world, with internet cafes offering uncensored web access and the reintroduction of foreign languages.
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Kazakhstan Since Independence
Since independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has made significant progress toward developing a market economy. In particular, Kazakhstan has been able to develop oil and gas, which has resulted in greater wealth for the country. However, the development of democracy in Kazakhstan remains weak. Like other Central Asian countries, the end of the Soviet rule has led to a reduction of state-run social services, which has disproportionately affected women. Women are experiencing greater unemployment, and there is a widening wage gap resulting from gender stereotypes. These conditions are worse in rural areas, where women's unemployment is at critical levels. Though the state has begun to recognize these gender inequalities, policies and programs fail to effectively address these issues. The National Action Plan on Improving the Status of Women was adopted in 1999 and the Concept of Gender Policy was adopted in 2003. However, the implementation of programs promoting gender equality has not been an issue of priority in the country. The failure of implementation of evident in the gender disparities in economic and social life in Kazakhstan-in particular, poverty reduction policies have failed to provide equitable benefits to women due to their failure to recognize a gender-based view of poverty.
In general, human rights abuses in Kazakhstan have concerned observers, with reports of abusive security forces and high-level corruption.
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Kyrgyzstan Since Independence
In 1991, Kyrgyzstan became independent and elected Akayez as President, who became increasingly autocratic throughout his rule. Like many of the former Republics, there have been significant gender disparities in political leadership, employment, and wage rates. An unprecedented loss of jobs for women has resulted from the shrinking public sector and lack of opportunities in the agricultural sector. Likewise, women were affected by the dissolution of many state-run social programs, such as cutbacks in health care and child care. The reduction of the state-run activities has also resulted in decreasing enrollment rates for girls at the primary school level.
Following independence, the reemergence of the traditional patriarchal society has resulted in an increase in gender-based violence and disparities. There are allegations of domestic violence and abduction of women for forced marriage by Human Rights Watch. Despite laws on violence against women, police and officials fail to implement these laws; they have been reported to encourage women to reconcile with their abusive husbands. There is also an issue of "bride-kidnapping," where women are abducted for forced marriage. In general, women are faced with increasing disempowerment, with disparate opportunities for women for political leadership and government positions. In 2003, Kyrgyzstan adopted a new Constitution which provided a legal framework to support gender equality; however, the implementation of legislation remains questionable.
In 2005, the country underwent the "Tulip Revolution," overthrowing the Akayez's authoritarian government and electing Bakiyev as President. The Tulip Revolution resulted in a more democratic government, and Kyrgyzstan shows greater potential for making progress with a human rights agenda.
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