Virgin Institute: How women live in the post-Soviet space
It is believed that the Soviet Union was a country winning gender equality. Women worked practically without exception; they were allowed not only to lay the rail, but also to managing positions. In the USSR, they fought against patriarchal national traditions — for example, the theft of brides. But if you look at women in the USSR more closely, it becomes clear that the notorious equality was more likely an appearance. Women managers were more often entrusted with social topics - education, culture, medicine, positions in fact were more executive than management, and the emphasis on the obligatory role of the owner of the family doubled the female burden.
After the collapse of the Union, cultural differences in the former republics became particularly pronounced. Russia is still torn between the Soviet and religious traditions - which is already worth the fact that lawmakers view domestic violence as a private family matter. The Baltic states went to liberal Europe, while Asia and the Caucasus returned to patriarchal origins. In the South Caucasus, the problem of selective abortions still exists, and in a number of Central Asian countries religious practices that directly threaten the lives of women are reviving. We studied what is happening with women in the post-Soviet space today, why the "liberated women of the East" remained a meme of Soviet cinematography and how the institute of women-policemen coexists with wild customs.
Early marriage, theft of brides and divorces on the phone
The next episode of the new Kyrgyz project “Kelin” (“bridegroom”) begins with the words of the presenter: “It is easier for a man to build a rocket or a whole house than to figure out how to remove a fat spot or a spot from cherry juice,” after which he proposes to watch as the future daughters-in-law will compete in the art of washing. The project started in February 2017, and the participants have to go through a series of tests that, according to its creators, are somehow connected with the life of the daughter-in-law: to pluck a chicken, clean a house, go to the market, cook beshbarmak or pilaf. The strict mother-in-law observes what is happening: she evaluates the abilities of future daughters-in-law and one by one removes them from the project. Immediately after the premiere, participants in the feminist movement in Kyrgyzstan called for the project to be removed from the air, a petition was launched, and several members of parliament proposed to conduct a gender expertise of the show. But the broadcast remained on the air.
“Patriarchal foundations are the root of many problems of Kyrgyz women,” says Umutai Dauletova, a gender specialist at the UNDP. “There is an expression in Kyrgyzstan:“ El emne deyt? ”, It translates as“ What will people say? ” were established by the patriarchal society. We have been working for years and trying to get rid of this practice. When you start to google Kyrgyzstan, the first thing that happens is the theft of brides. This is our shameful brand. Another acute problem is early marriages. The third problem that knit with it, -... related to the institution of virginity After all, it is also often the cause of violence and discrimination if the girl was stolen, and she in the same night, lost her virginity, she is here to be able to leave these three problems are intertwined with each other. "
Kyrgyzstan has been struggling for many years with the problem of maternal mortality (from complications during pregnancy and childbirth). But here and today the highest rates in the post-Soviet space. In addition to the inaccessibility of medical care, early marriages are considered as one of the reasons for this: 13% of girls marry minors. At the same time, the number of officially registered marriages is decreasing, and more and more couples are limited only to the Nike religious ceremony.
"In Kyrgyzstan, there is an expression:" El emne deyt? ", It translates as" What will people say? ". This is the desire to comply with all the parameters that were set by the patriarchal society."
In November 2016, human rights defenders and public figures managed to get an amendment to the Criminal Code, prohibiting religious ceremonies with minors. “No civilian registry office registers marriage with a girl who has not reached the official age. That is why bride thefts occur simultaneously with a religious ceremony,” Umutai Dauletova continues. “According to the new law, not only the parents of the bride and the bride and the bridegroom are punished if he is of age but also the religious leader who performed this rite. During the work we received a lot of criticism: they say, why do you need it, because we already have a law on forcing minors to have sexual relations. But we are looking at our mentality em: no court will treat this case as rape. Having prescribed the religious rite to Nika in the law, we wanted to protect girls from theft and early marriage. "
Religious rites without official registration are also common in neighboring Tajikistan. Because of this, in the event of divorce, local women are left without rights to property, financial support from their ex-husbands, sometimes losing rights to children. Until recently, divorces over the phone were common. Many men, while working in Russia, could call their wives, say three times "talok", and this was enough for a divorce according to religious canons.
But according to UN Women’s representative Nargiz Azizova, several years ago, the Council of Ulama of the Republic of Tajikistan officially announced that it did not recognize “talons” and that phone divorces were no longer practiced. "However, there are so many marriages that are not officially registered. The recently introduced requirement to undergo a medical examination before entering into marriage for the newlyweds, as well as a proposal to enter into marriage contracts are valid, but, unfortunately, do not help. Now men prefer not to register marriages in general, so that "Secure" yourself from further liability. "
The economy of Tajikistan is highly dependent on the income of labor migrants: over six million people account for eight hundred thousand people working outside the country. According to the Asian Development Bank, 80% of labor migrants from Tajikistan are men, and only 5% of them go to work with their families. Most of the women stay at home with the children and parents of the husband and are responsible for the household and the extra income. If the marriage was not officially registered and ended in divorce, women often become victims of trafficking and sex workers, some are forced to send children to orphanages or decide to become second wives.
Motion #NonTalk
"Of all the countries of Central Asia, and perhaps the whole of the former Soviet Union, Islam was most of all revived in Tajikistan," said Steve Sverdlov, a researcher on Central Asia’s issues in the international organization Human Rights Watch. life in society. For example, many women are forced to become second or third wives without official registration. This leads to a horrific level of violence. Criminals are rarely persecuted and arrested. We now have very little information about how many “Protective orders are issued if a woman complains about domestic violence. We have also received reports that women are victims of police violence."
According to the Statistics Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, almost every fifth woman ever married has experienced domestic violence. At the same time, 51% of women surveyed consider violence to be justified in the case when the wife leaves home without warning her husband, and 28% consider it due to burnt food. There are only three crisis centers in the country, women have the right to stay in them for no more than two weeks.
"Tajikistan’s civil society is very interesting, and protection of women from violence essentially depends on it,” Steve Sverdlov continues. “Over the past twenty years, several activist groups have emerged. After ten years of their work, in 2013 the President of Tajikistan signed the new law which obliges the state to combat the problem of domestic violence and conduct educational programs in the country, for example, in conjunction with the OSCE, at least fourteen new police stations were opened in which women police officers work skie, specially trained to work with victims of violence. "
51% of women surveyed consider violence justified in the case when the wife leaves home without warning her husband, and 28% because of a burnt meal
Attitudes toward the problem of violence are changing not only in Tajikistan, but also in other former Soviet countries. For example, in Kazakhstan, the conversation about him began with the initiative of the producer Dina Smailova, who joined the #MN FlashMob flashmob by adding her own hashtag #NonMolchi, and published on Facebook the history of the experienced group rape. In six months #Non-Talk from a flash mob has turned into a national movement that supports victims and draws attention to the problem.
“After I published the letter, UN Women paid attention to me,” says Dina Smailova. “They held a seminar and invited me. I received training and understood that I needed to do my project. Of course, we achieved a lot. We started punching this taboo: after all, we are not able to talk about rape - not in schools, not at home, not in the government, nor in police stations or other state bodies. All the leaders of my team have experienced violence at different ages, and now they are helping other victims. " .
Today, this team works closely with state bodies: they made proposals for amending the law on violence in the working group of the board of the Prosecutor General’s Office, and held several round tables for deputies in the Kazakh parliament. "But our most important work is visiting. We work with schoolchildren, and with child psychologists, and with the police, with male educators, with the administration of cities and regions. We go out and say:" I am a victim of rape. I urge you to stop hiding this topic".
We have the word "uyat" - "shame". This is the worst thing: because of shame, everyone is silent. The five-year-old girl is silent and suffers violence for several years. And adult women are silent. Every second woman in Kazakhstan is subjected to violence. According to official data, an application for rape is filed in Almaty every day. This is 365 applications per year - but 70% are spent on reconciliation of the parties. Women agree, take the money, but the rapist remains at large. Our task is to stop the violence and silence. It begets a crime. Therefore, you can not be silent. "
Sterilization and selective abortions
In 2005, protesters gathered in the central square in the city of Andijan in Uzbekistan, and instead of appealing to the crowd, the president gave the order to shoot, which resulted in the death of almost a thousand people. The international community was outraged, and the EU and the US imposed sanctions against Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government closed the offices of all international organizations and expelled foreign journalists from the country. Now rare activists are working to protect the rights of women in Uzbekistan, and international organizations have moved to neighboring Astana and Bishkek and are collecting information remotely.
One of the country's most acute problems is the forced sterilization of women. Representatives of the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan deny any charges and insist that the procedures are carried out with the full consent of the women themselves. Steve Sverdlov explains that due to the fact that since 2005 Uzbekistan has been practically closed to the outside world, Human Rights Watch has failed to conduct its own investigation and issue a report meeting the standards of the organization: "At the same time, of course, we tracked all the reports on this topic. We maintained contact with local gynecologists and family doctors throughout Uzbekistan. Our sources confirmed that there is a centralized program for the forced sterilization of women in the country, often involving attempts to persuade women, especially NGOs in rural areas, do not have more than two children. Women were forced to agree to sterilization, and sometimes sewn tube forcibly after delivery. We found out that many doctors put pressure on them to spend a certain number of sterilization procedures in a month. "
"Women were forced to accept sterilization, and sometimes they sewed tubes forcibly after delivery. Many doctors are pressured to have a certain number of procedures per month."
“One of the main issues today is how truly centralized policy supported by the Ministry of Health is, and how it is spelled out,” the human rights activist continues. “According to our sources, the president and other government officials believe that the demographic crisis in Uzbekistan No. But again, the country has been closed for more than ten years, and the topic of forced sterilization is the most sensitive. Rare journalists conduct investigations on this topic and are boldly looking for people willing to talk and talk about your experiences. "
Another problem is selective abortion. Among all the post-Soviet countries, they are most common in Azerbaijan and Armenia: after China, these countries rank second and third in the world in terms of the birth rate of boys. According to a study by the United Nations Population Fund, 114-116 boys are born for every 100 girls. Often, if the family finds out that the future child is female, she decides to abort the fetus.
“This is the result of stereotypes, expectations and gender roles in society,” says Anna Nikoghosyan, a specialist in gender issues. “Families in Armenia are more waiting for boys to be born because they see them as future earners, protectors and leaders. They believe that men have more weight in society compared to women. But, unfortunately, the authorities often, instead of dealing with the true causes, try to simply legally prohibit selective abortions or restrict access to abortions in general. Therefore, for me, as for femini weave, this topic is very slippery: instead of helping women, very easy to work against them and just more to undermine their rights. "
Manual milking and progress
Galina Petriashvili, the leader of the NGO Association of Journalists Gender-Media-Caucasus, reminds that the issue of internally displaced people, most of whom are women, is more acute than others for more than twenty years: "They have a huge number of problems, they are much more vulnerable." As a feminist, Petriashvili is glad that there are many programs in the country that attract women to politics and government decisions, but regrets that Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli did not work for long at this post.
"Women in Georgia are very different. The poor and the rich, the educated and the illiterate, the capital and the provincial. These are completely different ways of living: how does a woman live in Tbilisi and somewhere in the mountains. If she lives in the mountains, she doesn’t even have elementary conditions, not to mention access to medical services. We must somehow align the rights and conditions of existence. Progress comes a little even to the most remote areas, if you drive through any village, you will see a lot of satellite dishes, serious machines, mechanisms. deny how women milked cows there.Hands! Like a hundred years ago.And they have no less than five cows, in some farms ten or more. Women milked them morning and evening, manually. I ask: why don’t you buy a milking machine? it somehow does not occur to the head. Here is the TV - this is yes. It’s easy to imagine how much time she has left to watch. "
Umutai Dauletova from UNDP Kyrgyzstan believes in local initiatives and puts on women's councils who work in remote areas of her country: "In local governments, at the suggestion of women who are interested in their rights, things often happen that could be introduced throughout the country. For example, some local governments issued orders to ban religious ceremonies even before the law came out. "
And in Tajikistan, women's communities are trying to maintain financial independence. For example, the abandoned wives of migrants open their own production for special grants from the "UN Women". Saohat Tazhbekova organized a small group of mutual aid at home, where women teach each other how to sew, and sell products to neighboring villages and tourists in the markets. In the north of Tajikistan, Aisuluu Zheenalieva created the same group, but specializing in dairy products. The Aisuluu team buys milk from neighboring villages and produces kurut, chakka and churgot. In an interview with representatives of the UN Women Aisuluu says: "Before, the only thing I wanted for my daughter was to find a good husband, have a good family and a piece of land. Now I want her to get a good education."
Cover: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Prokudin-Gorskii Collection
