the privacy of the family, there can be no meaning-
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Georgian], Tbilisi 1941.Feride ZurikashviliCentral AsiaBy tradition in the Central Asian region boys are
regarded as the bearers of the family line, while
girls are temporary members of the family and the
community. Thus boys and girls have a different
social status and are educated in different ways. As
research has demonstrated (Karasaeva 1996), the
second-class status of women is fixed in the social
consciousness, characterized by scorn for women
that begins even before they are born. The result of
research conducted by the OSCE (Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe) in Uzbekistan
(Tashkent and Tashkent Province) demonstrates
that the majority of women are second-class mem-
bers of the family and are inferior to every other
family member (husband, mother-in-law, father,
mother, brothers).
This is observed in every stratum of society.
Custom and prejudice take precedence over law
and the norms of human rights when it comes to the
position of women in the family. According to tra-
dition the woman is alienated from her basic rights
of choice and freedom in her life. Research shows
the following: 52 percent of women do not have the116 domestic violence
right to choose their husband; 82 percent of women
have no voice in family decisions; 64 percent of
women have no access to the family income; and
60 percent of women are deprived of the right to
express their opinions on family problems. As a
result, by custom 98 percent of women experience
deprivation of their rights; 43 percent of women
cannot independently decide on family planning
issues; and childlessness serves as a reason for
divorce of 54 percent of women.The patriarchal
custom of bride theft, with few exceptions, is met
with complete social acceptance and in reality hides
the rape of young women, forcing them to repro-
duce. “The husband must be on a higher level than
his wife,” admonishes a well-known Muslim
aphorism. These conditions form the basic rules for
choosing mates in adult life (personal and busi-
ness). This is the basis for the unjust distribution
of rights and obligations in the family, and for
the discrimination against women in the family.
Frequently, this discrimination takes the form of
domestic violence.
The most widespread form of violence in the cul-
ture is domestic violence, both the actual act and
the threat of the act, which afflicts and damages
women, physically, psychologically, economically,
and morally. In six months in 1999 there were
2,497 incidents of domestic abuse in families; this is
more than 33 percent of the total number of crimi-
nal acts. Acts of violence perpetrated on women
composed 30 percent of the general number of mur-
ders (81 women were killed), 77 percent of suicides,
44 percent of cases of deliberate infliction of harm
to health, 60 percent of beatings, and 21 percent of
all threats of violence (CEDAW 2000, 27).
The statistical data on domestic violence from
crisis centers – Shanse, Sezim, and the Umud shelter
in the city of Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) – corroborate
the statistics of the ministry of internal affairs of the
Kyrgyz Republic. In the course of three years of
work with more than 9,000 women and girls in
these establishments, 37 percent experienced phys-
ical force in the family, 23 percent psychological
force, and 7 percent sexual abuse (Tugelbayeva
2001, 34)
The official attitude toward domestic violence
differs from one republic to another in Central
Asia. The governments of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan,
and Kyrgyzstan publicly discuss the problems of
domestic violence and struggle against its negative
consequences. In Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan
public discussion of these topics is forbidden.
Indeed, in these republics domestic violence has a
quasi-legal status. The facts of domestic violence
are either hidden or discussed as isolated cases. The