term “domestic violence” is not used in juridical
practice. “Not a single case of family violence that
we investigated ever reached the courts, therefore
one cannot speak definitively about the relation-
ship of the legal establishment to these matters.
Attorneys, judges, and the militia consistently gave
us to understand that the majority of cases of fam-
ily violence, even in the presence of the police, never
get to the courts” (Interview, Human Rights Watch,
8 June 2000). These are the words of one of the
judges: “Even when a victim is criminally treated,
such cases are normally hidden from the very
beginning” (Interview, Human Rights Watch 22
May 2000, Human Rights Watch 2001).
Most important is that the great majority of
women and girls who experience domestic violence
consider this to be an integral element of family
relations. For them it is a structural part of the over-
arching patriarchal legacy, supported by countless
tenacious traditions and customs. It is precisely the
patriarchal culture that preserves violence toward
women as a system of exacting obedience and elic-
iting terror; it is like a virus that reproduces itself
from generation to generation. Only a profound
reformation of social and cultural norms will
change this state of affairs, which is validated by
the attitudes of centuries (Tugelbayeva 2001, 21).
Bibliography
CEDAW, National report, Republic of Kazakhstan, 2000,
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/reports.
htm#k.
Human Rights Watch 13:4(D) (June 2001), Uzbekistan.
A. Kadirova, The discriminatory influence of certain cus-
toms and prejudices on the position of women in the
family [in Russian and Uzbek]. Proceedings of the con-
ference on Overcoming of gender stereotypes, OSCE
(Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe),
18–19 September 2001, Tashkent.
A. K. Karasaev, The Kyrgyz community. The tradition of
violence against women [in Russian], Bishkek 1996.
L. Sadikova (ed.), The rights of women in Kyrgyzstan.
Muslim tradition, Islamic values, and contemporary
law [in Russian and Kyrgyz], Bishkek 2001.
B. Tugelbayeva (ed.), Violence against women. Preven-
tion and struggle against the consequences [in Russian
and Kyrgyz], Bishkek 2001.
Marfua Tokhtakhodjaeva and
Almaz KadirovaIran and AfghanistanIn this entry the phrase domestic violence is used
to describe a variety of actions and omissions that
occur in different family relationships. These in-
clude incidents of physical attack and/or psycho-
logical or mental violence (Davis 1994, Martin
1979, Viano 1992).
iran and afghanistan 117As far as Iran and Afghanistan are concerned, lit-
erature on the subject is scarce and field studies
very recent in Iran and practically non-existent in
Afghanistan. There exist no statistics or articles
written solely about domestic violence against
women in Afghanistan, possibly due to the socio-
political upheavals of the past two decades. Only
anecdotal evidence is found, from the mass media
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), that
incidences of domestic violence have increased as a
result of the war, displacement, and poverty.
Broadly speaking, two related gender issues af-
fect the problem of domestic violence in both coun-
tries: one is attitudinal and based on norms and
values; the other relates to legal doctrines and the
Sharì≠a.Patriarchal norms and values
Patriarchal values and a family system based on
male supremacy, hierarchy, and obedience to the
oldest male are prevalent (Nassehi-Behnam, 1985).
Children socialized at home and in educational
institutions that reflect a discriminatory image of
women (Mohceni 1978, Taleghani 1994) learn to
accept the practice and transfer of archaic gender
roles and thus maintain patriarchal norms and atti-
tudes. The consequences of this can be observed in
different spheres of female life: a higher female
child mortality due to discriminatory attitude of
mothers toward food distribution (Nassehi 1996);
the existence of a wide gap in the literacy rates of
men and women (Aghajanian 2000); and the early
marriage of girls when financial resources are
limited.Islamic law
Because of the existence of religious and legal
doctrines inspired by Sharì≠a, the Iranian and
Afghan civil codes concerning marriage, divorce,
child custody, pension (nafaqa), family residence,
right of citizenship, guardianship, and inheritance
place women in a highly disadvantageous position
in the social order (Behnam 1990).
In dominant interpretations of Islamic law, the
right of punishment is reserved solely to men. But
beating a woman is not recommended. Never-
theless in the mentality of certain men, religious as
well as secular, an “untamed” woman must be
trained. The response of clerics to a question on
domestic violence is: “Islam does not recommend
men to beat their wives, nevertheless, if a wife is not
compliant (nàshiza), they are authorized to beat
her. A woman is called ‘untamed’ if she refuses to
satisfy the desires of her husband (tamkin).
Husband’s sexual satisfaction being part of tamkin,