which have been legally prohibited in both the
Soviet and post-Soviet periods, have almost never
been instigated in the courts.
The survival of traditional approaches in regu-
lating gender relations could be explained by the
Sovietization of Central Asia (1917–91), which
modified but did not change traditional societies
by bringing a new social polarization unknown
before: the Soviet-oriented ruling elite as against
the rest of the indigenous population. The latter
continued to preserve and even particularly value
traditions at family and local neighborhood levels,
in many ways as a means of silent and unconscious
protest against the forceful Russification of social
norms and education that penetrated Muslim soci-
eties but were never internalized by the masses,
especially in rural areas. Therefore, relations be-
tween sexes and disputes at the family and com-
munity levels often continued to be regulated by
customs that might not necessarily have been of
Islamic origin (for example, bride kidnapping in
the areas where nomadic culture had been domi-
nant) but were “traditional.”
Post-Soviet Central Asian countries have separated
religion from the state, and the Sharì≠a (Islamic law)
does not formally have any legal power. However,
the services of mullahs are easily accessible for the
wider population, especially in Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan. This is facilitated by the fact that some
provisions in secular laws and norms refer to tra-
ditional means in settling civil cases. For instance,
in Kyrgyzstan, so-called aksakal (elderly people)
courts in local communities have a right to repre-
sent public approval/disapproval when judging a
situation through the lens of their life experience. In
Uzbekistan, the ma™alla (neighborhood commu-
nity) is given powers by the local authorities to act
as a “clearance house” for couples before they
apply to a court to file for divorce. Given tradi-
tional approaches, predominant among ma™alla
dwellers, the goal is to reconcile families and pre-
vent divorce at any cost, but most often at the high
costs paid by women. A family code adopted in
independent Uzbekistan contains a provision
allowing referral to “customs and traditions” if the
legislation does not provide a solution otherwise.
Meanwhile, the current environment provides
little alternative. Qualified and free legal aid pro-
vided by public psychological-consultative and cri-
sis centers is not a norm, but such centers are being
established in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and,
to a lesser extent, in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan,
mostly by the efforts of non-governmental organi-
zations (NGOs) and with support from interna-
tional donor organizations. Over the past decade,374 law: access to the legal system
the Central Asian NGOs have been active, through
seminars and training programs, in educating legal
professionals in issues such as domestic violence
and human trafficking. They also have been active
in conducting legal literacy programs that train
rural residents, at community levels, in the princi-
ples of gender equality, setting up hot lines, and
providing free legal aid to the neediest. However,
such work has been neither systematic nor coordi-
nated. It has been largely limited in scope and out-
reach. Equal access to the justice and legal system,
particularly with respect to disadvantaged groups,
remains a deeply underestimated issue, at the mar-
gins of the mainstream of policy-making in the
Central Asian countries.Bibliography
Academy of Science of Uzbekistan,Islam and women of
the Orient. History and present day[in Russian],
Tashkent 1990.
D. Alimova, The Woman Question in Central Asia. Histo-
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International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
(IHF), Women 2000, New York 2000.
M. B. Olcott, Women and society in Central Asia, in
W. Fierman (ed.), Soviet Central Asia. The failed trans-
formation, Boulder, Colo. 1991, 235–56.
S. Saidbaev, Islam and society. Results of historical and
sociologial study [in Russian], Moscow 1984^2.
S. Tadjbakhsh, Between Lenin and Allah. Women and
ideology in Tajikistan, in H. L. Bodman and N. Tohidi
(eds.),Women in Muslim societies. Diversity within
unity, Boulder, Colo. 1998.
M. Tokhtakhodjaeva, Between the slogans of commun-
ism and the laws of Islam. The women of Uzbekistan,
trans. S. Aslam, ed. C. Balchin, Lahore 1995.Dono AbdurazakovaIranAlthough Iranian women have made important
strides regarding entry into public schools and in-
stitutions of higher learning, they continue to lack
sufficient access to their limited legal rights. In pur-
suing their rights they either do not seek relief from
the judiciary or, if they do, end up abandoning their
demands as they discover that even with perse-
verance the judiciary remains unresponsive. The
obstacles they face in their attempts to access the
legal system include laws that explicitly discourage
women from seeing themselves as individuals en-
dowed with rights equal to those of men, a conse-
quently low level of legal literacy required for the
pursuit of the limited rights they do have, a legal
structure that is not friendly to women, a paucity of
legal advisors with sufficient knowledge of women’s
issues, and a cultural context that discourages