gendered causes encumbers the advancement of
women’s issues in legislative processes. Familial
dynamics also promote male, rather than female,
political participation. Finally, the dismal state of
Arab economies structures women’s access to the
public sphere. As standards of living decline and
unemployment rates rise, women are becoming un-
able to afford the education necessary to enhance
their human capital.
The impediments to meaningful gender represen-
tation are thus located in the political, economic,
and cultural realities of the region.
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Amaney JamalThe Caucasus and Central AsiaFrom the early days of its establishment (1917),
the Soviet state pursued policies that would eman-
cipate women and give them equal rights with men,
as an important part of the overall strategy to build
a new society. The first Soviet constitution (1918)
and a series of subsequent decrees granted women
equal political rights that gave them access to civil
the caucasus and central asia 679service. In implementing these policies, which were
advanced for their time, the Bolshevik government
made special provisions to ensure that Muslim
women of ex-colonial Russian territories were
involved in the process. Before that, participation
of women in public office was not possible, espe-
cially in the highly traditional and segregated soci-
eties of the ex-colonial Muslim territories of the
Russian Empire.
The policies of the Bolshevik government during
its first decade resulted in the first women being
elected to local and central governing bodies (sovi-
ets). However, this representation remained low
until the end of the 1930s. In 1922, in spite of invi-
tations from the Bolsheviks, women made up 11
percent of deputies of city councils and 1 percent of
village councils (Khasbulatova 2001). In Turkes-
tan, fewer than half the elected female delegates in
1926 represented the Muslim population (Khairul-
laev 1990). In light of this, starting from 1925, the
Soviets accelerated their work toward the emanci-
pation of Muslim women of the Caucasian and
Central Asian republics by publishing the appeal
of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR,
“On the rights of the working women of the Soviet
East and necessity to combat all forms of their
enslavement in economic and family areas” (Khai-
rullaev 1990). This called for more active measures
in involving Muslim women (or as they were called
at that time “women of the Orient”) to participate
at all levels of public and political life. This impor-
tant political document was discussed at numerous
meetings organized by local soviet bodies, women’s
councils (zhenotdel), and youth communist organ-
izations (comsomol) and was followed by concrete
steps taken by the Communist Party that included
measures to create an environment enabling Mus-
lim women to be active in public life. One of the
principal requirements of these policies was in-
creasing women’s representation in public office, as
well as their membership in the only political force
of the time – the Communist Party. As a result of
these policies, within two years, in 1927–8, with
the initiation of the “Khudjum” campaign, the rep-
resentation of local women in elected bodies dou-
bled (Khairullaev 1990). In addition to that, from
1937, the Communist Party started to integrate
quotas for women in elected bodies of power at all
levels. At that time, the quota for the Supreme
Soviet (equivalent to parliament) of the Soviet
Union was 30 percent, and locally elected bodies up
to 40 percent. In 1960, the proportion of women in
representative bodies of power fluctuated from 27
percent in the Supreme Soviet, up to 41 percent in
the district councils of the people’s deputies (soviets).