eral regime they form only 6.7 percent, figures that
do not show the real process of democratization and
women’s access to political power in either country.
Table 1. Seats in parliament held by women in the
Muslim countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Country Percentage
Azerbaijan 10.5
Kazakhstan 11.2
Kyrgyzstan 6.7
Tajikistan 12.4
Turkmenistan 26.0
Uzbekistan 7.2
Source: Human Development Report, 2002. Deepening
democracy in a fragmented world, published for the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New
York 2002, 227–8.
Some women’s NGOs and movements advocate a
restoration of the quota system as a way of ensur-
ing women’s political participation, even though
the Soviet case clearly illustrates the ineffectiveness
of such an approach. Token participation of
women in political life supported by a 30 percent
quota system did not lead to the real political em-
powerment of women. Current efforts by women’s
NGOs concerning the restoration of a quota have
had limited support among both women and men.
In Uzbekistan, the president issued a decree to
appoint a woman as a deputy governor. Some
Uzbek women’s NGOs commented that this deci-
sion was a signal to block the access of women to
positions of governor (™àkim) and other higher
posts. In Kyrgyzstan, reminiscent of the Soviet-style
women’s committees, a pro-governmental women’s
party was organized. In general, although there are
several female leaders of political parties in Azer-
baijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, women in the
Caucasus and Central Asia are more active and
powerful in NGOs than in political parties. In a
transition that led to mass unemployment, women
were the first to lose their jobs in both the private
and public sectors, so some women moved to the
non-governmental sector. Women are alienated
from political life in all countries; often they ex-
press their concerns by joining dissident forces, as
editors of newspapers, journalists, scholars, and
activists in political parties and NGOs.
Reforms involving political liberalization and
the strengthening of civil society are most success-
ful in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and
Tajikistan. Women in these countries are thus bet-
ter able to discuss civil society issues and the role of
central asia and the caucasus 51Islam in transition to democracy and the market
economy. They can be heard and express their own
interests publicly in the media, whereas the leader-
ships in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan still main-
tain a Soviet-style governance and control over civil
society that impedes women from openly expressing
their concerns and discussing democracy ideologies.
Despite these differences between the states, in the
non-governmental sectors in all countries of Cen-
tral Asia and the Caucasus women’s NGOs are the
most numerous and well organized thanks to the
enthusiasm of women themselves and the support
of international organizations and Western donors.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, as a result
of numerous missions from Muslim countries, the
first women in ™ijàbappeared on the streets of
cities and villages in all Muslim states of Central
Asia and the Caucasus. A number of Muslim lead-
ers and politicians began to restore discriminatory
interpretations of the Qur±àn and some Muslim
families brought back traditions humiliating to
women. Polygamy, under-age marriage, and seclu-
sion of women, especially in rural areas, are seen by
some politicians and families as the fair restoration
of ancestors’ traditions. Despite progressive writ-
ten law protecting women’s rights, a significant
number of families practice customary law, mainly
in rural areas. Predominance of customary law in
inheritance, access of women to land and their
tenure rights are little discussed in society. Many
women regret losing the previous Soviet system
with its safety net of free health care, protection of
mothers, children, and retired people, and employ-
ment opportunities; the transition to a market
economy involved increasing poverty accompanied
by de-emancipation of women, and the inability of
the states to maintain social allowances and sup-
port for women and children.
At the same time, leaders of the newly independ-
ent Muslim countries in search of national ideology
have promoted the veneration of medieval figures.
Building national ideology through nationalism
and praise of wartime rulers contradict commit-
ments of the leadership of all these countries to pur-
sue democratization and stability in the region.
Unfortunately, the voice of women leaders in
NGOs, the media, and political parties aiming to
prevent a spread of these ideas is not heard well.
The majority of NGOs and political parties and the
media rarely debate gender issues linked to the
revival of Islam and male-dominated interpreta-
tions of the Qur±àn and national histories.
Since the late 1990s, Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of
Liberation), a transnational Islamic party, has