and go on living a married life. A woman who was
divorced on her husband’s initiative had no right to
her dowry or her children.
A woman who initiated a divorce had no right to
an allowance, while a woman divorced on the ini-
tiative of her husband had an allowance until the
≠iddaexpired.
Childlessness would often constitute grounds
for divorce. The birth of a girl could also justify
polygyny. The divorced woman lost the right to
bring up her children. In the case of divorce or the
father’s death, children (in particular boys) re-
mained in the care of the father’s relatives. In this
connection, adoption of boys was widely practiced
in the countries of Central Asia (in particular among
the Uzbek and the Kyrgyz).
After Central Asian and Caucasian states became
integrated into the Russian Empire, courts began to
dissolve marriages on women’s initiative. Under
Soviet rule, the Muslim communities of Central
Asia and the Caucasus gradually began to relin-
quish Muslim laws: however, they retained power
and continued existence as sociocultural values.
While according to the family law divorce can be
initiated by either spouse, in traditional Muslim
societies divorce is an unseemly act, especially for
women. A report presented by human rights ac-
tivists states: “In Uzbekistan in many cases divorce
is the result of domestic abuse. A woman attorney
assures us that all her clients filed for divorce
because their husbands had beaten them. Thus, the
divorce process normally begins when a woman
wants to free herself of domestic violence” (Minne-
sota Advocates 2000, 53).
A woman’s right to divorce is restricted by public
opinion, by the attitude of the community, rela-
tives, and parents. Her parents close the door of the
parental house to her. It is more difficult to marry
off the daughters of divorced mothers; younger
sisters of a divorced woman will not be able to
marry because the stamp of the divorced sister is on
them. Old Uzbek proverbs about marrying off a
daughter say: “May your dead body return from
there,” and “Flesh for you and bones for us.”After divorce
The most frequent problem today upon divorce
in the countries of Central Asia is that of where a
divorced woman can live. In most cases, the wife
has no right to her part of the house belonging to
her husband’s parents. After divorce, small children
remain in the care of the wife (contrary to the tra-
ditions of the Caucasian peoples, where children
can remain in the father’s family). There is also a
problem with work. A woman who has remained104 divorce and custody: contemporary practices
at home without working outside the home loses
whatever qualifications she may have had before
marriage; if she was not educated before the birth
of children, in most cases a woman has no oppor-
tunity to acquire or continue education. For such
women there is only work that is underpaid, dirty,
intensive, and unskilled. Alimony does not cover all
the expenses of maintaining children because of the
low level of wages. Many women refuse alimony to
prevent the subsequent claim on the part of the
father for return of the alimony when the children
attain majority. If a father pays alimony for the chil-
dren’s maintenance he is entitled to demand 25 per-
cent of their wages for his own maintenance in his
old age. If a divorced woman is engaged in com-
mercial business, she is more likely to work a more
flexible schedule, allowing her more time to be with
her children; and she earns a better income.Children
Under Islamic law in the pre-Soviet period,
trusteeship (wilàya) could be established for minors
and the mentally disabled. Trusteeship was carried
out by the father, a trustee (walì), or a judge (qà∂ì).
It began before a minor achieved sexual maturity
and stopped upon the death of a ward. The trustee
had to be a Muslim; a woman could also be a
trustee.
After divorce in the post-Soviet period, a young
woman is always offered for marriage again. How-
ever, if she already has a child, her parents always
try to take the child away from her. Childless fami-
lies adopt children of close relatives. Sometimes a
child is taken to a childless family from a large fam-
ily against his or her mother’s will. Such children
learn who their true mother is only in adulthood.
This frequently creates shock and stress. Adoptive
parents prefer to hide the truth from the child unless
extraordinary events force them to reveal it. The
real mother has little role in the bringing up of her
child. Frequently, adoptive parents take children
from poor families for trusteeship. They often do
not accord the same status to their adopted children
as to their biological children. The girls are usually
married off earlier than the biological daughters;
they do not receive education equal to the biologi-
cal children; they are loaded with housework more
often; and they are often used as workers in the
house. The attitude is the same toward boys. They
become helpers in the house or on the farm; the
adoptive parents are less concerned with their edu-
cation and intellectual growth. The food and cloth-
ing of adopted children leave much to be desired.
The eldest daughters (less often sons) are some-
times left to be brought up by their lonely and aged