The problems of gender equality and women’s activism in Tajikistan were discussed by the participants of the expert meeting “Development of Gender Equality in Tajikistan: Achievements and Problems,” organized by the IWPR office on September 30.
This meeting was attended by representatives of NGOs and international organizations working to protect the rights of women and girls, feminist activists in Tajikistan, and journalists.
All of them emphasized that it is impossible to talk about feminism in Tajikistan because society has become more patriarchal in recent years.
In opening the meeting, the moderator, Lola Olimova, IWPR editor in Tajikistan, noted that IWPR’s representation in Central Asia pays special attention to the rights of women and children, problems of developing gender equality and coverage of gender-sensitive issues.
She noted that IWPR in Tajikistan was one of the organizations that actively promoted the adoption of the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence in 2013. The law was not flawless. But it was necessary at the time.
“Our observations over the years show that the situation of women’s and girls’ rights in the region is getting worse every year. Women’s issues are multifaceted, as are men’s issues, most likely. But today I want to focus on a few of them. And the main question I want an answer to is why we are struggling so hard to nurture gender activists. What is preventing the feminist movement in Tajikistan? Why are women in Tajikistan not as active as our neighbors in the region, in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, for example?
All the participants of the expert meeting were unanimous that it is very difficult to promote gender equality in Tajikistan because of the patriarchal society, to which the country has returned after independence, there is no understanding of this, including at the very top, activists believe.
Despite the fact that good programs and strategies have been adopted, society has returned to the understanding, which dominates among the majority, that the woman must obey the man. Moreover, this idea is promoted by both men and many women.
“There is no feminist movement in Tajikistan. And every time we start talking about feminism, we encounter a lot of heckling in social networks and in real life,” said Nisso Rasulova, feminist activist and gender specialist at the ADB project.
She says that as someone who takes an active stance on promoting gender equality and writes about it on social media, she herself regularly faces outright bullying and hating.
“I’ve been subjected to hate on numerous occasions. I have been blocked on Facebook, Instagram, and even Tiktok more than once, even though I don’t say anything about feminism there. In Tajikistan, at the moment, there is no feminist movement,” she said.
In her opinion, the very word “feminism,” causes irritation even in the government.
“People think that feminists will come and destroy all their traditions. We need to talk about feminism in Tajikistan very carefully, using other terms,” she said.
However, Tajikistan does have achievements in this area, said the participants of the event. In particular, Larisa Aleksandrova, an independent consultant and trainer on gender-sensitive topics, noted the role of non-governmental organizations in the fight against discrimination and violence against women.
To improve the effectiveness of activities to combat gender-based violence, NGOs with the support of international organizations unite in multisectoral coalitions, regularly monitor and evaluate the situation on gender inequality and violence against women. They try to establish a permanent partnership with state structures involved in the process of violence prevention and assistance to victims of violence, she said.
Public monitoring shows that the lack of a full cross-sectoral approach to policy development for women’s empowerment and gender equality indicates a number of systemic factors that hinder the implementation of policies to ensure actual gender equality and eradicate gender-based violence.
Nevertheless, the country is constantly working to improve the capacity of various population groups, including trainings, information campaigns to raise awareness on gender equality, Larisa Aleksandrova stressed.
At the moment, various NGOs are implementing programs to eliminate gender stereotypes and violence through various non-traditional approaches.
In particular, Firuza Mirzoeva, head of PF Public Health and Human Rights, told that their organization holds different events, including women leadership schools in regions of the country, activism trainings for women and youth, their psychologists and lawyers provide counseling, hold live broadcasts on radio, where they talk about equality of men and women in the labor market.
In addition, Mirzoeva said that they have held several eco-art residencies for young artists and art activists from all over Tajikistan, where they taught them how to fight against violence against women through art and promote ideas of equality between men and women.
Zulaiho Usmanova, chief researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Political Science and Law, National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, presented her research “Ontology of Gender Violence: Yesterday and Today,” in which she detailed the origins of violence against women, using Tajikistan as an example.
“Violence existed and exists in any society. It has become a social phenomenon with its own social cost. The gender problem is closely connected with social practices and structures that belittle the importance of women and limit it to the subordinate position of women in society. Violence against women is a key attitude of patriarchal society. And despite the fact that humanity as a whole seems to have abandoned violence, executions and torture, the techniques of inflicting pain have not disappeared, but have moved on to another level. Now the human soul has become the main object of influence”, Zulaiho Usmonova said.
Control (violence) over a woman’s body today is taking veiled forms. Such as beauty technology, preserving youthfulness, changing physical parameters, including surgery. New types of non-physical violence include arbitrary treatment by supervisors/managers, compulsion to wear special clothes (hijab, black and white protocol clothing, etc.), exclusion of girls/women from education, lack of promotion of women in public office, she stressed.
Usmonova also cited a glossary of violence rhetoric that exists in the Tajik language, which indicates the difference in society’s perception of the negative behavior of men and women.
“Both men and women are exposed to violence, but for women the risk of violence is especially high,” she said.
Lilia Gaisina, Media critic, Internews in Tajikistan, shared her observations about how gender issues are covered in the Tajik media. She noted that most media outlets are subject to existing stereotypes and do not observe gender sensitivity in their materials.
She told that she and Nisso Rasulova jointly monitored Tajik state TV channels and noticed that, for example, the media present the image of a woman exclusively through the image of a mother.
“TV only shows a certain type of woman who conforms to national stereotypes of a Tajik woman, for example, she must have long hair, a certain hairstyle, white skin, big eyes and black eyebrows, the so-called ‘Aryan’ appearance,” she said.
Even media outlets like Asia Plus don’t always use the right terminology, afraid to call things by their proper names. For example, when covering one high-profile murder where the first wife killed the second wife, they deliberately called the second wife a mistress, even though everyone knew she was exactly the second wife.
When covering sex workers in the media, most often journalists present their image as “night butterflies,” women of easy virtue, “women of low social responsibility,” and almost never from the perspective of the victims. There have been cases in which the media have revealed the names and data of victims of sexual slavery. The topic of LGBT communities is not covered at all because journalists writing about it are censured.
“Tajikistan’s journalists are not trained in gender-sensitive coverage of what is happening in the country,” Gaisina concluded
Recommendations:
The participants of the expert meeting developed a number of recommendations, which, in their opinion, could help to improve the situation, including the following:
- It is necessary to train many categories of citizens, including journalists, district police officers, government officials, etc. on gender equality.
- It is necessary to nurture the ambassadors of the feminist movement.
- It is necessary to approach the problem institutionally. To introduce the subjects on gender equality in universities, schools and kindergartens. Currently, there is no one to teach such subjects, because there are not enough specialists.
- In connection with the recent military clashes on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, the participants proposed to start training women peacekeepers. Create a movement, find common ground and unite with the women of Kyrgyzstan, because in such conflicts, women suffer first and foremost.
- Pay special attention to two categories of women who are often left alone with their problems. These are women migrant workers and women who have returned from war zones in the Middle East. The topic of terrorism should also be considered from a gender perspective.