Violence against women in Kazakhstan

1. Violence against women in Kazakhstan CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

2. Scope of problem • Half of the women surveyed are said to have been exposed to violence. • Every fifth respondent had been beaten. • Every seventh woman surveyed had been robbed and every thirtieth had been raped. • One third of women-respondents was a victim of physical violence in 1999. • More than a half of the instances of physical violence against women were committed in public places (in the street, market or public transport). In response, some victims did nothing, others actively resisted. Only 8% appealed to the police for help.

3. Scope of domestic violence • 28% of married women are exposed to domestic violence. • Every sixth married woman suffers from domestic violence at least once every six months. • 7% of married women responded: violence committed against them by their husbands was life threatening. • Mental disorder - the most common consequence of domestic violence (70% of women who had suffered from domestic violence).

4. Risk factors of violence • Alcohol abuse • Woman’s education level • Type of settlement • Woman’s age • Allocation of family responsibilities

5. Possible Interventions • A radical change in society’s attitude towards alcohol abuse • Promotion of healthy lifestyles • Including promotion of responsible attitude to family duties and responsibilities • Introduction of a gender component into the secondary education • Specialised governmental agencies in co-operation with NGOs in addition to legal activities should work with the population and monitor risk groups

6. EPILOGUE A SAD STORIES DIARY

7. I was married, and my husband, coming back home from work, wanted me to look after him. He pretended not to notice that I was at work as well and that I might be tired as well. Inequality in the family is also violence.

8. I was married twice. My first husband drank a lot and I divorced him. My second husband did not drink, but coming home from work he did nothing but lay down on the sofa doing nothing. One time we need a nail hammered in. I ask him to do it and he said in response: “You do it since you need it”.

9. The conflicts occur primarily because I am working but my husband is not. For instance, the Kazakhs have a proverb, which says that “the man is the head, the woman is the neck". And if I do not push my husband, he will not manage to do anything, which means that I am held guilty for the fact that my husband does not have a job.

10. If not to take Almaty way of upbringing, but the Shymkent or Zhambul way, inequality there might be better seen, but in Almaty people are more civilised, better educated, and more democratic. And violence against women here is less noticeable. I have an example of a young man from Almaty who went to Shymkent to choose a girl and to get married, since women there are more complaisant, and that was exactly what he wanted. Of course, why does he need a woman who has her own opinion?

11. The most common outcome in the conditions of economic crisis is degradationof a man, when he ceases fulfilling any responsibility for himself, his family and his children but at the same time exercises his physical and moral superiority (caused by traditions). Unfortunately such cases more and more often take place.

12. As has already been noted, in the current economy men appear to be weaker than women. Women’s responsibility for taking care of a family constantly keeps them in shape. Alcohol becomes a way for men who feel unstable to escape. Constant reproaches of doing nothing bring out estrangement of spouses and finally end with violence.