By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan- Human rights group Amnesty International has accused Tajikistan of failing to protect their women. The group says nearly half of Tajikstani women are raped, beaten or abused by their families. According to Amnesty, Tajikstani women regularly endure humiliation from the hands of loved ones, including their husbands and in-laws, resulting in many committing suicide.
The report urges the authorities to address it as a crime, not to dismiss it as a “private family matter. The authors of the report say the government should introduce laws and support services to tackle domestic violence. Andrea Strasser-Camagni, Amnesty International’s Tajikistan expert said “Women in Tajikistan are beaten, abused, and raped in the family but the authorities tend to reflect the societal attitude of blaming the woman for domestic violence. They see their primary role as mediator, to preserve the family rather than protect the women and to safeguard their rights.”
Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan, is the poorest former Soviet Republic. Strasser Camagni also states that traditional Tajikstani family values, reinforced after the Soviet Union break-up, impose even further discrimination on women by narrowing their role to that of wife and mother, and pushing them to lowest job market sector.
Tajikstani women have limited rights and job opportunities. Many women drop out of school and enter into marriages that are often polygamous or unregistered. “Women are being treated as servants or as the in-laws’ family property…They have no-one to turn to, as the policy of the authorities is to urge reconciliation, which…reinforces their position of inferiority” said Strasser-Camagni in a statement.
Up to one million Tajikstani men travel abroad every year looking for seasonal work. In many cases, they stop sending money or do not return home and leave their wives vulnerable to abuse by their in-laws. Some men even divorce their wives by text message announcing they have separated. Because of this many women are driven to commit suicide but relatives regularly cover up these incidents by presenting them as accidents.
Tajikistan has ratified relevant international human rights treaties, but has fallen short of its international obligation to protect women’s rights.
Amnesty International has called upon the Tajikistan government to: introduce effective domestic abuse laws, and carry out a nationwide public awareness campaign to address the practices of unregistered, polygamous, and early marriages. They have also urged a removal of all barriers to girl’s education and address the root causes of girls dropping out of education.
For information, please see:
Reuters- Tajikistan Fails to Curb Abuse of Women: Amnesty– 23 November 2009
Amnesty International – Tajikistan Women Beaten, Abused and Raped in the Family-24 November 24, 2009
BBC News- Amnesty: Nearly Half of Tajik Women ‘Regularly Abused’– 24 November 2009
