1. INTRODUCTION
Zamira is 29 years old, and lives in a small town. Because of the civil war she had to leave school after seven years of education. At 18 she married her husband in a traditional nikohmarriage1 which was not registered with the civil registry. She gave birth to a son who is now nine years old. The marriage lasted for five years, and in all those years Zamira was never allowed to leave the house. "It was like in prison", Zamira told Amnesty International. Her husband and his parents prohibited her from going out or talking to other people. Whenever she asked his permission to go out or when they had a quarrel her husband would beat her. One day her husband divorced her, by saying taloq three times2 in the presence of two witnesses, and she was thrown out of the house by his parents. Now Zamira and her son live with her parents, but the house is crowded as 10 people live there.
Zamira dreams of having her own house for her and her son. She is attending the literacy classes at a NGO women's centre, and she would like to work at the local post office when she has finished her courses. She did not file a claim for alimony because she fears the reactions of her relatives. Occasionally she receives some money from them. Zamira thinks that the in-laws and her husband treated her so badly because their relationship had started before their nikoh marriage.
"The roots of violence against women lie in historically unequal power relations between men and women and pervasive discrimination against women in both the public and private spheres. Patriarchal disparities of power, discriminatory cultural norms and economic inequalities serve to deny women's human rights and to perpetuate violence. Violence against women is one of the key means through which male control over women's agency and sexuality is maintained." (UN Secretary General)
All over the world women are subjected to violence in their families. This is not just a crime of violence; it is one of the most pervasive human rights violations, as well as one of the most hidden. In Tajikistan, one third to one half of women may at some time experience physical, psychological or sexual violence at the hands of husbands or other family members. The government of Tajikistan has undertaken some initial steps to address this problem: in 2001 a state programme on "Equal Rights and Opportunities" was adopted, including a chapter on the prevention of domestic violence. A Coordination Council on the "Prevention of Violence against Women" was set up, and a draft law on "Social and Legal Protection against Domestic Violence" is under discussion.
However, Amnesty International is concerned that despite the initial measures that have been taken by the Tajikistani government to combat domestic violence, Tajikistan is falling short of its international obligation to protect women's rights to lead a life free from violence. This failure to adequately address its obligations has resulted in perpetrators of domestic violence enjoying virtual impunity. Women's access to the criminal justice system is very restricted, with inadequate police and judicial response; as a result, women are unwilling to come forward, which has led to massive under-reporting. State authorities' responses reflect a societal attitude of blaming the woman for the violence and they see their primary role as mediation and preservation of the family rather than protection of the woman. There are insufficient services to protect survivors of domestic violence, such as temporary shelters, and adequate and safe alternative housing in the long term. There is a lack of mandatory government training programmes for police, judges and medical staff. No comprehensive statistics on cases of domestic violence, disaggregated by sex and indicating the relationship between survivor and perpetrator, are compiled in a systematic manner.4 A functioning cross-referral system for survivors of domestic violence between different players such as health workers, crisis and legal aid centres and law enforcement agencies is not in place. As a result of a lack of public awareness and support many women are unable to escape the cycle of violence, and many endure violent situations because they have nowhere else to go.
Amnesty International is calling upon the Tajikistani authorities to improve their efforts to respect, protect, fulfil and promote the rights of women to lead a life free of violence. To fulfil its international obligations Tajikistan has to prevent and prosecute violence against women in the family and to incorporate international human rights treaties into effective domestic laws that protect women from violence. Properly-funded government programmes are required to implement the state programme through strengthening the capacity of law enforcement agencies to effectively protect women from violence, introducing civil remedies for women seeking protection and establishing nationwide support services such as shelters, hotlines and crisis centres. To date, most support structures, including the only shelter for survivors of domestic violence, have been built up by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who work with virtually no funding from the government and rely on financial means provided by international donor organizations.
The report also highlights the entrenched societal attitudes of acceptance and justification of violence against women in the context of the increasing promotion of traditional discourses, which advocate confining women's sphere of activity to the home. These perceptions pose a further obstacle to the protection and fulfilment of women's rights. It is also a responsibility of the state to challenge such attitudes: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Women's Convention) requires in Article 5a that states take measures to "modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women".
A major factor contributing to the exposure of women, in particular young women, to domestic violence is the failure of the state to take adequate measures to prevent illegal early marriages. Moreover, women and girls are exposed to various forms of discrimination through the state's failure to ensure that all marriages are registered and that the law banning polygamy is enforced. In many cases, marriages are not registered because they are the second or the third marriage. Unregistered marriages are not recognised in law, leaving women in such marriages without any of the legal protection a spouse is entitled to. The common practice in case of divorce is for the women and children to be chased out of the family house by their husband or in-laws and refused any rights.
Another issue of concern is the particularly vulnerable situation of unattached women in the context of male migration: many men migrate in search for work which has led to an unbalanced gender ratio in the country. Parents of daughters feel under considerable strain to marry their daughters. Furthermore, those young women, often uneducated and not empowered to support themselves, are seen as an economic burden to their families. In order to relieve themselves of this burden, families open up unattached women to exploitation by making them available for polygamous, forced or unregistered marriages. The increased early drop-out rate of girls in the education system is also of particular concern for Amnesty International. Girls are viewed as an economic benefit to another family, so not worth investing in for their own family. Education is a key factor for girls' empowerment to avoid and escape situations of violence. However, the state is failing to ensure that girls get an adequate education, which contributes to the overall picture of violence and discrimination against women in Tajikistan.
In focusing in this report on violence against women in the family in Tajikistan, Amnesty International does not suggest that violence against women is only found in Tajikistan. Amnesty International has documented in its reports on many countries in the region, including Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Turkey, that women are subjected to violence by their intimate partners regardless of where they live or their social status. In many cases, violence is seen as a normal part of the relationship between men and women, or it is justified on the grounds of behaviour, honour or tradition. Amnesty International believes that none of these excuses, or indeed any other grounds, can ever justify violence against women. Violence against women is an inexcusable violation of human rights law and standards, and a prohibition that amounts to a norm of customary international law.
