Kyrgyzstan Study Group

Comment

Comment by Russell Kleinbach on July 22, 2009 at 5:42am

Valentina,
Perhaps you are correct. However men are equally well educated, so there should be enough well educated men for the educated women. I guess it developed more to deal with the disagreements with parents as to who the young people would marry, and perhaps, to have less expensive marriages as most wealth had been collectivized.

Comment by Valentina Yuchenkova on June 16, 2009 at 2:11pm

Hello Russel,
I would like to comment on your remark that bridekidnapping was uncommon prior to the Soviet period. It sounds like it was encouraged under the Soviet period. I believe that the reason for the new "fashion" is that the self-awareness and self-assertiveness of Kyrgyz women grew up considerably during the Soviet period. They were encouraged to get education, higher education including . Before perestroika there was a special Kyrgyz women' s Pedagogical Institute in Bishkek ( a unique higher educational institution aimed at educating rural women). During the last 30 years many Kyrgyz women have got access to higher education and now there are more educated women with University diplomas than men(as you must have noticed when living in Bishkek). No wonder they don't want to marry the men who are their inferior and to live in rural backwater. The same is true about rural women. They are not so submissive and obedient as they used to be... . So, men have to kidnap the unwilling girls...

Comment by Betty Tonsing on April 25, 2009 at 8:33am

The loss of hyrdo power however is contributing to the rationing of electricity. Seems a relative of the PResident sold sold too much to Uzbeks to the deficit of Kyrgyzstan's need, but then the President goes to Moscow to let them save the day. Dirty politics.

Comment by George Carter on April 24, 2009 at 10:56am

Hi Russ: Its George Carter. How about some discussion on the closing of the US air base in Kyrgyzstan? I get differing opinions from who cares to it will not happen. I would hope some Kyrgyz would want to get involved. Apparently the Parliament has voted to close the base which would be a major loss to the country. What the Russians have offered relates to hydro power not to the airport. Something fishy is going on. I'm surprised you have not had other comments on this issue. Best wishes. George

Comment by Karayeva Zina on April 13, 2009 at 7:36am

hello, I am Zina from Kyrgyzstan, Dean of Foreign Language Institute of the Kyrgyz International University. I was a Fulbright Scholar in the US. I welcome this discussion. I am going to a meeting at this moment, but will come back and would like to comment on many of the questions you ask. Thanks so much for your interest about Kyrgyzstan. I would like to see after my comments how our socials strata and ways compare to those in Kenya, especially among women.

Comment by Russell Kleinbach on April 10, 2009 at 11:24am

Bride kidnapping (ala kachuu) in the Kyrgyz Republic is the act of abducting a woman to marry her and includes a variety of actions, ranging from consensual elopement to kidnapping and rape. Sometimes it results in death by murder or suicide. Previous research has described the practice (Amsler and Kleinbach, 1999)*, measured the frequency (Kleinbach, 2003)*, documented its increase over the last half century (Kleinbach, et al, 2005)*, and shown that it was uncommon prior to the Soviet period and thus not an “old tradition,” but rather a 20th century “fashion” (Kleinbach & Salimjanova, 2007)*.
Non-consensual bride kidnapping is popularly accepted as a traditional practice even though it violates the fundamental human rights of approximately 1/3 of Kyrgyz women (Kleinbach, 2003)*. It is also a violation of Kyrgyz civil law, Islamic law and Kyrgyz traditional law of adat (Kleinbach & Salimjanova, 2007)*. Summer 2008 unpublished research revealed that 51% of women in ten small villages (married in the previous year) were married by non-consensual kidnapping.
[*These papers can be found on: http://faculty.philau.edu/KleinbachR/ala_kachuu.htm ]

International agencies such as Human Rights Watch, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have linked non-consensual bride kidnapping with domestic violence and human trafficking, and are urging NGOs and Kyrgyz law enforcement officials to address the problem.

“We appreciate cooperation with the Kyrgyz authorities in human trafficking. Kyrgyzstan has joined a number of agreements in this dimension. At the earliest possible time, particular attention is to be paid not only to the supplier-states, but also countries in which slave-trade is widely spread. We are going to fight not only sex enslavement, but also kidnapping of women, as a way of marriage proposal, and child panhandling. We believe it is crucial to develop relationships with the non-profit sector and law enforcement bodies to raise chances for effective outcomes . . . ."
Markus Muller the Head of the OSCE Center in Bishkek said. [(01-188) "The Times of Central Asia"]

A member our research team, as part of a Forum of Women's NGOs, testified in Geneva at the fall, 2008 meeting of the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Forum of Women's NGOs, 19). The concluding observations of the Committee’s forty-second session (November, 2008) on Kyrgyzstan, included the following:

20. In line with its previous concluding observations, the Committee recommends that an extensive, public awareness-raising campaign* against violence in the family be launched nationwide. . . . .
21. The Committee remains seriously concerned at the continuing existence of bride abduction* despite its prohibition in the law and notes that this matter was, also highlighted in its previous concluding observations. It is also concerned that this practice results in forced marriages, in contradiction to article 16 of the Convention. . . . .
22. The Committee recommends immediate action by the State party to ensure the full respect of the laws penalizing bride abduction,* forced marriage, and polygamy. In particular, the Committee urges the State party to take appropriate measures in order to have all cases involving these phenomena recorded, investigated, and prosecuted, even in the absence of a formal complaint. The Committee also recommends that the State party take urgent and effective measures, including the training of the judiciary and law enforcement officials and constant and large public awareness-raising campaigns, to eliminate these practices. The role of the media must be of crucial importance in this respect. The State party is also invited to conduct research on the causes for the existence and reinforcement of these phenomena, in order to better understand what would be the most adequate measures for their eradication.** [Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; Forty-second session, 20 October - 7 November, 2008: Kyrgyzstan
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N08/602/73/PDF/N0860273.pdf?OpenElement] [** emphasis added]

On November 25, 2008, the Permanent UN Coordinator in Kyrgyzstan Neal Walker announced the beginning of a 16-day campaign against gender violence, including forced marriage through bride kidnapping, in Kyrgyzstan
(Kutueva, Aizada. “16-day campaign against gender violence launched in Kyrgyzstan,” 25/11-2008 09:34 , Bishkek , News Agency. http://eng.24.kg/community/2008/11/25/6558.html; Kutueva, Aizada. “75% of violence against women occur in families,” 25/11-2008 12:26, Bishkek – News Agency “24.kg”, http://eng.24.kg/community/2008/11/25/6559.html)

Comment by Betty Tonsing on April 10, 2009 at 5:01am

Russ....do you want add something more about bride kidnapping ? Unless I miss where you have it. People will wonder what this is about....and this is an area of expertise for you. I only explain it that many young women I worked with in the capital city of Bishkek were afraid of going back to their home villages to visit family for fear they would be kipnapped by someone who wanted to marry them...and these kipnappings are serious and generally include many members of his family and sometimes/often hers. It is a commonly accepted practice among rural marriages and assumed the woman/wife will eventually get used to her husband. Would be wonderful if you could add more and what some groups are doing about it in Kyrgyzstan

Comment by Russell Kleinbach on April 9, 2009 at 6:08am

For information on the practice of bride-kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan, visit our web page: http://faculty.philau.edu/kleinbachr/ala_kachuu.htm

Comment by Betty Tonsing on April 7, 2009 at 11:33pm

Eunice...I can add that they are called Kyrgyz.....but that is now of modern times. What they might have been called over the centuries I will ask my Kyrgyz friends to join in.

Comment by Eunice Karanja Kamaara on April 7, 2009 at 10:34pm

I too would be interested in learning more about this ancient part of the world. What is the culture of the people living there? What are the people called?