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MIl .. - - - .. THE PROBLEMS OF WOMEN - IN UZBEKISTAN .. (Research Project) ......

• ...... Tashkent, 2000 ..

- I 2 ...... II .. Winrock International .. .. The Open Society Institute!Assistance Foundation - Uzbekistan .. • •

The present • research project was made possible through support provided by the United States Agency for International Development/Central Asia Regional Mission (under terms of grant number 122-0007-A-OO-9022-00) and the Open Society Institute! Assistance • Foundation - Uzbekistan. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the Open Society Institute! Assistance Foundation - • Uzbekistan . .. .. • • .. ..

Table of Contenl Introduction ...... 4 I. Conceptual basis of research ...... 5 .. 1.1 Goals and objectives of the project ...... 1.2 Research methodology ...... 5 1.3 Targeted 5 groups and selection procedure ...... 1.4 Selection 8 of the regions for research ...... 11 2. Women as a reflection of demographic trends ...... 14 3. Differences in women problems identified in the course of survey ...... 17 .. 4. WomenandEducation ...... 21 4.1 Decrease .. in the level of general education ...... 4.2 Uneven 21 access to vocational education ...... 4.3 Women in 23 the system of informal education ...... 26 5. Discrimination and segregation of women on a labor market...... 28 5.1 Professional and .. industrial employment of women ...... 5.2 Discrimination 28 during admission and dismissal...... 5.3 Limitations in Career Growth ...... 29 .. 5.4 Discrimination in Salary ...... 30 30 6. Problems of Women related to the type of employment ...... 31 • 6.1 Employees of Agricultural Sector ...... 6.2 Problems .31 of Highly Educated People ...... 6.3 Problems of women in state service ...... 32 • 6.4 Problems .34 of women in formal business ...... 6.5 Problems 35 of women in informal business ...... • 6.6 Problems of women - farmers ...... 36 38 7. Unemployment among women ...... • .39 8. WomenandSociety ...... 43 .. 8.1 The role functions of women from family and community standpoint...... 8.2 Family status of women ...... 43 8.3 Public involvement of women ...... 44 .. .45 9. Violenceinthefamily ...... 49 - Conclusion ...... 54 • .. .. - ; .. Introduction Within the last decade the economy of Uzbekistan has been characterized by a number of trends that were caused by an ongoing .. restructuring of socio-economical sector. Within the context of existent changes women are known to be performing the role of executors and consumers of products of reforms, reacting to emerging changes and .. influencing their character and rate. Women are showing their readiness and ability to adapt to a fast changing situation in social sphere and employment. No principal .. causes have been noted to validate the fact that Uzbek women, having adequate education and professional capabilities, are unable to use same opportunities in new conditions that are given to male population. However, .. the readiness of women to share the consequences of structural reforms comes at a high cost. Here we would like to refer to the conclusions of World Bank, that "although the economic reform in a long run is expected to be beneficial .. for both women and men, gender inequality at the family and market levels might instigate the fact, that women, especially underprivileged, would not be able to enjoy at once the benefrts of reforms· (World Bank, .. 1995, p. 55). That means that, firstly, economic reforms do not involve the grounds of gender inequality, and secondly, for majority of women "not at once" might stand for "too late". .. The present work is an attempt to estimate the social value of reforms and define the set of specific women problems during transitional period. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to employees of regional branches .. of Association of Business Women for their assistance in conducting this research. The present report sets out the results of research work, carried out by a • Sociological group under the direction of Nodira Azimova. The analysis of official statistical data has been prepared by Olga Nemirovskaya. •

III • • ...... - 5 .. 1. Conceptual basis of research 1.1. Goals and objectives of the project

.. The goal of the present research is to reveal and identify the problems of women of different social groups and classes, differentiated by significant status features. In accordance with the goals of the research, the following objectives have been set in the course of the project: - problem classification based on empirical data determination of significant differences in the set of problems among .. women of diverse status characteristics .. problem ranking by its degree of significance .. 1.2. Research methodology It is important to specify that the goal of the present research is to study the problems of women caused by the structural reformation of all spheres of public life .. rather than women problems in general. Restructuring in a long run was aimed to solve a whole range of social and economical problems that . emerged during the soviet period. However the restructuring itself has been generating new difficulties that are reinforcing the negative effect of problems that still persist. - In general the social and economical problems could be categorized as follows:

- I. Problems caused by existing objective situation on macro level (economic situation in the country and the region of the individual's residence and political conditions) - II. Problems related to economical activity of individual, i.e. her professional activity • III. Problems related to the individual's functioning on a micro-social level (family, neighborhood community, other social groups)

.. Each of those groups considers numerous problems, the research of which would require excessive expenditures and development of cumbersome toolset. Therefore the study has been conducted on a stage­ • by-stage basis. Start-up interviews were conducted in 38 focus groups during the first stage. The purpose of interviews was to specify the problems and receive quality • information on the most crucial ones. A questionnaire has been developed on the basis of start-up interviews to conduct formal interviews .. and determine the pool of respondents for the survey. In accordance with its goals and objectives, the research has revealed problems, attributive to the women groups with different status features. The set of women problems has been defined on a basis of empirical data and start-up interviews - held during the first stage of the research. As a result, the set of women problems was divided into 3 categories:

• I. Work and Study; .. II . Home and family, community; ____,______0.·_".. _...... ___ _

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III. Ecology and health. -

The second stage has revealed priorities and specific problems related to different social groups of respondents. The ranking has been performed - using the method of cumulative evaluation on a 3-grade sequential scale and method of paired comparison (to rank the problems with the same rank). The problem grouping is as follows: . - \ I. Work and professional study. - 1. no vocational schools in the neighborhood; 2. no means to receive vocational education; 3. parents or husband would not allow to study; - 4. large load of household responsibilities would not allow to get an education; 5. no workplaces in the community; - 6. impossible to find a job within the specialization; 7. only a low paid job is available; 8. employers are not eager to accept women to work 9. large load of household responsibilities would not allow to get a job; - 10. relatives and husband would not allow to work; 11. low wages; 12. no chance to get promoted at work; - 13. severe and hazardous working conditions; 14. very intensive job; 15. monotonous, routine, uninteresting job; - 16. bad relationship with management; 17. bad relationship with colleagues; 18. constant fear to be fired; .. 19. the job does not meet the specialization; 20. no initial capital to start own business; 21. no circulating assets for successful execution of business; - 22. not enough education to do business; 23. no qualified consultants on entrepreneurship issues; .. 24. no raw materials for production activity; 25. no standardized production equipment; 26. no qualified personnel to employ; 27. nO'market for produced materials; - 28. low prices for produced materials; 29. high taxes and unofficial extortions; 30. not enough resources (land, water, energy, production - facilities); 31. defaulted payments of customers, unreliability of suppliers. 32. markets are in accessible - II. Home, family, community. - 33. no financial means available in the family for basic clothing and food products; -

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34. no adequate housing conditions; ... 35. too much household work; 36. too much work in the garden; 37. too much time consumed by child care; .. 38. no customer service arrangements for domestic needs; 39. no openings in pre-school institutions; 40. no money to afford.child-care; .. 41. poor conditions in children's day-care facilities 42. no educational institutions in the neighborhood to get vocational education for girls; .. 43. no money for vocational education of daughters; 44. no money for dowry and observance of rites; 45. no necessary goods in the stores; .. 46. too much time consumed by the care for infirm relatives; 47. poor relationship with relatives of husband; .. 48. poor relationship with husband; 49. woman does not have a right to manage family budget without permission of husband or relatives; 50. .. women do not own large private property (land, house, transport) ; 51. woman does not have a right to manage her property without .. permission of husband and relatives ; 52. woman's opinion in the family does not count; 53. woman does not have a freedom of movement .. 54. violent treatment of women (physical abuse, humiliation, threats); 55. drinking problem of husband; .. 56. too many public responsibilities in makhallya; 57. women are not allowed to participate in the work of makhallya committee; .. 58. money is collected too often in makhallyas for different events; 59. woman is condemned by the neighbors if her behavior and appearances do not comply with traditions and opinion of • majority; 60. working woman is condemned by the neighbors; 61. studying woman is condemned by the neighbors; II III. Ecology and health.

62. poor water quality; 63. dusty and gas-laden air; 64. poor health of women; .. 65 . frequent pregnancies; 66. frequent abortions; 67. poor health condition of husband, relatives; .. 68 . no medical facilities in the community; 69. no doctors 70. poor medical treatment; .. 71. no money for medicine .. 72 . no money for doctors' services ------,---,.. ".-

8 - 73. no place to buy medicine; 74. poor children health; 75. no medical facilities for children; - 76. no pediatricians; 77. poor quality of children health protection further - Only statistically significant problems were considered for the \ analysis. identify - During the second stage interviews were conducted to quantitative characteristics of researched phenomena. Following hypotheses were checked in the course of the research. - social 1. problem development is influenced by factors distinguishing and demographic status of women: - age; education; marital status; - residence area (rural, urban); ethnic background - 2. problems are differentiated according to social and professional status of women: .. - job availability; type of employment (work on contract basis, self-employment, household work, what industry that work relates to) .. region 3. problems are differentiated by the development level of of since the macroeconomic situation influences the character .. occupation and economical status of the families.

4. (alternative) economic destabilization evens out and draws .. women's problems together irrelevant to the their status characteristics. . .. 1.3. Targeted groups and selection procedure .. Since developed hypothesis assumes the presence of interrelation professional between identified groups of problems and social, demographic, .. Chart 1. Distribution of respondents by em ployment status .. ". .. -

~Working on contract bas;S------III Entrepreneurs -.. ----I ~~~~~~~~re~_ Dse~~~mp~~e~ ______J ------,----_ .. _------9

and territorial characteristics of women, the sampling included female respondents that meet the listed characteristics. Women with different employment status - employed and unemployed - were chosen for the survey. Employed • respondents included those varying by the type of employment:

• - working on contract; entrepreneurs; self-employed; - - employed in organizations of third sector Due to the size of sampling not all the industry sectors were represented in the - survey. It included women working in agricuHural sector, trade, service sector, employees of state institutions and state budget institutions. The distribution • of sampled group by employment status is given in Table 1: Table1 • Number % Workin!l on contract basis 68 27,6 includin!l elTlple>yed in shirqats, farms 12 4,9 state budget institutions 44 17,9 - state institutions 5 2,0 Others 7 2,8 I Entrepreneurs 81 32,9 - Including farmers 17 6,9 NGO employees 4 1,6 Self-employed • 8 3,3 I Non-employed 85 34,6 .. 246 100,0

The .. survey included women with different marital status. Since marital status is closely linked to the age of women, different age groups were .. represented in the study . Age distribution of female respondents

- Table 2 Number % • 18-21 15 6,1 22-33 65 26,4 34-45 121 49,2 • 46-55 45 18,3 - 246 100,0 • .. 10

, by marital status .. Distribution of female respondents Table 3 •• Quantity % 170 69,1 Married 34 13,8 Divorced •• 3 1,2 Married but separated \ 16 6,5 Widow 28 9,3 Single 246 100,0 - - conducted considering the ethnical The selection of respondents was background of women. background - Distribution of respondents by ethnic Table 4 •• Number % 195 79,3 Uzbeks 15 6,1 kalQaks - Kara 26 10,6 nationalities of Central Asia Other 10 4,0 Others 246 100,0 ..

ass follows by the residence area: The respondents were distributed .. - 65% Rural area residents 160 people - 35% Urban area residents 86 people .. by residence Chart 2. Distribution of respondents area

• ..

Ru ral Area • Urban Area I .. 1111 .. into 38 focus groups of two types: Selected respondents were united

1 - female entrepreneurs women - working on contract basis and unemployed 2 - women - - ".. II ... Type 1 groups included: a) entrepreneurs employed in formal segment of non-agricuHural sector; .. b) farmers; c) entrepreneurs employed in non-formal sector. ... Type 2 groups included: a) specialists working in state budget sector (public heaHh protection, ed ucation); ... b) female employees of state institutions; c) employees of collective farms, shirqats, farms; ... d) housewives . Each focus group consisted of 5-7 people.

.. 1.4. Selection of the regions for research

The research has been carried out in Andijan, Namangan, Samarqand, Tashkent, .. Fergana regions and Karakalpakstan. The selection of regions has been validated by research hypothesis that irregular development of territories might call forth specific local population problems. Therefore our objective was to identify those regions that vary considerably in economic - orientation and degree of economic development. While selecting the regions to be researched, the emphasis was given to their peculiarities. Andijan region is located in the eastern part of Fergana valley. Until - recently it was recognized as an agricultural region specializing on production of silk cocoons, grains, cotton, horticulture and viticuHure. .. Currently the region advances in' extraction and processing of minerals, oil and gas, expansion of construction, textile and food industries. The region has an excessive labor force with relatively low-income population and • extensive unemployment. Namangan region is located in the center of Fergana valley. It has an advanced agricultural sector (vegetable-growing, horticulture, viticuHure, cotton-growing, silk warm and cattle breeding) as well as extensive agricultural production processing. The region supplies 8-9% of cotton fiber, 10-13% of grapes, canned products, silk cocoons, grape wines. vegetable oil, 15% • of textile materials, produced in the nation. In addition to the food and textile industries, the region has production facilities for heavy machinery, .. electrical engineering and chemical manufacturing. Among the factors impeding economic growth of the region is the lack of agricuHural lands and irrigation water as well as considerable labor surplus that resuHs in a high level of unemployment especially among the female population. Samarqand - region is located in the center of Uzbekistan. It is an advanced agricultural and industrial region. Agriculture includes cotton growing .. industry, horticulture, viticulture, silk breeding and tobacco cultivation. Industrial sector is represented by construction machinery and mechanical engineering enterprises, production of household electric appliances, .. elevators, construction materials and porcelain. The region has food and textile manufacturing facilities. The transportation network is highly developed .. - large railway and automobile transportation junctions are .. ------,-~.-.- .. -.... -...

12 ... located in the region. The region is attractive for investors, including foreign financiers - several large joint ventures manufacture competitive products. The income level of population is higher than the country average with a .. fairly high level of employment Tashkent region is located on the north of Uzbekistan. Agricultural sector is represented by production of cotton, grains, jute and vegetables, horticulture, viticulture, poultry farming and cattle breeding as well as - production of silk cocoons. The region has the largest metallurgy, machinery \ and aircraft construction enterprises as well as power generation, chemical, textile and food industry production facilities. The region has highly - developed transportation infrastructure, including large railway junctions. It borders with Kazakhstan and is linked by the railway to the markets of other - countries, with Russia being the biggest Average income and employment level is fairly high. However the capital region stands out compared to other regions for a following reason. The are 2 distinct types of settlements in the .. region:

1) Agricultural settlements that produce goods (vegetables, fruits) for •• extensive markets of capital city. Settlements specializing on tourist business could be referred to the same type; 2) Industrial residence areas surrounding huge enterprises with the cities - built on their base. It is the area of high concentration of industrial workers laid off due to production facilities shutdown. They do not have stable income sources and have no skills of self-sufficiency and pursuit .. for alternative earnings. This type of settlements is characterized by almost completely destroyed urban social infrastructure.

Fergana region is located in the eastern part of Uzbekistan and the south of Fergana valley. It has a traditional agricultural orientation and specializes on production of cotton, grains, vegetables, potatoes, honey, dairy products, eggs and silk cocoons. Industrial sector is mainly represented by processing facilities for agricultural products. The region has enterprises of textile .. industry, mineral fertilizers production facilities, construction materials, oil extraction and processing plants. The region has scarce agricultural lands and irrigational water. It has a high level of unemployment .. Republic of Karakalpakstan is located in the northwestern part of the country. Agricultural specialization of the region includes rice- and cotton­ growing, production of vegetables, melons and gourds, herbs, karakul. .. Industrial sector includes metal processing, electric power generation, textile and food industries. Karakalpakstan is a part of Aral Sea ecological disaster area. The effects of ecological catastrophe (high salinity and expansion of .. swamp areas, bad water quality) combined with chronic economical problems (poorly designed irrigation systems, underdeveloped production and social infrastructure) result in poor health condition and quality of life of the population, inability to earn wages in traditional employment sectors and - high level of unemployment All regions selected for research have similar characteristics with regards - to economic specialization and the level of economic development. Each of selected regions had 5-7 focus groups established on the basis of settlement type (urban - rural). Administrative centers were considered as - ... IJ

urban settlements. whereas the rural type groups were selected based on .. their remoteness from the city . In Fergana vaf/ey the survey was conducted in the cities of Fergana. Kokand. Namangan and fof/owing rural districts: Bulakbashi (Andijan region). Akhunbabaev (Fergana region). Turakurgan and Chust (Namangan region). - In Tashkent region research was done in Tashkent city and Yangiyul. Toitepa and Akkurgan districts. .. The survey in Samarqand region included respondents from city of Samarqand as weI/ as Akdarya and Pastdargom districts. Karakalpakstan is represented by Nukus city as weI/ as Takhiatash and .. KhojeiJi districts . .. - .. .. - - .. • .. • ...... • .. ".. "','''''=,.~,., .... ,...... _.,,~''.,- •. ---... ------....

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2. Women as a reflection of demographic trends - and Demographic trends have a big influence on population in general could some of its categories in particular. Moreover, demographic indexes - of public play a role of indicators that signal the tension in some areas overview of relations. Therefore we found it important to make a brief demographic setting of Uzbekistan: . - their Women constitute 50,3% of total population and within the last years 50,8% of number has been constantly decreasing. Urban areas make up for the whereas in the rural areas females form about the half of - women however by population. In 1993 there were 1020 females for 1000 males, 1999 their number decreased to 1012. regions, - The proportion of women versus total population in the surveyed (%): - Andijan region 50,3 Namangan region 50,0 Samarqand region 50,2 - Tashkent region 50,5 Fergana region 50,3 •• Republic of Karakalpakstan 50,1 groups. The proportion of women is distributed unevenly within the age of 25, but Male population prevails in the category of those before the age - age of 25, proportion of women grows steadily in the categories after the trend is reaching 68,5% among those of 80 years old. However this - Chart 3. The lifespan in Uzbekistan .. 74r------, 72 .. 70 Ii; 68 .. " 66 64 .. 62 1990 r. 1994 r. 1995 r. 1996 r. 1997 r. 1998 r.

!II male • fema~ [] urban D rural I .. pronounced characteristic for the entire population in general and is more at the age among urban population. The number of women in the rural areas • (slower of 50-59 makes up for less than a half of population and increases 67%. That than in the cities) after the age of 60, not exceeding the level of implies higher death rate among rural women of 50-59 years old. -

and Statistics. • • This section uses official statistical data of Ministry of Macroeconomics - ... 15

The family statistics shows, that marriage coefficients have been steadily .. decreasing during the last years. The number of marriages for 1000 individuals has decreased from 12,9 in 1991 to 7,3 in 1999. Simultaneously the divorce coefficient has been decreasing as well (from 1,6 to 0,8). More than 213 • of divorces fall on the urban families. Each year there are 30-35 divorces for 100 marriages (it does not necessarily mean that among divorced are those who got marr;ied during the same year). 99% • of women get married before 30 years old with more than 20% marrying before reaching the age of 20. Couples that are getting married are predominantly of the same age. • 60% of divorced women are those younger than 30 years old. About 5% of split families never make it pass the one-year mark, 40% never last more than 5 years. Most of the marriages split on its 3n:l - 4th year. • 45% of divorced families do not have common children and 35% have one child. Contrary to the common opinion, the absence of children is not likely .. to be the major reason for divorce. Less than a half of split marriages are those without children in any region of Uzbekistan. The number of children bom out of wedlock has been steadily growing. In 1994 the proportion of such children comprised 3,5% of the total number of newboms, th - whereas in 1999 it reached 6%. Every 10 child bom in the urban area was bom out of wedlock whereas in the rural area it was only every 25th newbom. The number of out-of-wedlock children in the urban and rural areas has been - gradually evening out: since 1994 through 1999 the proportion of urban and rural children to the total number of those born out of wedlock • decreased from 62:38 to 52:48. It is well known, that the birth rate in Uzbekistan has been decreasing, however it remains high in the rural areas. The birth coefficient in the surveyed regions for 1000 individuals has been • as follows: • Andijan region 27,0 Namangan region 30,0 • Samarqand region 30,5 Tashkent region 24,0 Fergana region 27,4 • Republic of Karakalpakstan 25,0

The average family size in Uzbekistan is 5,5 people. The proportion of - mothers having 4 children is 34,1%, 6 children - 17%, 7 and more- 25,4%. The majority of families with many children are concentrated in rural areas. This situation results in dual motivation for female employment: on the one - hand, woman has to stay at home to take care of her children, on the other hand, the family needs additional income as the husband is not able to • provide for so many dependents most of the time. Further we would consider the patterns of woman behavior in such deadlock situation; in the meantime we would not go beyond the official statistical data. The employment of women in Uzbekistan has remained - relatively high however it has always been lower than USSR average. • - II... __... _.~'~~ ••--.- ... '.-. ______

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yet their Recently the absolute number of employed women has decreased The proportion among the employed population remains stable - 43-44%. however proportion of women among female population comprises 58-60%, - data on we think that that ratio is higher since there is no reliable employment in informal sector. ------......

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3. • Differences in women problems identified in the course of survey Practically every focus group identified 2 core problems: low family income level and low salary level. It would not go unnoticed that these .. problems are interrelated and interdependent. In accordance with official statistics, the main sources of family income in Uzbekistan are: 1) wages, 2) social welfare fund payments, 3).earnings provided by gardening. The share .. of income resulting from entrepreneurship and property management is very inSignificant. Gardening earnings mostly provide with the products for natural consumption by the families; and the wages recently have not been .. exceeding one third of aggregate family income amount. Considering the fact that for majority of companies, including private and those under joint ownership, .. the salary calculation is based on a Unified Tariff Scale (UTS) and the social welfare payments are linked to the zero category of the same UTS, .. it is clear, why the main problem of the families is low income level. Regional differences

Considering the top ten priority problems differentiated by survey regions, we could state, - that a great deal of overlapping falls on the beginning and the end of the nominal scale. The differences in the middle of the scale, we believe, are caused by the level of economic development of regions (advanced - regions face less problems with sale of the goods produced, and as a result, with payment of taxes) as well as by the degree to which people stick to the traditions and customs (lack of money for traditional rites seems - to be less of a problem in the areas of non-uzbek population).

.. Table 5 Problems And Nam Sam Tash Fer Kar No money in the family for .. basic food and clothing 1 1 1 1 1 1 items Low paid job 2 2 3 3 2 2 Severe, • harmful job j conditions 6 6 4 2 3 3 i High taxes, unofficial • extortions 7 4 5 6 8 10 Too much work In the household 3 7 2 4 4 8 III No sales of produced goods 4 5 7 9 7 4 No money for dowry and .. rites 5 3 6 7 5 9 Alcoholism of husband 8 8 8 5 6 5 No money to start business 9 9 9 8 10 7 .. No adequate housing conditions 10 10 10 10 9 6

Regional .. differences are not very distinct. At the same time, it is surprising that .. the problem of alcoholism is ranked unexpectedly high . ... 18

valley Another surprise is the fact that even in Karakalpakstan and Fergana - list. health and ecology problems were not included in the top ten problems

Ethnic differences - money Regardless of ethnic background, all female respondents identify problems. deficiency in the family and the lack of normally paid job as main - then other Uzbeks and Karakalpaks face fewer problems with taxes fact that most nationalities represented in the pool. It might be related to the of them are employed in an informal sector. - household The population of European origin faces less problems with in activities, which might be explained by the fact that they live predominantly the cities and are not involved in gardening works - of money The problem of sale of produced goods as well as the absence probably, for traditional ceremonies is common for Uzbek women. Most with regards to traditional - every ethnic group faces money problems ceremonies, however Uzbeks pay more attention to their observance. group. Alcoholism of male population is a common problem in any ethnic of - People of European origin and Karakalpaks emphasize the importance having comfortable accommodations. Uzbek The lack of money to start business is ranked lowest among activities that - women. It is explained by the fact that they are inclined towards making do not require start-up capital (sewing from the customer's material, return. baked goods and pastry on order) and allows receiving fast financial - Table 6 Other nationali other - Karakal Problems Uzbek ties of nationali paks Central ties .. Asia basic No money in the family for 1 1 1 1 .. food and clothing items Low paid job 2 2 2 2 3 Severe, harmful job 4 3 7 4 .. High taxes, unofficial extortions 8 8 3 7 Too much work in the household 3 4 4 8 No sales of produced Qoods 5 9 10 .. 10 No money for dowry and rites 6 10 8 8 Alcoholism of husband 7 5 6 5 No money to start business 10 7 5 6 No adequate housing conditions 9 6 9 ..

• - -

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.. Differences between urban and rural areas There is a significant difference between the problems of rural and urban female residents although the main problems are similar - not enough .. money to provide for the family and low salary level. Rural women emphasize unfavorable working conditions. High taxes are named al1)ong the highest problems among urban .. residents. It might be related to the fact that they are more frequently involved into formal businesses. .. Other problems are similar for both rural and urban residents .

Table 7 .. Problems Urban Rural No money in the family for basic food and clothing .. items 1 1 Low paidiob 2 2 Severe, harmfuljob conditions 10 3 High taxes, .. unofficial extortion 3 9 Too much work in the household 5 4 No sales of produced goods 4 5 No money .. for dowry and rites 6 6 Alcoholism of husband 8 7 No money to start business 7 8 No adequate .. housing conditions 9 10

Identified • differences are characteristic for sampling distinctions rather than differences in the problems. More significant results were showed by the distribution of answers of women with different employment status. Each status group is differentiated by specific set of problems. The problems of women working on contract basis are mainly related to inability • to pay for necessary goods and services: food products, clothing, medical treatment and education. The problems of entrepreneurs are related to their business and its expansion. • Even if entrepreneurs do not have high income, they are trying to solve their family problems by inducing their economic activities. Women that do not work, point out high workload of household activities • and lack of money for necessary expenditures. A high level of unemployment characterizes this particular group however it is difficult to say how objective that problem is. The survey has revealed several reasons of the fact that .. women do not have occupation: .. - absence of vocational education; high competitiveness on the labor market

• absence of any work place; • - ..... '--.------~'...-.-.,."~.,. ... -

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inconvenient - absence of conditions for employment (little children, work schedule etc.); -. low economic activity of women Table 8 - Employment status Proble \ m Working on Ranki Entrepreneurs Unemployed contract basis - ng for Not enough money No circulating assets Not enough money 1 for basic food and basic food and clothing - clothing in the Low salary level Too much household Heavy workload .. 2 work household find a job No money for Defaulted payments Impossible to education of girls of customers, 3 unreliability of - suppliers. in the No money for High taxes Heavy workload 4 medicine household - dowry and Poor medical Low prices for goods No money for 5 treatment quality produced observance of rites - No money for dowry No standard Alcoholism of husband equipment, 6 and observance of production , rites dowry No money for medicine - Heavy workload in No money for 7 the household and observance of rites .. in the No knowledge to No qualified Too much work start business consultants on ,i garden 8 entrepreneurship - issues in the No money to start Alcoholism of Woman's opinion 9 business husband family does not count • money No money to pay for No money for Frequent 10 makhallya child-care education of girls collections in ..

in Differences related to professional specialization are to be considered .. Section 4.

a very The results of analysis do not allow to provide answers to - that mean important question: if the problem is statistically insignificant, does as a that it is not important or that women do not accept that phenomenon on the - problem? We attempted to provide interpretation of results based statistical data and findings of other sociological surveys. - - - - 21 .. 4. Women and Education As we could see from results of the survey, women in fact place little significance upon the problems of employment. They emphasize the consequences .. of ineffective employment (low salary, inadequate income level, difficulties with business arrangements) however they do not see the sources of these problems. In other words, women do feel they are less successfully .. (compared to men) integrating into the labor markets; yet. they are not trying to find out the reasons why they fail to compete. One could .. only guess what the causes of th is phenomenon are: general tension of the labor market. especially in the rural areas, creates an impression that the lack of satisfactory work causes • distress for both women and men; traditional orientation of women towards family matters rather than production activities results in consideration of employment problems through the prism of family problems; generally women do perceive domestic and private matters as more vital than any other problems; .. role functions of women are concentrated predominantly in non­ production areas (these images are pre-determined by public opinion); failure to successfully perform social roles of a mother, wife, housewife - is perceived as more appalling than failure to perform as an employee; women .. consider work not as an independent value but as a method of finding solutions to household problems.

It is difficult .. to judge the validity of these hypotheses. However we can say with confidence that no matter how difficult it is for women to summarize their particular .. problems, the majority of their problems reside in this area . • 4.1. Decrease in the level of general education Academic and Vocational education could ensure different mechanisms to improve the position of women in society and to overcome the barriers of discrimination • and professional segregation that women face on the labor market. Education could be considered:

.. As a method of mastering untraditional work areas and exit from low pay women professions; - As a method of getting a job and promotion based on objective criteria .. of competition; - As a method that allows to have higher eamings or income; - As a method of sustaining continuous employment with simultaneous - performance of family responsibilities; - As a method of increasing personal strivings and self esteem . .. The level of secondary and vocational education in Uzbekistan is very high in .. comparison to world standards. However recently there have been 22

position signs of trends in this area that could negatively influence women's - in society. as they Zulkhumor: "I think that boys have to get education are the ones to provide for the family". as girls Elena: "I believe that boys have to get education .. get married and mostly sit at home". shows Official statistics in the area of general education of women decrease in the numbers within the last few years. - significant

Table 9 - 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 11,1 Years of education, 10,9 11,4 11,4 11,4 11,2 ... Men 11,6 11,8 11,9 12,0 12,0 12,0 Women 10,2 11,0 11,0 10,9 10,7 10,6 The proportion of years - 91,1 89,7 of education of women 88,0 93,2 92,4 91,7 to the men (%) •• Proportion of women with complete 81,8 89,6 90,1 85,9 83,7 82,1 secondary education to ,. the men (%) .. high. Nonetheless the prestige of women education in society is very see the The surveys show that around 80 percent of men and women .. same time, necessity of providing a decent education for women. At the is important during the interviews some women expressed the opinion that it to give a daughter to marriage than to allow her to continue her education. .. way Mavlyuda: "I do not want my daughter to study. Either anyway. The she is going to be serving to her mother-in-law .. If she times have changed. Girls are developing very fast. simpler for were given to marriage earlier, that would be parents" . .. both Firuza: "It is important for the future to educate boys only. girls and boys. No preferences shall be given to they have to be .. Woman play an important role in life therefore educated, have a job so that everybody is equal". .. - - .. 23 ... 4.2. Uneven access to vocational education The family is the most important of public values in Uzbekistan. The ... perfect performance in the family is considered to be the primary function of

-----, Chart 4. Differences in "average education period betw een - men and women

... 12 11.5 11 - 1o.s 10 ... 9.5 9 ... 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

women, and women themselves agree with this concept. Sociological studies .. show different attitudes toward the need of women to attain a vocational education. On the one hand, more than ninety percent of the respondents want their daughters to attain a respectable vocational education. Moreover, the majority wished their daughters to attain the highest level of professional - education possible. Sixty percent of respondents think that it is important to get advanced education for boys (both vocational and academic education). Similar • surveys amongst male population show that males give lesser value to women education. • Guzal: "Most of my girlfriends are married and I am still working. I understand that we live in Uzbekistan and girls are getting married • here very early. My mother got married at 15, and I do not want to get married that early. I want to get an • education." On the other hand the female respondents state that in order to be successful, education is less important than their ability to run a household. It is a paradox that decent work is not associated with decent education; - moreover the list of women qualities that instills the respect of relatives and neighbors puts a decent education at the very bottom. That brings us to the conclusion - that it is believed tha an education serves as more of a decorative attribute for women than a useful and necessary facet of their lives. This viewpoint cannot be explained in a simplified way by claiming it a traditional - oriental standpoint. Zohirakhon: "We are thinking about the future of our ... children and no matter how hard it is for us (her husband and she earn 5000 sum each) we are trying to give them ... education - .. '''' ..... -.. ,~ ...... --, ..... ---.------.--.,..,.,."'''~

24

our district and profession. Our children are studying now but - up working." is small and nobody knows where they would end -. more It may be explained by the fact that professional education is getting such as expensive and that it doesn't provide practical advantages to women of the higher wages, prestige, or career opportunity regardless of the quality - educations' education. It is believed that this is a definite cause for but affects diminishing value in society. This statement applies to everybody women the greatest because they suffer most from professional - discrimination. would We are going to consider this problem in detail in section five. We and like to draw your attention to the following. Existing discrimination - segregation on the labor market is caused in the first place by discrimination and segregation within the educational market The professional segregation leads to lowers the competitiveness of women inside the labor market and - forms the decrease of women's professional education. Low prestige the negative attitudes towards women's professional education, decreasing •• certain number of female students, and concentrating women inside number of professional fields. Women concentration within a small women to professional fields thus increases the segregation and inability of - compete, thus completing the circle. data. Now lets try to illustrate our considerations using statistical there According to the data of the Ministry of Macroeconomics and Statistics, ... graduates is a trend showing steady decrease in the number of students and of professional education institutions. Table 10 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 The number of students • admitted to the educational 58,9 50,8 49,6 47,2 44,8 42,7 institutions (% of age group of .. 6-23l The number of students (ths.) 195,0 in secondary vocational 240,1 210,1 194,8 197,2 196,4 institutions. Students of Higher 272,3 230,1 192,1 165,7 127,8 104,6 Educational Institutions .. The number of students of 19 15,1 years of age continuing their 26,0 26,2 24,9 20,8 17,9 education (%) .. Graduates of Higher Educational Institutions (as 17,7 13,0 13,0 12,2 11,6 10,8 % of population of graduate • age) Total index of admissions to 20,1 18,6 Higher Educational 28,7 25,0 24,4 22,3 • Institutions (for 1000 ind-s.) .. .. 25

- Gender indexes of professional education are decreasing in woman to man ratio. •

Table 11 - 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Admission of women to secondary vocational institutions (% OT 96,1 92,4 91,2 87,2 83,9 81,1 .. nOKa3aTenR MYJI<'II1H)

- Female students are concentrated in educational institutions unevenly. - Table 12 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 .. Proportion of women to the total number of students of higher and 40,0 39,0 39,0 38,7 38,5 secondary vocational education .. institutions (%): Including for heavy industries and construction, transportation and 17,0 17,0 16,7 16,4 15,9 .. communication j For agricultural sector , 9,0 9,0 8,6 8,2 7,8 ! .. For Economics and Law 21,0 21,0 22,6 23,0 23,1 I For Health Protection, Physical ! 52,0 53,0 50,0 50,7 51,0 .. Culture and Sports I ! For education, arts and 49,0 50,0 51,0 52,0 I • cinematography 50,0 . We believe the main reason for segregation on the basis of sex in .. professional education is the increasing cost of professional education rather than traditionar oriental belief systems on the roles of women. Upon getting the eduCation women have lower income compared to men because they are employed in the lower paid industries and lower qualification jobs than men. Child bearing and existing legislation guarantees that they will loose even this income for the period of birth and childcare. This period -can extend as .. long as ten years. If a woman returns to the labor market at the age of 30, it is almost impossible for her to earn pay equal to that of men, since she is viewed as having lost her skills, and a huge load of household duties keeps her from regaining her skills. Thus the family expenditures for professional - education of young women do not seem to be justified. However, these pragmatic economical reasons are being covered up by oriental tradition. • • .. --_._-----,

26 - 4.3. Women in the system of informal education - Compared to the Soviet period the possibilities of education within the framework of informal education have expanded considerably. However even the situation being like this, womer) are still not able to gain advantages - due to a number of reasons: 1. Infonmal education, as a rule, has to be paid for, and costs are higher - than in a system of formal education. The same economical reasoning limits the participation of women in informal educational programs. - 2. As a rule, informal forms of education are as inflexible time-wise as fonmal education, therefore are just as uncomfortable for women who still have to perform family responsibilities. - 3. The quality of education is rather low i.e. the lack of a certificate of qualification received is not compensated by a base of competitive knowledge and skills. - 4. Informal education increases professional segregation by sex.

The last item should be given additional attention since a large role in the - system of infonmal education is played by NGOs. Generally, the organization of informal education can be divided into 2 types: - 1. Purely commercial organizations trying to find their economical niche in the market of education services; ..

2. Educational programs with a goal to contribute to social integration of vulnerable groups of population including women. This is the area of NGO .. concentration:

Chart 5. Preferred areas of women education (%%) .. .. •

•

l!IHow to strart a business .Business-plan • • AceD unting DTax legislation _Family legislation .New profession (!]How to get a grant [lI Others • It isn't hard to notice that organization of the first type do not have opportunities for their development. Low payment ability of population is the -

- ... 27

reason some organizations provide training on specialized issues that take little training time and cost for those organizations (Accounting, Management • Basics, Foreign Languages, Computer Literacy, Dress Making Courses and other typically female professions). Such specializations are referred to as • low qualified and uncompetitive. The organizations of the second type, predominantly NGOs, concentrate their attention on the propagandC! of civil rights and again the study of basics • of business management and accounting. If we are talking about programs on professional training for the development of small business we should say that it is the area where labor-intensive low qualified low technological jobs • are prevailing (hairdressers, bakers, textile weavers, seamstresses, etc.) Shakhodat: «It could be possible to find something to do, but we are holding on to occupations familiar to us - work, home, child care. And we are not able to find anything new­ - H not everybody is capable of doing that. - Not only the women themselves, but the NGOs have little understanding of possibilities for business opportunities and are striving to receive and acquire training in familiar areas of activities - often times it is business that - is wide spread in the region with rigid or strict competition and low income. - - - - • .. • - • • .. .. ------_._.- ...... •.. _._._- 28

labor market - 5. Discrimination and segregation of women on a a As we already stated, segregation in professional education causes - at ali the segregation, low competitiveness and discrimination of women stages of employment. . - 5.1 Professional and industrial employment of women within Present research shows a high degree of concentration of women - for a relatively low range of occupations. In order to avoid being reproached inadequate conclusions, we would like to turn to statistical data*. uneven. The distribution of women workers across the economy is rather - and Women are concentrated in health protection area (74%), Information (58%). Men Computer Services (70,2%), Insurance (60%) and Education .. Forestry prevail in the transportation center (87%), in Construction (88%), Agriculture, (76%), Public Utilities (63%). Other branches - Heavy Industry, of Trade, Food industry, Science and Communications - the proportion both women comprises 45 - 52%. Inside each branch, equally representing - the areas of men and women, there is a set of sectors that are considered and food increased concentration of women labor force. That would be textile metal - industries. Some other sectors like mechanical construction, jobs processing and instrument making, men perform high-qualified perform the (machinery operators, adjusters, technicians), whereas women low qualified - functions of assemblers on assembly lines or engage in other men are jobs like cleaning, marking and packing. In agricultural sector, with low engaged into qualified mechanical jobs, and women have to deal .. qualified hand labor. job for Uljan: «We live in industrial town. There is no .. women. Male employees are mainly working there."

In non-manufacturing sectors, low qualified personnel is completely .. caused by comprised of women. The professional segregation of women is into certain two factors: 1) legislation that prohibits the admission of women focused on types of work as a result of labor protection measures specifically cause a women - women; 2) VOluntary choice when the stereotypes of society professional to choose specific professions from an accepted set of of occupations. Irregular monitoring of employment of the graduates .. positions educational institutions shows fast attrition of women who fill the female typically considered as male positions. However the representative of time professions may maintain a position or job for a substantial amount and seldom change their occupation......

and Statistics. • This section uses official statistical data of Ministry of Macroeconomics -

• ... 29 .. 5.2 Discrimination during admission and dismissal The present research and other surveys show that employers prefer to hire men. It is substantiated by objective reason that woman comes to a .. higher cost for the employer. An average woman spends 20-25 hours less than .. men on a working place (although their working day is longer) . Erkinoi: "I am married with two children. I have graduated from Tver agricultural institute. Currently I am working as a secretary at the mayor's office (Khokimiat). If I would be able to - find a job on my specialization, I would quit. However the situation in collective farms nowadays is very complicated and there are no conditions for women to work. We do not have personnel retraining classes. In the conversation with me - Khokim (the Mayor) mentioned the fact that my profession of agronomist is not considered to be highly required. I am woman a and I have to have a fixed working hours. He promised, that if there would be a chance, he would transfer me to such a posi tion. However there is no posi tion like tha tat this - point."

- CIat 6. IJistribtfu1 fA answeIS to the c, e;tion : ''WlO is .. ~to be fired first "'the~'" • • • This paradox is explained simply: women have additional work more often not even • mentioning the household workload. They work on contract basis and the jobs are not regular. This has a negative influence on their professional experience and qualification. Therefore whenever there is an opportunity, • employers prefer to hire men. It is noticeable, that employers often agree to hire women on the nonstandard conditions of employment such as flexible schedule, reduced hours, working at home etc. There is an opinion • that such forms of work organization reflect the interests of women since they are allowing women to combine household work with the job. Such statements show only half of the truth, however, since alternate work .. methods allow the employer to decrease the cost of a labor force, depriving women of social guarantees from being laid off, social welfare payments and additional • benefits. Women suffer most from discriminatory firings. Almost

• - 30

half of the women surveyed are convinced that employers would fire a - woman first if given a choice.

Dilorom: "When I started working for the first time, I - worked for 6 months and then have been laid off. I worked 2 years in gymnasia and was laid off again. So what do I have to do? Now I am 25, but I will keep being laid off, how am I - going to earn the years of s12rvice standing in order to retire?" - In this case the fear has good grounds, since along with privatization some of legislative norms regarding layoff of women are being ignored. More than one quarter of surveyed women consider the threat of being laid off a - very real issue.

5.3 Limitations in Career Growth -

Positional segregation of women is a direct effect of their professional segregation on the educational level and in the process of hiring. Men, as a - rule, have a higher position status, even in those areas that predominantly employ women. Very often women make their minds up themselves to limit their career growth. It would be unfair to consider such decisions voluntary, - since in the conditions of unfairness with the division of household responsibilities, women choose in favor of her family and to the detriment of ... her profession. Usually, women that have kids do not have opportunity to work a regular full-time schedule. The work of preschool and schooling institutions, customer service .. oriented facilities, trade and utility companies, (if they are available) is built around unemployed or partially employed women. The employer deepens the vertical segregation by not contributing to the women's participation in • the system of enhancing her qualifications with ongoing education. More than half of female respondents said that they never increased their qualifications, the rest of them stated that the increase of their qualification • didn't lead to promotion or higher pay. This survey confirms the findings of other research. • 5.4 Discrimination in Salary

During the survey practically every women group stated a low salary level • as the main problem. However, nobody mentioned the fact that salaries of men, no matter how low, were higher than salary of women. This phenomenon is a reflection of discrimination in the past, on the level of • professional education and employment. There is a direct correlation between the proportion of employed women and the level of wages in the industry. The higher the share of women, the lower the wages are: in public • health and education, it comprises 61 % and 68% of average salary level in the country respectively. In those industries, where working women comprise half of the employees, they are concentrated on low paid jobs: the actual • difference in the salaries of men and women in agricultural sector and heavy industry amounts to 15%- 20%. ..

•

• - 31 - 6. Problems of Women related to the type of employment In the previous sections we considered the problems of women related to employment in professional education using a statistical viewpoint. Now we - are going to consider what problems are seen as important by women themselves. While analyzing the situation of different social groups of ... women, we have suggested that different social groups of women have different problems. We have enough grounds to make a suggestion like this: firstly, the burden of reforms is distributed unevenly between rural and urban residents; - the country faces intensive redistribution of resources in favor of non­ agricultural resources. With situations like this the income of rural population ... decreases much faster than that of the urban population and hidden unemployment is growing exponentially in agricultural spheres. These processes are taking place behind the foreground of drastic social and economic changes. The present fiscal policy drains the assets of - individual. The anti-inflation policy does not have an equal impact upon employees of different sectors. Those who have fixed income regulated by - state are the most sensitive to the policy. At the same time, individual economic activities of citizens are being held back by slow acceptance of individual ownership, and weak civil legislation, and a lack of mechanisms ... allowing citizens to use the advantages of the market economy. These considerations allow us to identify the most problematic groups of women depending on their occupation.

- 6.1 Employees of Agricultural Sector .. The survey has been conducted in the midst of institutional reforms in the agricultural sector that suggest a change of public and labor relations inside .. the agricultural sector with a trend towards leased ownership. With situations being like that, women, employed in the agricultural sector, have described .. their problems as follows: I. No money for basic food and clothing items; II. Low wages; .. III. Sever and hazardous labor conditions; IV. Not enough equipment and agricultural tools; V. Low prices for the produced goods; ... VI. Large load of household work; VII. No money for dowry and observance of rights; VIII. No markets to sell the prod ucts. ... IX. Alcoholism of husband; X. Women's opinion does not count in the family;

During the interviews women stated that they have to work long hours in - the open field, but only forty hours of work are officially accounted for per week. Shirqats do not help to obtain seeds and tools, and do not provide .. maintenance of farming machining. All repairs have to be done on their own

• ... ----,------,_••... -."." ",,""" """""

32

money. Women are ready to begin farming, yet there is a lack of affordable - land for them to start working on.

Holis: "My body is already got used not to sleep at night, - I am just working 24 hours a day. .. Work, work, work. I don't remember when was the last time I was relaxed or was sick... I don't remember myself sitting idle... " - During the interviews there has been one problem that remained unnamed that is going to be obvious in 10-15 years. It is the problem of - social welfare and social guarantees for Shirqat employees. The lease agreement is signed by one of the family members, normally by the head of the household - a man. He receives money for the work of everybody and - distributes it throughout the family. This, in the first place, shows the separation of employees (primarily women) from the results of their work. Secondly, if heads of the household do not sign the labor agreement, then - the period of their work is not counted towards their retirement pension. They don't have a right to get payment on a temporary basis when sick, or care for the children, on disability even if the disability is work related. In - perspective, upon reaching the retirement age, these women are candidates for getting social welfare payments calculated on the basis of their age with minimum payments only. Women themselves don't yet realize the - seriousness of this problem, but soon enough they are going to face this problem first hand. - 6.2 Problems for Highly Educated People - During this transitional period, living conditions have worsened for educated women and the prestige of their positions has all but disappeared. ... The following problems have been revealed for this group of women: .. I. No money for basic food and clothing items; II. Low salary level; III. The threat of downsizing; .. IV. Monotonous uninteresting work; V. Restricted access to information in their specialization; VI. Lack of conditions for career growth; • VII. Increase of work volume; VIII. Overload of household activities; IX. No money for dowry and observance of rights; .. X. No necessary goods in the stores; XI. No money for medical treatment; • During Soviet times the employment of women in such areas as education, science, medicine and culture were considered prestigious for .. women, especially in the rural areas. And due to the economic conditions in the transitions to the market economy, the state financing of budget-based industries has been decreased considerably. The level of salaries has been ..

• - 33 changed; today the average salary of teachers and doctors range from 5 to 7 .. thousand sums. This is hardly enough to provide for the family . Dilbar, widow with three children. During the last 3 years she works as a school principal. No additional earnings. Her family ea ts - mea t once a week. Some time ago she was invol ved into "shuttle" business. She liked it. However later someone called her a profiteer, sne started developing complexes and left that business, - that was giving her decent income. She thinks that it is impossible to life on one salary." .. Gulnoza: «Since being at school, I dreamt about becoming a teacher - it is a very responsible and hard work, but the salary is very low. I worked as a teacher but since they do .. not pay much, I am going to look for some better job, as I have to do my best for my child."

• During the survey, many women mentioned the fact of limited access to cultural and political information. It is explained by three reasons: 1) Not enough time; .. 2) No money to purchase periodicals and books; 3) The system of electronic mass media is underdeveloped;

.. Some of the most active and qualified women were able to adapt to new conditions. They went to work for private companies, service facilities, farms, and those sectors of work that bring a decent income. Some of the teachers .. got involved into a "shuttle business' and upon gradual expansion of their business, they are leaving schools. However the majority of them stay on the state service, and in the best-case scenario they look for unstable income as • tutors providing private consultation. Sabokhat: "Schools face a shortage of teachers of English. There are teachers who graduated from institutes in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzia, but they could not be hired here since their diplomas now are not valid in Uzbekistan." Dilorom: "My specialization - children psychologist. I am married with one son. I used to work in gymnasium as a part time child psychologist and as a part time mentor. Then the • posi tion of mentor has been cancelled and my salary was reduced to 2000 sums, which is not enough to pay for road and lunches so I quit. I am looking for a job now. But wherever I go, they always - ask how many kids I have. After they find out about my child, they come up with any excuse not to hire me as they think if you have only one child, you are going to have - more kids soon and try not to hire people like that". The departure of qualified teachers of foreign languages for better-paid • positions had an unfavorable impact on schools. During perestroika the personnel of scientific institutes, schools, hospitals, have faced downsizing multiple times. • Women that lost their jobs due to downsizing are not able to find equal replacement job, especially if they have young children. •

• ------_._._._.- .

34 - Nazira: "I would like to talk about following. Last year a new resolution had been issued, that only people with higher education can work at school. And that triggered numerous lay - offs with secondary special education, and where are they supposed to go? They have to consider that in our situation not everybody could get higher education. It's good enough to get at least secondary education. So this caused even more - spread out unemployment. H

Educated women, especially in the rural areas, are very concerned with - maintaining their social status. They are very disturbed by the fact, that even having a higher education, they are not going be able to provide for their kids. The majority of women mentioned that their children would study in - secondary or vocational institutions. - 6.3 Problems of women in state service State employees are educated people as well, and therefore are - employed in state institutions that are related to these branches: District, City, and Regional Departments of Education, Ministries, Mayor office etc. - Their problems are similar: I. No money for basic food and clothing items; - II. Low wages; III. The threat of downsizing; IV. The absence of conditions for career advancement; - V. Long hours every working day; VI. Inability to adapt to new conditions; VII. Large household work load; • VIII. Work outside their specialization; IX. No money for dowry and observance of rights; • X. No money for childcare. All these problems force women who don't get satisfaction from their job • to leave state service.

Mavlyuda: «If I was able to start up my own business or .. find another job with a good pay, I would have left this work

long ago. It provides neither satisfaction nor good salary. H II The increased requirements for reporting, the organization of different events, the arrangement of holidays and different types of campaigns, lead to the fact that women "don't see real work and don't work close to people". .. Men hold all key positions in state institutions so women do not have a chance to get promoted to a higher position. The first candidates for downsizing are women who hold "secondary positions". II

•

• - 35 ill

Erkinoi: "What can we say about jobs, if I, having .. received a higher education, have to sit at home practically wi thout any job." .. 6.4 Problems of women in formal business The research shows that business sector does not have discrimination on .. sex basis. Female entrepreneurs face same problems as men . These problems are: .. I. No circulating assets for business expansion; II. Low prices for reduced goods and services; III. No standard equipment; .. IV. Lack of adequate education to run the business; V. Defaulted payments by customers, unreliability of suppliers; VI. High taxes; .. VII. No qualified consultants on business issues; VIII. No start up capital to open business; IX. Lack of information on information for sources of crediting; .. X . Difficult access to credit (high interest rates, bank transfers after getting credit);

.. To start up a business, women use family capital. In the cities they sell their apartments and cars, and in rural areas they sell cattle and cars, borrow .. money from relatives and friends . Mamlakat, an owner of several shops and cafes, believes, that one of the main issues is to develop a business plan, .. since one incorrectly included or unaccounted item would require correcting the entire business plan. When she started her business, she had to change her business plan 10 times.

• However this money is not enough for circulating assets and that holds back the development of business. Women start looking for other sources of funding; they go to the banks and business foundations. • There is no open access to banking information on obtaining credit. The main source of information on this issue for women, who have decided to start up a business, is friends and associates who have received or tried to • receive credits already. The main difficulty in arranging the documentation to get the credit is to develop a good business plan. • Shoira received a 1.5 million Sum loan. She signed a contract with private companies for the supply of uniforms for .. workers. She bought raw materials for 500 thousand Sums and sewing machines for 1 million Sums. Private companies went bankru~t and were shut down. She had to stop her production. .. The goods she produced are sitting in the warehouse and there is no demand for it. In order to pay back the loan, her husband sold their cattle. She does not know what to do .

.. Women who decided to start up their business don't have experience in .. developing business plans. They are not able to learn that because there are .. 36

not enough organizations to provide this service. The payment for this .. education is too high for them. Therefore women have to approach banks and business foundations, where they are rendered a paid assistance in developing a business plan. In order to be able to get as much money as - possible out of these women, the employees of these organizations extend the procedure of authorization of documents and their correspondence to standards. The other problem is high. taxes and numerous inspections - carried out by sanitary commissions, fire departments, etc.

Mukadas, owner of transportation company that delivers - cargo: "i t seems tha t I work only to pay my taxes. There is another problem: Tax Code. The laws on taxation could be interpreted differently. I am paying road tax of 2%. I do not ... have manufacturing facilities. 50 why do I have to pay 4% tax for the property? I cannot understand tha t. I wrote to the magazine "Tax and Customs News" asking to explain this problem - but never got any answers. There is another problem - VAT. This tax is not supposed to be paid by those, who are involved in to cargo transportation business. This is stipulated by article 70 of Tax Code. I - approached city tax inspection as well as regional and republican offices regarding that issue but never got any answers. I have been wai ting for the answers for 2 years." -

Among the most successful today are women who started their business in the beginning of the 1990's when the rules of documentation preparation - for starting-up their business were much simpler, the credit legislation was much more liberal, and there were no customs. .. Nowadays, as they state, it is much more complicated to be involved in entrepreneurship. .. Namuna: "Of course, who is going to be doing anything today for free? When we in Kokand are trying to arrange something, we face endless problems. I agree to pay money when I have to, • but I expect something done in return. I remember KHAFIZA buil t a cafeteria, got all the equipment and spent 5, 000 U5$ for the entire project. But she was not able to protect her iii business. Everything has been destroyed. It is equal to being killed - she had to go through so much. There is nobody here to protect women." _ II The lack of business experience, education, proper management, and knowledge of supply and demand frequently forces women to go bankrupt. • 6.5. Problems of women in formal business

Informal sectors are characterized by numerous activities. Informal units • consist of: 1) small enterprises with hired employees. 2) family enterprises which utilizes the work of family members. 3) self-employed workers. The manufacturing process requires a relatively high circulating assets level in • relation to the main capital. This causes in its turn a relatively low level of technologies and qualification of employees. Although small enterprises

• - 37 could be included into a regular cycle of production, most of them are • involved into production of single lots of goods in a seasonal manner. The lack of agreements between clients and the institution is another determining characteristics of such arrangements: the conclusion of official written .. contracts that regulate economical processes between the buyer and the seller, contractor and customer is not enforced. The work of such enterprises ... is normally not noticed or reported to the taxation authorities . Ulbuvi told us, tha t she gave birth to 4 children wi th an interval of 2 years between each other. Only when her kids ... grew up, she arranged Dress-Making Courses for girls.

The informal sector could be divided into three categories. The first .. category - sub-sector of small and micro enterprises - is an economically strong and dynamic element. This sub sector is commonly linked to formal sector through different extemal and sub-contractual agreements. However .. the majority of such enterprises has independent character and is oriented towards the market of buyers with very low income. Second Category - the sub-sector that is based on a household business where the majority of .. activity falls on the members of the family. Primarily it is the unpaid female labor force inside the family that performs the work. This sub sector covers different areas of the markets, types of activities, seasons and locations . .. The majority of family businesses are not able to get out of the brackets of low income and poverty. • Guli: "Having paid all custom's duties and adding a little more money, it is possible to import or export big quantities • of goods." Third Category - the independent sub-sector of services - consists of .. household assistants, street sellers, cleaners, and those who perform occasional types of work. In these particular activities women are very well represented. These people represent a huge part of the informal sector. • Their activities are seasonal and dependent upon needs of the market. And skills for such workers are rated at the lowest grade of informal qualifications. This business is attractive for women because it doesn't require a great II capital to start.· They don't need official sources of income: money can be borrowed, they can use proceeds from selling cattle or jewelry to finance such activity. This business does not require special information or .. education.

Ulbuvi: It is very hard to find a job here. Therefore .. mothers of young girls constantly approach me. They ask me to start teaching their daughters. So that they can sew and try .. to earn some money doing that." Women think informal business is attractive to them, because problems can be fixed very fast, they don't have to face taxation inspectors, and they iI don't have to try to get a loan. Women that are involved into informal businesses don't need any oprganizations, neither state nor independent ..

• 38

ones. There was such a case that occurred in Akkurgan district of Tashkent - Region. Women who were involved in their own 'shuttle business' were offered to establish an NGO, however they declined the offer, and explained that they would have no use for such an organization. They believed the - only thing they would see from the NGO would be a need to pay membership fees. This category of women either don't have enough means to get into formal business or are afraid to do so kpowing what type of difficulties they - would have to face while preparing documentation, paying taxes etc. However some women, having saved enough money, build little kiosks or shops. - 6.6. Problems of women farmers - Problems of women farmers are very similar to the problems of women involved into formal businesses. But they have their specifics due to the fact that they are working in the agricultural sector. - These problems are: I. Lack of circulation assets; II. They don't have money for basic food and clothing items; - III. Dependents on farms and shirqats have that have resources; IV. Low prices for the produced goods; - V. Difficulties with preparation of documentation; VI. The lack of tools, transportation and machinery; VII. Remote location of markets to sell goods; VIII. No money for dowry and observance of rights; - IX. Alcoholism of husbands; IIX. Lack of access to loans and credits; - The lack of money is the greatest reason that holds back the development of farming business, since the establishment of farming .. requires a start up capital. The lack of experience in collecting the necessary documentation takes up a lot of time and resources. .. Ezos: "Before she established a farm, she worked as a head of a group on collective farm. She established a farm in 1994. She had a work experience in agriculture, but did not know how • to prepare all the documentation to set up a farm. First she submitted an application to the district Khokimiat. Upon getting approval, 'She spent 3 months to prepare all the • paperwork. Step by step, she worked towards getting her farm registered. In 1996 she applied for a loan to the bank, spent 6 months to get the paperwork done, but in vain. Business plan was developed for a separate payment in the bank. She had to • get another load of documents collected. She was not told right away what documents would be needed to get a loan, each time asking for new papers. He work on the farm has stumbled • and she stopped her attempts to get a credit. In 1999, that was declared a Year of Woman, five farmers of her district, including her, were offered to take a credit. She tried again, • but got sunk in the papers and backed off." •

•

• ... 39

Tuigul told, that she is involved into cattle breeding. Since the collective farm refused to lend her machines for land cultivation, she had an annual conflict with its administration and later with district khokimiat, where she .. went with complaint. After the attestation she was accused that the fodder were not properly stored away for winter and her farm was taken away. Only after she filed a complaint to the regional khokimiat, her farm was returned, however instead .. of 180 cows she was returned only 76.

The relationship with local authorities is very important for the OIl development of a farming business. The problem is much more serious in the remote regions where local authorities retain the right to declare themselves right in any matter of dispute. It is very important for farmers to - receive land in a good place not far from home and close to the water resources. The administration of collecting farms gives away land lots that .. are far away from the houses and water resources, often times those are dry farming lands. This problems is very acute in Karakalpakstan, besides more than 50 percent of irrigated lands in Karakalpakstan have a very high salinity ... level - 90-95%. The existing deficit of water resources is another factor that holds back the development of farmer business. We have to emphasize that farming in Karakalpakstan is not as developed as in other regions, and farmers are not as experienced in - agriculture. The problem of controlling authorities for farmers is as acute as for any .. other business areas .

• 7. Unemployment among women The study of unemployment among women in Uzbekistan is rather • problematic. This is explained by several reasons: I. A significant number of formally unemployed women are • actually working in informal sector; 2. The scale of hidden unemployment is much larger than the reported level; • 3. The national legislation on labor stipulates more rigid criteria for the status of unemployed than criteria of MOT. • Chart 7. Unemployment among women .s percentage of - the slmlar index for men (men .100%) ~,------. 2~+------• 200+------1~ 100 ~ • o 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 •

• 40

However the data of official statistics and independent sociological - research shows that the problem of unemployment is related to women to a higher extent than to men. During recent years while the absolute numbers of employed women has - been decreasing, their proportion among employed population remains stable: 43 - 44%. - Inoyat: "It is very hard to find a job for women, almost impossible. Before in Akkurgan they had a sewing factory and a lot of women were working there, but now they don't have any - job. We have a cotton processing plant in our community, but it does not have any jobs for women. If we would have to look for a job outside our district, we do not have anybody to care for our children. We do not have childcare facilities. Those, - that are there, belong to different organizations. That is why most of the women do not work". - At the same time, the supply of women labor force on the labor market is greater than the demand for workers in Uzbekistan. Among unemployed women, a considerable proportion (70%) is comprised of those who are - referred to as immobile category. They are the main candidates for downsizing, and are facing difficulties with employment. Those are primarily women with young children. - 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 - Labor force (women as % of men's 77,3 76,4 76,7 74,2 74,5 75,1 75,7 76,2 .. coefficient)

Muborak, obstetrician in the district outpatient clinic: "I am a widow and if I did not have an education, I don't even • know what I would have been doing. But I work and feed my kids to the best of my abilities. There is a lot of divorced families nowadays and it is not a secret that women start • sell ing themselves".

Rano: "The main reason of divorces is unemployment among men and women. There are a lot of unemployed people nowadays. • The family has to be provided at least by food products. However almost all men are sitting without jobs. They are bored and hungry. It all leads from idleness to the fights and • as a result causes divorces". •

• •

•

• 41 oil

The unemployment statistics in 1998 looked as follows:

Table 13 Number of Number of Number of .. women (%) women (%) women among those among receiving who approached officially unemployment employment registered benefits among - assistance unemployed unemployed service women(%) • Uzbekistan 44,2 51,7 45,9 Andijan 44,6 51,S 46,S Namangan 37,0 53,0 42,4 .. Samarqand 44,4 45,7 54,0 Tashkent 42,9 32,3 47,1 .. Fergana 44,7 41,0 36,2 Karakalpakstan 48,8 55,7 54,3 .. The breakdown of unemployed women by profession is very clear: 38% do not have any profession, 40% are low qualified workers, 21% - specialists with different levels of education. The majority of unemployed women (64%) .. have general secondary education. Lots of them do not have the opportunity to get qualification; the list of the specializations that they can attain is very narrow. As a result, among those who are employed, the proportion of .. women is lower (42%). Women decline the offered positions one and a half times more often than men since enterprises frequently offer job openings that suggest considerable physical activity and poor working conditions. • Uljan, a teacher: "One of the women living on the 4'" floor of the building where I live, runs a brothel, selling 13-14 .. years old girls to the clients. She feeds them and provides clothing, keeping money for services. Our neighbors complained about it to different authorities, but it did not bring any • results". Women acutely feel the threat of unemployment. In accordance with the research of the Ministry of Macro Economics and Statistics, only 25% of surveyed women are not afraid to lose their jobs, 51.5% are very worried about the possibility of being laid off. The survey showed that 22% of women • believe if they were laid off they could not find another job at all, and 27% believe that they could find a job, but at a lower level. It is hard to imagine any worse conditions of women employment if:

- More than 85% have an average monthly income lower than expected average salary for the country in general (in rural areas the proportion • of such women is 94%); 52% of women think that their job does not provide financial independence; • 56% have to stay at work after hours; •

• 42

not working in a condition that does around 100 thousand women are - meet the sanitary requirements; their holding jobs that don't meet 36% percent of women are qualifications. - desire to work women 45.7% expressed their Among the unemployed respondents, .. of their family.. Among the working irrelevant to the welfare 30% would 22% would like to work full time, 21% would like to quit their job, have like to work at home if they didn't like to work part time, and 14% would .. earn money for the family. to for unemployed women: The following problems were identified ; money for basic food and clothing - I. no II. hard to find a job; 111. heavy workload in the household; .. business; IV. not enough knowledge to start for cultivation; V. impossible to get a land stripe in makhallya; VI. frequent money collection - alcoholism of husband; VII. in the family; the woman's opinion does not count VIII. of rites; IX. no money for dowry and observance garden. - X. too much work in the have preferred to work of house wives state that they would .. The majority budget. Some of them to get more money for their family outside of the home meals, and sell businesses: bake items, cook are involved into informal around As it was reported that in Tashkent • vegetables from their gardens. small maternity leave were working in Eski-Juva market, women on their were hired for temporary jobs. businesses around the market, and • "I used to work in the a widow wi th 4 children: Munira, manager. I have been laid care facility as a household child been a widow for 9 years. about a year ago. I have no • off am looking for a job with I am in distress. I is Currently to wear and eat. My pension My kids have nothing sons results. is 3000 sums. One of my 6900 sums and a welfare payment fall he • after the 7th grade. This dropped out of the school a white T-shirt, as he did not have went to school in a white Next day he allowed onto the premises. dress shirt. He was not I applied to • now he is not studying. not go to school and feed my did to set up a farm and receive 2 hectares of land with The chairman advises to meet children but I was denied. tha t my kids to meet him but he said • Khokim (mayor). I went my kids are my sons is 16 and all are too young, al though raised to work hard. • the head of the of job impacts those families where In rural areas the lost they don't have women or a widow, especially where household is a divorced down, especially the shutting the childcare faculties • access to land. Due to Aside from workload of women has been increasing. in the rural areas, the the rural areas, have to take care of their kids. In household chores, women •

• - - 43 in addition to household work, women have to work on their backyard • gardens, and on an additional lot. All of that impacts the mobility of the housewife in the rural areas. Even if they find a job outside the village they would not be able to spend a lot of time away from their families especially if - they have young children. • 8. Women and Society The sociological literature during the recent years has expressed opinions • that the situation of women in Uzbekistan is determined by the peculiarity of national mentality. The Uzbek mentality and the structure of values in the society have never been studied. However there is a list of stereotypes that • have never been contested:

The public opinion is that women are obliged to take care of duties of • the household; Social activity of women is not appreciated in small groups; - Women themselves are not oriented towards getting a professional • education and a job; they prefer household activities; - A large family is one of the basic traditional values, and family planning is condemne;; • - women in the family has no rights and are susceptible to discrimination; The violation of women's rights is justified by traditions; • The makallya has a predominant influence of the way the family lives; The influence of Muslim traditions within the society is radically II increasing during the post soviet period.

The purpose of the research did not include the study of individual ill orientation of women, however some ideas of the role of women in the society were reflected in the interviews.

II 8.1. The role functions of women from family and community standpoint

The research has shown that most important women responsibilities are considered to be: • Care for the health and upbringing of children; Performance of household activities (laundry, food preparation, cleaning etc.); - Maintenance a psychologically comfortable conditions in the family; - Ability to keep the husband happy. • Less than one third of surveyed women have found it important for women to be capable of achieving successful results in work, such as • promotions. Based on the public opinions in other research projects the opinions of women and men do not differ greatly in this matter. • .. 44 .. years after Feruza says, that she hasn't been working for 5 wouldn't let the graduation from the University - her husband her. - Only 1/5 of surveyed men think that women should not be working; women.The .. the majority of men prefer full or part time employment of all of prestige of women education is very high in the eyes of men: practically as boys men are confident that women should get as good of an education achieve a .. do. 80% of men think that education is necessary for women to decent life and success. it is However in order to be respected by relatives and neighbors, 75% of .. more important to be a housewife, obedient and submissive. for respondents think that it is very important to provide a decent education The girls, however it is more important to achieve family happiness. are placed .. performance of religious and public responsibilities in makhallyas by on the bottom list of social expectation for women, which is expressed both men and women. 8.2. Family status of women .. family As you could see, public opinion considers performance of of women responsibilities the primary duty for women. Moreover the majority career of including professionally successful ones, think that the successful the husband is more important than that of a wife. -

Chart 8. Distribution of answers to the question: "Who • is in charge of family budget?" '.1 •

43,5 •

13.8 D JOintly D Other 1 I_ Respondent _ Husband •

it says Firuza: "The negative thing about Islam is that of their families that women sh~uld not work, but to take care • something, only. I think, that if a woman is capable of doing mean that the she has to work and strive for it. It does not women who are woman would be worse that way. There is a lot of • wives at the successful at work and are wonderful mothers and same time". • "It Around two thirds of surveyed women agree with the same statement, to work". is good if the man earns enough that the woman could afford not to huge However there is an impression that the women say that due • women said physical and psychological burden. As we remember, only 1/5 of they would prefer not to work at all. •

• .. 45

If men think that the most important thing for women is to take care of .. their kids, women undoubtedly put a family on the leading place in their system of values. The opinions of Uzbek families oriented towards large families is not supported by research. Around 80% of respondents would .. like to have three to five children (similar data were found in other research). Normally couples do not have arguments in that regard. Other important decisions on family issues are also made together with the husband. Other ill -i Chart 9. Ansv.es eX respondents to the ~on :''Wlo .. decides ho.v lTBIly kids are going to be in }«II" fanily" %% .. - 6,9 - .. 65 • Myself .Husbarrl D Jointly with husban:::! DNo plans .. .No answer researches show that men prefer to discuss the family issues with their wives .. and make decisions together. .. 8.3. Public involvement of women The role of women in the political life of society has decreased .. substantially during recent years. Women themselves (almost half of surveyed women) think that state matters and politics have no affect upon women problems. It is interesting that 66% of men do not agree with such a .. standpoint. Women do not pay much attention to public activities not only on the macro level, but also on the community level. As we have mentioned before, the activities in makhallya hold a bottom .. positions in the value system together with performance of religious responsibilities.

MakfuU~ya is a neighborhood cOllllllWlity COllllllOn in agricult:ur~ settlements of Centra~ Asia both in rura~ and urban areas. - This traditiona~ socia~ institution of peop~e's authority existed a~ready in Mi~e Ages and was performing ma~y fUnctions of re~ator of socia~ sphere in the ~ife of - cOllllllWlity (arrangement of weddings, fUnera~s and other ceremonies, argument sett~ement). CUrrent~y makha~~ya is being • governed by makha~~ya committee that by the ~aw performs the fUnctions of ~oca~ administrative bodies. •

• --"--,------,._•..... - " 46 - in During the survey it was determined that 82.5% of women participate community life (Table 14). - that the Such high percentage of participation is explained by the fact that are participants of discussions were socially active women. Women involved in business, educated wome(l and state service representatives - have an take an active part in makhallya gatherings because they the women independent economic status and frequently are the leaders of part of makhallya. - 50% of In Karakalpakstan and in Tashkent there are only 68% and decisions - women respectively who attend makhallya meetings where the important for the community are being made.

Participation in Public Life - Table 14 Total - Yes No Q-ty % Q-ty % Q-~ % 100,0 Collective farm 10 83,3 2 16,7 12 64 100,0 - Private enter~rise 58 90,6 6 9,4 17 100,0 Farming_ 17 100 100,0 Education 24 77,4 7 22,6 31 100,0 - Health Protection 12 92,3 1 7,7 13 100,0 Trade 6 75,0 2 25,0 8 .. 43 79,6 11 20,4 54 100,0 Unemploy~d 100,0 Housewife 22 71,0 9 29,0 31 100,0 NGO 2 50,0 2 50,0 4 100,0 • Insurance 2 100,0 2 100,0 State structures 2 40,0 3 60,0 5 100,0 Joint stock 5 100,0 5 • companies 17,5 246 100,0 TOTAL 203 82,5 43 • In other regions women take part mainly in khashar and traditional the role of ceremonies. We can come to a conclusion that women are given as it the family keeper and those who maintain traditions in same fashion • above, we was done during the soviet period. Taking into consideration the more distanced could suggest that women from other social groups are far • from making important decisions for the community. that is Khashar - an institution of mutua~ assistance, order to support a rendered on the ~evel of fami~y c~an in • a wedding ceremony as fami~y in bui~ding a house or arranging in order to repair or we~~ as on the ~eve~ of entire makha~~ya bui~d buildings of public use; • -

• ... 47

Rite - (ceremony, ritual) - historically developed noDIIS of .. behavior during the most important occasions of life cycle of people and community (wedding ceremonies, ...akes etc) There is an impression that women are less likely to arrange their .. activities in an organized manner and join together to make solutions forlheir problems. In accordance with the data of the department of statistics of 450

.. Chart 10. Forms of women participation in public life

80 .. 70 60 50 .. 40 30 20 10 .. 0 And

.. I!!Malchalya I!Khashar IiR~es .Women coln:ils .ClU1er existing NGOs, only 100 are women NGOs with one fourth of them - established by the initiative of the state. Melia 13 years ago she had a spine injury. She graduated .. from the Institute of architecture and Construction and got an engineering degree. All the rest of the years she devoted to physical rehabilitation of her health. In 1993 she got married and despite the doctor's disapproval, she gave a birth to a • daughter. Now her daughter grew up and she doesn't need as much of a care. Melia understood that it was time to start expressing herself somehow so she decided to establish a union of disabled women. In the local social welfare office she was • given the addresses of other women with disabilities and she went on visiting them. Today the unites 50 women and 11 men. Women as a rule are not aware of their rights and benefits • provided studying them. In September 1999 all the women decided to uni te their efforts and establish a Center of assistance to disabled • people "Khayot". The Center was legally registered in December 1999. The thought of establishing a center for people with special needs has visited Melia numerous times when she was • going through treatment in Moscow and Crimea. She saw how disabled people from Baltic states and Russia were establishing unions and opening different courses for study, • were involved in tourism and arts. They were not isolated from each other and had a normal life. "It is hard to see a woman on the wheelchair on the streets of Uzbekistan and its not because we don't have them, but • rather because they are too embarrassed to show up on public. But those complexes si t in our heads. We have to break free from them, provide such women with psychological and legal • support. We, disabled women, have the same right for work, we are as much of the ci tizens as everybody else is and it is •

• --,------_ ..• -...... ---_ ..--_ ... - 48

way of life, a - time to get used to the fact that this is our life, not a disease. N She works Dilyara, chairperson of one of the district NGOs ... Women come to since 1997 but they still don't have an office. trying to her house, she discusses their problems with them, of Collective help them, asked for assistance of the chairman Khokimiat, but Farm, the District Department of Education, - life of these nobody helped her. She knows how difficult the them. She does women is and tha t is why she decided to help authorities in not get any salary. She has a conflict with - Khokimiat therefore she approaches them seldom." stage. Nongovernmental organizations (NGO) are in their formation NGO's the - Considering the results of five interviews with the leaders of following problems have been identified: - I. The lack of financial independence, and reliance upon resources of international donors; II. Lack of equipment and machinery; - III. Low personal qualification; IV. High turnover rate of personnel and a huge work load; V. Opportunity to expand numbers of personnel is only possible when - new grants are provided; VI. The specialists are only hired for temporary work; VII. Low salary level for employees - VIII. NGO membership is decreasing due to inability to provide real assistance; IX. Mistrust of Power Authorities; -

NGO's are created primarily in the cities, only a few have their branches however • in the districts, (for example the Association of Business Women) facilities. these branches have little resources and don't have communication • • • •

•

•

•

•

• .49 '...

9. Violence in the family III The marriage and the creation of a new family is a very important event in the life of all the parents. because the successful conclusion of this task • determines the future of their children. Therefore in most cases the mother is the one who is looking for a partner for her child. The participation of children themselves is relatively,passive. As a result, children submit to the • desires of their elders. In accordance with family legislation, the legal age for marriage is 17 years old, however we can see a trend for marriage as earty as 15 or 16 .. years old. This trend is even stronger in the rural areas. Women say that it is desirable to give a child to marriage at the age of 18 - 20 years of age, yet if a proposition is made for marriage by a well off family and a dowry has • already been prepared, marriage at an eartier age may be acceptable. In this case the child is given to marriage, because the parents are concemed that the proposition may not be made again. Girts have to submit to their III parents. In the rural areas, an unmarried girt in her twenties is considered an old maid .

.. Dina: «Before, if a girl would get married at the age of 23-24, it was considered normal. Now 23-24 is too late, they say that the girl has been "sitting" too long. Nowadays, early .. marriages - at the age of 17-18 - are practiced around. I believe that early marriage is harmful for the health, the girl at that age is not prepared for the sex life. The .. majority of divorces happen because of the early marriages." Young girts of Andijan region mostly from cities said that they would like .. to receive professional skills before getting married. The expanding unemployment and general economic instability are causing the increase in the number of divorces. Women have stated that the increasing divorce rate .. results from financial problems in the family. Many men have lost their jobs, and they cannot provide for their families, which leads to conflict within them.

Ugiloi: "There are a lot of unemployed people nowacL3ys. • Lot's of people become alcoholics, smoke marihuana - I can't give any specific examples, but I am aware of such problem. After having a few drinks and smoking pot, men come home and • start fights."

The other reason is the early marriage. Women stated that girts before • the age of twenty are not prepared to perform daily household activities. Sometimes they are not prepared for childbirth. This results in some sort of • disapproval from the husband's family that also leads to divorce. Zokirakhon: "My daughter is 16. My husbands says that we are not going to give her to marriage before she is • 20. However, it seems like we would not be able to keep it that way since she would be condemned by the people. How could you keep a girl at home for a long time? It is dangerous, what if • nobody would come wi th proposi tions la ter? It is accepted •

• 50

for your daughter to somebody here: to pass the responsibility cares." and what comes next - nobody else as soon as possible, was not working we got divorced, my husband .. Rakhima: "When in collective a new family, has a job anywhere. Now he has are given any money: sometimes they farm, but is not getting tha t is sorry for him and his family; flour and oil. I feel that money .. alimony. He does not have why I am not asking for anyway_ " although .. women do not take official divorce It was also noted that lots of for not have enough money to apply are getting separated. Women do they assistance. Public opinion is always divorce in courts and to pay for lawyer's women are being scorned for their the side of the man, and divorced - on divorce. with property split and getting divorced women face problems Officially women take their dowry children. As a rule, after the divorce, - alimony for the and leave for their regions it's furniture and clothing) (in the majority of of the house or not have a right to get a share parents. The woman does marriage. that has been obtained during the - apartment or any other property the is made in the fathers name, or in Traditionally the registration of property extended family. name of the eldest member of an .. I not split the property. "I got divorced but we did Barno: I took my personal belongings wanted to get rid of him. and .. just He would get drunk went to live with my parents. fight and I left he would come and tormented me and even after wi th me". .. since men do get alimony to support children Divorced women seldom stated that into informal business. Some women not work or are involved low that it especially in the rural area, is so • often times the salary of husband, sense to apply for alimony. doesn't make is not allowed to be is not offiCially registered, Nikokh If marriage women, the clergy • according to the words of some performed. However, an official marriage for 15 or 16 years old girls without performs Nikokh the couple has to money. After the birth of the child, certificate for some the birth certificate. • only because they need to receive register their marriage women and she be registered to the name of the Otherwise the child would children in the a single mother. If there are no would officially be considered must retum • the wife to leave. The young women family, the husband forces official. recourse, as her marriage was never to her parents without legal • ritua~ of MUs~ims Nikokh- re~igious wedding that mother-in-Iaw's played a very Many divorced women have stated • The well being of the young family large role in the split of their families. with the mother of the husband. depends completely on the relations who inside family life, especially for those One of the reasons for stresses for • 16 and 17, is that girls are not prepared have gotten married at the age of the sex life. •

•

• .. 51

.. Inoyat: "When I was distributing brochures on sexual education of girls at school located in makhallya, some .. parents disapproved it while others supported meN . The majority of the women stated that sexual education was very important. So when they were asked where did they receive education on the way the family life went, the most frequently answered response was that - they learn from sisters-in-law, friends with their mothers being last to ask for advice. As a result women admit that they were not ready for family relations and think that girls should be educated on this manner, for example at - school. However that might cause negative reaction of some parents that think that such materials are offensive to traditional moral. The absence of sexual - knowledge leads to the development of physical and psychological problems in young girls in the very first days in the marriage. When we talk about violence, we mean physical violence in the family, i.e. abuse and humiliation. - Women openly discuss issues like this: Oigul: "The fights started when my husbands' sister - divorced her husband and came to her parents' place with her two kids. My mother-in-law started reproaching me for not taking a - proper care of my sister-in-law's kids, who works day in, day out, that supposedly I feed my kids better than hers. We .. started to have quarrels in my family: my husband would yell at me and defend his sister. Once after another complaint of my husbands' sister, my mother-in-law yelled at me and compelled me to leave. At that point my husband came home; he • was a little drunk and having heard the yelling in the house, without looking into what happened, he started beating me up with his fists, grabbed my hair and started banging my head against the wall, saying again and again: "I will teach you • the lesson". I blacked out and later woke up in the middle of the night, lying by the wall. My mother-in-law and my husband started forcing me to leave • immediately but wanted to keep my son with them. The sun was r~s~ng, I took my daughter and left. I had to walk 6 kilometers to the house of my parents. It was very cold and • both my daughter and I developed pneumonia. When my daughter started having cramps and could not recognize anybody, We called a doctor, who said that we have to take her to - hospital, but we did not have any money for treatment or medicine H

• Regarding the sexual violence this topic is closed for discussion, women think that this problem occurs very seldom in their region and the fact of the rape is a theme of discussion for two parties, the victim and rapiSt. The rape • of an unmarried girl ends up by the Muslim or civil marriage. It is not important whether the marriage would last long. The marriage saves the girls reputation in the eyes of society, .. In accordance with the results of a survey called "Domestic Violence", that was held by the Consultation on Civil Acts and Protection of Women I ------._------"."'.. -.. _ .. _------52

City Board of Lawyers. Most frequently Rights that works under the Tashkent family. - violence caused by the husband's women suffer from psychological of the related to this matter. One third than half of all complaints were More on physical violation from the needed advise were complaining women that 1 0 - 12% of complaints - and his family members. Only side of their husband The findings of including ones shown by relatives. relate to sexual violence, role in the life of often the mother plays the main the surveys show that very must deal - women coming into the new family the family-in-Iaw. The young problems of of the husband solve many of the with a reality that the parents not to take and disrespectful way. Men prefer the family in a very untactful of his - side more often husband takes the part in conflict situations, but family any psychological support in the mother. The woman does not have an atmosphere of conflict and fights. of her husband, and must live in - of high school at the age «After graduation from Kholida: the proposition to marry remote relatives came with - 17 our me to marriage. At the beginning son and my parents gave was their went very good. As it family life everything of our to a baby. I lost a lot in 9 months I gave a birth expected, to death. Doctors, in - close during delivery and was of blood an urgent surgery - to to save my life, have suggested order and they asked my husband .. I was unconscious remove my womb. notified him that I the surgery, however they for consent for more children. My to be able to have any would not going my life. At first for the surgery to save .. husband agreed my daughter our family, however when everything went well in started showing her discontent turned 3, my mother-in-law Under her that to my husband. towards me and telling up with ... for divorce, covering it influence, my husband applied kids. We got divorced soon." my inability to have more to repeats itself from generation • It is interesting that this situation of behavior and, then put their women took this despotic style generation; to mention that the findings of law through it, too. It is important daughters-in people sought advice. The real • consider only those cases where the survey It is more than likely that the domestic violence is hard to determine. scale of is much greater than what we of physical, psychological violence • proportions Women prefer to approach this from the conclusions of the survey. can get through the phone, rather showing their identity, such as problem without kids are also victims of directly. Unmarried women and than contacting help don't seek help • is initiated by their parents. They domestic violence, which however the don't know who to ask for assistance, since kids and teenagers that domestic legal work in schools shows experience of consultative of it. • and teenagers being the victims violence is wide spread with children violence in family: jealousy, alcoholism, There are multiple reasons for • and sisters-in-law. The traditional bad relationship with mothers-in-law, found to the husband and his parents viewpoint of giving higher importance leads women. However, this blind admiration • confirmation among surveyed and to power of the husband in the family to the strengthening of despotic • .. 53

justification of existing violence. With this condescending attitude, women .. create conditions where their rights are being taken away . Shakhodat: "Nowadays at least 50t of women are divorced and .. all the problems come down to the lack of money. It was correctly mentioned, that main problem of women is the lack of patience. Girls get married and as soon as they face .. difficulties of family lire, they get a divorce. Everything comes down to everyday problems. Before a husband was considered a saint - he could abuse his wife, cheat on her and she had to be patient, as it was destined to be like that - he .. was a man. Now women have changed. They try to do everything on their own, to achieve something, and when women start getting some money, they try to control the man. Nowadays lots .. of men do not have a job, they sit at home and if woman earns money, she starts reproaching her husband. And I think, if .. women were the one to sit at home, it could have been better. # Dilorom: «Islam states, that woman has to be patient. That a husband can get married again, and cheat on her, but the woman should be tolerant to that. That patience would be - rewarded. I also think that patience is gold" The main reason of alcoholism in the family is that husband's stresses - around loosing their jobs. These stresses are increased by the fact men are loosing their positions .. as the breadwinner for the family . Nagima: "My sons are educated, but since there are no jobs, they all sit at home. The reason the prestige of man has .. decreased is that even after getting the education, they are not able to find any job. They can't si t on the market reselling stuff. Women can go to Russia and Kazakhstan as they .. are less seized upon. But man could become alcohol abusers." Women in all regions have noted the weakness and inability of men to • adapt to new transitional condition that causes alcoholism and violence ...... • • .. 54

Conclusion effect Structural reforms in social economic areas have made a greater - Studies on women than men, and have increased the gender inequality. difficulties, show that in most cases women consider not the reasons of their for This stands in th~ way of active change in their life - but the consequences. their family. better. The women are primarily worried about the problems of they The professional interests of these women are only important because problems - have an impact upon the well being of the family. Among the main women identify: - Low family income; High load of household work; Unsatisfactory jobs; - The main sources of women problems are: - Ineffective employment; Concentration of women in low income jobs; Professional segregation and discrimination of labor market. - that The health problems of women are a real threat to their well being living and are rooted in psychological and physical pressure and poor family is - and working conditions. In general, the status of women in society growth of rather high. However economic problems contribute to the impact of unhappy families and violence in the family. Studies show that the most cases national and religious conditions should not be overestimated. In economic the impact of traditions is replaced by rational motives caused by necessity. - .. .. •

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