Alexander Erich 2015 Prevention of Domestic Violence in Tajikistan

From ‘programme transplants’ to ‘local approaches’: the prevention of domestic violence against women in Tajikistan Dissertation zur Erlangung der Würde des Doktors der Philosophie der Fakultät für Geisteswissenschaften der Universität Hamburg vorgelegt von Alexander Erich aus Düsseldorf Hamburg, den 3. April 2015 (Druckjahr) Datum der Disputation: Dienstag, 14. Juli 2015 Prüfungskommission: Prof. Dr. Frank Bliss (Erstgutachter, Vorsitzender) Prof. Dr. Michael Schnegg (Zweitgutachter) Prof. Dr. Cord Jakobeit Eidesstattliche Versicherung Hiermit versichere ich an Eides statt, dass ich die Dissertation selbst verfasst und keine anderen als die angegebenen Hilfsmittel benutzt habe. Die Arbeit wurde nicht schon einmal in einem früheren Promotionsverfahren angenommen oder als ungenügend beurteilt. Bonn, den 3. April 2015 For my sons, Yamani, Oskar, Paul and Benno This study would have not been possible without the help of many colleagues, friends and family, who advised and motivated me; thank you all for your unwavering support! I particularly want to thank Goulya Petrova, Firuza Jobirova, Dr David Cownie and Prof Dr Frank Bliss. Of course, nothing would have worked out without the generosity and patience of Mareile, whose love and friendship I am deeply grateful for. Table of contents List of acronyms and abbreviations iii List of figures iv List of tables iv List of pictures iv 1. Introduction 1 1.1 The intern ational challenge of domestic violence prevention 3 1.1.1 The ‘neglected obvious’ of international development 5 1.1.2 Shaping a response to domestic violence in Tajikistan 9 1.2 Exploring new ground in theory and practice 12 1.2.1 Expanding the anthropological engagement with domestic violence 12 1.2.2 Programme transplants and local approaches 16 1.2.3 Lack of evaluative evidence and programmatic guidance 21 1.3 Objectives and structure of the study 25 2. Conceptual framewo rk and methods 29 2.1 Key terms 29 2.1.1 An anthropological perspective on domestic violence 35 2.2 Conceptual framework 44 2.2.1 The global normative framework 44 2.2.2 ‘Glocalisation’ processes 46 2.2.3 Identifying key elements for creating local approaches 50 2.3 Methodology 58 2.3.1 Research methods 58 2.3.2 Limitations and positioning 70 3. K ey elements for creating local approaches in Tajikistan 79 3.1 Framing: Tajik identity, Islam and gender 79 3.1.1 Pre-Soviet Tajikistan 81 3.1.2 Soviet period 84 3.1.3 The quest for Tajik identity since independence 92 3.1.4 Gender as an identity marker 99 3.1.5 A new gender order? 112 3.2 Recognising structural conditions: e conomic and social development 114 3.2.1 Income poverty 116 3.2.2 Employment and migration 117 3.2.3 Education, health and social security 121 3.3 Building partnerships: g overnance and institutional weaknesses 124 3.3.1 Challenges of local governance 124 3.3.2 Policy framework for gender equality in place… 128 3.3.3 …but no public response to domestic violence 132 3.3.4 Weak support for victims of domestic violence 136 3.3.5 Traditional and non-governmental efforts 138 i 3.4 Re -defining the target group: domestic violence in Tajikistan 141 3.4.1 Prevalence of physical and emotional violence 141 3.4.2 Characteristics of domestic violence in Khatlon 146 3.4.3 Acceptability of domestic violence 155 3.3.4 Women’s support-seeking behaviour 161 4. Local prevention approaches in practice: t he PDV project 165 4.1 Project management 166 4.1.1 Management set-up 166 4.1.2 Local NGOs as implementing partners 170 4.1.3 Development of programme design 173 4.2 Project concept and activities 180 4.2.1 PDV Intervention Model / Theory of Change 180 4.2.2 Enlisting local stakeholders (component 1) 185 4.2.3 Strengthening victim support services (component 2) 191 4.2.4 Increasing exposure to preventative messages (component 3) 203 4.3 Project r esults 213 4.3.1 Outcome 1: supportive local environment 213 4.3.2 Outcome 2: enhanced access to quality services 218 4.3.3 Outcome 3: increased exposure to preventative messages 221 4.3.4 Impact: reduced acceptability of domestic violence 222 5. Conclusions 230 6. References 245 Annex 270 Annex 1: PDV Logframe 270 Annex 2: Material on PDV surveys 2009 and 2011 272 ii List of acronyms and abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank AJJR Alternative Justice and Justice Reform project BCC Behaviour Change Communication CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women CoFWA Committee for Family and Women’s Affairs FGD Focus Group Discussion GDP Gross Domestic Product GOPA Gesellschaft für Organisation, Planung und Ausbildung GoT Government of Tajikistan GTG Gender Theme Group HDI Human Development Index IPV Intimate Partnere Violence JJAP Juvenile Justice Alternatives project KII Key Informant Interview MDG Millennium Development Goal MENA Middle East and North Africa MICS Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey MoH Ministry of Health MoIA Ministry of Internal Affairs MoJ Ministry of Justice MoLSP Ministry of Labour and Social Protection MoU Memorandum of Understanding NDS National Development Strategy NetLAC Network of Legal Aid Centres project NGO Non-Governmental Organisation ODA Official Development Assistance OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSI Open Society Institute PD4 Political Division 4 of the Swiss Foreign Ministry PDV Prevention of Domestic Violence project PMU Project Management Unit ProDoc Project Document ProVAW Project Against Violence Against Women PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper RCT Randomised Control Trial SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SIAPAC Social Impact Assessment and Policy Analysis Corporation TJS Tajik somoni (4,99190TJS = 1 USD, Sep 21, 2014) TLSS Tajikistan Living Standards Survey UN United Nations UPR Universal Periodic Review WHO World Health Organisation iii List of figures Fig. 1: WHO typology of violence 30 Fig. 2: WHO ecological model of violence 43 Fig. 3: Conceptual framework: key elements for creating local approaches 51 Fig. 4: Location of study area in Tajikistan 59 Fig. 5: Map of Tajikistan 79 Fig. 6: Women’s lifetime prevalence of physical domestic violence in Khatlon by type, 2009 143 Fig. 7: Women’s lifetime prevalence of emotional violence in Khatlon by type, 2009 145 Fig. 8: Prevalence of women’s physical and emotional domestic violence by age, 2011 149 Fig. 9: Women’s prevalence of physical and emotional domestic violence by level of 151 economic dependence on husband’s parents, 2011 Fig. 10: Perceived acceptability of forms of physical domestic violence in Tajik culture, 156 Khatlon, in % Fig. 11: Culturally acceptable circumstances for severe physical domestic violence, Khatlon, 158 in % Fig. 12: ‘The thing about even severe physical discipline of a wife by her husband, 162 assuming that it does not pose a risk to her life, is that it is a family affair, not something that should involve someone outside the family’, in % Fig. 13: PDV Intervention Model 181 Fig. 14: ‘When you need help or have a serious problem with your husband/long-term 215 partner, and you need outside assistance, are there any officials or organisations that you feel that you could rely on to help you solve this problem?‘ (in %), women only, 2009 and 2011 Fig. 15: ‘Even if a woman is severely physically disciplined by her husband, there is little use 217 in reporting it to the police, because the police would side with the husband’ (in %), men, 2009 and 2011 Fig. 16: Access to support services (in %), 2009 and 2011 219 Fig. 17: Perceived changes in the acceptability of selected forms of physical domestic 227 violence over the past two years (in %), 2011 List of tables Tab. 1: Prevalence of lifetime physical domestic violence in international comparison (in %) 4 Tab. 2: Acceptability of circumstances for physical domestic violence (in %) 38 Tab. 3: Typology of gender markers according to interpretation of Islam 111 Tab. 4: Overview of PDV’s project design responses to context factors 233 List of pictures Pic. 1: The author with project partners from NGO Ghamkori, December 2008 62 Pic. 2: Community meeting with local stakeholders in Bohktar, April 2012 188 Pic. 3: Flipchart with the message ‘Domestic violence leads to unhealthy families’ 206 Pic. 4: Billboard with the message ‘Domestic violence is a crime’, April 2010 207 Pic. 5: The PDV brand logo 210 Pic. 6: Mulloh endorses messages against domestic violence 211 iv 1. Introduction On a sunny day in the spring of 2012, I was invited to attend a meeting of community stakeholders in a village in Khatlon region, in southern Tajikistan. Gathered in the compound of a wealthy resident were the staff members of the local non-governmental organisation (NGO) that had called the meeting, the religious leader ( mulloh ) of the district, a representative of local government, a police officer, may be thirty or so members of the community and myself. I was participating in my role as the former manager of the project that was funding the NGO, and I was particularly keen to see how our partners were putting into practice the project’s new advocacy strategy. For three years, I had been the project manager of the German firm contracted by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to implement the ‘Prevention of Domestic Violence’ (PDV) project in Tajikistan. Our team had invested considerable energy into enhancing the project’s strategy and supporting our partner NGOs to innovate their approaches. The afternoon turned out to reveal some interesting observations. Women were seated separately from the men, divided by a curtain to obstruct the two groups from seeing each other. However, female NGO staff and the female local government representative interacted openly with the men of the village.

Load more