Emigrant Widows of Tajikistan and Guatemala: Where Structural Poverty and Structural Repression of Women Intersect Judy Elizabeth Lane Boyer HMN 679HB Honors Humanities Program The University of Texas at Austin May 2021 Thomas Jesus Garza Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies Supervising Professor Bella B. Jordan Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies Second Reader Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................... 4 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 5 Research Design .................................................................................................................. 6 Argument ............................................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................... 8 Research Design Evolution ................................................................................................. 8 Initial Design ................................................................................................................... 8 Tajikistan ......................................................................................................................... 9 Guatemala ...................................................................................................................... 10 Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval ................................................................. 11 COVID-19 ..................................................................................................................... 12 Fieldwork ........................................................................................................................... 14 A. Tajikistan: ...................................................................................................................... 15 B. Guatemala: ..................................................................................................................... 16 Coding ........................................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................................. 24 Civil War and the Birth of the Drug Trade ........................................................................ 25 Corruption: Ties to Poverty and Drug Trafficking ............................................................ 26 Poverty, Migration, and Drug Trafficking..................................................................... 31 Other Crime ................................................................................................................... 38 Violence Against Women .................................................................................................. 42 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 48 CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................................. 49 Historic Governmental Repression and Corruption .......................................................... 50 Crime and Violence ........................................................................................................... 51 Escape from Poverty and Violence: Corruption, Crime, and Migration ....................... 56 Ineffective Legal System ............................................................................................... 64 Violence Against Women .................................................................................................. 68 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 74 CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................................................. 76 Women’s Rights: History, Tradition, and Progressive Movements .................................. 77 Background ................................................................................................................... 77 Civil War and Aftermath: Effect on Women ................................................................. 79 2 Field Interviews: Guatemalan and Tajikistani Gender Experts, Social Workers, and Emigrant Widows ...................................................................................................................... 87 Systemic Repression ...................................................................................................... 87 Economy: Family Finances and Women’s Labor ......................................................... 98 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 104 CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................................ 105 Trends: Men’s Migration and Family Finances .............................................................. 105 Trends: Emigrant Widows’ Socioeconomic Status ......................................................... 110 Experiences: Emigrant Widows’ Labor and Family Finances .................................... 113 Trends and Experiences: Social and Emotional Impacts on Families ......................... 122 Trends and Experiences: Material and Social Support for Emigrant Widows ................ 133 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 138 CHAPTER 6 ................................................................................................................................ 139 Crime, Violence, Corruption, and Economy ................................................................... 139 Tajikistan ..................................................................................................................... 139 Guatemala .................................................................................................................... 141 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 143 Women – Repression and Consequences ........................................................................ 149 Structural Repression................................................................................................... 149 Portrait of the Emigrant Widow .................................................................................. 154 Agency and Empowerment ......................................................................................... 159 Incidental Agency and/or Quality of Life.................................................................... 160 Surmounting the Odds; Changing the Narrative ......................................................... 164 CHAPTER 7 ................................................................................................................................ 168 Possible Ways Forward ................................................................................................... 168 Recommendations for Further Research ......................................................................... 170 Personal Impact ........................................................................................................... 173 References ................................................................................................................................... 175 APPENDIX A: 2011 Crime Statistics (Rate per 100,000 population) ........................................ 180 APPENDIX B: Key Informant Questionnaire............................................................................. 181 APPENDIX C: Key Informant Questionnaire - Spanish ............................................................. 187 APPENDIX D: Subject Matter Expert Questionnaire ................................................................. 192 3 LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Demographic Information of Samples .......................................................................... 18 Table 1.2: Comparison of Samples’ Demographics ...................................................................... 18 Table 1.3: Coding Protocol ............................................................................................................ 22 Table 2: Tajikistan Crime Statistics ............................................................................................... 38 Table 3: Guatemala Crime Statistics ............................................................................................. 52 Table 6.1: Comparison of Samples’ Demographics ................................................................... 155 Table 6.2: Social Views on Family Matters ................................................................................ 155 Table 6.3: Instances of Agency/Quality of Life Incidental to Culture/Labor Migration ............ 162 4 INTRODUCTION Guatemala and Tajikistan are two countries located in different geographical regions, and yet they appear to have similarities.