CaucAsia - International Coalition of Gender
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GENDER & FAMILY
Kyrgyzstan - Victoria Panfilova
According to very rough estimates, there are over
10 thousand women in Kyrgyzstan who live in families with polygamy. Kyrgyz
non-governmental organizations working at women's issues consider this situation
as threatening.
It is hard for a woman to find a job with proper
income. Some of the women prefer to become the second or third wife of a
well-to-do businessman or a politician, who can provide them and their family
with an appropriate income.
The possibility to legalize polygamy was several
times discussed in the Parliament. But even today the public opinion regarding
this issue differs.
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Azerbaijan - Mehriban Zeinalova
The percentage of underage/child marriages is
increasing in Azerbaijan. The problem is especially acute in the regions where
women have no perspectives besides getting married. Previously, parents were
doing their best to educate their daughters, but now they try often to
marry daughters, thus attempting to provide them with better economic
status. Besides this, some parents who support early marriages are motivated to
prevent their daughters from pre-marriage sexual relations. An underage wife has
practially no rights in the case of divorce, as this underage marriage cannot be
registered officially in Azerbaijan. According to the Family Code of the
Azerbaijan Republic, marriage age for women is 17, and for men 18. This is
why registration of an early marriage often involves couples using kyabin, a
religious marriage. The Caucasus Muslims Board issued a decree demanding from
couples an official state marriage contract. However, this decree keeps being
violated, and kyabin takes place without corresponding documentation. Marriage
to an underage girl in Azerbaijan is a crime as described in the Criminal Code
Articles 152 and 153, with potential imprisonment for 2-3 years as punishment.
The religious marriage does not have legal power, which means that both partners
do not have officially declared responsibilities.
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