CaucAsia - International Coalition of Gender
Journalists
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ENGLISH & RUSSIAN TRANSLATIONS
AGE &
GENDER
KAZAKHSTAN - Nina Yerkaeva
"According to statistics, the average length of
men's life in Kazakhstan is 60. The same index for women is 72. But, even
without statistics, it is obvious that there are more elderly women than men,
and that they live without their husbands. Almost all of these women are
widows."
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AZERBAIJAN - Vafa Salekh
"Zumrud Alieva, candidate of philologic sciences,
worked at her thesis for a doctor's degree for many years. Finally, she had a
chance to propose it to the Consultation Council of the Academy of Sciences in
Azerbaijan. But, the professors never studied her work. The reason, according to
them, was that Zumrud was too young, 30 years old!...In Azerbaijan, there are
many examples when men became doctors at that age and even younger. This fact
makes the refusal of Zumrud even more absurd. 'They told me that I am young and
a good looking woman, and thus, the paper I proposed seemed to be written by
someone else,' Zumrud said."
"There has appeared another tendency about young
girls of Azerbaijan who want to start their personal life while studying or
developing their career. In Azerbaijan, it is a tradition that young girls
should have a purpose of getting married at the ages of 18-25. Those who are
beyond age 25 are considered to be 'unsuccessful.' In some regions of
Azerbaijan, especially in the south of the country, girls are forced to get
married as early as the ages of 14-15. A tendency like this creates additional
problems to girls who do want to get married, but fail to find coupling. In case
a girl decides to graduate from the university before marriage, she has fewer
chances for marriage."
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ESTONIA - Ruta Pels
"According to the European model, retirement age
moves farther every year; it should soon reach the age of 65 years old.
Women in their forties are not the dream of an
employer in Estonia, especially if we speak about a Russian-speaking woman who
received her education in the Russian language. This type of woman had kids and
combined duties at home and at work to make ends meet. Today, their kids have
grown up, but they still need support. A woman like this generally has also
elderly parents, who need her care and thus do not let her go abroad. The
companies that employee cheap labor use these circumstances for their own
profit."
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