Attachments: Azerbaijan-Domestic Violence in Refugee Families in Azerbaijan.doc
 
 
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FULL REPORT IS ATTACHED.

AZERBAIJAN

BORDERLESS VIOLENCE

Domestic Violence in Foreign Refugee Families in Azerbaijan  

 

Head of Project: Mehriban Zeynalova 

Sociologist: Vafa Saleh

Azerbaijan - The main purpose of the research on the family relations of the foreign refugee families is to determine the level of domestic conflicts, to assist to solve them and to provide the security in the society. The hypotheses which were supposed in the beginning of the research were proven like these:

·        the foreign refugee women do not have any rights

·        the opinions of the women are not considered in the solutions of family problems

·        the foreign refugee women often have to face with psychological violence

·        most of the women depend on the men economically

·        the foreign refugee women are not active social-political life, they do not care their problems

·        the foreign refugee women have to face physical violence (they are battered, offended etc.)

·        the foreign refugee women have not freedom of speech and they can not go where they want

·        the foreign refugee women have to face with different kinds of prohibitions and threatens

·        the men are against the women to work

·        the foreign refugee children are not satisfied with their lives

·        the foreign refugee children have educational and healthy problems

According to the goals of the research these facts were explored:

1.      The earnings of the foreign refugee families are 50-100 AZN. This amount is equal to average salary of the most Azerbaijani citizen families.

2.      The respondents replied “good” to the question on family issues, but deep comparative analysis demonstrated that this “good” respond was drawn from customs and traditions, indeed these relations were not so good.

3.      Most of the women in the foreign refugee families depended on the husbands economically. The women are not free in the ruling of a family budget. They have to report for all expenses. The expenses of a family are under the control of the men.

4.      There are prohibitions against the women and the children members of a family. It was also explored that these prohibitions have both economic and public characteristics.

5.      The foreign refugee women feel very tension due to their difficult condition and domestic conflicts.

6.      There is sexual violence against the women in families. But the women do not evaluate this as violence they think is right not crime

7.      The foreign refugee women try to hide physical domestic violence against them. Sometimes the women think their behaviors cause this violence and it is their own fault. “The syndrome of guiltiness” is common among the women.

8.      It was discovered that violence starts from the beginning of a marriage, but environment has great impact on the dynamic of conflicts.

9.      It was clarified the great impact of domestic conflicts on the members of a family. The huge emotional causalities among the women and depressions among the men were noticed.

10. Heartache among the women and blood pressure among the men were noticed.

11. The children have mood instability in families where there is violence

12. These families need economic support most but along with economic they need medical, advice, psychological and legal support.

Summary

This research explored violence against the women and the children which causes the breaking of these rights:

The below items of the fourth article of Convention on “The elimination of all forms of discriminations against women”

·        the right to live (article A)

·        the right to self security (Article C)

·        the right to avoid all forms of discrimination (Article E)

·        the right to equality, personal freedom and self security, to avoid all forms of discrimination, danger, inhumanity and/or self-offensive punishment and attitudes (b, j, e, h items of Article 3)

·        equal right to work

·        the right to allocation from state budget for the elimination of all forms violence against women (h item of Article 4)

According to Convention on “the elimination of all forms of discriminations against women”:

·        the right to avoid all forms discriminations, the equal right with men to participation in political, social, economic and cultural life (Article 2; 3 and 7)

·        the equal right of women to property rights and opportunities for its realization, and also the right of women to sign contracts and to manage property, to stand in all levels of courts as an equal person (the first item of Article 15)

Convention on “The protection of Human Rights and Common Freedoms”

·        the right to marriage (Article 12)

Convention on “The citizenship of married women”

·        Article 1 and 2

These rights of the children were broken:

Protocol of Convention on “The protection of Human Rights and Common Freedoms”

·        The right to education

 

Convention on Children’s rights

·        the right of children to get good medical service and healthcare (Article 24)

·        the equal rights of children to education and to maintain it

 

 

 

Recommendations

 

1.      In order to manage to diminish economic tensions among the family members, it would be useful to conduct educational projects on a family business and its practice among these people. In these projects/programmes the participation of the women must be highlighted.

2.      By maintaining the participation of all family members to conduct information programmes on human, women and children rights

3.      In order to reduce the stigma of “self-blaming” among the women to increase the education level of the women and to conduct information events among the women

4.      To strengthen psychological aid among these families; to open psychological support centres for providing practical assistance. To provide the men and the women as well as the children to utilize these service.

5.      To organize for the children the system of school at home, the retired teachers and NGO volunteers can be used for this purpose.

6.      To widen the gynecological aid for the women

 

THE NOTES of THE RESEARCHER:

This research was conducted among diverse the nationalities and the cultures.

Although the respondents have same religion they are the representatives of different cultures and traditions. For example, during the survey among the Chechen families we became a witness that the Chechen women know more about their rights (than Afghani, Pakistani, Iranian, Iraqi and Indian) and are more active in social life. They are also more active in a family life than Afghani and Iraqi women are. At the time they are violated in a family more than others. They are beaten, offended and face with physical, psychological and economic violence. It is strange that they do not agree with this situation and think that this situation can be taken on.

 

We became witnesses quite opposite in the Afghani, Pakistani, Iraqi and Iranian families. Indeed we had been waiting for the different situation but met the quite different situation. The Afghani, Iraqi and Pakistani almost do not know their rights, they are quite passive in social life and their demands are less than the Chechen women are. But our review proved that these women are violated less than the Chechen are. Especially, in the Iranian families the attitude towards women is different. In these families the men are much more tolerate to their wives. This fact was also indicated by the doctors and psychologist in the hospital where the foreign refugee women often apply.

 

The psychologist in the hospital said the number of the foreign refugee women who apply for psychological aid is very few. Especially, the Afghani and Iraqi women almost do not apply for psychological aid. It can be found after a long conversation if these women face with violence or not. In most cases these women accept violence against quite usual and normal. We should also mention one point. After the interviews and the conversation with both the refugees and the doctors it was found out that the Chechen besides physical violence face economic and psychological violence more than others do. Almost all the burden of a family falls on the shoulders of these women (beginning from the financial supply to bringing the children up).

 





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