KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

present this image of woman as an ideal. In the long run, there is a risk that such a shift
in values may lead to the disappearance of the cultural aspect of an entire nation, and
even the State itself.
Current policies of the KR in general do not oppose Westernization; on the contrary,
they support such ideas that come from abroad under the guise of the beautiful title
“Gender <strong>Policy</strong>” [8].
Criticism of Existing Policies
The problem is, first and foremost, that the principles of the “gender policy” of the
West are being transferred to the East, which has a different world of values. Besides,
there are certain stereotypes about Islam, about Muslims in general and the status of
woman in Islam in particular. For instance, according to these stereotypes, Islam gives
woman a subordinate role, granting her only duties and no rights.
Perhaps earlier, before the emergence of the Soviet Union, some issues were crucial,
such as whether a woman should work or not, whether she has the right to education or
property, if she could testify, inherit, buy and sell property, if she should marry a man she
desired or a man her parents found for her, as well as other issues related to social relations.
Many of these issues are no longer relevant, but some of them remain pertinent to this day.
For example, the phenomenon of stealing a bride was not eliminated during the years of
Soviet rule, despite the fact that there was (and still is) a legal penalty for that. This means
that the law does not work [3]. Such social phenomena should be the subject of attention
to the “gender policy” of the State and international organizations. No one infringed on
a woman’s right to participate in the political and socio-economic life of society, which is
certainly necessary for democratic development of the government and society.
While the legal penalty for forced marriage continues to be inactive, the “gender
policy” has focused on the facts that women are underrepresented in public and political
life and that, in the new parliament, there are virtually no women and that very few women
occupy high official posts [8]. Kyrgyzstan has ratified over 30 international conventions
and protocols on human rights, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women [8]; however, the gender issue remains unsolved. There
is a problematic gap between law and reality, which negatively affects the politics and, in
turn, affects society.
One of the negative aspects of modern society is the double burden placed on
women’s shoulders. As a result of the “feminist gender policy”, aspects such as a woman’s
right to choose became insignificant. In other words, the right to work is purposefully
imposed on a woman as an obligation to work. As a result, a woman-mother, instead of
breastfeeding her child and cultivating trust in God, love of homeland and other high
values in her child, hurries to work, competing with her husband and defending herself
by the right to work. Thus, women have to manage housekeeping and simultaneously
pursue a successful career, working full-time and in full force. In doing so, very often they
have to justify themselves in their choice before others, risking the blame of choosing an
“easy way” or being “lazy” if they prefer to stay at home and bring up children. Another
extreme view is blaming women for being “uncaring” wives or mothers, thinking only
about money, if they prefer to work. Of course, here the Eastern notion of family plays a
role, since it is very different from that notion in the West or in America, where the family,
as we understand it, is virtually non-existent.
Islam and Islamic law have had a profound influence on the history of legal
development in many states, in particular on the situation with human rights and
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