Majoritarian values and women’s rights: police and judicial behavior in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan

Abstract

This paper analyzes judicial and police behavior in dealing with cases of family violence and divorce in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. Police and judges deliberately violate existing legal provisions to prevent women from divorcing or filing charges against their husbands in cases of domestic violence. While the law does not recognize religious marriages in Tajikistan, judges often rule to protect women’s living space after the dissolution of such unions. Drawing on rich interview and archival data, this behavior is explained by showing that judicial and police behavior reflects their biases, which in turn are a reflection of majoritarian norms in these countries. Since current laws are derived from Soviet codes, which were never internalized by the population, police and judges bend them to fit their understanding of social justice.

Keywords:

• Nationalism
• gender
• Central Asia
• Caucasus
• law enforcement
• domestic violence

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Aliyah Price for research assistance, and Jamie Mayerfeld, Stephen Hanson, Kathryn Hendley, Susan Whiting, Ethan Michelson, and anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Notes

1. The longer stay in Tajikistan was due to my concurrent study of the Tajik language.

2. I analyzed all 13 applications on file with the Women’s Lawyers League in Dushanbe for 2004–2006 cases, in which women requested legal help with cases related to issues of divorce, family violence, and living space rights after marriage/cohabitation.

3. In comparison, while a number of policemen in post-Soviet Ukraine are reported for unprofessional conduct, such as rudeness and procrastination in addressing a claim, only 24% of cases are rejected or dropped (Wilson 2011, 134). In the US, 20% of prosecutors report that they “sometimes” or “often” encourage reconciliation in cases of domestic violence (Utah Task Force on Gender and Justice, as cited in Corsilles 1994, 869).

4. Dushanbe Police Officer 3, personal survey, September 2007.

5. Dushanbe Police Officer 1, personal survey, September 2007.

6. Dushanbe Police Officer 11, personal survey, September 2007.

7. Dushanbe Police Officer 15, personal survey, September 2007.

8. 18 September 2007.

9. Dushanbe Police Officers 5, 7, 17, personal survey, September 2007.

10. Dushanbe Police Officer 7, personal survey, September 2007.

11. Dushanbe Police Officer 6, personal survey, September 2007.

12. Dushanbe Police Officer 14, personal survey, September 2007.

13. Dushanbe Police Officer 2, personal survey, September 2007.

14. Dushanbe Police Officer 9, personal survey, September 2007.

15. Dushanbe Police Academy professor, personal communication, 18 September 2007.

16. Dushanbe Judge 2, personal communication, September 2007.

17. Dushanbe Judge 3, personal communication, October, 2007.

18. Dushanbe Judge 1, personal communication, September 2007.

19. 10 May 2006 Dushanbe court case.

20. Dushanbe Judge 2, personal communication, September 2007.

21. Dushanbe Judge 2, personal communication, September 2007.

22. Dushanbe Lawyer 1, personal communication, September 2007.

23. Dushanbe Lawyer 1, personal communication, September 2007.

24. Dushanbe Lawyer 1, personal communication, September 2007.

25. Dushanbe Lawyer 1, personal communication, September 2007.

26. Dushanbe Judge 2, personal communication, September 2007.

27. Baku Attorney 2, personal communication, November 2007.

28. Baku Attorney 1, personal communication, October 2007.

29. Baku Attorney 1, personal communication, October 2007; Baku Attorney 2, personal communication, November 2007.

30. Baku Attorney 2, personal communication, November 2007.

31. Baku Judge 1, personal communication, November 2007.

32. Baku Judge 1, personal communication, November 2007.

33. Baku Judge 3, personal communication, November 2007.

34. Baku Judge 2, personal communication, November 2007.

35. Baku Judge 2, personal communication, November 2007.

36. Baku Judge 2, personal communication, November 2007.

37. Baku Judges 1, 2, and 4, personal communication, November 2007.

38. Baku Judge 2, personal communication, November 2007.

39. Baku judge 2, personal communication, November 2007.

40. Baku judge 1, personal communication, November 2007.

41. Baku Attorney 2, personal communication, November 2007.

42. Baku Attorney 2, personal communication, November 2007.

43. Baku Judge 1, personal communication, November 2007.

44. 18 September 2007.

45. 17 November 2007.

46. 19 November 2007.

47. According to Leninist teachings, the process of the education of the population would eventually allow the populace to solve disputes without legal institutions once the state “withered away” and Soviet society entered into communism. While the “withering away” of the state wasn’t exactly forthcoming, judges were nevertheless expected to educate litigants about how to be better citizens through promoting socialist norms.