Women’s strategies for coping with the impacts of domestic violence in Kyrgyzstan: A grounded theory study

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an account of the adverse impacts of domestic violence on women in Kyrgyzstan and develops a grounded theory of coping among survivors of abuse. The results indicate that women adopt a range of strategies to prevent, avert, and minimize anticipated violence. Two key aspects of coping appeared in the narratives: 1) maintaining the status quo and 2) developing agency to resist the abuse. The results suggest that Government and nongovernmental organizations must take additional action to draw women to formal violence prevention services. Providing professional help at several levels (e.g., clinical, community, and societal) and promoting problem-focused strategies as part of therapeutic intervention are essential.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• coping
• Kyrgyzstan

Notes

^1. Domestic violence and intimate partner violence (IPV) often are used interchangeably in the literature to refer to violence between intimate partners (Krantz & Garcia-Moreno, 2005). However, operationally, these terms are different. Domestic violence is a broader concept than IPV and refers to various forms of violence involving members of the same household (e.g., spouses, partners, in laws, parents, children, siblings). The term commonly also includes violence between individuals who formerly shared a household, such as ex-boyfriends or ex-spouses (World Bank, 2009). The most common type of domestic violence is violence against women (VAW) committed by an intimate partner. This study acknowledges multiple explanations for violence and assumes that violence against women may be perpetrated not only by an intimate partner, but also by other family members within the household (e.g., in laws). It recognizes that across different cultural settings, women live in a wide variety of family structure arrangements (Hyder, Noor, & Tsui, 2007), and that within a particular cultural context, structural factors (such as family dynamics with in laws) can contribute to domestic violence in the home (Heise & Kotsadam, 2015; Panchanadeswaran & Kovarola, 2005). In this study, the terms “domestic violence,” “family conflict,” and “abuse” were used. When individual studies were cited, the terms used by the authors were retained.

^2. Official government data on violence against women is limited, and often refers to registered cases rather than estimates of broader prevalence (Human Rights Watch, 2015). In many countries, including Kyrgyzstan, health surveys such as the Demographic Health Survey provide the first national-level estimates and acceptance of intimate partner violence. However, evidence from local nongovernmental organizations suggests that the numbers are much higher and that most abused women prefer to stay silent and not seek help because of social sanctions and societal acceptance of violence, fear of retribution and jeopardizing their children’s future, and lack of an alternative place to stay or exit options for women.

^3. The law (previously called Law on Social-Legal Protection from Domestic Violence) was originally adopted by the government in 2003 and then revised in April 2017 to include more detailed measures to address the gaps in the enforcement mechanisms in the previous legislation (UN Women, 2017).

^4. In 2017, there were an estimated 14 crisis centers in Kyrgyzstan, two of which had facilities for overnight stays (up to 12 beds) (McCormack & Djaparkulova, 2017). Both were in the country’s capital and provided very limited assistance in terms of both the quality and the amount of direct services.

^5. The initial criteria for inclusion in the study were set as: 1) married women aged 18–49, 2) having history of domestic violence, and 3) residing at the shelter. The process of memoing, theoretical sampling, and constant comparative analysis (Oktay, 2014) suggested that the researcher look for: 1) women from different socio-economic backgrounds to examine economic influences on coping mechanisms, 2) women who lived jointly with their husbands’ families because of the attendant role of mother-in-law in the family conflict, 3) and women who sought help from both formal and informal sources to compare their coping mechanisms.

^6. The national drink, which is made of cultured milk and is used to alleviate symptoms of alcohol withdrawal or a hangover.

^7. In cases when the couple does not live with the husband’s family, the husband’s parents often take the first child to live with them (https://www.caravan.kz/articles/apashkiny-deti-373806/). This tradition came about as a result of early marriages in pre-soviet Kyrgyzstan (12–14 years old girls), where women had several children in their early teens and were not prepared to care for them by themselves (https://pandaland.kz/blogs/dom-i-semya-3/otnosheniya/nuzhno-li-otdavat-pervogo-rebenka-roditelyam-muzha). As a result of progressive Soviet era laws, women gained equal access to education, health, and economic opportunities, and the minimum age for marriage stipulated by the Family Code of the Kyrgyz Republic was 18 years old (National Statistical Committee, 2017).

^8. A Kyrgyz dish resembling dumplings, which typically consist of a spiced meat mixture, usually lamb or ground beef, in a dough wrapper, usually steamed.

^9. In Greek mythology, the phoenix is a mythical bird that after a life of five or six centuries immolates itself on a pyre and then rises from the ashes to begin a new cycle of years. The phoenix is often a symbol of immortality, reborn idealism, or hope.

^10. According to Kyrgyz tradition, a woman must wear a scarf on her head in front of her husband and her in laws as a sign of respect for her “new” family (http://kyrgyzculture.wordpress.com/tag/kyrgyzstan).

^11. According to Kyrgyz tradition, the first child is named by the husband’s parents.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Maryland, Baltimore Doctoral Dissertation Award.

Notes on contributors

Saltanat Childress

Saltanat Childress, MSW, PhD, is a research fellow at the Department of Sociology, Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Childress has extensive experience in coordinating community-based programs and conducting intervention research for international development programs in Central Asia on issues of land tenure rights, community-based public health, and socio-economic empowerment of women. Her research interests include prevention of violence against women and children, intersection of reproductive health and gender-based violence, and socioeconomic determinants of women’s empowerment and health.

Deborah Gioia

Deborah Gioia, MSW, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Social Work. Dr. Gioia has over 30 years of experience working as a researcher and practitioner in the field of mental health and family issues. Her clinical experience includes individual and group treatment of children and families involved in child sexual abuse, substance use, suicide counseling, and other acute mental health issues. Her research interests include schizophrenia and vocational identity, evidence-based practice adoption by mental health practitioners, adolescence and emerging adulthood, and veteran’s mental health.

Jacquelyn C. Campbell

Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a Professor and Anna D. Wolf Chair at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Dr. Campbell is a national leader in research and advocacy in the field of domestic violence or intimate partner violence (IPV). She has authored or co-authored more than 230 publications and seven books on violence and health outcomes. Her areas of scholarly expertise and interest include intimate partner violence and health outcomes, abuse during pregnancy, IPV-related health inequities, dating violence, workplace violence, and intimate partner homicide.