Country Gender Assessment: Kyrgyz Republic: A Gandered Transition: Soviet Legacies and New Risks

Abstract

Independence from the former Soviet Union (fSU) in 1991 marked the beginning of a period of transition for the Kyrgyz Republic, as it sought to develop the democratic institutions and civil processes that were consistent with a market-driven economy. Faced with a decline in national income, increasing poverty, and high levels of unemployment, the Government has made significant progress in putting in place the framework and strategies for the broad-based growth that is required for job creation and a reduction in overall poverty levels. However, the transition has not been without painful consequences, particularly for women. Significant and growing gender disparities in political leadership, employment opportunities, and wage rates have combined to increase the rates of women’s income poverty, and the transfer to women of many of the responsibilities of the former state-run system of family and child care support have added to women’s daily workload and created increasing levels of time poverty for women, who struggle to balance their paid and unpaid responsibilities. The (re)emergence of traditions and customs, including bride theft and polygamy, are a real concern for the Kyrgyz Republic and the significant levels of violence against women are increasingly understood as a serious health as well as a social issue. Moreover, female poverty and its specific vulnerabilities are increasingly manifesting themselves in the growing numbers of women and girls trafficked each year and the seasonal flow of (illegal) female migrant women to labor in neighboring countries.