Quite the proposal...

I am so so sooooo busy that I'm not really able to keep up with this blog right now. I have 2 blogs to maintain for 2 different classes, am still working 2 jobs and decided to take 5 instead of 4 classes this semester because I want to move this program as quickly as possible.

And right now I'm just procrastinating for a brief moment.

I'm also appearing in a debate put on by Bates College, my alma matre, tomorrow night to debate whether U.S. foreign policy should be based on pragmatism or idealism.

In preparation for Valentine's Day, here's a paper I just wrote for a class on human rights ;)


Lifting the Veil: Tactics for Ending Bride-kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan

International law dictates that marriages should take place only with the clear consent of both people. Article 1(1) of the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages states that “no marriage shall be legally entered into without the full and free consent of both parties.”1 In modern-day Kyrgyzstan, however, far too many women have their human rights violated by the entrenched practice of bride-kidnapping. This paper outlines an action plan for social change that uses public awareness campaigns to influence underlying social norms and legal education for key law enforcement to end bride-kidnappings.

Background
Some estimates suggest that today over half of married women in of the Kyrgyz ethnic group in Kyrgyzstan were kidnapped.2 Bride-kidnapping has been defined by Human Rights Watch as “the act of taking a woman against her will, through deception or force, and using physical or psychological coercion to force her to marry one of her abductors.”3 The 2007 Central Asian survey states that a recent Kyrgyz dictionary has three different descriptions of bride-kidnapping, or kyz ala kachuu, only one of which is the abduction of a woman without her or her parents' consent, while the others refer to either elopement or staged abductions.4

In most of the cases reported in human rights journals, women state that their “groom” was unknown to them prior to the abduction. In a scenario typical of the accounts collected by Human Rights Watch, a woman is kidnapped by a group of men, either by force or through coercion, and taken to a man's family home, where often his female relatives have prepared for the new “bride's” arrival. The female members of the man's family exert tremendous pressure to place the wedding scarf on the woman's head and to get her to stay. This process can go on for anywhere from several hours to several days.

Human Rights Violations of Bride-kidnapping
A laundry list of human rights are violated by the practice of bride-kidnapping. Women are deprived of their rights to freedom of movement as protected by Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), their right to education under Article 13 of the International Covenant of Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESC), the right not to be held in servitude (Article 8, ICESC), their right to liberty and security of person (Article 9, ICCPR), and their right to life and physical integrity (Articles 6 & 7, ICCPR).5 Kyrgyzstan ratified several international treaties and covenants on human rights after its independence, including the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage & Registration of Marriages, and the International Covenant of Economic Social and Cultural Rights.6

In addition to the violent act of the kidnapping itself, the physical and psychological coercion that follow in the period when the young woman is essentially held captive at the man's family home could be construed as torture. While this may seem like a strong word to apply to what some describe as a cultural practice, especially in this day and age when issues of military torture are in the news, the emotional and physical stresses on this young woman certainly fit many elements of torture. Sleep deprivation, physical restraint by female members of the man's family, psychological coercion, and sometimes rape are all tools employed to convince the young woman to stay.7

Cultural Obstacles
A major obstacle to ending bride-kidnapping is renewed Kyrgyz pride in the aftermath of Soviet rule. In The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence, Pauline Jones Loung writes, “From its inception, the Soviet state tried to transform the patriarchal nature of Central Asian society...the state attempted to reduce gender inequality by banning a number of marriage practices that limited a woman's freedom of choice...bride-kidnapping did not disappear.”8 Jones writes that by the 1970's the practice had transformed into a performance, consensual elopement staged to look like an abduction. After independence, however, bride-kidnapping re-emerged in a more negative incarnation.9 There is debate within Kyrgyzstan over whether or not bride-kidnapping is in fact part of the Kyrgyz culture. Conversations reported with both older people and youth, and a recent discussion section of a local newspaper in Kyrgyz claim that it is not a tradition.10

In addition to the efforts of the man's family to pressure the kidnapped woman to stay, there is enormous social pressure on the abducted woman to agree to the marriage. Both men and women face social pressures to be married before their mid-twenties; men have reported being pressured by their families to secure a wife to help with work on family farms and provide help with household work to their mothers. Should a woman manage to escape or be allowed to choose to leave, she is often threatened by the man's female family members with curses or threats that she will never find another mate. Women who spend an evening in the new man's home but still choose to leave are assumed to have lost their virginity either willingly or through rape, and are considered “ruined.”11 Many women stay to avoid the shame of being a “girl who returned home.”12

Lifting the Veil
The history of rule by the Soviet Union bodes ill for any organization looking to promote the end of bride-kidnapping from the outside-in in Kyrgyzstan. Due to the belief of many Kyrgyz people that the practice is part of their tradition, it must be countered by people within the society. It is important to note that changing social norms takes time; there will likely not be an immediate benefit to women who may be victimized by the ongoing practice. To address their needs, legal and judicial reforms will need to be implemented.

Step one of this proposed campaign is to enlist the help of these existing local women's organizations to collaborate on a campaign to stop the practice of bride-kidnapping, as well as to form a larger coalition to lobby for ending violence against women in general. Human Rights Watch estimates that there are about a dozen women's organizations operating in Kyrgyzstan, mostly focusing on ending domestic violence. As a coalition, these groups could call public forums on ending violence against women and highlight bride-kidnapping. Such public events could be held around prominent international days marketing women's rights, such as International Women's Day.

Once internal support has been built, a social marketing campaign can be launched to change the existing norms surrounding bride-kidnapping. The Social Marketing Institute defines social marketing as “the planning and implementation of programs designed to bring about social change using concepts from commercial marketing.”13 The organization lists several examples of successful social marketing campaigns that this campaign could look to for best practices. For example, as in the oral re-hydration campaign in Honduras,14 Kyrgyzstan has a highly literate population of 98.7%15, so billboards and print ads in newspapers and local magazines could also be used. The print and media ads could use slogans to play to the patriarchal attitudes that underly the culture.

Breakthrough, an organization that uses media to promote social change primarily in India, has other campaigns that serve as inspiration. Started in 2005, it's “What Kind of Man are You?” campaign sought to promote condom use among men in India by highlighting the increased vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS infection. The campaign launched with press conferences and then employed TV, music video, print ads, radio and commercials in movie theaters. The campaign also partnered with books stores to distribute bookmarks with campaign slogans and toll-free numbers for more information.16

Since this campaign seeks to change the behavior of young men as well as the beliefs of different generations, it is important that the print ads and campaign slogans be diverse and targeted to different audiences as appropriate. For example, a special ring tone associated with the advocacy campaign could be downloaded from the campaign website for younger people, since cell phone communications and internet are growing in Kyrgyzstan,17 while print ads in newspapers might urge parents to rethink how and why they want their sons to marry. Young men of marrying age and slightly younger should be the primary audience for behavioral change, while young women would be targeted more with information about their legal rights and with numbers to call for help and/or support. Kyrgyzstan has a limited number of television stations, but almost 30 radio channels, so public service announcements on popular channels could also be used. Ideally, a Kyrgyz celebrity or national figure with credibility amongst young women and women could be found to do the PSAs. School-aged children are the next wave to work with, as they are often early-adopters of new social norms. Education programs for schools should be developed to work with this demographic, with possible outreach to young parents, many of whom would have themselves been kidnapped.

Enforcing the Law
New Tactics.org writes that local organizations have a greater ability to approach local police about specific cases of human rights abuses.18 In Kyrgyzstan, bride kidnapping is illegal (Article 155 of the Criminal Code),19 but punishment is rarely enforced. The crime is the only one in its category of severity where the offender has the option of paying a fine or going to jail. In addition, Human Rights Watch quoted a policeman as saying that many people view the “people's law” as higher than written law.20

While societal changes will take time, certain reforms must not be allowed to lag, such as police reform. Police forces should have gender awareness trainings, in addition to a greater understanding of human rights laws. The hiring of female officers may help promote change within the ranks and have the added benefit of creating a safer environment for victims of bride kidnapping to come forward to press charges. Changing social acceptance of bride kidnapping will make a bigger impact for the women of Kyrgyzstan in the long term. In the short term, however, these police reforms will help safeguard women and protect their human rights.

1Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages. Retrieved on January 25, 2008 from http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/convention.htm.
2 Kleinbach, Russ and Salimjanova, Lilly (2007) 'Kyz ala kachuu and adat: non-consensual bride kidnapping and tradition in Kyrgyzstan', Central Asian Survey, 26:2, 217-233. Retrieved on January 26, 2008 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02634930701517466. p218
3Human Rights Watch. (2006) Reconciled to Violence: State Failure to Stop Domestic Abuse and Abduction of Women in Kyrgyzstan. Volume 18, No. 9 (D). Retrieved on January 14, 2008 from http://hrw.org/reports/2006/kyrgyzstan0906/kyrgyzstan0906web.pdf. p90
4 Kleinbach and Salimjanova, p.218
5 Human Rights Watch, p20
6International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. Retrieved on January 27, 2008 from http://www.unhcr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htm
7 Human Rights Watch, p.108
8Pauline Jones Luong. (2004) The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p.60 Retrieved on January 26, 2008 from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KefvEz9bfyEC&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&dq=Frequency+of+Non-Consensual+Bride+Kidnapping+in+Kyrgyz+Republic&ots=cktv45OHpL&sig=EG_iV5mAn4_x3mDS8rMm_SqGuKA#PPA60,M1. p60
9Jones, p.60
10 Kleinbach and Salimjanova.. p217.
11Human Rights Watch, p.114
12Jones, p.60
13Social Marketing Institute. Retrieved on January 28, 2008 from http://www.social-marketing.org/sm.html.
14Social Marketing Institute. “Success Stories: Mass Media and Health Practices Project.” Retrieved on January 28, 2008 from http://www.social-marketing.org/success.html.
15CIA World Factbook: Kyrgyzstan. Retrieved on January 24, 2008 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kg.html
16Breakthrough. Retrieved on January 28, 2006 from http://breakthrough.tv/Campaign_detail.asp?cid=12&id=2.
17The CIA World Factbook cites that in 2005 the number of mobile phones outnumbered landlines in Kyrgyzstan (541,700 registered as opposed to 440,400 registered landlines), and 298,100 internet connections were reported for 2006.
18New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners. “Prevention.” Retrieved on January 20, 2008 from http://www.newtactics.org.
19Human Rights Watch, p. 123
20Human Rights Watch, p.93