UZBEKISTAN: A PROBLEM NOT YET COMPREHENDED

by Ekaterina Khlopovskikh, Editor-in Chief of the non-governmental information agency Turkiston Press

Uzbekistan's criminal code contains no regulations against the trafficking of women. However in Article 4, "Crime Against Sexual Freedom," Statute 121, "The Coercion of a Woman into Participation in a Sexual Act" states that the coercion of a woman into sexual intercourse or into fulfilling sexual demands in an unnatural manner which places the woman into a subservient, material or other type of dependence shall be punishable by community service of up to two years or imprisonment for up to six months." The same act in association with sexual intercourse is punishable by community service for a period of two to three years or imprisonment for a period of three to five years.

Statute 135, "The Recruitment of Persons with Intent to Exploit," of Article 6, "Crime Against Freedom, Honor and Worth," reads, "The recruitment of persons with the intent to exploit them in a sexual or other such manner, accomplished by deceitful means, shall be punishable with a fine of no less than 50 and no more than 100 units of earned wage or by forced labor/community service of up to three years or by imprisonment for up to 6 months, with or without the confiscation of assets.

"The same act committed: (a) repeatedly or in a recidivistic manner; (b) with prior agreement between a group of persons; (c) with respect to a minor, shall be punishable by imprisonment of up to five years with or without the confiscation of assets.

"The same act committed with the goal of carrying said persons beyond the borders of Uzbekistan shall be punishable by imprisonment of a period from five to eight years, with the confiscation of assets."

The punishability of trafficking of women is further attested to by Statute 137, "The Kidnapping of Persons." The statute states that "the kidnapping of a person or persons shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period from three to five years; the same act, committed: (a) with respect to a minor; (b) for financial gain or other such base motives; (c) with prior agreement between a group of persons, shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period of between five to ten years, with or without the confiscation of assets."

Officials deny that there is trafficking of women in Uzbekistan, and they do not recognize the existence of violence towards women as defined by international experts. But in fact such problems do exist. The spread of the so-called human trade, which affects women above all, attracts many young women with hopes of earning a living to go abroad illegally. These women are promised work as nannies, governesses, childcare helpers and so forth. Most of them, however, end up jobless [in the work they were promised] and are forced into prostitution. Cultural stigmas against discussing domestic problems outside the home or turning for help to human rights organizations or social services make it extremely difficult to collect accurate statistics and to convince officials to recognize the trafficking of women.

The situation is the same in regard to violence against women. Uzbekistan does boast several NGOs: Mekhri (Tashkent), Sabre (Samarkand), Legal Consultation on Civil Affairs and Protection of Women's Rights (Tashkent), and the League of Family Psychologists. They have confidential phone services that enable women to discuss over hotlines their problems to report violent acts committed against them. But when given the opportunity to turn to a human rights organization to seek justice against their assailants, they refuse. Accordingly, such cases rarely go to trial. Indeed, some women do not even recognize violent acts committed against them as violations of their rights. For this reasons these NGOs, including WIMCA (Women in the Media of Central Asia) lead seminars to help, through the media, to familiarize women with their rights.

In relation to other regions of Uzbekistan, Tashkent is something of a center for the trafficking of women. Many young women come to the capital to find work or to study. But some young women, whose families cannot or do not support them, turn to prostitution to earn the extra money they need. Often, women who been involved in premarital relations are no longer accepted in their villages and have to stay in the city, where they supplement their living by selling sexual services.

For the past five years at least, the press has made no mention of the trafficking of women and has made no attempt to analyze the conditions and factors that incite women along this path.

Official tourist firms that take groups of women abroad tend to agree on certain selection criteria: women should be attractive, young, financially needy, but also ambitious and with a tendency to live outside their means. The complicated economic situation in Uzbekistan contributes to this final factor. At present no government or nongovernmental programs are in place for returning such women to their own countries, and such women will not turn to the police. And the press has failed to report such facts.