Contrary to the government's assertions that women in Uzbekistan enjoy broad and effective human rights protections, Human Rights Watch found that women victims of domestic violence suffer doubly, both at the hands of husbands who physically and otherwise abuse them, and at the hands of the state. Local officials routinely refuse to take violence against women seriously, blaming the victims and blocking women's attempts to escape brutality and violence in their marriages. Men who commit

Human Rights Watch conducted these interviews in May and June 2000, and also interviewed dozens of women's rights activists, lawyers, judges, police, doctors, and government officials at the national, province, district, village and mahalla level. All of these sources agreed to tell their stories only under conditions of complete anonymity, in the case of the victims, for fear of being singled out within their communities, and in the case of officials, for fear of political repercussions. Therefore, all information on the location of the interview, including even the province where the interview took place, is withheld, and all of the names of the witnesses in this report are given as pseudonyms.

This report focuses on the problem of domestic violence in Uzbekistan, with an emphasis on violence in rural communities, where over 60 percent of the population resides. It is based on detailed interviews with twenty victims of domestic abuse in four rural districts of two provinces, and one urban area. To obtain relief from family violence, each of the women had contacted their local community government organizations, or mahallas. The mahallas are traditional institutions charged by law with regulating communal life, and carrying out many state functions, such as community policing, political surveillance, and distributing social welfare payments.

BACKGROUND: WOMEN AND UZBEK

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