200GENDER EQUALITY IN UZBEKISTAN: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Bobokulov Azizbek Zokhid ugli
student of Tashkent State University of Law E-mail: azikboboqulov99@gmail. com
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Keywords:
Gender equality, feminism, equal rights, violence, United Nations, resolutions of Cabinet of Ministers, democracy, society, harmonization, state structures, female ministers, female mayors.
This article discusses the reforms being carried out in the Republic of Uzbekistan to achieve gender equality, their effectiveness, and focuses on the protection of the rights of women living in the country and the creation of adequate conditions for them. It is also intended to provide suggestions that provide the right solutions to existing problems.
It is known from the history of many developed countries that in no country has democracy been built on its own and reached the top of society in a short period of time. In this regard, we can safely say that the reforms carried out in our country in recent years, the adoption of laws and regulations, the gradual harmonization of relations between the state and its bodies and citizens are a sign of confident and courageous steps towards democracy. The changes in freedom
of speech, the liberalization of monetary policy, the review of the activities of public authorities in terms of openness and transparency, as well as the work to ensure freedom of conscience are highly recognized by many international organizations and states. In fact, in 2019, the world-famous British magazine The Economist [1] recognized Uzbekistan as the country of the year. In addition to the above-mentioned reforms, President
Mirziyoyev pays special attention to ensuring the rights of women in our country, protecting them from various forms of aggression and, in general, gender policy in our country.
It should be noted that in the last two years, a number of normative and legal acts aimed at ensuring gender equality have been adopted in our country. In particular, the Laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men [2]" and "On Protection of Women from Oppression and Violence [3]" adopted on September 2, 2019 and Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of March 30, 2020 "On approval of the Regulation on the procedure for gender and legal examination of regulatory legal acts and their drafts [4]". The first law directly defines the main directions of state policy, the powers of state bodies to ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and men. The purpose of the second document is to regulate relations in the field of protection of women from all forms of oppression and violence. This begs the question. How does this law relate to the issue of gender equality? It is precisely the oppression and violence against women that is one of the main reasons for the elimination of gender equality. Therefore, the development
of this law could make a significant shift in policy in this area. As for the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers "On approval of the Regulations on the procedure for gender-legal examination of regulations and their drafts," this document is also important for a more effective organization of gender equality policy. We know that in many cases, normative-legal documents, which are the product of norm-setting, provide more opportunities for members of the opposite sex, especially men. As a result, discriminatory situations arise between women and men, whether we like it or not. In order to prevent such cases, it is important to conduct a gender-legal examination of normative documents developed by the judiciary.
Unfortunately, despite all these efforts, the Republic of Uzbekistan is not making great strides in ensuring gender equality. As a simple example, we can cite the fact that Uzbekistan ranks 64th in the index of countries on gender equality, published by the UN Development Program at the end of 2019 [5]. This figure, of course, did not appear spontaneously. At this point, some of our citizens who have seen this figure may object. Even a group of our women may come out with arguments: "We are fine ..., all the
conditions for studying and working have been created for me." (A group of women came up with their own anti-arguments against feminist girls who organized their own challenge in July 2020.) However, there are a number of shortcomings and factors that determine our position in the above index. One thing to admit is that in our remote areas and villages, we have women who don't have a cell phone in their hands, let alone go online and see this index. We have sisters who can't afford to read 10 pages of books because of their daily work, let alone going to university. We have women who prepare breakfast, lunch, dinner for their children and spouses, unfortunately, we also have men who insult and beat their wives instead of thanking them. Even our girls, who pick cotton all day, raise livestock, farm, and do what men must to do, are unfortunately not gone. There are also those who take the problems listed above as an exaggeration. However, the worldview of people will change after seeing the situation in the villages located in some areas where communication, transport and education infrastructure are underdeveloped.
So where did these problems come from? How can these problems be overcome? To answer such questions, it would be
expedient to dwell on the shortcomings of the state in this area, as well as the family environment and the attitude of our people. However, it would be useful to discuss some suggestions that may be a solution to these problems. First of all, it should be noted that the state is often content with the development of the above-mentioned laws and regulations. There is no single mechanism to ensure the application and unconditional application of these documents in all regions of the country. It is true that citizens are given some authority to self-government bodies to deal with these issues, but in many cases their actions are limited to a recommendatory nature. Therefore, the state should expand the powers of Mahalla in this regard. Women's rights will continue to be violated if Mahalla structures do not have a specific power that can turn the situation in the right direction. In addition, the courts must thoroughly consider crimes against women and impose unavoidable and severe penalties on the perpetrators. In most cases, the courts and law enforcement agencies are concerned with reconciling the parties. This is handy for some individuals (often for husbands, for parent-in-law).
If we look directly at the family environment, again in those remote areas, parents do not pay much attention to the educational process of their daughters, their future career choices, to build their careers in general. Instead, they are raised in the spirit of doing housework, unconditionally obeying the orders of their future husbands, parents-in-law, and caring for their children. Of course, at first glance it may seem that there is nothing wrong with this situation. However, it is unfortunate that a girl lives her whole life, almost without any knowledge, first in her parents' house and then in her husband's house, raising children and working illegally, not doing enough for herself and society. In the same way, the humiliation and oppression of women who are passionate about their families by their husbands makes a person even more miserable. In order to overcome such situations in some way, parents should be encouraged to bring up both their daughters and sons properly. First of all, let's talk about families raising boys. Parents should instill in their sons the idea that every girl or woman should be treated as her mother, sister, in the spirit of respect for the girl, the woman in general. It is necessary to warn our boys about the need to protect them from thugs who bully
our girls in the streets and insult them at the moment. Then, in men, the notion that women are second-class people begins to disappear.
Families raising girls need to instill in their children a strong sense of self-respect and inviolability. Because a self-respecting woman will never allow her rights to be violated. It also reduces the number of cases of injustice, such as the simple apology and reconciliation of individuals who have oppressed and abused women. It is also necessary to support women's love for science from a young age. Why is the concept of "support" used instead of "awakening" love ?! The reason is that when we were all in primary and secondary school, we witnessed that girls approached the tasks responsibly and performed better than boys. If parents supported their daughters' desire for education and future careers, there would be more female students in universities and more women working in government. (For example, out of 1215 students admitted to Tashkent State Law University in 2019, only 333 are female students.) This, as in the case of the school above, is likely to lead to an increase in responsible staff and efficiency in government agencies.
And our most painful point is the attitude of our people towards the
female person. Unfortunately, this factor is also not enviable. In the minds of our people, there is a stereotype that a woman is only sitting at home, raising her children, doing housework, having weddings, having only different luxuries in her mind, not being able to go beyond a narrow circle, and being a narrow-minded person like this circle. In their opinion, the ideology that public affairs and science are unique to men is rigid. When such people are asked, "Why do you think so?", Almost everyone attributes the issue to our national mentality, traditions or religion. However, many of them forget our mentality, our traditions, when we need to respect women, not put pressure on them, not hit or insult them. Many do not think about our religion at a time when we should not betray anyone's rights, not deceive others, and be fair to our people. This is exactly what thinking, that is, religion, national mentality and traditions should take its rightful place and stop justifying its actions. The solution lies in education and upbringing, which is our painful place.
These ideas and opinions are, of course, based on subjective
opinions and cannot be viewed as solutions to all problems. By the way, no matter how many normative documents the state develops, no matter how many coercive and influential measures it is, it is difficult to achieve great success in gender policy. To do this, we must first change the worldview of the people. When every member of the nation contributes, albeit in a small way, the struggle for gender equality can bear fruit.
In conclusion, it should be noted that people have become accustomed to looking at the concept of equality only in terms of form. As a result, the idea is emerging in the minds of people that women should participate in construction work like men, work hard, and serve in the military on an equal footing with men. Some primitive thinkers are likely to use these ideas as a counterargument against gender equality policies. We should keep one idea in our mind. When we interpret the concept of equality separately from the norms of justice and morality formed in society, the result is that there will be more injustices than there are now.
REFERENCES:
1. https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/
2. https://lex.uz/docs/4494849
3. https://lex.uz/docs/4494709
4. https://lex.uz/docs/4777291
5. United Nations Development Programme: The Gender Equity Index 2019. (https://hdr.undp.org/)
