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H.O. Hushkadamova,
Cand. Sc. (Sociology), correspondent of the Moscow bureau of NIA "Khovar" of Tajikistan TAJIKISTAN. INFLUENCE OF TRANSFORMATION PROCESSES ON FAMILY AND MARRIAGE RELATIONS IN CENTRAL ASIA
The family has a special place in traditions and customs, household rites, and religious worldview of the peoples in Central Asia. The quantitative characteristic of marriages and divorces in the Soviet Tajikistan has shown a positive trend. Only 0.5% of men and 0.8% of women under 50 have never been married. In 1978, per 1,000 population there was 10.2 marriages and only 1.5 divorces. In 1984 -10.4 marriages against 1.6 divorces. The divorce rate was higher in urban than in rural areas. Experts explain this situation by the fact that the traditional marriage relationships remain more stable in rural Tajikistan.
Transformation processes in the 1990s noticeably influenced the family and marriage relationships in Tajik society. The number of divorces has increased and the tradition of polygamy and early marriage was revived. As seen from the studies of the family situation, a woman with children is often left without a place to live after divorce. Men give "immediate divorce" under the Sharia law by phone or SMS while working abroad.
The Constitution prohibits polygamy, but about 10% of men had more than one wife in 2011, according to preliminary data of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. Experts relate the growth of polygamy in the country to the deteriorating economic situation of the population, especially women. In the 1990s, the consequences of the civil war (1992-1997) were considered as the cause of this phenomenon, when more than 1,000
people, mostly young men, were killed during the war. Nowadays, labor migration is added to these factors.
Islam allows men limited polygamy, but does not encourage it. Research of polygamy conducted by M. Hegay, a Tajik scientist, has revealed that first wives were often unaware of their husbands' second marriage. All conditions necessary for entry into a second marriage, are rarely fulfilled.
New ideological trends have appeared in modern Tajik society, new images of femininity and masculinity in family relations: civil marriage, the emergence of international families with members of other nationalities, ethnic groups, citizens of other countries, greater activity of women choosing partners, conscious celibacy, etc. If previously it was difficult to marry members of other ethnic groups, now girls of Tajik families can marry foreigners. Facts of violations of women's rights after divorce with foreigners have led to the adoption of amendments to the Family Code, according to which foreigners have the right to marry Tajik citizens after living at least one year in the country. The parties shall be obliged to conclude a marriage contract. And foreign spouse must purchase housing for his partner in the country.
Thus, the crisis and transformations of patriarchal and secular traditions, the development of elements of market relations, have a strong impact on the family and marriage relationships, as follows from the observations of the author, media publications and investigation of the situation in Tajikistan.
"Lomonosovskiye chteniya. Vostokovedenie," Moscow, 2013, pp. 272-274.
