“Yuzhnyi Kazakhstan”, # 148-149 (17.594-595), 16/12/2002
N. Kazorina

   With regard to their rights and freedoms in our country, many women think that all is well. But after assembling some of them for a “round table” it turns out that it is far from this. For example, in October the first training seminar “Towards Equality” was held in Shymkent. It was attended by 25 women representatives including doctors, teachers, students, housewives, police, lawyers and psychologists. Initially they said that the rights of women were in order. And then ... they started talking about how day in and day out, women suffer abuse from their husbands and sexual partners. In fact, many sincerely believe the violence is an integral part of family life in the East. The wife not only tolerates beatings, but also turns a blind eye to violence to their daughters by their fathers and close relatives. Women are treated badly simply because “there is dust on the cupboard”, “the food is too hot, or vice versa, too cool”, he is frustrated at work, he is jealous, or more often – he has had too much drink. Ill-treatment is not isolated or an individual problem – it is the result of the influence of a patriarchal view of women, according to the course participants.
   Therefore, the Legal Center for Women’s Initiatives “Sana Sezim” conducted the training, and continued to work on project “Towards Equality”, with the financial assistance of the Commission for the Development of Democracy at the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan.
   In addition to training, monthly handouts “Open Education” on the rights of women will be distributed and psychological and legal counseling will be provided at the office of “Sana Sezim”. It is on the street Dzhangildin 13A.
   According to Hadicha Abysheva, the president of “Sana Sezim”, the goal of all the work is to ensure that the government, society, and individuals learn to appreciate and respect the dignity of women, regardless of her age, color, nationality, religious affiliation, education level, marital status, sexual orientation, and so on. All women should have freedom and equality in all spheres of life. The project is one of the ways to correct existing discrimination and to eradicate violence against women. Many, by the way, do not support the feminists; however, if men want to understand why women are unhappy and what they want, then they need to make a step towards equality.