Women�s fate

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- You are probably aware of the recent developments in Azerbaijan? A girl in shorts who was beaten in the subway, the rape of a 13-year-old girl, the suicide of a 16-year-old schoolgirl. All these successive events give the impression that the topic of women's rights has reached a dangerous point. How do you see this? In your opinion, is it really so, or can it all have been so originally?

- The situation actually is sad. There are several factors. At the beginning of 2000, the topic of women's rights was the most "fashionable" both among NGOs and among international organizations. NGOs could work actively, donor organizations allocated a lot of money, therefore, numerous projects were implemented in the country. Financial support also meant NGO activity. It was as a result of the efforts of NGOs in Azerbaijan that attention was paid to the themes of male and female equality, domestic violence, human trafficking, and relevant laws were also adopted. Non-attendants also try to conduct educational work and provide victims with legal, medical and other assistance. This was a great support for the victims. Women tried to protect their rights. Today all this work is crossed out. The victims were left alone with their problems. And those who commit violence at the sight of lack of support become even more cruel and continue to commit their crimes.

In addition to NGOs, the law should support and protect. However, unfortunately, in Azerbaijan domestic violence is decriminalized, and this leads to impunity. For example, a woman is beaten at home, she writes an application to the police, the case is under way, and the court makes a decision on a fine at best. The impunity syndrome leads to increased violence. Another issue creates problems for victims of violence. At one time, lawyers who worked in NGOs provided free legal assistance to women and protected them free of charge in courts. Now the law requires that only the lawyers who are members of the Bar Association act in the courts. This increases the remuneration of lawyers, and most women in courts remain without the services of lawyers. All that is happening shows that the country does not currently carry out educational work in the field of women's rights. They are not provided with free assistance, the legislation does not protect them, for this reason, violence against women is growing. Today we observe the facts of suicide among women, as well as facts of murder due to family conflicts. Almost every day media writes about beatings and rape.

- You probably have read the statement of the father of a raped teenage girl. If to believe this, the girl's father is under strong pressure from the region"s leadership and law enforcement agencies. This statement is the result of such pressure. Law enforcement authorities claim that there was no such case, the girl was not raped. Father says that a girl and a boy have been engaged almost since the cradle and she will marry him. Is this a way out?

"I cannot blame father." This father protects his daughter in his own way. He understands that in that patriarchal, brutal society he will save his daughter only by marrying her. He is also a member of society and understands that this society can be even more violent than rapists. If they begin to defend themselves, they will turn to the laws, there is a danger that the daughter and father will become the object of condemnation and their life can become unbearable. First of all, this girl had to be protected by state bodies. Ideally, representatives of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children should be sent to this area. The Ministry of Internal Affairs had to take this case under special control, the girl had to be placed in a hospital, a psychologist had to work with her, so that she would not have health problems afterwards. But we did not see all this. State structures act not as defenders of the law, but as defenders of patriarchal traditions. And this again can lead to impunity, and in the country there can be an increase in the facts of rape.

- Usually in Azerbaijan raped girls marry their rapists. The role of the mentality is great here. And everyone turns blind eyes to it. How can this be prevented?

- First of all, the state should deal with this issue. The country has joined several international conventions, the state has committed itself to international organizations to combat all offenses, discrimination. If the country has factors of violation of women's rights, the same traditions, then the state should fight it. And most importantly, the activities of NGOs must be renewed. Women's NGOs have done a great job in the country, sometimes fulfilling the work that the state must do. In some areas there were even successes. Today, it is possible to say that women's NGOs do not exist. And this means that the problems of women are not being solved, instead, in order to move forward, we are going backwards.

-If this happened in the Czech Republic, what would be done? What steps would be taken by the government, society, family?

- Families are different, like the psychological state of people. It's not a fact that the child will tell about the parents that happened. Practice shows that children are afraid, are embarrassed to tell their relatives about rape. However, if parents, school, neighbors learn about this fact, they will immediately inform the police. Residents of the Czech Republic are not afraid of the police, they know that there are no bribes, only laws work. The society will react to this question. For example, recently the most discussed issue in the media was the question of why a 16-year-old girl became a mother. This means the violation of a number of her rights. In the Czech Republic there are several NGOs for women, there are shelters. They are supported both by the EU, and by the ministries of the country, as well as by municipalities.

- What is necessary to prevent such incidents in such countries as Azerbaijan?

- There are several factors. If there is a struggle to solve the problem, it is necessary to investigate the reasons, submit proposals to state structures and civil society. A strategic plan should be prepared and all state structures should join this struggle - the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, various committees and so on. The country should have a green light for NGOs, they must start implementing projects again. Without NGOs, it is impossible to fight against violence against women. People become bitter from ignorance, impunity, from the fact that laws do not work, as a result of which violence against women is growing.

- What measures should be taken to prevent such cases? Or what measures should be taken to return such women to society and their rehabilitation?

- Previously, beatings in families were perceived as a crime, lawsuits were filed, and the offender was to be arrested. For example, in Turkey, beatings in the family are punished more severely than street disputes. They believe that people in families are subjected to greater psychological pressure and this is more dangerous, therefore, punishment should be more stringent. In Azerbaijan, on the contrary. The violence in the family has been decriminalized, replaced by administrative punishment, it can be said that punishment is not applied. Penalties applied to such crimes cannot be punished. Therefore, there is an opinion that the punishment for physical violence should be returned to the Criminal Code. Integration and rehabilitation are mandatory. NGOs were more involved in this. Today these projects are in the past. Nobody deals with women's problems. The number of those who protect women has decreased. If this continues and we will thank for physical violence, then women will simply be killed.