Women's Rights: How Does Azerbaijan Measure Up?

In my last post, I mentioned the report recently released by the UN,  Progress of the World's Women: In Pursuit of Justice, but failed to mention how Azerbaijan performed within the report.

Azerbaijan seems fairly progressive in its laws regarding women.  Article 25 of the Azerbaijani Constitution includes equality for both men and women and was the major basis for the inclusion of women in the Employment, Penal and Marriage & Family codes.  It includes international treaties in its legislation, allowing courts to make direct reference to Article 1 of the UN's Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.  In 2006, it passed a law on gender equality, defining gender based discrimination as "any distinction, exclusion or restriction, exercised on the basis of gender, including sexual harassment."  However, despite its de jure equality, Azerbaijan's laws are rarely enforced and women are rarely informed.  In general, Azerbaijan's culture is one which does not (seem to) support these equalities.

According to the report, in 18 out of 30 countries, more than half of the women interviewed reported having no say in household decisions.  In Azerbaijan, almost 60% of women aged 15-49 (who are currently in a marriage or union) reported a lack of autonomy.  This includes having no say in personal health care, large household purchases, purchases for daily needs and visits to family and relatives.  This seems accurate.  In working with young women (university students, ages 19-23) I am sometimes surprised by the lack of autonomy.  While they're living at home, it is, as one might expect, parents who make decisions for girls, but what may not be expected is that it is also the girl's brother(s) who makes decisions for her.  These may include the way a girl dresses, when (and how much) she cuts her hair, how much make-up she wears and the people she spends her free time with.  When women get married, depending on who she marries, those decisions often fall to her husband and sometimes, her mother-in-law.  This is, of course, not the case for every woman, but women here seem to follow the directions of others far more than the directions of themselves.

Pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death for girls aged 15-19 in developing countries, with child mortality increasing by 60% if the mother is under the age of 18.  In the report, economist Amartya Sen estimated that 100 million women were 'missing' in Asia due to prenatal sex selection, neglect and infanticide.  New estimates put the figure at 134 million.  The under five mortality rate for children is significantly higher for girls, despite their biological predisposition to having higher survival rates than boys.  In Azerbaijan, there has been a significant increase over the last 20 years in the male to female birth ratio.  The biologically normal sex ratio at birth is approximately 102-106 boys for ever 100 girls.  In 1990, Azerbaijan's birth ratios reflected this norm, now, however, Azerbaijan averages approximately 117 boys for every 100 female births.  It is quite probable this is due to an increase in ultrasound technology and sex selective abortions (especially in a culture which values sons).

The report continues on, discussing items like female representation in law, domestic and sexual violence, health and wellness concerns and women in the legal system.  Despite it's length, the report has some valuable information about countries and their attitudes towards women and is certainly worth reading.

Although Azerbaijan certainly didn't stand out as the worst country in its attitudes toward women, and I will concede its laws are extremely progressive (when compared to some of the other countries outlined in the report), it still has great strides to make in ensuring the rights of women.  It is one thing for a country to enact laws which support equality and it is entirely another to enforce them.