Majoritarian values and women’s rights: police and judicial behavior in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan

Sophia Wilson

Post-Soviet Affairs, 2017, vol. 33, issue 4, 298-312

Abstract: This paper analyzes judicial and police behavior in dealing with cases of family violence and divorce in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. Police and judges deliberately violate existing legal provisions to prevent women from divorcing or filing charges against their husbands in cases of domestic violence. While the law does not recognize religious marriages in Tajikistan, judges often rule to protect women’s living space after the dissolution of such unions. Drawing on rich interview and archival data, this behavior is explained by showing that judicial and police behavior reflects their biases, which in turn are a reflection of majoritarian norms in these countries. Since current laws are derived from Soviet codes, which were never internalized by the population, police and judges bend them to fit their understanding of social justice.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1080/1060586X.2017.1306950

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