Social Researcher: Serious Effort Required for Women’s Representation in Kazakh Politics
According to Gulmira Ileuova, a sociologist and the head of the Strategy Centre for Social and Political Research, gender equality in Kazakhstan has severely deteriorated. In an interview with TCA, she explains how social regression and a depletion of human resources are making it difficult for women to participate in political parties, social movements, and public services. TCA: Sources illustrate that after the 2023 parliamentary elections, the representation of women deputies in the Mazhilis fell from 27% to 18%. In addition, Kazakhstan's performance in the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) has deteriorated. This year, the country fell from 62nd to 76th place. This index, which can be used to judge the economy's stability and legal security, has a serious impact on investors. What, in your opinion, is the reason for this deterioration? First of all, I would like to point out that until 2021, the Labor Code had restrictions on where women could work based on concerns about their health. Now that the restrictions have been lifted, progress is steadily being made in involving women in areas previously inaccessible to them. Some companies have already published data that women have begun operating heavy machinery, such as big trucks, which was not the case before. As for politics and the civil service, it appears that under the spread of influence from the south, the country is reinstating traditional social relations. Independent Kazakhstan has entered a new period where traditional and non-traditional forms of Islam thrive, and hyper-masculine and patriarchal attitudes are on the rise. I emphasize the patriarchal division of life through reinforced gender roles because it is gaining strength and spreading across all regions of the country. Furthermore, this trend is moving into the sphere of politics and civil services. Let's take a look at what preceded these trends. In many regions, primarily in the south, there is a huge number of women who wishing to undertake the important work of reproduction, were receiving TSA (targeted social assistance). According to statistics in 2019, there were 2 million and 221 thousand recipients of TSA (about 12% of the population). Today, their number has decreased six fold to about 350 thousand. These numbers include women who thought they would bypass employment through state support systems. And now these women are in trouble. The state is revising its social policy, but the paternalistic trend has long been developing and a large number of people have abused it. TCA: Are you saying that women, in receipt of child allowances, prefer to stay at home as opposed to actively entering economic relations or aspiring to participate in civil services or politics? Yes, and I am afraid that this trend cannot be overcome by quick measures or be alleviated by even quotas for women. In a 'strategy' study conducted by the Center for Social and Political Research in the Turkestan region, an official working in gender policy said that at some point, the political representation of women fell to 5%. There were actually no women in senior...
