Justice, Faith and Gender: Muslim Women's Responses to Domestic Violence in Kazakhstan

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

This research examines how Muslim activists utilize traditional gender roles and Islamic principles to offer victim-survivors of domestic violence alternatives to the criminal justice system in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan. The central research question guiding the proposed project is: How do Muslim and non-Muslim service providers define and respond to domestic violence, its victims and its perpetrators through gender, religious and ethnic constructs? Theoretical approaches from cultural anthropology addressing the role of agency at the intersection of gender, nation, and religion will frame the analysis of both Muslim and non-Muslim responses to violence. The methodology for the proposed project will combine ethnographic observation with semi-structured interviews and a comparison of domestic violence cases collected from both Muslim and non-Muslim service providers. Interviews with service providers will be used to interpret the specific responses to victims in each case of intervention collected and to elicit information regarding the normative principles associated with particular responses. Ethnographic observation will address both ideal beliefs and actual practices. The project will reveal how certain culture-specific and informal responses are either more, or alternatively, less effective in reaching the goals of providing safety and services to victims of domestic violence. The study will shed light on how these informal interventions are shaped by Muslim women's negotiations between justice, gender and faith.