Why are Kazakh authorities afraid of women’s rights movement? 

Kazakhstan’s independent women’s rights activists have made 20 applications to authorities in Almaty to allow them to hold a march on International Women’s Day. 

All the requests were turned down. Officially, because such a march would threaten public security.  

“The government has let down all girls and women who continue to be killed, discriminated against, objectified or jailed, like [journalist] Aygerim Tileujan”, the group Feminita said in a statement on Thursday.  

Pioneers of women’s activism in Kazakhstan, Feminita held their first ever 15-strong unauthorised rally for women’s rights in 2017. It was followed by a few more unauthorised rallies in 2019 and 2020, after which they began to face official pressure, like fines, police calls and visits. 

In 2021, following President Tokayev’s pledges of political reform and some relaxation of control over civil society, Feminita held its first ever, and so far only, authorised feminist march in Almaty. 

Then came the January 2022 unrest and Russia’s war on Ukraine, since which the authorities have returned to their familiar position of fearing and restricting independent public protest, even solo pickets – only allowing demonstrations in an allocated space (away from the centre) and amid a heavy police presence. 

Or, when they feel that there is a real need to let off some steam, the authorities organise their own rallies.  

After former economy minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev beat his wife to death in November last year, the authorities organised a rally against gender violence. Some participants held banners saying “We believe in our president.” 

Bishimbayev’s case shocked Kazakh society and ignited an emotional debate about the status of Kazakh women.  

Another factor that made the public backlash to the case so strong is that, despite being a convicted bribe-taker, Bishimbayev did not serve his ten-year jail term for this crime because he was pardoned.  

Now his wealthy and well-connected ex-MP father has been accused of being behind a media campaign to convince the public that his son’s wife died of natural causes. 

Bishimbayev’s preliminary trial is expected to begin on 11 March. 

The case could have influenced the authorities’ decision not to allow a women’s march on 8 March.     

The authorities could be also having a problem with be the fact that Feminita is led by gay women. 

According to Feminita’s statement, in response to a journalistic query about the reasons why the group’s requests for holding a march were being turned down, an Almaty city administration official referred to “public complaints” that “under the cover of defending women’s rights, they are promoting alien, non-traditional values, same-sex relationships, marriages and LGBT symbols”. 

The group said it was determined to continue its fight “to maintain our feminist LGBT agenda in the public information space”. 

It also announced the launch of a campaign “for freedom of assembly and against discrimination against the LGBT community”. 

“We want to choose and define our future by ourselves. We want decolonisation (Goodbye Russia), freedom, independence, inclusivity and diversity, we want a vibrant, bold and joyful future,” Feminita’s statement said. 

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