Women in Kyrgyzstan - Equal Rights

Equal Rights

Women enjoy the same rights as men, including under family law, property law, and in the judicial system, although discrimination against women persisted in practice. The National Council on the Issues of Family, Women and Gender Development, under the president, is responsible for women's issues. Average wages for women were substantially less than for men. Women made up the majority of pensioners, a group that was particularly vulnerable to deteriorating economic conditions. After the demise of the Soviet Union, traditional attitudes toward women reemerged in the countryside, where women were relegated to the roles of wife and mother and educational opportunities were curtailed. Data from NGOs working on women's issues indicated that women were less healthy, more abused, less able to work outside the home, and less able to dispose of their earnings independently than men.