Zindagii Shoista: Living with Dignity, Tajikistan

Gulina* is a young woman from Tajikistan. She was married at an early age to Zafar*, a labour migrant, and lives with her extended family, as is tradition in the region.

Poverty is a key driver of intimate partner violence (IPV). Women living in poorer places with lower socio-economic status, higher food insecurity, and less access to education and work opportunities are more likely to experience IPV. In addition, women without economic and social resources find it harder to leave abusive relationships. To date, women’s economic empowerment interventions have been central to IPV prevention approaches. This evidence review, however, suggests that women’s involvement in economic interventions has mixed effects on their vulnerability to IPV and can in fact increase the risks of their experiencing IPV, especially in situations where women’s participation in paid economic activity is the exception to the norm. Evidence suggests that interventions that aim to increase women’s access to work need to focus simultaneously on socially empowering women and transforming community gender norms to maximize the positive impact of women’s work on women’s empowerment and help prevent VAWG.

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This report summarises the findings of the formative research phase of the ‘Living with dignity’ project, which is part of the broader ‘What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls’ programme funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It is based on qualitative field research conducted in the four target villages of the project, two of which were in Penjikent district, and two in Jomi district in Tajikistan, using focus group discussions and in- depth interviews conducted in November and December 2015. 

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