Despite vows by Kazakhstan’s leadership to make women safer, traditional gender roles are continuously reinforced, creating harmful conditions for women. These gender roles are also echoed by the leadership, thereby condoning such attitudes held by many in wider society. Women in Kazakhstan are frequently objectified and deprived of humanity by being held to impossible gender-based expectations and standards. Failing to comply or to be submissive enough can have grave consequences.
It’s been nearly two years since the murder of Saltanat Nukenova sent shockwaves through Kazakhstani society. Saltanat’s brutal murder by her husband – former Minister of Economy Kuandyk Bishimbayev – in November 2023 reminded women in Kazakhstan that misogyny, destructive gender roles, and femicide is present in all layers of society, even in the political elite. During Bishimibayev’s trial Nunekova was subject to extensive victim-blaming, with the accused and his defense team implying that it was her own fault that she was harassed, tortured, and murdered in an Astana restaurant. The trial thus highlighted the ongoing issue of toxic gender stereotypes in Kazakhstan.
Two years later, the political elite in Kazakhstan remains stuck in a mindset that belittles women and confines them to submissive roles. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev continued the rhetoric in his annual Address to the Nation last month, when he lectured about women who caused him “particular displeasure” by “causing scandals, using obscene language, and committing indecent acts in public.”
Women are judged against narrow, moralistic, and ultimately misogynistic expectations that have little to do with genuine social values. These views are part of a broader pattern rooted in traditionalism, nationalism, and notions of hegemonic femininity that continue to constrain women’s rights and public participation.
The intersectional feminist and scholar Aizada Arystanbek speaks of hegemonic femininity as being a part of nationalism in Kazakhstani society. These strict standards of behavior are “perceived as the ultimate expression of desirable femininity… against which the gender expression of all female members of a community is measured.”
According to Arystanbek, submissiveness is often perceived by the public in Kazakhstan as a core feminine value, and a necessary behavior to protect traditional values, the heterosexual nuclear family, thus ensuring the survival of the nation.
“By being seen as representatives of national culture, women are placed on a metaphorical pedestal from which they ultimately fall – either by acting on their humanity or by becoming the subject of sexual violence and, subsequently, victim-blaming.”
Arystanbek’s research identifies this as a significant problem in Kazakhstan. The claims by Bishimbayev’s defense and supporters that it was Nukenova’s own fault that she was murdered illustrate the misogynic standards that women are held to. Should they fail to comply, acts of violence against them are entirely their own fault.
The Council of Europe manuals on gender-based violence (GBV) describe acts of violence in cultures with entrenched gender roles as often interpreted as acts of “passion” that are “justified” by the women not living up to societal expectations.
In April 2024, important legal changes came into effect, and “Saltanat’s Law” was passed, with the reported aim of protecting women in Kazakhstan. According to U.N. Women, the number of female police officers in a special GBV unit has increased, and trust in the system has surged. According to State Secretary Yerlan Karin, reported cases of GBV dropped 20.5 percent in the first half of 2024, compared to the second half.
Unfortunately, GBV statistics do not tell the whole story as most cases of domestic violence remain unreported. Women are expected to be submissive and not bring shame on the family by complaining about family affairs.
This brings us back to the concept of hegemonic femininity. As Arystanbek highlighted, accepting GBV is part of the normative expectations of women: “Kazakh women are forced to perform hegemonic femininity and represent the nation’s honor even when they fall victim to sexual violence at the hands of their countrymen.”
Although Kazakhstan’s leadership has made legislative changes on the issue of GBV, reports of crude cases of violence against women continue to surface.
When the president publicly calls out women for failing to conform to the traditionalist view of hegemonic femininity, Kazakhstan’s leadership sends the message that such societal norms are legitimate. Tokayev’s words reinforce these values, further reinforcing the objectification of women and depriving them of agency in their own lives.
According to Kazakhstani gender expert Aida Alzhanova, public funds are spent on TV shows reinforcing traditionalist values and sexist stereotypes in mainstream media in Kazakhstan. Alzhanova believes that “sexist expressions in the media or by politicians must be strictly suppressed.”
It is not only Tokayev who has engaged in commenting on women’s behavior in Kazakhstan. After former President Nursultan Nazarbayev made inappropriate, sexist jokes about women, Vlast.kz commented that “society perceived these statements as ‘normal’ because they were voiced by the former president.”
By imposing hypocritical standards on women, Kazakhstan fails to recognize women as individuals with equal rights on par with men. And these attitudes reinforce the stereotypes that lead to domestic violence.
According to U.N. data, 400 Kazakhstani women were murdered in 2023. Saltanat Nukenova was one of these women. On average some 80 women are killed by their partners every year in Kazakhstan. Domestic violence is widespread, with 60 percent of women in Kazakhstan between 15 and 49 years having experienced violence from a partner in their lifetime.
The key question remains: does Kazakhstan tackle violence against women and build a healthy society for the future by imposing hegemonic femininity on women and threatening women into submissiveness? Or by teaching society about the equality of genders and encouraging mutual respect?