Central Asia: how early marriages are ruining young girls’ lives
Central Asia: “Two miscarriages and divorced at seventeen”: How early marriages are ruining the lives of young girls in the region
02.07.2025
Article published on the rus.azattyq.org website
The term “early marriage”, which is often used as a synonym for child marriage, usually refers to unions entered into by those under eighteen years of age.
“I was given away – they didn’t ask me anything”, says Nigora.
The fragile, teenage-looking Nigora is now nineteen years old, divorced and living back in her parents’ house – in the same room where she once dreamed of becoming a doctor. According to Nigora, she is often being reminded that she is superfluous to her family.
“I am the eldest in the family. My mum died when I was fifteen. Not a year had passed when my father started discussing plans for my marriage with family relatives. They said it was better to give me away early before the “problems” started”, she said in conversation with Radio Azattyk.
It soon became clear that she was going to marry a distant relative of her father, 25-year old Komil, who was working on a construction site in Russia. No-one asked for Nigora’s consent to the union.
“At that time, I had just turned seventeen, having finished tenth grade. Komil came back from Russia and that was it – I had been given away. They didn’t ask me anything. There was no wedding, just a modest “nikah” ceremony and a few invited guests”, she said.
Life in her husband’s home, which she shared with his parents, brothers and sisters-in-law, was a story of relentless hard labour. “Starting early in the morning, I swept the yard, milked the cow, cleaned up after the cattle, baked tortillas and cooked breakfast for everyone. Laundry, washing dishes, preparing lunch, then dinner. Day after day – I never had a moment’s rest”.
“When I became pregnant, my husband left for Russia again. Once, my sister-in-law tried to help but was immediately pulled away by my mother-in-law, saying “Why do you think we have our daughter-in-law living in this house?” “I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally, which led to me having a miscarriage”.
Her husband returned a few months later and Nigora became pregnant again. She suffered a second miscarriage. Komil’s in-laws accused her of “being incapable of giving birth” and insisted on a divorce. Komil uttered the word “talaq” to her three times, which in Muslim tradition means “I am divorcing you”.
Nigora returned to her father’s house. “I feel like nobody wants me. I have no education, no money and I don’t know where to start”, she said.
A “loophole” that legalises early marriage
According to the human rights organisation Equality Now, early marriages account for 13% of all unions in Kyrgyzstan. In Tajikistan it is 9% and 3.4% in Uzbekistan, but in more conservative regions of the country, the figure is 11%.
Daryana Gryaznova, a legal adviser at Equality Now and co-author of the report on Breaking Barriers: Addressing Child, Early and Forced Marriage in Eurasia, told Azattyk Asia that there are loopholes in legislation that legalise such unions.
“The laws of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan allow the age of marriage to be lowered to seventeen. Such legislation is in clear breach of international norms, principally the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women”, said Gryaznova.
According to the gender researcher and national expert Diana Ismailova, the most common way of lowering the age of marriage in Tajikistan is with court approval. An analysis of court practice for 2017-2018 covering more than 500 cases showed that in 82% of them financial insecurity in the families of young girls was a major factor in a judge’s decision. In almost half of cases (45%), the reason given was the “mutual love between the couple”. In Ismailova’s opinion such a justification is absurd.
“There are cases where the courts have made a ruling just because wedding expenses have already been incurred, only for the registry office to suddenly find out that the bride was under eighteen. This happens in just 3% of instances but their very existence says a lot about their approach”, said Ismailova.
She believes that the courts generally take little account of gender-based issues. “They rarely pay any attention to the rights of those getting married, particularly girls, such as their willingness to wed, the interests of the child and the ability to make their own decisions.
Larisa Aleksandrova, a lawyer and human rights activist from Tajikistan, has seen official data on registered early marriages in the country, which has risen over the past few years from 0.8% to 1.02%.
“At first glance, these numbers seem small and the situation stable. But this is an illusion. Behind the dry statistical data lies a much more disturbing picture, i.e. the spread of informal marriages arranged according to religious customs and without State registration”, says Aleksandrova. According to her, despite the fact that the “nikah” has no legal force, in practice this is the very beginning of many early, forced and polygamous unions.
A closed space of fear, isolation and violence
There are many reasons why families continue to marry off young girls. As Daryana Gryaznova pointed out earlier, economic insecurity remains one of the main drivers. As a result, families sometimes see early marriages as a way of easing their financial burden and cutting costs, even
increasing their social standing through a “favourable party”, or expanding their wealth by means of “kalym” (a dowry).
“Girls are particularly vulnerable. Lack of access to education deprives them of the opportunities for personal fulfilment and increases the risk of an early marriage. This creates a vicious circle: having no education restricts a girl’s ability to assert her rights, increases her dependence on the family and to meet social expectations, making an early marriage the most likely outcome”, she said.
However, not everything comes down to money. A family’s motivation is often deeper and more contradictory, say experts. According to Gulnora Beknazarova, Director of the Zerkalo Centre for Sociological Research in Dushanbe, these decisions rarely involve just the parents: it is a collective discussion in which grandparents, aunts, uncles and even neighbours have a say. Everything is taken into account: the status of the family, the opinion of others, the unspoken expectations of the community and the pressure of the “social clock” – the belief that one should get married “on time”, otherwise social reputations will be damaged.
Parents fear being judged if their daughter is still unmarried. Society may say “she’s in her twenties, she’s too old”. This is a terrible stigma to bear and, although not always voiced out loud, it continues to have an impact on people’s lives.
In traditional societies, norms and customs are often more important than logic. There are no causal links between early marriage and, for example, reproductive health problems, lack of education or an inability to survive on their own in the event of a divorce. It’s just the way it is and the way it “has to be”, Beknazarova added.
The human rights activist Larisa Aleksandrova points out that early marriages are often a way of “keeping a girl within the bounds of expected behaviour”.
“Parents fear that their daughter will “go astray” and bring shame on the family, particularly in rural areas where the risk of pregnancy out of wedlock is seen as a direct threat to a family’s honour. In such circumstances an early marriage is presented as a “protection” measure when in fact it restricts a girls’ freedoms and rights”, she added.
How can the practice of early marriages be stopped?
According to Sukhaili Kodiri, head of the department of State protection of children’s rights in Tajikistan’s Ombudsman’s office, the country is now taking practical steps to combat early marriages by discussing the removal of the provision that allows the age of marriages to be lowered to seventeen from the Family Code. Many State bodies have already given their support to this initiative”, he said.
Kyrgyzstan has been drafting a new Family Code since May which would impose a total ban on marriage before the age of eighteen.
However, legislative and criminal law measures on their own are not enough, says Daryana Gryaznova. The roots of the problem go much deeper, she says. “The practice of early marriage stems from gender discrimination, poverty and social pressure. It is not just a legal issue but also a social and cultural one”.
This issue has to be fought on several fronts, she says: strengthening and strictly enforcing legislation, educating families and adolescents about the risks of early marriages, expanding economic opportunities for girls and their families, providing wide-ranging care for those affected and, most importantly, actively engaging with communities in reevaluating norms and traditions.
Nineteen-year old Nigora from Dushanbe, who has already experienced two miscarriages and a divorce in her short life, puts it simply: “Study, dream. Take your time. Only get married when you want to and when you’re ready. It’s your life and it should start on your own terms”.
Nargiz Khamrabaeva
