Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan: Women are banned from studying theology, including Islamic theology

Women are banned from studying theology in Turkmenistan - including Islamic theology, the only permitted religious university subject - an official of Magtymguly Turkmen State University has told Forum 18 News Service. The University, in the capital Ashgabad [Ashgabat], is the only university-level institution in Turkmenistan where the government allows any religious faith to be studied, and the government only allows Islam to be studied. It is also the only institution where the government allows young men who want to become imams in Turkmenistan to be trained.

UN: Special Rapporteur on VAW releases 2010 report

UN Special Rapporteur Rahisda Manjoo has published a thirty four page report on violence again women its causes and consequences. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur requested invitations to visit Somalia, the United States of America, and Zimbabwe. Earlier requests for country visits had also been made to the Governments of Jordan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Special Rapporteurs typically send a letter to the Government requesting to visit the country, and, if the Government agrees, an invitation to visit is extended. Some countries have issued "standing invitations", which means that they are, in principle, prepared to receive a visit from any special procedures mandate holder.

Turkmenistan: Domestic Abuse Hotline Launched

A new phone line for victims of domestic abuse in Turkmenistan, although commentators say the government should be doing a lot more to address the problem. The hotline began operating in mid-September, with the support of the OSCE mission in the capital Ashgabat. “Violence is commonplace in Turkmen families,” said an observer in Ashgabat. “There is widespread beating of wives, coercive sex, and slave labour where men make women work at home, for example to make carpets to sell and support the family.”

Turkmenistan: The state tightens dress code regulations

The authorities in Turkmenistan are clamping down on state workers who do not adhere to unofficial dress codes, say NBCentralAsia observers.

Turkmenistan: One wife or two?

Polygamy has staged a comeback, though opinion is split on legalisation.