After spending the afternoon with her aunt, Aisuluu was on her way home from At-Bashy where she crossed into China. It was Saturday afternoon at 5 o'clock. I had a paper bag stuffed with samsa, a dumpling made of lamb, parsley, and onion. She said that they were always made by my aunt on weekends.
My car is facing the opposite direction from the one with four men in it. It suddenly turns around and comes up alongside me in a matter of seconds. One of the men in the back pulls me out and pushes my way inside the car. I spit all the samsa out onto the pavement. I scream, I squirm and I cry but I have no other options.
Soon, the man who kidnapped her will be her husband. Aisuluu found out that the woman he was trying to kidnap for her wedding was not the one he wanted. In the rush to find a bride, Aisuluu wandered the streets for hours before settling on the first girl he saw.
Aisuluu was just a teenager at the time. Today she has four children by her kidnapper-turned-husband, to whom she is still married.
Farida (20) was one of the victims of ala Kachuu. Here Farida, 20, is seen trying to get into a car after she was forced with a friend (right) to do so. Photograph by Noriko Hayashi/Panos
The brutal practice of kidnapping brides is known as ala kachuu, which means "take and run". It dates back to medieval times on the steppes of Central Asia. However, it continues to be used today. The practice has been outlawed in Kyrgyzstan since the 1970s. In 2013, the law was strengthened and can be sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment for anyone who kidnaps a woman to force her to marry (previously, it was a fine for 2,000 soms worth approximately $25).
Although the new law does not prohibit this practice, prosecutions are very rare. According to Restless Beings, this is a significant change, as the sentence for theft of livestock was significantly more severe than the one for ala kachuu.
One Kyrgyz proverb says that a happy marriage starts with crying. These tears are anger and terror at the beginning of a marriage for ala Kachuu brides.
Although Ala Kachuu can be found in all countries in Central Asia, it is most common in rural areas of post Soviet Kyrgyzstan. This predominantly Muslim nation has about 6 million inhabitants. The custom was not common during Soviet rule and marriages were usually arranged by parents.
According to data from the Women Support Center (an organisation fighting for gender equality in the country), at least 12,000 marriages are conducted each year, and these are done against the wishes of the bride. The 2011 data is believed to underestimate the number of marriages. They kidnap women to prove their manhood and avoid courtship (considered a tedious and wasteful of time), and to save the cost of the kalym (or dowry), which can cost grooms up to $4,000 (3000) in cash or livestock.
The ala kachuu is a consensual kidnapping that can occur when a couple wants to accelerate the process of marriage. After this, the brides are taken to their future husbands. The woman is welcomed by her in-laws and forced to wear the jooluk (a white shawl which signifies submission to the bride's new family). The wedding is next. The wedding is next.
According to the Unicef office at Bishkek data, the proportion of Kyrgyzstani girls between 15 and 19 years old who get pregnant in Kyrgyzstan was among the highest. However, 13% of marriages occur before 18 years of age, despite the fact that it is illegal.
Aitilek, 18 years old, wearing the white scarf which symbolises her submission of her kidnappers' demands for marriage. Photograph by Noriko Hayashi/Panos
According to estimates, 2,000 women are raped each year by their future husbands (again this is thought to be far below current figures). These women are condemned to marry because it would be shameful to return to their families. Fleeing brides are at risk of further violence or even death.
Aizada Kanatbekova (27), was one such bride. She was strangled to death in a field two days after she had been forcibly packed into a car by two passers-by. This is a worrying sign that this practice isn't limited to the country, as the kidnapping occurred in daylight in central Bishkek.
Altyn Kapalova in court in Bishkek, where she will be tried for changing the names of her children. They were given middle names that were derived from their mother's first name, rather than traditional patronymics based upon fathers first names. Photograph by Vyacheslav Oledko/AFP/Getty
Altyn Kapalova is a feminist activist, writer and researcher at University of Central Asia, Bishkek. She condemned the lack of legal protections for women. A woman who needs help is not welcome at a police station. A woman who goes to a station to report a kidnapping will be laughed at by the officers and told her to go home to settle the matter with her family.
One shockingly horrific case in 2018 highlighted the police's inhumane attitude. Burulai Turdaaly, a medical student aged 20, was kidnapped and murdered at a police station. The man who kidnapped her stabbed her and then carved her initials as well as those of another man on the body. They left them both alone in the waiting area.
The perpetrator was convicted and sentenced for murder. He will serve 20 years imprisonment. Activists claim that violence against women continues to go unpunished in large part. Kapalova said that the problem is one of culture and education and not laws. She has been threatened since Kapalova organized Kyrgyzstan's first feminist art show in 2019. Feminnale was a controversial show that drew protestors with whips to the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts, Bishkek. It ran for 17 days.
Tatyana Zelenskaya is another artist who aims to change attitudes. She works with Open Line Foundation, a human rights organization that provides legal advice and counselling for victims of kidnapping. Zelenskaya designed the graphics and drawings of Spring in Bishkek for smartphones, which aims to persuade young people that kidnapping does not happen as a tradition, but is a crime.
Tatyana Zelenskaya's illustration of Aizada Kantbekova's kidnapping and murder. She also created the art for Spring in Bishkek which educates young people about ala Kachuu. Photograph: Handout
The app has been downloaded over 130,000 times in just six months. This is a remarkable achievement considering that the developers had only hoped for 25,000. The game allows players to witness the kidnapping and rescue of their best friend. There are messages from journalists, psychologists and activists that appear on the screen along with real phone numbers that can be called in an emergency.
Our goal is to teach girls that they can control their destiny. Zelenskaya said that we make them heroines who can rebel and change the course of events. This concept can be difficult for women who were raised believing that anything is possible without approval from men.
These efforts have not been supported by the Kyrgyz government, which has provided little evidence. Many see the new constitution's wording as a shift in priorities that could lead to the erosion of fundamental freedoms and human rights if they conflict with traditional values.
Sadyr Japarov, the nationalist president introduced the prologue to the constitution. It was approved by a referendum in April 2011. The prologue emphasizes the importance of the cultural and spiritual values of Kyrgyz society, following the traditions our ancestors. Continuing to live in harmony, peace, and unity with nature. Based on the precepts Manas the Magnanimous (referring to the Kyrgyz hero of an epic), Many view this passage as an implicit endorsement of ala Kachuu.
Female Kyrgyz scientists are behind an initiative to launch the country's first satellite. This is helping to redefine the role for women in a country that increasingly affirms older ideas of women's roles. Photograph: Handout
The Kyrgyz Women's Space Programme is an initiative that was funded privately by eight young Kyrgyz women. They are resisting these old values and have formed a dynamic group of eight Kyrgyz girls aged 18-24. Next year, they plan to launch Kyrgyzstan's first satellite into orbit, a tiny, unmanned nanosatellite capable of sending and receiving signals.
We've been working on CubeSats for quite some time. Piece by piece, technology, programming mathematics, physics and welding are all part of the process, according to Kyzzhibek batyrkanova.
While building the CubeSat, all eight women are studying aerospace engineering. They travel to remote locations to teach science, engineering, and technology to students, particularly girls. They share their personal stories about female emancipation.
Anna Boyko is the group's coordinator of physics and programming. She says that she was like them as a young girl who wanted to find a charming prince. After two weeks of training at a computer company, they all realized that I was better than their male colleagues with computers.
This edited version is a story first published on Newlines, an online magazine that covers the Middle East and beyond.
