Women maintain the fabric of Central Asian societies, but they come under increasing pressure. There is a wide-spread re-traditionalisation of gender roles taking place, and women's status in public life is continuously decreasing.

Contributors of this book shed light on some of the issues behind the gender statistics and legal implementation challenges commonly known in the West using a wide variety of methodological approaches and combining scholarly interest with an activist stance. This qualitative approach is the only suitable way of understanding the nature of the issues arising in the pivotal region of Central Asia.

With a foreword by the former President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mme. Roza Otunbayeva.