Start of the Fieldwork

When I arrived in Tajikistan I contacted the few already identified participants, informed them again about the purpose and nature of this study and asked again whether they would be willing to participate. It was not difficult to find women who were ‘victims’ of violence, because it soon became clear that almost every girl or woman experiences some form of violence in her lifetime.

In the field I started by approaching various institutions (police units, prosecution office, courts, Committee on Women and Family Affairs, NGOs such as the Bureau of Human Rights and Law, Madina, Volunteers and drop-in centres), which included both governmental and non-governmental institutions and explaining to them the nature of my study, its purpose and the need to identify potential participants. In several cases, after attending such places, (particularly three Gorotdel (municipal police units)) I

explained the nature of my visit to the police officers at the reception desks who introduced me to one of the investigators. Almost all of them were willing to participate in the study after I explained it to them. One of the officers agreed to participate and wanted to be interviewed on that day, after explaining to me that ‘since he is already in and due to the nature of his work most of the time he is on the move and it might be difficult to find a good moment like this’.117 _{This experience taught me that initial}

interviews may take place without any prior arrangements in terms of time and place of the interviews.

In a very few cases, victims, particularly victims of sexual assaults, were identified via police units, (procuracies). On one occasion at the regional police unit I was escorted to the office of an investigator who told me after I explained to him the nature of my visit and the purpose and objectives of my study that ‘had I come a bit earlier I would have managed to listen to the lady [who left as I entered] who came to withdraw her complaint regarding her husband’s abuse’.118 _{Although in most cases, investigators did not}

wish to reveal the names of the victims, (as such information was regarded as ‘confidential’) after a certain period of time, when mutual trust was established, police officers and prosecutors were more ready to list names of victims. On one occasion during my visits to an investigator, with whom I had already established a rapport and gained his trust, he offered to take me with him to the bazaar119 _{(market place) to recruit potential}

participants. I refused this offer. At the same time, an investigator from the prosecution office offered to contact and ‘bring’ some victims of sexual violence for me, but I deliberately refused such initiatives to avoid putting pressure on participants.

I decided to be even more cautious regarding my actions with victims of sexual assault as they already feel marginalized by their families, friends and the society because of the nature of sexual assaults and societal and cultural prejudices about such crimes and victims of such crimes. I had to pay attention to my actions and words so that they were

117 _{Interviewee MCJ4.} 118 _{Interviewee MCJ6.}

119 _{The reason why he wanted me to come to the market place with him was because a majority of people} who are engaged in selling goods in the market are women.

not interpreted as judgemental towards these victims. Compared to other female participants, who were subjected to some forms of violence, women victims of sexual assault required a longer time to establish rapport and gain their trust.

In one region, I made contact with the municipal Committee on Women and Family Affairs which provided me with a list of names of heads of local shuroi zanon (women’s union) based in each mahala (community). Shuroi zanon in each mahala held meetings occasionally, particularly before any major public holidays. Luckily these meetings were held when I was in the field.

Based on my previous experiences I decided to take an opportunistic approach to identifying respondents, which included ‘using’ friends, relatives, friends of relatives, former colleagues and their friends and colleagues of friends to gain access to institutions or identify potential participants. All participants were informed that participation was a voluntary and anonymous. This approach was helpful because it provided an opportunity to gain access to materials and information which otherwise would be impossible.

After potential participants were identified I explained to every participant the nature and purpose of my study and asked for their consent. It was made clear to each of the participants that there was no remuneration for their participation and that their participation was on voluntary basis. Every participant was guaranteed anonymity. Some, informants particularly Modavlat and Nisso, were not against the use of their real names. Modavlat said ‘I have nothing to hide; I am only telling you my point of view’.120

However, participants who experienced severe forms of violence did not wish to be identified. I assured all participants, regardless of whether they wished to keep their real name, that no real names would be used and all names would be changed. Furthermore, I assured them that any information they gave me would be kept confidentially and not discussed with anyone else in the field. The governmental officials and criminal justice system officers were more concerned about anonymity and confidentiality than the women victims. Similarly, NGO representatives also wished that the information they

provided would be kept confidential. This was agreed. To protect the interests of participants, I decided in this thesis to use only given names for all participants instead of real ones.

In order to protect the identity of participants and keep their anonymity no real names are used and instead their names are changed, their geographical location is not identified because some places are very small and participants could be easily identified. I refer to participants by their code such as F31-a female participant, MJS3-a male justice system officer, FCS-a female from civil society (which mainly refers to women NGOs’ staff and Committee on Women and Family Affairs). In most cases I only use a code allocated to participants, however, if I present a case story a randomly allocated name is used. If the same name appears in different parts of the study, it refers to the same case.

2.5.3. Questionnaire

I decided to use a questionnaire to gain some basic data on how violence against women was understood, and which forms of interventions were sought and what were participants’ perspectives on the police and the justice system. It was not a comprehensive questionnaire and the aim was not to obtain representative data on these matters; I used it in order to obtain a brief overview. The questionnaire was distributed to volunteers among students at the Khorog English Program and Khorog State University and the State Agriculture Institute in Dushanbe. The initial questionnaire, which was prepared before going to the field, was changed and updated. Additional questions were added based on the interviews and data collected in the field.

2.5.4. Observation

Intensive observation of the context and of particular settings assisted in gathering additional data, provided a ‘cross-checking’ tool to validate the data collected through other methods of data collection. I conducted informal and unstructured observations around the police units, prosecution office, courts, women homes and community. These

included general observation, observation in meetings (women’s gatherings), and court hearings as well as police behaviour in the markets, streets, and in the society in general. I noted down incidents important and relevant to the focus of my study in my daily fieldwork diary. The notes I collected in the field contributed to my collection of data, conducting preliminary analyses, reflecting on my actions and tracing the history of my values and beliefs. My diary contained information about my impressions and reflections about gender roles at home, women’s status at home, women’s status in the community, girls’ and boys’ behaviour at home and in the community and police officers’ behaviour in public. Some of these impressions came from my observations. Reflecting on these matters helped to reveal deeper meanings to women’s actions and beliefs and allowed me to identify broader issues. I recorded my descriptive and reflective notes whenever I had an opportunity and it was socially accepted. However I did not want to appear to be an ‘auditor’ or an ‘inspector’, or to appear formal and intrusive. Quite often, when I had limited opportunity to record my notes, I would write some key words down and expand on them later when I had a more appropriate opportunity to do so. I used drawing, mind mapping, text and pictures.