Kyrgyzstan: Rising Teen Pregnancy Blamed on Ignorance

Thursday, 3 November, 2005

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Aida Kasymalieva

When 15-year-old Myskal left rural Kyrgyzstan to study in the southern city of Osh she took to her new life with enthusiasm.

Free from the confines of her village where girls were even forbidden from going outside after 6 pm, Myskal spent weekends having fun with new friends, telling the aunt with whom she was staying that she was visiting her parents.

She also found a boyfriend and, just six months after arriving in Osh, joined the rapidly growing number of Kyrgyz teens who’ve fallen pregnant. The baby’s father quickly disappeared to Russia and never returned.

Like most young Kyrgyz who find themselves alone and expecting an unwanted child, Myskal opted for an abortion.

“I don’t know why Myskal did this, that is, got pregnant,” said her mother Burul. “We have strict rules in the village. Perhaps this is because she went to the city, where everyone is free. Myskal was ignorant, she did not know what sex is at all.”

Though the Kyrgyz health ministry insists the number of abortions is decreasing each year, dropping by one third since 1999, in reality the numbers are disturbing. One in every ten women has had at least one termination, with experts saying it is impossible to say how many Kyrgyz end up with unwanted pregnancies each year, as the operation is available on demand during the first three months of pregnancy.

Increasingly, those scraping together the 10-20 US dollars needed for the procedure are teens. “I am 16. I got pregnant from a guy who refuses to marry me. Now I don’t know what to do,” said a young girl waiting at a Bishkek women’s clinic.

“I won’t be able to tell my parents. I am waiting to see what the doctor says. But I am still not completely sure whether to have an abortion or not.”

Those on the frontline like gynaecologist Kubanychbek Askuliev blame the rise in teenage pregnancy and the resulting abortions on a “complete lack of information about safe sex and contraception”.

“They all ask for an abortion, because they are very young and unmarried, and almost all of them are in a difficult social situation,” he added. “I would note that these young women come to us every day. Recently, there has been a tendency for girls from the country, who are ignorant, to come to us in the early stages of pregnancy.”

Sex education is virtually non-existent in Kyrgyz schools and any attempts to deal openly with the issue are met with embarrassment and outright resistance by many in society who feel the girls themselves are to blame for getting pregnant.

“Our teachers never talk about sex. If you say this word, they start blushing. We can only talk about this among the girls and read some newspapers,” said teenager Altynai Samanova.

Secondary school teacher Tattygul Samudinova admits teenage pregnancy is a problem but insists schools are trying to deal with the issue.

“We do not allow girls to wear short skirts, nail polish or lipstick, and there is a generally accepted uniform. Then they go home, where their parents should look after them,” Samudinova told IWPR.

Parent Dinara Kalbaeva describes that attitude as “laughable”, saying a modern approach is required for modern children.

“Everything needs to be explained to them from the 6th class [age 12-13],” she said. “They should be shown documentary films and given lectures. Instead, teachers blush at anatomy lessons in the 9th class [where] sex education is given in one to two lessons once a year. It is because of this secrecy that schoolgirls become more interested in forbidden fruit.”

There have been efforts at sex education for young people, including the Healthy Lifestyle book published two years ago for use in Kyrgyz schools.

But the book - which contained information on family planning, safe sex, AIDS and rape - caused a storm of controversy and was called depraved by groups including the conservative Committee for the Protection of Honour and Dignity headed by Akin Toktaliev. He was angered by the excessive openness on what he saw as delicate issues and the poor quality of the Kyrgyz translation.

“Our children are being taught depravity: anal, oral and other types of sex. This book goes against the Kyrgyz mentality, traditions and customs,” he said.

Kyrgyzstan’s ombudsman and former presidential candidate, Tursunabi Bakir uulu, is another vocal opponent of sex education in schools.

“Children shouldn’t be told about this,” he said. “I am an old-fashioned person. My generation was not as depraved as the present generation. Why talk about sex at school?”

Healthy Lifestyle author Boris Shapiro told IWPR he wrote the book to inform Kyrgyz teens how to avoid “diseases of ignorance” like AIDS. He denies the charge of depravity.

“The authors of the book used specific real cases from the lives of Kyrgyz teenagers, many of whom had been raped several times. How can we say no to such topics as AIDS, rape and undesired pregnancy? It is long overdue to forget about embarrassment and time to learn,” said Shapiro.

Some, however, blame the country’s economic woes for the spiralling teenage pregnancy rate. In the past women, stayed home to look after their children, but today are forced to go out and earn a living, leaving them to their own devices.

Shuttle trader Mairamkan Orokova says she has little choice but to leave her 14-year-old daughter when she journeys to Kazakstan or Russia for work. “I know that at this age she cannot be left without supervision, but the conditions here dictate a different reality,” she said.

Added Kasiet Sadykova, a housewife and mother of four, said, “No one brings up the children. The mother and father are busy earning money. Children are left to themselves, on the street and watching television. They are brought up on MTV programmes, which advocate promiscuity.”

While people like Jamal Frontbek kyzy, head of the society of Muslim women Mutakalim, urge a national family planning campaign to address the problem, others think restricting access to abortions is the answer.

In June, Bakir uulu proposed prohibiting abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy – a suggestion that went down badly with many in the medical community who say if passed, the law will make a bad situation worse.

“This type of medical services will simply go into the shadows, even more than it is now,” said Saikal Bozoeva, deputy head of the department of gynaecology and obstetrics at the Medical Academy. “Quacks and illegal doctors will get rich by putting the health and life of women in danger.”

Although the current system is far from perfect, one gynaecologist who wished to remain anonymous told IWPR that most in the profession do behave responsibly.

“We should not be blamed for what we do. At the end of the day, we do everything competently. Don’t think that we carry out abortions in the fourth to fifth month of pregnancy,” said the gynaecologist.

Back in the Kyrgyz countryside, Myskal is planning to marry and has taken the radical step of paying a surgeon to restore her hymen so that her new husband will not discover her secret. She’s hoping her decision to terminate her first pregnancy won’t have lasting consequences.

“I hope that everything will go well, but I am scared that I will not be able to get pregnant again,” she said.

Aida Kasymalieva is a correspondent for Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz office of Radio RFE/RL.