Nowhere to Turn for Help.(Brief Article)

"Marziya," 36, is hiding at Samarkand's only women's shelter, a private home tucked behind an unmarked iron gate. Her husband began beating her in 1992, at the height of Uzbekistan's economic turmoil. Although the Qur'an prohibits alcohol, "he would come home after drinking and beat me very hard," Marziya says. "One time he crushed my ovary." She ran to her brother's house, "but he also drank and got violent," she says. So she and her 5-year-old son fled in search of safety.

The shelter is as hidden as Uzbekistan's domestic-violence problem. There are only a handful of women there now, but over the past year more than 100 have passed through. Since Uzbekistan gained independence more than 10 years ago, what locals call "traditionalism"--a moral code based on Islam--has flourished. And for many Uzbek women, that code makes the few social guarantees of the Soviet regime look good. The Soviets not only banned traditions like forced marriage and wearing veils but also extended education and jobs to women; the traditionalists--who stress family values instead of communist ideals-- consider domestic violence a legitimate way for a man to keep control in the family. "The traditionalists tell us, 'We don't need cultured women'," says Uzbek writer and feminist Marfua Tokhtakhodjaeva. "Girls are getting married as young as 15. [The traditionalists] tell them that they shouldn't look at those girls in short skirts going to the university." Samarkand imam Fakul Melikzoda says Uzbeks are having trouble finding their moorings. "There is a return of Islamic spirituality but also confusion," he says. "Men still drink vodka and then they beat their wives."

Uzbekistan has no specific law against domestic violence. In fact, a survey conducted in the late '90s showed that more than 60 percent of female respondents considered violence in the home ...