Hello!

While in Bukhara at a conference on women's rights and health, I took part
in a discussion group (comprised of men and women,) looking at the question
of putting a statute on polygamy into the Uzbek civil code. Going in, I
felt that all of the women would be against the idea, all of the men for it.
Was _I_ ever wrong.

All of the women _supported_ the idea, with the men being vociferously
against it. Strange? Not really, after somebody explained it to me. What
the women were after was legal recognition of the fact that men in
Uzbekistan often do have more than one wife. The women may not like playing
second (or third) fiddle, but they tolerate it. However, if the man grows
tired of a wife (with whom he may even have children,) in one of the
non-official marriages, he can simply up and leave, abandoning all of them
without any responsibilities.

The women wanted these marriages to have the force of law, so that in the
event of a breakdown, the men would be forced to carry some of the financial
and other support responsibilities.

I found it very interesting, especially in light of my friendship with a
young Uzbek woman who was a second wife. She and her unofficial husband had
a child and she was more than satisfied with the arrangement.

Blair