Past Events

Human trafficking: global perspective and conceptual principles of addressing the problem

A lecture on the global problem of human trafficking was delivered by Dr. Azer Allahverenov, migration researcher, at the CRRC office. A. Allahveranov is the director of the Migration Resource Centre and the Forum of Azerbaijani NGOs on Migration Issues and a frequent speaker and writer on the issues related to the human trafficking, domestic violence, social marginality, migration and geopolitical issues.

The presenter talked about the root causes of the trafficking problem, its forms and consequences it has on victims and their families. A global picture of the problem, as well statistical information on Azerbaijan was presented. The lecture was concluded with a discussion on the most effective ways to fight this phenomenon.

Gender and Gender Based Violence in Azerbaijan: Qualitative Approach in Research

CRRC-UNFPA joint seminar series on the occasion of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence concluded on December 4, 2008 with a presentation on Gender and Gender Based Violence in Azerbaijan: Qualitative Approach in Research delivered by Dr. Farideh Heyat, PhD in Social Anthropology from School of Oriental and African Studies, London University.

The presenter talked about qualitative approach in general and with focus on gender and gender based violence research. She shared her experience of doing gender research with a focus Azerbaijan and Central Asian countries. Research methods explained by Dr. Heyat were participant observation, semi-structured, open-ended interviews, life history interviews and textual analysis. She also talked about the importance of constructing categories and concepts from observations and interviews and researching the relationship between those categories and concepts.

The presentation generated great interest among visitors was followed by an intensive questions-answers session on the dynamics of gender relations and attitude to gender-based violence in Azerbaijan, as well as cross-cultural comparison of the attitudes to domestic violence.

Measuring Gender Based Violence- GBV Project’s experience: Quantitative Approach

The series of joint CRRC-UNFPA seminars on the occasion of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence continued with a presentation on Quantitative Approach to Measuring Gender Based Violence by Aysel Vazirova, National Coordinator of the UNFPA’s Combating Gender Based Violence Project and Murad Bagirzadeh, International Center for Social Research on November 27, 2008.

The first country-wide survey on Domestic Violence and Violence against women conducted within the frameworks of UNFPA-Azerbaijan’s project was presented by the guests. The survey aims to examine the prevalence, roots and consequences of violence against women. It included more than 100 questions on women’s attitude and experience of all kinds of domestic violence organized in the following sections: environment, general health, reproductive health, children, husband and attitude to violence.

The speakers talked about the techniques to facilitate the discussion on such a delicate issue used to solicit a candid response. The project has provided special training to female interviewers who then conducted interviews with 3000 women throughout the country. The data collected through the survey is currently being processed.

UNFPA received full support of the State Committee on Family, Women and Children's Affairs for implementation of the GBV Project in Azerbaijan.

The presentation was followed by a questions-answers session and many participants expressed their interest in learning the final results of the project, which are expected to be presented to the public in January 2009. Survey results could be used by researchers in a wide range of disciplines, including demography, anthropology, sociology and gender studies. The project also plans to provide support to local researchers for further qualitative studies on the subject.

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