ABSTRACT
Tensions among family members were almost certainly at a considerably lower level. Karomat was born in the mid-1920s, at a time when the Bolsheviks were forcing very significant social and material changes on their Central Asian subjects. As a result, her childhood was immensely different from that of her mother's. Karomat spent much of her youth in Dushanbe, where she attended a Soviet kindergarten, wore Russian clothing, had her hair cut short, and learned to sit on chairs. Her mother grew up in a village, sitting and sleeping on kurpachas and dressing according to local traditions, including full facial veiling. Bahorgul had much firmer aspirations than her eldest sister. She was also much more determined to achieve them. In Tajikistan the traditions have so far protected girls from the worst of these pressures. Increasing numbers of destitute women and girls are being trafficked abroad, usually for sexual purposes.
