CLASHING STANCES: DISCOURSES ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

In this paper, I am going to contribute to the study of VAW in Kazakhstan by examining these discourses from the perspective of critical discourse analysis and sociolinguistics. This study focuses on four recent high-profile cases of VAW in Kazakhstan between 2023 and 2024, each of which functioned as a discourse event: that is, incidents that triggered significant media coverage and public commentary online. The main aim would be to explore the patterns in people’s reactions, the dynamics of their stances, how they express their positions through language and what is the dominant discourse on this topic. My analysis of news and social media and comments shows that there are two competing overarching discourses within it – ‘victim-blaming’ vs. ‘supportive’. While the first one usually entails transferring responsibility for violence on the victim (i.e. blaming women for being victims of an assault), the latter involves supporting and protecting the women and appealing to the government for the punishment to the criminal. However, in Kazakhstan, a promising and surprising trend is that support for women is far more dominant as a primary responsive discourse to cases of VAW. Trigger Warning: This paper discusses real-life cases of domestic abuse, sexual violence, murder, and other forms of violence against women. It also includes reactions to such incidents. Some readers may find the content distressing. Please proceed with care.