Azerbaijan: Girls Aborted More Often than Boys, More Single and Teen Moms

The family unit in Azerbaijan is experiencing a period of profound crisis, said Director of the Women’s Crisis Center Matanat Azizova in an interview with “Objectiv TV.”

Azizova noted that even according to official figures, the number of male births is much higher than the number of female births because of selective abortions.

“To give birth to and raise a man is more preferable: he has more opportunities to [assume] posts in state and government agencies. Women, by definition, can move up professionally only if they are from a privileged family. Nevertheless, she is dependent on her husband, father, brother.

“The country has an increasing number of single mothers — 3,000 children are born to mothers who are minors (15–17 years old). This is due to the fact that in the regions, religious marriages are considered the norm, while in the capital civil marriages not registered at the Main Registrar Office [ZAGS] are increasingly in vogue.

“Such a situation gives rise to contradictions between the state system, which is against children born out of wedlock, and reality,” she said, reports Contact.az.

Note, the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) reported early last year that “activists in Azerbaijan say women pregnant with girls are being forced to undergo abortions or even being abandoned by their husbands because their families are determined to have male children.

“The situation has got so serious that parliament is discussing banning abortions after the sex of the child is known to prevent the gender proportions in the population becoming dangerously unbalanced.”