Single Mothers in Azerbaijan: No Rights to Assistance

“Two people will back you, but twenty will judge you”

However, material difficulties are not the only problem that single mothers in Azerbaijan face.

Unlike many other single mothers, Gunel Farhadgizi has no problem providing for her child. She earns good money and provides her son with everything he needs, which is because she received higher education, she believes.

However, after Gunel learned that she was pregnant, both the child’s father and many of her relatives and friends abandoned her. Gunel was not legally married, nor had she had a wedding party that could legitimize her union with the man in the eyes of society. any people condemned her decision to have a baby out of wedlock:

“He did not want the baby, but I was determined to keep it. This is the reason why we broke up,” Gunel says. “But becoming a single mother turned out to not be an easy thing. It is really very difficult to have a baby out of wedlock. Two people will back you but twenty will judge you. When I was looking for a job, men made obscene offers when they learnt that I was single. I have received these kinds of obscene offers from men around me many times.”

Human rights activist Shahla Ismailova says that single mothers have an especially hard time in the country, where there is already serious control over women:

“Society has a special interest in and pays special attention to widows and divorced women, as if it is trying to control their behavior. Any step they take may receive condemnation. The biggest condemnation may be given to women who gave birth to children out of wedlock.”