My name is Smanova Nargiza, and I am from Shymkent, Kazakhstan.
I did my masters as a NipCA fellow at the University of Tsukuba and graduated last year, in 2023. Those one-and-a-half years in Japan transformed me and helped me improve my academic skills, and most importantly, I found myself. I found a field that interests me, indeed. And it is about women’s issues. I am very passionate about understanding and researching women’s issues. I am ready to dedicate my time, effort, and energy to improving and better understanding of gender equality in Kazakhstan and around the world.
During my master’s, I wrote the thesis on the topic of “Legal and Social Elements of Police Response to Domestic Violence Against Women in Kazakhstan”. After graduating and coming back to Kazakhstan, I started to work at Kazakhstan’s Institute of Public Development at the Center for Family and Gender Policy as a leading manager. I enjoyed each workday, and I realized that I was on the right path. Later, after gaining some work experience and diving into the gender policy field in Astana, I decided to continue and advance my studies in gender studies and enrolled in the PhD program as a NipCA fellow this October 2024. This time I am going to study emotional abuse against kelins (daughters-in-law) in Kazakhstan and cannot wait to advance my studies and learn from my beloved professors at the University of Tsukuba. I am very grateful for this opportunity for the NiPCA project and the Nippon Foundation. Also, I am extremely happy to see how our Central Asia and Japan community is growing year by year!
