The Asman Yurt camp in Bokonaevo, is owned and run by Rakhat Zhunushbayeva. This charming tourist getaway is distinct in its small number of authentic yurts, complete with modern amenities to provide a genuine contemporary Kyrgyz experience. The thought Rakhat invested in the details of this yurt camp reflects her perception and understanding of the intricacies of running businesses and of Kyrgyz society.
Rakhat’s narrative of her entrepreneurial journey is interwoven with adversity, demonstrating the norms of injustice embedded within her socio- cultural environment, as a woman and as an entrepreneur. Well aware that the restrictions she faces are a result of being a woman in Kyrgyz society, Rakhat describes the unfair advantages men have; the exclusive networks, superior image, and dominance in the fields within which she primarily operates, construction and equipment supplies.
The adversities and disadvantages she discusses are examples of epistemic injustice, where one faces oppression simply because of their identity. In the case of Rakhat, this is the experience of a woman trying to build her businesses in a patriarchal society that experienced an influx ofconservative gender norms in the post-Soviet era. Rakhat recalls repeatedly succumbing to injustices during her 12-year marriage until she realised that her husband’s constrictions on her business activities and interactions were not coming from a place of love and care, but from a place of control and envy.
Although for Rakhat she saw divorce as a seemingly liberating act, it came with another set of injustices as a result of the stigma of being a divorced woman and the ensuing societal scepticism associated with this. Rakhat explained how banks probed her and her divorce with personal questions as part of their ‘assessment criteria’. She faced more rejections than she could count, yet she persisted. Rakhat encountered perceptions that as a woman she lacked certain abilities and overall credibility. These challenges mounted after her divorce and she described having to prove herself at every crossroad, in every meeting and every interaction. The abuse did not come from men alone. Rakhat discussed the pain of being the subject of vitriol and discouragement she encountered from women who wanted to disassociate from her and curtail her advancement in any way.
Nevertheless, Rakhat would go on to become a serial entrepreneur, expanding her lines of business and geographic reach in male-dominatedindustries. She defied countless personal and professional injustices, to accomplish overwhelming success. Rakhat’s story is an inspiration to her children, her society, and perhaps most of all, to other women aspiring to be entrepreneurs in the face of excessive injustice.
Rakhat Zhunushbayeva
