Aigerim Kussainkyzy, the woman blending Kazakh tradition and feminism to build a better future

Can feminism be rooted in national identity? A scholar, feminist, and human rights advocate, Aigerim Kussainkyzy from Kazakhstan, believes it can.

Kussainkyzy is a 35-year-old senior lecturer and researcher at Maqsut Narikbayev University in Astana. Her approach blends academic rigor with activism, focusing on advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

Equally inspired by Eastern and Western thinkers, she seeks to integrate feminism with Kazakhstan’s tradition by promoting the idea that gender equality and women’s rights are closely tied to the country’s history and values.

Addressing the “dream gaps”

Born into a Kazakh-speaking family of teachers, Kussainkyzy developed a feminist perspective long before she understood the term.

“When I was about 12, I told my physics teacher I wanted to be the first Kazakh female astronaut. She laughed and said, ‘Come on, you’re just a girl’,” she recalls.

Kussainkyzy argues that discouraging moments like this highlight why societies must address not only pay gaps but also the 'dream gaps' that limit the aspirations of young girls worldwide. She explains that children up to the age of 5 have similar hopes and dreams. Afterward, their expectations become more gendered, slowly adhering to societal norms.

“Most societies teach girls to stay at home or do caretaking professions and boys to excel in science or business, leading to the perpetuation of inequality. Even my father used to say, ‘girls should be girls and boys should be boys’. I was defiant, so I chose to study law. I wanted to fight back,” she recalls.

"Most societies teach girls to stay at home or do caretaking professions and boys to excel in science or business, leading to the perpetuation of inequality." – Aigerim Kussainkyzy

Excelling academically, Kussainkyzy earned scholarships that led to a Master’s in International Business Law from the University of Montreal and a PhD in Public Administration from Narxoz University in Almaty. When she became a university lecturer herself, she decided to inspire her students to dream big and challenge patriarchal limits.

Building a powerful nation through education

“If half of the nation is uneducated or unemployed, you cannot have a powerful nation,” she notes, quoting Nazipa Kulzhanova, Kazakhstan's first female journalist, translator, ethnographer, and educator who championed women’s rights during the first half of the 20th century.

According to Kussainkyzy, 55% of present-day Kazakhstani scientists are women, yet while they dominate education and medicine, only 30% work in STEM fields. This is why she is actively pushing for more equal distribution of genders across the sectors, particularly in STEM, aligning her work with the “Full and equal decision-making power” area of the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, a voluntary, action-oriented platform to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda.

Speaking about the principles outlined in the Beijing Declaration, she emphasizes that Kazakhstan was one of the first central Asian countries to establish a national entity to promote gender equality, and it was called the Commission on Women, Family and Demographic Policy in 1998.

Changing the narrative around feminism

Self-identifying as a feminist, Kussainkyzy believes it is important to root her advocacy in her country’s tradition. Using the Kazakh language, she frames feminism as an integral part of the nation’s cultural fabric, countering stereotypes that portray it as negatively.

“Many still have rigid ideas of how Kazakh women should look, dress, and behave. To connect with them, we must ground the feminist message in our culture and values,” she explains.

A tragedy that inspired change

In 2023, collaborating with a team of experts and public servants, she contributed to drafting a new law against domestic violence that criminalized battery and intentional harm. The public united and closely watched the open trial of a high-profile businessman and former politician who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder of his wife.

The Law on Strengthening Women’s Rights and Safety of Children was signed by the President of Kazakhstan in April 2024, marking a big victory for all women and girls across the country.

“The law was a major step forward, but if I said violence is not only physical violence, I’d still get a lot of backlash. So our next big goal is to push for public recognition of all forms of domestic abuse: physical, but also sexual, emotional, and economic,“ Kussainkyzy says, outlining her path for the years to come.

Notably, in July 2025, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev enacted a new law that imposes criminal penalties for stalking and forced marriage in Kazakhstan. These legal reforms underscore Kazakhstan's dedication to combating all forms of violence and aligning with international human rights standards.

Embracing your critics

In 2024, she moved from Almaty to Astana to pursue her second PhD, this time on gender equality, and to be closer to the decision-makers.

“Criminalizing domestic violence was a crucial first step. Parliament is working on new anti-harassment legislation, which we hope will pass soon. The labor code doesn’t yet define harassment, so we’re working to add provisions to protect women in the workplace,” she says eagerly.

Knowing that the real change won’t come without public support, Kussainkyzy and her students often engage in social media debates, hoping to influence younger generations of Kazakhs. Now and then, there is pushback, but she knows how to stand her ground.

“Some people in Kazakhstan dislike me for being a feminist, it's often because they're afraid of gender equality. So, I tell them: don’t be afraid; it’s not about women being superior but equal. And we can achieve it together,” she says with a smile.

This story is a part of the Beijing+30 regional communications campaign ‘Unstoppable’, aimed at marking the 30th commemoration of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The views expressed in this story are those of the protagonist and the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of UN Women, the United Nations, or any of its affiliated organizations.