Women being pressured back into marriages in Chechnya
In Muslim region of Russia, some activists say it’s the best option for divorced women despite abuse of some
Women in this ultra-conservative region have long suffered repressive conditions because of strict Muslim doctrine practiced here. Now they face a new threat: pressure to reunite with divorced husbands in the name of family values.
A commission dominated by religious leaders in the autonomous Russian republic of Chechnya convened over the summer with the goal of bringing estranged couples back together. More than 1,000 divorced couples have been reunited so far, even though some may have been in abusive relationships.
“We’ve got to wake people up, talk to them and explain. We’ve got to return the women who left their husbands and reconcile them,” Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic, told local media.
Heda Saratova, a human rights activist who has become loyal to Kadyrov, defends the move even though its objective is to persuade women back into marriages they had chosen to leave.
“They are trying to tell us that there is pressure and coercion in Chechnya. Well, what’s the alternative? That these women remain alone?” Saratova said. “Where is it where you can say that a divorced couple is better than a whole family? ... Children from a full family are different than those from divorced families.”
The Chechen capital has seen a glittering overhaul since Russia fought two wars here in the 1990s to quash separatist campaigns. Chechnya today remains loyal to Moscow but maintains its own language and customs and is devoutly Muslim. It is ruled with an iron first by Kadyrov, who has faced numerous allegations in Russia and abroad of human rights abuses and imposed strict Islamic codes that run counter to Russian law.
In 2015, Kadyrov attended a wedding between a teenager and a 47-year-old police chief after
critics called it a forced marriage. And earlier this year, rights groups reported that gay men were being rounded up and sent to Chechnya detention centers. A government investigation that failed to confirm the allegations was assailed by LGBT groups as a cover up.
In Grozny, most women wear headscarves and long skirts and are seen outside in pairs or with a male relative. They say the strict social mores are part of resurrecting Chechen traditions.
“What a Chechen fears most is the disapproval of his mother or father, more than the criminal code,” said Anzor Matayev, a prominent publisher in the capital. “And society is closely knit, everybody knows each other.”
Svetlana Gannushkina, a Moscow-based human rights advocate for a refugee group, the Civic Assistance Committee, said of the women reunited with ex-husbands: “It’s quite possible they left (the marriages) because of abuse. Moreover, if they are forced to reunite, that could create conditions for abuse.”
Gannushkina cites a growing number of cases of Chechens living outside of Russia in more liberal Western societies who send their daughters here to be “re-educated.”
Gannushkina said she recently helped a 19-year-old whose mother brought her to Chechnya. “The girl (was) beaten and strangled, and her documents (were) taken away,” Gannushkina said. “She was told that she will be made into a Chechen woman.”
“What a Chechen fears most is the disapproval of his mother or father, more than the criminal code. And society is closely knit, everybody knows each other.” Anzor Matayev, a prominent publisher in Grozny