Honour killings in the North Caucasus continue, despite being clearly counter to both Russian and local laws.
Domestic violence is inseparable from the North Caucasus. Yes, unfortunately, in the 21st century this is a norm of life that often goes unpunished under criminal law and is not only not condemned by society, but is encouraged in every way possible. At the same time, the perpetrators of violence may be husbands, former husbands, parents, brothers.
Even when the worst happens — murder — people write in the comments: ‘Wait! Maybe it wasn’t so clear-cut! Maybe she drove him to do it herself’. For many in the North Caucasus, violence can be justified by any behaviour coming from a woman.
This week we wrote about two horrific cases, both of which took place in Daghestan. In one of them, a man came to his ex-wife’s home and started a confrontation because he was unhappy that she had taken custody of their children. He assaulted her, her father tried to protect her — and was killed as a result. His once-beloved son-in-law stabbed him to death. The woman herself was also injured and ended up in intensive care. Imagine if this man got custody of the children.
In the other case, a woman returned to her parents’ home after leaving her husband. What exactly transpired is unknown, but, as the saying goes, women do not leave good husbands. The mother did not approve of her daughter’s decision and also stabbed her with a knife. This time there was no fatal outcome; the woman survived. But the mother received a suspended sentence, as the victim stated in court that she had forgiven her.
The most recent known case of domestic violence ending in death in the North Caucasus involved a woman originally from Chechnya, Aishat Baimuradova, who fled from her parents (who would also not have approved of her divorce) and from her abusive husband and moved to Armenia. Unfortunately, she did not find a free life there: people came after her and poisoned her. Her relatives even refused to collect her body.
‘Honour killing’ is perceived as a norm. It does not require the opening of a criminal case and is considered an internal family matter. Society also tends to believe that the woman was ‘to blame herself’.
Ten years ago in Chechnya, a man was put on trial for murdering his 38-year-old daughter, Zarema Daurbekova. He strangled her and dumped her body in a refuse pit. In court, Daurbekov’s defence lawyer said that his client had done so ‘for reasons of an insurmountable nature’. In other words, he couldn’t stop himself from killing his own daughter — a justification somehow permissible in court.
‘On the one hand there is the criminal code, on the other hand there is custom, a good custom. The honour and dignity of a woman’, the lawyer said.
According to sociological studies, residents of the republics of the North Caucasus do indeed consider prohibitions and violence against women to be a fact of life. A woman cannot decide for herself whether to study at university or not, whether to wear a headscarf or not, whether to divorce or not. The Russian constitution says one thing, the constitutions of the North Caucasian republics say the same, but in practice everything is different.
And when the conversation turns to preserving traditions, I first of all think of all those poor women who were killed or nearly killed simply because they wanted to be free and to decide their own fate. Do such traditions need to be preserved? No, thank you.
