Rights defenders specify major women's rights violations in Northern Caucasus

The Russian Justice Initiative (RJI) and the Chechnya Advocacy Network (CAN) have sent to the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) the alternative report on the Russia's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in Northern Caucasus. The Russian authorities' report will be submitted to the UN session on October 27.

In their report, the human rights defenders have identified four major problems in the fulfillment by the Russian authorities of their obligations under the CEDAW in Northern Caucasus: use of religious rules on clothing for women and girls in Chechnya, discrimination against women in the spheres of marriage and family, violence against women, and traditional practices harmful for women.

The report provides examples of the selected cases being considered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Committee of the CEDAW. In particular, in the case "Timagova vs. Russia", the complainant from Chechnya claimed that the sentence imposed on her ex-husband for the use of brutal violence against her had been disproportionately lenient.

One more case, "Bopkhoeva vs. Russia", refers to Ingushetia. It deals with the failure to investigate the circumstances that resulted in the fact that the young woman fell into a coma two months after she was forced to marry.

The third case of Chechnya demonstrates the difficulties a woman faces when trying to get the right to care for her own children even in cases where she is the only living parent. The reason is in the traditional rules providing that only the father and his family members may be act as guardians of children after a divorce or after the death of their father.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.