Rights defenders treat forcing Chechen women to wear hijabs as discrimination

The demand to wear hijabs in state institutions of Chechnya restricts women's rights, believe the rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported, citing women employed by state institutions of Chechnya, that their bosses had instructed them to come to work in hijabs – headscarves, which completely cover the hair and the forehead.

"It's a violation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which, in general, is not respected in Chechnya, and so is not observed," said Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the "Civil Assistance" Committee.

She does not rule out that enforcing women working for Chechen state institutions to wear hijabs may cause undue detentions and further persecution of women and their relatives.

"Quite recently, facts were reported that women in hijabs were literally caught in streets of Grozny," the rights defender has reminded.

In her turn, Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, the Project Manager for Russia and Northern Caucasus of the International Crisis Group (ICG), have stated that conflicts of women-employees of state institutions with law enforcers because of women's dress code are unlikely, as the hijabs, which will be worn by state employees, are visually different from those, which draw power agents' attention.

In general, she also treats the demand to wear hijabs as a violation of women's rights.

"This is discrimination, not only a flagrant violation of the Russian Constitution, which ensures the freedom of religion, or the right not to profess any religion, but also of one of the fundamental rules of Islam, which states that there is no compulsion to religion," Ms Sokiryanskaya has noted.

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