Kadyrov shows his ideological tolerance for violence against women

At his meeting with the relatives of the deceased woman from Gudermes, Ramzan Kadyrov has urged women to withstand beatings by their husbands. Such a tolerant attitude to domestic violence is unacceptable and contradicts the public morality of Northern Caucasus, the rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Chechen Prosecutor initiated an inquiry into reports about the murder by a Gudermes resident of his wife. On June 20, the body of the young woman was exhumed by investigators. After the exhumation, the mother stated that she saw a scar and abrasions on her daughter's body. However, on June 23, at a meeting at the Gudermes Mayoralty with the participation of the head of Chechnya, she apologized for the words about her daughter's violent death.

The Chechen authorities took the side of the husband of the deceased woman, since Ramzan Kadyrov and his close associates ideologically justify the beating of a woman in the family, Svetlana Gannushkina, the chair of the "Civil Assistance" Committee, has stated.

"He (Kadyrov) says that a woman should cling to her marriage; but why should she cling to her husband and marriage if she is beaten up? He says that a woman should treat her husband beating her with understanding. Such Kadyrov's statements make him (responsible) for the killings – for this particular murder and the murders that will be committed in the future," Ms Gannushkina told the "Caucasian Knot".

In Northern Caucasus, it is widely believed that domestic violence is justified in certain cases, but not all share such viewpoints, she has added.

"I want to emphasize that in Chechnya and other republics of Northern Caucasus, there are men who treat the use of force against women as a shame; and there are many such families," Svetlana Gannushkina has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 26, 2020 at 01:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.