In Baku, police stop protest action against domestic violence

On February 4, in Baku, activists came to the Government House to protest against domestic violence, but the police stopped their action. One of the female protesters explained that the street protest was triggered by a murder of a 32-year-old woman.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that earlier, Azerbaijani female activists had already tried to draw the authorities' attention to the problem of domestic violence. On March 8, 2020, participants of a feminist march in Baku reported the problem to the authorities. Organizers of the protest action called for ensuring equal rights for men and women to work and education, as well as acceding to the Istanbul Convention aimed at combating violence against women.

On February 4, in front of the Government House, a group of Azerbaijani female activists unfolded three posters, reading together: "The murders of women are political." Five minutes later, policemen who arrived at the place of the protest action seized the posters from the activists. The women stopped their action and began to leave the place, while the policemen followed them along the boulevard for some time.

Gulnara Mekhdieva, one of the protestors, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that among other things, the protest action was triggered by a recent murder of a 32-year-old woman. According to the Gulnara Mekhdieva's version, the recent murder of the woman demonstrated that crimes motivated by gender-based violence still occur in Azerbaijan.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 5, 2021 at 02:12 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.