Girl leaves Russia after death threats from her family in Dagestan

A girl who came to Dagestan from Sweden to visit her relatives was forcibly kept at home, and her family members were forcing her to agree to marry a man unknown to her, human rights defenders report. The girl left Russia after her relatives threatened her with murder.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in June 2020, human rights defenders called critical the situation with the rights of women in the regions of Northern Caucasus. There, the traditions are conducive to violence against women in families, the authorities consider an assault by a husband to be the norm, and victims of domestic violence are not willing to go to the police.

The Swedish authorities and activists of the “Legal Initiative”* human rights project helped the 18-year-old girl who fled from her relatives in Dagestan to leave Russia, reports Olga Gnezdilova, a lawyer for the “Legal Initiative”*.

According to the “Legal Initiative” human rights project, the 18-year-old girl lived in Sweden since the age of nine and had citizenships of Russia and Sweden. In June, she went to Dagestan to visit her relatives. There, she was forcibly kept at home, and her family members were forcing her to agree to marry a man unknown to her, the “Open Media” reports. When the girl refused, they began to beat her. A girl’s uncle threatened her with an “honour killing,” since refusing to marry “means a shame for the family.”

According to the human rights defenders, the girl’s relatives sent invitations to the wedding party and received gifts from guests in the form of money and gold. The girl sent a message to her friend in Sweden asking him for help, and he went to the Swedish police. Then the girl managed to hide from her relatives and leave the region. On the same day, the girl’s relatives came to the police and filed a complaint about her disappearance, after which the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) instituted a case on kidnapping of a person.

However, the girl managed to get to Moscow, and then she flew to Sweden, the “Open Media” reported.

* The organization is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the register of NCO-foreign agents.