Abduction of young Dagestani women from the shelter raises vulnerability issue of crisis centres

The existing legal regulations fail to protect tenants of crisis centres from being abducted by law enforcers at requests of their relatives. Russia must adopt a special law that will prohibit relatives to approaching the victim or returning them back into the family with the help of the police, human rights defenders have stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 18, two young women were taken by force from the crisis centre located in the city of Kazan. They had fled from their relatives in Dagestan. Later, they later contacted the shelter and assured that everything was fine with them, and urged not to look for them. They made these statements under pressure, Svetlana Anokhina, a human rights defender, has suggested. After returning to their husbands, the women run the risk of becoming victims of "honour killings," experts on the Caucasus fear.

"I was married not of my own free will at the age of 17. I never wanted a family life at that age. There's no physical violence, but I can't morally withstand it anymore," Sofia Krapotkina, a journalist, has quoted one of the women's statement on the 7×7 website.

In Russia, crisis centres are in a vulnerable position from the viewpoint of the law, said Alyona Popova, a co-founder of the network of women's mutual assistance named "You Are not Alone". Law enforcers have no right to invade shelters and abduct people from there, she has stated, adding that the conclusion of a shelter's agreement with the tenant is unable to stop law enforcers.

The opinion that organizers of shelters are vulnerable before the law was also expressed by Aida Mirmaksumova, the head of the "Fathers and Daughters" Project, who has noted that often accusations against organizers are also put forward on the initiative of the escapee's relatives.