Chechen Women Must Follow Dress Code Or Face Abuse

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

GROZNY, Russia — A human rights group recently released a report detailing the enforcement of an Islamic dress code in Chechnya, and the resulting abuse women suffer if they do not comply with the dress code. The report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and entitled “You Dress According to Their Rules: Enforcement of an Islamic Dress Code for Women in Chechnya” can be read in full here.

The report is 40 pages long and details the violence, harassment, and threats women in Chechnya face if they do not follow the Islamic dress code. HRW interviewed dozens of women for the report, each of whom had either been a victim themselves or witnessed attacks or harassment against women for not complying with the compulsory dress code. The interviews reveal that women are attacked with paint gun pellets by men thought to be Chechen law enforcement. The men also hand out leaflets claiming the paintball shootings were preventative and if women still refuse to wear head scarves and dress modestly, then more “persuasive” methods would be used.

One of the victims interviewed, identified as Louiza, said she and a friend were attacked while walking down a street in Grozny. They weren’t wearing head scarves. They were wearing skirts a little below the knee and blouses with sleeves a bit above the elbow. Louiza reported that a car pulled up with its side window rolled down and a gun barrel pointed at them. According to the HRW report, Louiza said “I thought the gun was real and when I heard the shots I thought, ‘This is death.’ I felt something hitting me in the chest and was sort of thrown against the wall of a building. The sting was awful, as if my breasts were being pierced with a red-hot needle, but I wasn’t fainting or anything and suddenly noticed some strange green splattering on the wall and this huge green stain was also expanding on my blouse. So, I understood it was paint.” Louiza said the men in the car were wearing the military-style black uniform law enforcement officials wear and she added that “[i]t’s only at home that I could examine the bruise and it was so huge and ugly. Since then, I don’t dare leave home without a headscarf.”

Another victim reported that while walking down a street in Grozny with friends and not wearing head scarves, men in military-style black uniforms shot paintballs at them and screamed, “Cover your hair, harlots!” The woman said that male bystanders watching the incident applauded the attack and claimed it served the women right. The HRW report goes on to detail other incidents like this one.

The dress code is part of a “virtue campaign” started in 2006 by Kremlin-backed Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. The campaign began with local authorities prohibiting women from working in the public sector if their heads weren’t covered. This enforcement is prohibited by Russian law, but is still strictly enforced in Chechnya. Also, education authorities began requiring women attending schools and universities wear head scarves. The requirement of wearing a head scarf was eventually applied to other public places.

According to HRW, this virtue campaign violates “freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and the right to personal autonomy and expression, guaranteed by Russia’s constitution and international human rights obligations.” HRW has urged that the Kremlin should make it absolutely clear that Chechen women are free to dress however they choose and that any attacks or harassment should be fully investigated. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has instructed Chechen authorities to investigate the paintball attacks, but nothing else has been done to further the investigations.

Kadyrov, who rules with the support of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has actually explained publicly that women must be forced to dress modestly in order to prevent men from having to do their duty and kill them. “A woman should know her place,” Kadyrov said in an interview last July. “[In Chechnya] man is the master. Here, if a woman does not behave properly, her husband, father, and brothers are responsible. According to our tradition, if a woman fools around, her family members are obliged to kill her…. As president, I cannot allow them to kill. Therefore, let women not dress indecently.”

For more information, please see:

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR — Report: Chechen women attacked with paintball guns for ‘immodest’ dress — 11 March 2011

AP — HRW: Chechen women abused if refuse to cover head — 10 March 2011

HRW — Russia: Chechnya Enforcing Islamic Dress Code — 10 March 2011

Author: Impunity Watch Archive