11:22, 21 January 2021

"Glasnaya" Project tells story of domestic violence victim from Chechnya

Asya Gazhaeva. Screenshot from video posted by Glasnaya media at: https://youtu.be/21v7SUxQtac

Asya Gazhaeva from Grozny is hiding from her husband with her four children, unsuccessfully seeking a divorce. It's problematic to dissolve a marriage in Chechnya, since Ramzan Kadyrov declared that there are "no divorces" in the republic, Ms Gazhaeva said in her interview with the "Glasnaya" (Public) Social Project, which aims to overcome gender stereotypes.

On January 20, the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper published a large material dedicated to the life of Asya Gazhaeva.

During her pregnancy with the fourth child, her husband, according to Gazhaeva, "kicked her off." After that, Asya demanded a divorce. "It could have happened to me like to Umaeva," she said.

The sudden death of Madina Umaeva in Gudermes and her funeral held at night provoked a wide public response in Chechnya. In social networks, users disseminated versions stating that Madina Umaeva fell victim to domestic violence. The mother of Madina Umaeva succeeded in seeking the exhumation of her daughter's body. However, the leader of Chechnya did not wait for the results of the forensic examination, met relatives of the deceased young woman, and her mother apologized for the claim about the violent death of her daughter.

According to her story, women are afraid to leave, because "they will not be accepted back at home, as it should be." Besides, according to her version, children can be taken away from her. "Women are ready to endure anything, any humiliation and beatings, because of their children," said the woman.

In 2020, her husband, according to her story, took the children away to Ingushetia; she managed to return only four out of her five children.

"Then, threats began. The police tried to find us. Even the taxi driver who had brought us was summoned to the police station, interrogated, tortured, as if he knew something," she said.

"I want to arrange my life. I'm ready to announce all over Chechnya; let them see if it's possible to get divorced or not; with my children, and with a bunch of them. I want other women in such a situation to receive at least some rights," Asya Gazhaeva has summed up.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 21, 2021 at 05:15 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.