Every year dozens of young women make a risky choice to escape their family homes in the North Caucasus - in the Russian republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. While the plight of LGBTQ+ community in this part of Russia is well-documented, there is little awareness of the fate of many young women who are trapped in the religiously conservative communities and authoritarian families.
Many of them had been subjected to FGM, aged as young as six, and are later forced into early marriages, having to leave school. Refusal to be coerced into a lifestyle they didn’t choose, is punished - by physical or psychological violence, restriction of freedom of movement (some are falsely diagnosed with mental health disorders and put away) or worse.
These women have no-one to turn to - the local community and local authorities would always side with their families. Decision to escape not only means cutting ties with everything they know, but also poses life threats. Corrupt local police sell CCTV footage to their families who are prepared to put every resource at their disposal to track down the women and bring them back. Once forcibly returned, they are at risk of violent exorcism rituals, forced medication or even honour killings.
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16 июн 2023
