My Two Cents Worth

Bride Kidnapping in Chechnya

Introduction

For many decades, the pressing issue of gender inequality remains as a global concern which advocates actions to be taken to alter the historical legacy of injustice against women. Women had suffered from the deeply entrenched traditional roles, status, attitudes and values inflicted on them by the society. Socially constructed roles of women thwart, deny and rob them from receiving equal respect, recognition and affirmation as the men. This violation of women’s right and relentless inequalities have incited this thirst for recognition of the women and this can be seen from the many efforts made to achieve the empowerment of women and gender equality. The quest for gender equality unites women from all over the world to resist passive victimisation. Women aim to change the nature of men-women relationship that has been shaped by historical, social, political, cultural and economic legacies. The defence materialises as women’s organisations to cooperate, provide support and help to the victims.

Despite all attempts to secure equal opportunities and standing in the society, women continued to face persistent discrimination, often depriving them of legal protection. Discrimination may manifest in various forms such as violence, slavery, abuse and exploitation. In the process of globalisation, it is appalling to discover how historically bestowed relative worth of male and female play a part in the deprivation of the human rights women deserve. It is therefore crucial to promote awareness of the sufferings of the subordinate group – women in today’s society.

Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening!

This paper is motivated by “a documentary from BBC "Our World" on the issue of Women’s Rights in Chechnya and an increase in socially sanctioned abuse of rights regarding forced marriage and "kidnapping"” featured on 8^th August 2009. The enormity of the phenomenon of women's adversity was demonstrated through the bride kidnapping cases happening in Chechnya. This paper examines the marginalisation of women in Chechnya as seen in bride kidnapping and aims to promote public awareness in relation to the human rights of women.

Chechnya

In the sought for independence from Russia, the Chechen Republic, or informally known as Chechnya has experienced two devastating and destructive wars since 1994. The death toll from the two wars is estimated to be hundreds of thousands, mostly civilians of Chechnya though the exact figures are not released by the authorities. “On March 23, 2003, a new Chechen constitution, that was passed in a referendum, granted the Chechen Republic a significant degree of autonomy, but still tied it firmly to the Russian Federation and Moscow's rule as a secular, autonomous republic.” Since 2007, the president of Chechnya is Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of the former president Akhmad Kadyrov, who has a “large private militia referred to as the Kadyrovtsy (which) has been accused of killings and kidnapping.” The people of Chechnya are predominantly Muslim.

Bride Kidnapping

“Bride kidnapping, also known as marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a practice throughout history and around the world in which a man abducts the woman he wishes to marry.” The focus here will be on the bride kidnapping of non-consensual marriages. This social phenomenon of Caucasian tradition has become a perturbing trend despite of the ancient roots attached to it. Young women, usually below 25, are the targeted victims whereby they are typically forcefully snatched by a group of men led by the groom. The relationship between the abducted bride and the groom ranges from lovers (the girl rejected the guy’s proposal of marriage) to strangers (love at first sight). Such prevalence of bride kidnapping are reflected in folk songs to comedy films such as Kidnapping, Caucasian Style acting as a social commentary.

The Legacies

This paper aims to offer insight to how the existence of this tradition, bride kidnapping, reflects on the discrimination, social stratification, marginalisation and violation of women’s rights in Chechnya through the analysis of cultural, social, political and historical legacies.

The Cultural Legacy
Chechnya is a country which practices Islamic laws whereby polygamy is legalised. Polygamy demeans women and relegates them to the status of commodities. The legalisation of polygamy encourages men to have more than 1 wife and as a result, may indirectly encourage bride kidnapping.

The status and traditional role of women under the influence of Islamic law somehow endorses in the oppression of women’s rights. The men assume a dominant role in executing the act of bride kidnapping and the victims are often compelled to accept the marriage through physically and psychologically coercion. Physical abuse such as beating or rape is used when the victims resist and refuse to conform to the matrimony.

Cultural traditions such as honour killing reinforce acceptance of the non-consensual bride kidnapping indirectly. The oppression of women’s right in Islam can be seen in the practice and handling of honour killings. Honour killings are frequently viewed as a private family issue to be conducted on women exclusively as means to restore the family’s honour when the women commit a sin which acts against the moral law code. Therefore, when women become victims of rape, they suffered from a great deal of injustice by being blamed for sexual immorality. The victims are pushed to the brink, left with no other choice, but to consent to the marriage. Such horrendous actions are vindicated with the Islamic gender apartheid which advocates such attitudes and behaviours.

In Taylor’s discussion on The Politics of Recognition, he mentioned the notion of dignity and “authenticity that develops out of a displacement of the moral accent”. Deeply shaped by their cultural traditions, beliefs and attitudes, the citizen of Chechnya fails to recognise and connect to their morality. Do polygamy, bride kidnapping and honour killings reduce the status of women, depriving them of human rights? Do the women deserve such treatments? Are there better ways to “punish” them? This misrecognition of the women in Chechnya marginalises and deprives women of their deserved rights and dignity.

The Social Legacy

Gender stratification is one of the forms of social stratification. In Chechnya, Halle referred the general acceptance of kidnapping as one symptom of a more generally patriarchal and masculinist society that valued "manly qualities, such as courage, daring, strength, and bravery" (1938, 91) and that regarded women largely as labor and property. This result of such assertion is the asymmetrical power relations between men and women.

The roles and identities of men and women are bestowed upon them by the society. Basically, it is dialogically constructed by interacting with the ‘significant others’called by George Herbert Mead. This socially constructed identity is “shaped by recognition or its absence, often by the misrecognition of others” which in this case, women is being imprisoned in a form of oppression.

The Political Legacy

Despite the claims of loving, respecting women of Chechnya made by the president, Ramzan Kadyrov, in the documentary, acts of violence taken in the form of non-consensual bride kidnapping remains as widespread in the country. Even though bride kidnapping is considered illegal in Chechnya, the government commonly described it as a national tradition. The failure to acknowledge bride kidnapping as a serious crime implicitly supports the behaviours of such perpetrators. “The state has so far remained somewhat aloof from this process, believing that “folk diplomacy” is more efficient than criminal prosecution.”

The misogynist threats against women can be seen in the response of honour killings of women in Chechnya by Ramzan Kadyrov. He said that “the women, whose bodies were found dumped by the roadside, had ‘loose morals’ and were rightfully shot by male relatives in honour killings.” The government is turning a blind eye to the violence against women in the name of cultural tradition.

While the country defended bride kidnapping as a tradition that one cannot criticize, it is demanding for the Politics of Recognition and Differences as mentioned by Taylor. The thirst for recognition can be seen in their request for others to respect/accept them for their differences/culture/tradition.

The Historical Legacy

The wars have triggered and act as a catalyst for the drastic decline of the status of women in Chechnya. The men/soldiers underwent intense cruelty, humiliation and torture during the wars and as a result, became more aggressive. This disastrous and painful history of Chechnya has an impact on both the genders. The vulnerable (women) also bear the scars of the wars, subjecting to the abuse and violation of human rights.

Is war to be blamed for everything? During wars, both genders sacrifice and fought for the country in different ways. The women are often the victims of rape, used as sexual exploitation in army brothels and took care of the family when the men. The degree of contribution and sacrifice is often misrecognised by the society.

Conclusion

According to Allport, “a fully developed personality is one that can handle its suffering without inflicting suffering in return.” This paper challenges the legitimacy of claims of non-consensual bride kidnapping and attempts to understand the social significance and its impact on women's rights as discussed from above. The gravity of the situation in Chechnya is demonstrated by the presentation of the issue in the different spheres of life – social, cultural, political and historical. There is a need to promote awareness of the extreme plight of women in Chechnya suffering from the tyranny. This paper aims to present the escalation of Chechnya women’s hopelessness as victims of bride kidnapping. Discrimination faced by women is often blatantly ignored. Kidnapping is a crime and a violation of women’s rights and it should not be seen as a cultural norm. Living under constant fear of kidnapping is going to impede contributions by the women and is definitely detrimental to the economic of Chechnya.

Who is left to defend for the rights of the Chechnya’s women?