Honour Killings Persist In The North Caucasus

Despite decades of attempts by authorities to eradicate them, honour killings remain a feature of society in the North Caucasus.

DAPTAR, a crucial voice for women in Dagestan and elsewhere in the region, details how this custom is persistent — and how authorities have even encouraged it. While seven men are now being tried for killing their female relatives, the true scope of the problem remains hidden and unknown.

The custom, while it is not as widely practised as in the past, still appears in horrifying ways. Women can be subjected to it at any moment, so long as some family member feels that their behaviour 'brings shame to the family'. This can be as little as talking to an unrelated man on the street, smoking a cigarette or divorcing an abusive husband. There is often little recourse for the women themselves.

The killings remain a very real danger to women in Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan, and likely in the western North Caucasus as well. With the willingness of families to hide the crime and protect their relatives, and the very subdued position of women in North Caucasian society, there are almost certainly far more honour killings committed than we are aware of.

While the North Caucasus has suffered a brutal recent history, not all of its problems are related to the authorities in Moscow — its societies have deep-rooted demons they must eradicate if they are to truly progress.