{"id":1479,"date":"2013-09-11T19:11:19","date_gmt":"2013-09-11T19:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freedimensional.org\/?p=1479"},"modified":"2013-09-11T19:11:19","modified_gmt":"2013-09-11T19:11:19","slug":"womens-survival-strategies-in-chechnya-from-self-care-to-caring-for-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fd.artistsafety.net\/2013\/09\/womens-survival-strategies-in-chechnya-from-self-care-to-caring-for-each-other\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s survival strategies in Chechnya: from self-care to caring for each other"},"content":{"rendered":"
Luiza encounters regular violence and intimidation in her work helping women survivors of state-sponsored violence. Living under the Chechen regime, activist women need a combination of self and community care.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n by Keely Tongate<\/p>\n Luiza has seen many attempts to silence Chechen human rights activists.<\/p>\n There was the car with tell-tale tinted windows and no number plates that tried to run over her sister, after she gave a speech attacking Chechnya\u2019s poor human rights record. The constant emergency trips to neighboring republics with her children, having faced by threats from gangs on the government payroll. The drive-by paintball shootings. These were thugs trying to keep activists in check, part of a wider effort to enforce women’s compliance with a strict Islamic dress code.<\/p>\n As part of her work helping women survivors of state-sponsored violence, Luiza encounters regular violence and intimidation.<\/p>\n In 2008, the Kremlin-appointed President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadirov, introduced a plan for \u201cmoral education\u201d which included a decree requiring that all women employed in the state sector, and all female school and university students, wear headscarves. Kadirov\u2019s men enforced this decree by shooting at girls that had their heads uncovered with paintball guns, physically marking them out for surveillance and public scrutiny.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n