15.08 Hope for Chechen women The closer view at the situation with women rights in southern Russian region Chechnya discloses an awful reality. Unfortunately deeply entrenched chechen traditions, according witch the divorce is almost outlawed, pave the way for domestic violence and discrimination of women rights in the region. A woman that decided to divorce faces a lot of hurdles, especially if she has children. Only a handful of women could end up the marriage peacefully and take their children or at least get an opportunity to see them from time to time. In majority of the cases children remain con fathers and blood, sweat and tears of desperate women in bringing them back cannot help. Even a court ruling fails this mission and fall on deaf ears as in Russia there are no efficient instruments to fulfill the court’s verdict and the worst thing that can happen to the father that refuses to give the child back is an administrative fine. Virtually, kids become hostages and a woman knows that the only way to bring them back is to return to husband’s house and continue to bear humiliations and beatings. A rare family finds a courage to endorse a “disobedient” sister or daughter that left her husband and accept her back - they do this only if the woman was banished from her husband’s house. Her own decision, even reinforced by constant beatings, means little to Caucasian society that tends to accuse a woman in everything. This way the detrimental traditions of the region make that a woman finds herself on the cusp of a miserable life full of misunderstanding even from the family. In these circumstances the only hope for a woman stucked in predicament is the help provided by local NGO “Women for development”. Libkan Bazaeva, 68, is one of the only three three women working in the organisation that fights to defend the rights of women who faced domestic violence. The organisation has already pushed through the changes and it is going to do much more than that. Thanks to its work, the region outlawed early marriages and an ancient custom of stealing a bride. Now these three powerful women are trying to promote “human” divorce and to defend the children rights passing through separation of their parents. By now they already have done impossible things and their help is indispensable for hundreds of woman. However, it is difficult to be very vocal in a region like Chechnya so the organisation has to tone their messages down to avoid the problems.