full version - World Organisation Against Torture

Violence Against Women: 10 Reports / Year 2003The case of Iman, which occurred on July 27, 2002, is illustrative of thehorrors that women face. On July 26, 2002, Iman’s husband had helpedhis neighbor to repair a car, which, unbeknownst to the husband, belongedto a Chechen fighter. The next day, Russian soldiers entered the home ofIman and her husband and proceeded to torture Iman’s husband as well asher 11 month old daughter, and then took her husband away. On the followingday, the soldiers returned to Iman’s house.“They took Iman into the bedroom, demanding that she confessto being a Chechen fighter. They pinned her to the wall,cutting off her breath. They brutally kicked and beat herwith a kalashnikov butt. They tried to rape her, but she putup such a fight that they pulled out a syringe filledwith green liquid, which they said would kill her, and theninjected her with it. Iman felt a sharp burning sensationand an intense pain before she lost consciousness. Sheawoke naked, lying on the bed, completely numb and as ifparalysed. The soldiers left after repeating that it wouldmake her suffer a long while, and that if she ever spokeabout what happened, they would kill both her and herdaughter.” 82It is extremely difficult for women to report these crimes given culturalobstacles which dissuade them from admitting that they have beeninvolved in any sexual activity, forced or not. Such an admission, undertraditional viewpoints, makes a woman unmarriageable, or if she isalready married, such an admission may make her vulnerable to divorceor to further violence. One interviewee acknowledged that the subject ofviolence against women, including rape, is a completely taboo subject andit is impossible for women to talk about it. 83 As another Chechen womanhas explained:“If they [raped women] come home, they would be better offshooting themselves. If anyone laid a hand on them they’dbe written off for good here in Chechnya. It’s a kind of law.A sullied daughter is worse than a dead one to her father.It’s a terrible disgrace. She’ll never get married and no onewill say a kind word to her, even though it’s not her ownfault she was dishonoured.” 84318