Chechen Bride Stealing Common and Unchallenged

Over the last few months, the BBC's Lucy Ash has been reporting on bride kidnapping in Chechnya, a longstanding tradition that, while illegal, continues to be a problem for women in the Russian republic.

When I mentioned the practice to my history-loving Scandinavian partner, he immediately recited anecdotes about Viking bride stealing, noting how common the raptio-esque tradition was in a variety of cultures. In the past, the practice was often linked to securing a place in a wealthy woman's family and had more to do with inheritance than sex or marriage. These days, in a place like Chechnya, men actually pay fines to the government whenever they're caught kidnapping a woman. Little deterrent for wealthy men, poor men "suffer" under this classist, patriarchal system, and by and large, women remain unprotected as they can still be snatched by men rich enough to essentially buy legal compliance.

Many countries consider bride kidnapping a form of sexual assault rather than valid marriage, and it's pretty obvious why. This arranged and forced marriage seems to have nothing to do with love or companionship. In recent years, thanks to unrest from Chechen battle for independence, there has been a marked surge in the rate of bride stealing once again, perhaps a way to hang onto any cultural relic available. As Ash reports, many in the region struggle with a way to make sense of what is right when presented with Chechen tradition, Islamic Sharia law, and Russian law. It's not an excuse as much as an explanation.

Last week, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who has said that bride stealing is a thing of the past, declared the "un-Islamic" practice must be "eradicated from society." Imams who perform weddings between men and their kidnapped brides will face fines, but it's tough to believe what Kadyrov says. In the past, he's publicly encouraged polygamy as a way to repopulate the devastated republic, and in 2007, he banned women and girls without head scarves from public places — breaking Russian law to do so.

While Chechen women wait for Kadyrov to make good on his promise, women at the Women's Dignity rehabilitation center in Chechen capital Grozny continue to fight back. Citing a survey they compiled that one in five women has been abducted and forced into marriage, the center provides free medical care, legal assistance, vocational training, and offers a refuge for targeted women and those who have escaped abusive, coercive marriages. Until the government will intervene and take a stand to protect Chechen women from the frighteningly common practice of bride stealing, Chechen women are banding together, supporting and caring for one another.

Photo Credit: Maarten (Superchango)