Dagestani bloggers harass psychologist for seminar on women's rights

In social networks, Dagestani bloggers have criticized Khava Shaidullina, a psychologist from Kazan, who intended to hold a seminar in Makhachkala on women's rights in Islam. They explained their position by stating that Shaidullina's viewpoint fails to correspond to religious canons and can mislead residents of Dagestan.

According to Khava Shaidullina, she began receiving threats from Dagestani bloggers, who believe that a lecture on women's rights could corrupt Dagestani women, the "Novaya Gazeta" has reported.

The seminar was to be held in Makhachkala. Its topics were announced as "religious manipulations" and "misinterpretation of religion postulates". Khasbulla Magomedov (Khasbik), a Dagestani blogger, was among those who criticized Shaidullina and called her a "charlatan" and a "toxic citizen", treating her training as "corruption of the female population," the "Bloknot Kazan" has reported.

The female Dagestani blogger mari.ta has urged Dagestani women to seek help not from Shaidullina, but from fellow believers. She also cited as an example the stories of her several acquaintances, who divorced due to their passion for psychology.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in June 2020, human rights defenders treated the situation with women's rights in Northern Caucasus as critical. There, traditions favour violence against women in the family; and the authorities treat husbands' assaults as a norm, rights defenders assert.

Earlier in Chechnya, the story of the sudden death of Madina Umaeva on June 12, 2020, in the house of her husband, Viskhadji Khamidov, caused a resonance. Umaeva's relatives said that quarrels had often occurred between the spouses. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, claimed then that Umaeva's relatives had no confirmations that her husband was guilty of her death.

After that, Umaeva's mother apologized for her words about the violent death of her daughter. On July 18, 2020, Chechen authorities presented Umaeva's husband with a new house.