The paper is devoted to the problem of women’s rights in the North Caucasus. How are the constitutional rights in Russia combined with ancestral traditions of Islam? Big normative foundation of the Northern Caucasus is based on Shariah, making a big impact on family relationships, personal and daily life. At the time of the USSR the Northern Caucasus was influenced with socialism, where both women and men were considered to have a job, causing tendency to equality. Despite that, a lot of rural settlements and villages in North Caucasus, unlike other regions of Russia, are well-known for so called “harmful practices” considered by UN as detrimental and malicious towards women: selective abortions, bride kidnapping, early and forced marriage, polygamy. These acts are usually explained as traditions of Islam – “it’s a custom” – notwithstanding with women’s will. However, there are no such terms, there are no rules and orders about humiliating women for being suspected for failing her and her family reputation; men and women rights are spelled out as equal. Still, all the “punishments” and rules of conduct mentioned above are referred to the Shariah. Paradoxically, the position of women in modern Muslim society in Northern Caucasus is dual. The image of a mother and a sister is beloved and respected the most, embraced with love and care. Though, the image of a wife is diminished the most. Numerous young wives often complain about having no rights in terms of their new family and private life. Usually it’s husband or mother-in-law who decide for the wife. Another big problem in the Northern Caucasus is domestic violence, widely common in most of the families, where husband beats his wife. And when victims of domestic violence seek to escape abuse by notifying law enforcement or pursuing divorce, they are pressured to reconcile with their abusers, because of the disgrace following the family after that. The paper is trying to give an explanation to such an attitude towards women.

The paper is trying to understand the answer to the question: “What is the actual role of women in North Caucasus in spheres of science, family, culture, business and government?” by analyzing religion, mentality and history. There are three roles of a woman in society – as a mother, sister and a wife. Soviet Union had left an imprint in people’s way of living. How is the woman perceived nowadays, and did the attitude change or stayed the same? What are the reasons of a certain attitude towards them? And how can we help to raise the equality of women and men?

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