Media: Female employees of state institutions in Chechnya are forced to wear hijabs at work
Women working in public institutions in Russia’s Republic of Chechnya are now required to work in headwear that completely covers the hair and forehead, however, this order was only given verbally, Kavkaz Uzel news portal reports.
"Now you need to wear a hijab to work, it is mandatory to wear a headband and a big scarf, so that the hair could not be seen. In the past it was only required to wear just shawls and head scarves, but now the hijab is required. This applies to all women working in state institutions and state-financed organizations. Several of my friends work in state-financed organizations, and they were warned that without a hijab they will not be allowed to work," one of the civil activists said to the news outlet.
Female employees of state-financed organizations reported the requirement to come to work in their hijabs after they were warned by their supervisors, on December 12th and 13th, depending on the institution.
"Other than me, there are seven women and girls in the department. Afterwards we called our friends and acquaintances, and it turned out that the same instructions were given almost everywhere. And interestingly, no one saw any official documents or written instructions about this mandate," a woman who works as an accountant said.
According to an employee of one of the Chechen ministries, verbal instructions were given "from above," but why this rule is being introduced now, and who exactly gave the order, is not known.
On December 12th Chechen authorities demanded that the dresses of Chechen schoolgirls be brought into accordance with national traditions.
It was previously reported that the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has prohibited imams from burying deceased drunk drivers.