Amid authorities' reports on reconciliation of spouses, Chechnya faces growth of divorces

Chechnya, along with Dagestan and Ingushetia, was among the regions where the number of divorces increased sharply in 2022, while the number of new marriages decreased, the "Rosstat" (Russian Federal State Statistics Service) has informed amid authorities' assurances about their successful work of reconciling spouses in Chechnya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that over the past five years, 3000 families on the verge of disintegration have been reunited in Chechnya. It became possible to reconcile them, among other things, as a result of the work of the "Commission for the Harmonization of Marriage and Family Relations", they said at the Muftiate of Chechnya. The problem of preserving families in the republic was earlier solved without the participation of authorities thanks to the tradition of reconciling the quarrelling spouses, said Lipkhan Bazaeva, the chair of the non-commercial organization (NCO) "Women for Development".

In their turn, experts have noted that coercion has become a major factor in the practice of family reunification in Chechnya.

Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia were in the lead among Russian regions in terms of the growth in the number of divorces in 2022. At the same time, in general, in 2022, the number of divorces increased by 6% compared to 2021, the "Kavkaz.Realii"* project has reported with reference to the "Rosstat".

In 2022, Chechnya registered 9070 divorces, which is 239.8% against 2021 (3783 divorces). An increase in the number of divorces was noted in Chechnya throughout the year. Meanwhile, the number of marriages in the republic has decreased – in 2022, 4390 marriages were registered, while in 2021 there were 7504 marriages.

In Dagestan, the number of divorces more than doubled: 9133 marriages broke up in 2021, and 18,813 in 2022. The number of new marriages dropped from 12,648 in 2021 to 9532 in 2022.

In Ingushetia, 3133 divorces were registered in 2022, while in 2021 there were 1643 divorces. The number of marriages in the republic decreased from 1512 in 2021 to 1219 in 2022.