19/06/2025
Project Monma in Abkhazia: Listening to Silenced Voices
At Project Monma, we believe that every woman’s story matters, especially in the world’s most overlooked and politically complex corners.
We previously travelled to Abkhazia, a small, disputed territory in the South Caucasus, to understand how women’s lives have been shaped in the aftermath of war and state collapse.
Since the violent conflict between Abkhazian and Georgian forces in the early 1990s, women in Abkhazia have experienced a complex mix of gains and losses. During the post-war years, women stepped into new roles, becoming family breadwinners through cross-border trade, particularly in the tangerine trade with Russia. These unexpected shifts elevated women’s status in some areas, particularly in civil society.
But these gains exist alongside profound challenges. Domestic violence, harmful traditions, and limited legal protections continue to threaten the safety, dignity, and autonomy of Abkhazian women. Many survivors remain silent, bound by cultural stigma and a justice system that often treats gender-based violence as a private issue.
We heard from brave journalists, activists, and survivors who spoke, often in whispers, about bride kidnappings, honour killings, and fear of speaking out. One journalist told us, “There’s a saying here: if a man beats his wife, he loves her. Violence is a problem. But no one talks about it.”
Despite a 2009 gender equality law, enforcement remains weak, and in 2016, abortion was banned under almost all circumstances, further restricting women's rights under the guise of protecting the national birth rate.
Abkhazia’s political status may be contested, but what is not in question is the urgency of spotlighting women’s voices, voices too often erased by war, tradition, and silence.
At Project Monma, our mission is to document and amplify these stories not just to show women’s suffering, but to recognize their strength, their resistance, and their right to be heard.
📣 Women’s rights are human rights, everywhere.
https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/abkhazia-honour-shame-and-violence-against-women,11586
https://www.passblue.com/2017/06/22/in-breakaway-abkhazia-in-the-caucasus-region-revived-traditions-put-women-on-the-edge/
In Breakaway Abkhazia, Revived Traditions Put Women on the Edge - PassBlue
