Aminat’s Chechen family attempted to “cure” her of bisexuality and atheism through “exorcisms of jinn” and even subjected her to electric shock torture. She tried to escape from home four times.

In 2018, her parents sent her to a clinic for borderline conditions in Grozny, where she was injected with blood pressure-lowering drugs that left her unable to walk. After returning home, Aminat reached out to us. She planned to fly to Moscow, but the police detained her at the airport and sent her back to Chechnya.

In December 2018, she was placed in a psychiatric hospital in Grozny again. However, during a visit home, she managed to escape.

Human rights activists involved in her case received threats from her relatives. At one point, Chechens and Aminat’s mother broke into the home of one of our team members, ransacking the apartment and threatening with murder.

Aminat had to fight for a long time to get her passport back. In Moscow, she was accompanied by a lawyer, armed guards, and media representatives to collect her documents. Once she finally obtained them, she left Russia.

Aminat was denied the opportunity to pursue a criminal case for the torture she endured at the clinic and the violence inflicted by her relatives. The police also refused to investigate the attack on our team member’s apartment and the numerous threats against the activists.

We assisted in Aminat’s evacuation, ensured her safety, and provided her with legal support.