Several Azerbaijan couples were decorated last week with medals for “love and fidelity” after staying married for over 25 years. At a ceremony dedicated to Russia’s Family, Love and Fidelity Day, which is celebrated on July 8, Azerbaijani officials and representatives of Russian groups in Azerbaijan awarded couples in a bid to "revive good traditions."
Earlier this year, Azerbaijan adopted a law against domestic violence in a bid to squash certain bad traditions. Such brutality against women has largely been a taboo topic. In September 2009, the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted that in Azerbaijan “such violence appears to be at times socially legitimized by a culture
of silence and impunity and is socially accepted."
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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