‘We’re only talking about bruises’
RUSSIA SET TO DECRIMINALIZE DOMESTIC BATTERY OFFENCES
In Russia, giving one’s spouse a slap is nothing extraordinary for many people. This week, the Russian parliament is expected to take a step closer toward decriminalizing it altogether.
Battery is a criminal offence in Russia, but nearly 20 per cent of Russians openly say they think it is sometimes OK to hit a spouse or a child. In a bid to accommodate conservative voters, deputies in the lower house of parliament have given initial approval to a bill eliminating criminal liability for domestic violence that stops short of serious bodily harm or rape.
If the measure passes its second reading in the Duma on Wednesday, when the draft can be changed, approval in the third and final reading would be a foregone conclusion. From the Duma, it would proceed to the upper house, largely a rubber-stamp body, and then to President Vladimir Putin’s desk.
Data on domestic violence in Russia are obscure, but Interior Ministry statistics show that 40 per cent of all violent crimes in that country are committed in family surroundings. In 2013, more than 9,000 women were reported to have been killed in incidents of domestic violence.
The bill stems from a Supreme Court ruling last summer to decriminalize battery that doesn’t inflict bodily harm, but to retain criminal charges for those accused of battery against family members. Conservative activists objected, saying the ruling meant a parent spanking a child could be punished more harshly than a nonrelative striking the child.
Ultra-conservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina, who also authored Russia’s “gay propaganda” ban, then introduced the bill to decriminalize domestic violence. It initially was shelved after a disapproving review from the government.
Tables turned at the end of the year when a journalist from a conservative publication pressed Putin about it at his annual news conference.
“If the father spanks his child for a good reason as a means of education, a traditional Russian one, he will be sentenced to two years in prison — and if a neighbour does this, he will get away with a fine,” the journalist told Putin.
Putin replied that “it’s better not to spank children and refer to some traditions,” but then said, “We should not go overboard with it (punishment for battery). It’s not good; it harms families.”
The bill would make battery on a family member punishable by a fine of less than 30,000 rubles ($650) or a 15-day arrest.
The Moscow-based ANNA Centre foundation, which runs Russia’s only domestic violence hotline, received more than 5,000 calls last year. The foundation says many more calls go unanswered because the line operates only between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. The Duma bill “is not going to improve the situation, to say the least,” said Irina Matvienko, who runs the hotline. “Domestic violence is a system which makes it difficult for a woman to seek help,” she said. “It’s not a traditional value. It’s a crime.”
Calls to the Anna Centre hotline show that a lot of Russian women initially don’t even realize domestic violence is an offence, Matvienko says.
A survey this month by state-run pollster VTsIOM showed that 19 per cent of Russians say “it can be acceptable” to hit one’s wife, husband or child “in certain circumstances.” The nationwide poll by phone of 1,800 people was held Jan. 13-15. The survey had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
Russian police are notoriously reluctant to react to domestic violence calls, which many regard as meddling in family affairs.
Activist Alyona Popova, whose online petition against the bill has attracted more than 180,000 signatures, sees the efforts to decriminalize domestic violence as a continuation of the Kremlin’s increasingly aggressive policies after several repressive laws targeting various groups, from foreignfunded NGOs to gay people.
“I think it’s part of an overall ideology: aggression and violence are on the rise in society in general since war is everywhere and we’re surrounded by enemies,” Popova said, referring to the state media narrative that portrays Russia as a besieged fortress.
Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland earlier this week sent a letter to the speakers of both houses of Russia’s parliament, expressing deep concern at the legislation.
Olga Batalina, one of the bill’s co-authors, said in the Duma last week that the penalty for battery should be lenient for acts of violence “committed in an emotional conflict, without malice, without grave consequences.”
“Battery doesn’t even involve grave bodily harm. We’re only talking about bruises, scratches, which is bad, too, of course,” Batalina said.
The comment rattled some lawmakers. “Has anyone tried going around with a bruise for a week?” deputy Oleg Nilov asked Batalina at the hearing. “Does anyone think it’s OK?”
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS A SYSTEM WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR A WOMAN TO SEEK HELP. IT’S NOT A TRADITIONAL VALUE. IT’S A CRIME. — IRINA MATVIENKO