Instead of going forwards, efforts seem only to be regressing, especially politically. In 2017, the statute on the battery was removed from the Russian Criminal Code. Russia decriminalised first-instance domestic battery, meaning that as long as a hospital visit was not required, the abuse would be registered as an administrative offence instead of a crime. If the perpetrator acts again, it is a crime; if the twelve-month window after the crime concludes with no further reports, but then the crime is committed again later, it is once again an administrative offence, even though it has been repeated.
Often, the punishment is a fine but if the crime is domestic, the finances are often shared. If a wife or daughter is being abused and decides to report it, her own joint finances are being taken, and she is still left in the home with her abuser. Why, then, would you report it? While police calls have halved since the law was passed, the Anna Centre, one of the few domestic violence shelters left, saw more than 7,000 extra calls in 2017 from the previous year, proving the worsening problem. Human Rights Watch commented that this change in the law had made the prosecution of abusers much harder.
Much of this cultural continuation of domestic abuse stems from two root causes: alcoholism and the Russian Orthodox Church’s influence on politics.
When Putin, in 2012, changed the constitution so he could have a longer term, there was intense pushback from many people, including traditionalists, who disliked how he had ignored the constitution. Putin responded by trying to win back his main voting base to avoid a crisis. This is why laws like the ban on “gay propaganda” in 2013 appeared and later decriminalised domestic abuse. In Russian Orthodox traditions, the family is sacred and should not be restricted or interfered with by the state. There are also worries about the erosion of the family unit, and therefore society, by religious leaders such as Dimitry Smirnov.
Alcoholism is another issue which makes domestic violence far more common. Alcohol consumption in Russia is amongst the highest globally and culturally very accepted. Strong spirits, as opposed to wine or beer, are far more frequently drunk. This makes violence more likely, and since rehabilitation is rare, most alcoholics do not recover or change their behaviour.
There have been pushbacks, however. In January 2017, almost 60 per cent of Russians supported decriminalisation but just two years later, nearly 70 per cent wanted a law for the protection of women. In September 2019, a law was proposed to ban domestic violence by the Vice-Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, Galina Karelova. This had been attempted almost thirty years previously by the Women of Russia party but was eventually dropped because of heavy criticism, and again between 2012 and 2016, which prioritised helping victims by introducing restraining orders and building new shelters. This bill was rejected.
In 2017, Margarita Gracheva had her hands cut off by her husband with an axe after she told him she wanted a divorce. She had been to the police once already after her husband put a knife to her throat, but they had ignored her and told her that she and her husband would make up soon. He had also been previously fined. He was convicted and given 14 years of prison time. They had two children together, but he has been stripped of access. She says it began with beatings, but escalated – by the time the woman ends up in the hospital, the crime has already been committed. If she had been helped before, she would not have been injured so horrendously.
