MOSCOW // In Russia, giving one's spouse a slap is nothing extraordinary for many people. And this week, the Russian parliament is expected to take a step closer toward decriminalising 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 is limited, but interior ministry statistics show that 40 per cent of all violent crimes in Russia 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 decriminalise 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 non-relative striking the child.
Ultra-conservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina, who also authored Russia's "gay propaganda" ban, then introduced the bill to decriminalise domestic violence.
The bill was initially shelved after a disapproving review from the government. But it had a resurgence at the end of last year when a journalist from a conservative publication pressed Mr 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 neighbor does this, he will get away with a fine!" the journalist told the president.
Mr 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 (Dh1,849) 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 since the line only operates between 7am and 9pm.
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 don't even realise that domestic violence is an offensc, said Ms Matvienko.
A survey conducted this month by state-run pollster VTsIOM showed that 19 per cent of Russians think "it can be acceptable" to hit one's wife, husband or child "in certain circumstances". The survey had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
* Associated Press
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