PBS Newshour, Domestic Abuse in Russia

In Russia, a woman is killed by domestic violence every 40 minutes, according to data from the Russian government. But earlier this year, President Vladimir Putin signed a law that downgrades “moderate” violence, causing bruises or bleeding once a year, from a criminal offense to an administrative one. Special Correspondent Nick Schifrin reports on the effects from Moscow.


Natalya Feshenko:

When a woman calls the police and says, ‘My husband is killing me,” they respond by saying, ‘Call us when he kills you.”

Nick Schifrin:

That’s actually what happened last November to 36-year-old Yana Savchuk. She recorded herself calling the local police in a town 200 miles south of Moscow calmly asking for help. In response, the officer — a woman — mocked her. The officer says, “If he kills you, we’ll certainly come to examine the dead body.” 45 minutes later, her boyfriend killed her.

Nick Schifrin:

In June last year, Russia passed a law making domestic abuse a crime punishable by up to two years in prison. But this year, the Russian Parliament eased the penalties. Now, if domestic abusers don’t break bones, and don’t commit abuse more than once a year, they can be sentenced to only 15 days in jail, or they can avoid jail entirely by paying a 500 dollar fine.

full transcript
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/domestic-abuse-is-not-always-criminal-in-russia