By Rudabeh Shahbazi
Assistant Perspectives Editor
As the Russian proverb “The one you love is the one you beat,” reflects, there is an odd acceptance of violence against women in Russia. Every 40 minutes a man kills his wife. Despite culture, economics, religion, race or language differences, the common desire that resonates in women worldwide is to be free from violence and fear.
In Russia, this hope is blunted, where one out of every four families suffers from domestic violence, according to Amnesty International. Although Russian authorities recognize this shocking statistic, they are hesitant to do anything about it. Why would they? After all, there is still no law against domestic violence, which is also not recognized as a crime or human rights violation.
Officials are not even allowed to give abusers warnings with administrative sentences or fines. Further, the issue of provocation and blaming the victim is a huge problem.
Russia’s traditional patriarchal social habits are difficult to contravene. Throughout the Soviet era, domestic violence was a taboo subject.
Even though 36,000 women in the Russian Federation are beaten daily by their husbands or partners, police rarely intervene on the issues of beating, rape and all other spousal abuses. Instead, the abuse is deemed a “personal matter,” and treated as an internal, domestic or social problem and not as a human rights violation. The country has only six shelters for women, all of which are funded locally or privately.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, many women have been without work, which has made them increasingly dependent. Even in cases where an abused woman seeks divorce, the law does not provide her with alimony. If the rare feat of divorce is accomplished, there are frequent cases of continued cohabitation because of the huge housing shortage, which only increases hostility and aggression.
The housing shortage also often prevents women from reporting the abuse in the first place, knowing that their husbands face little chance of investigation or prosecution, and that, as women, they will have nowhere to go.
Meanwhile, violence in the home of Russian women and children is increasing, a somber fact that is recognized, yet ignored by the Russian government. Political transition and increasing economic concerns have caused a rapid increase in alcohol abuse, dropping male life expectancy to 55. Widespread poverty increases the likelihood of emotional strains leading to domestic violence on women.
Women often suffer at the hands of state agents as well. According to a Human Righs Watch report, torture and abuse of women in Russian police stations and prisons is not at all uncommon, and in the armed conflict in Chechnya women continue to suffer a wide range of abuses, which are usually left unchallenged.
The statistics do not adequately portray heart-wrenching narratives of Russian women who are not protected from physical, psychological and financial abuse by the state. They speak of children being dragged into rooms and beaten to unconsciousness by drunken husbands, of lying bloody on the floor unable to attend to their crying children.
Despite the Russian government’s own 2002 statistic that 14,000 women are killed by their husbands or other relatives every year, (that’s more casualties than the U.S.S.R.’s 10-year war with Afghanistan) close to 50 versions of a national law to address domestic violence have been dismissed in parliament.
Still, it would be unfair to disregard the progress of many Russian reformers, who dedicate their time and energy to creating safe havens for victims of abuse, usually working for free with very limited resources.
The Russian non-government association, “Stop Violence,” has planted 45 organizations in the country, where women victims can seek sanctuary, providing psychological and legal assistance. More than 65,000 women asked crisis centers for help in 2001 alone, according to Amnesty International. Even though the programs are reaching only a meager amount of women, it is important to note that these people are making strident attempts in the right direction.
Representatives of women’s organizations are unanimous in what they want – violence against women to be recognized as a violation of their human rights. The 1993 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women is a tool the associations can use to address and prevent domestic violence.
It is critical that the Russian state authorities intervene in household violence, assisting victims and punishing perpetrators. Holding authorities accountable is of the utmost importance in the struggle to protect and defend humans, even if they are women. International standards make clear that this sort of violence is unacceptable, and the Russian government has a responsibility to act.
For more information or to contribute funds to this cause, contact Amnesty International at http://www.amnesty.org/.
September 25, 2003