Russian President Vladimir Putin Signs Bill Officially Decriminalizing Domestic Violence

After easily passing in both houses of Russian parliament, a bill that decriminalizes domestic violence was officially signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday afternoon. Yes, you read that correctly.


As CNN reported, any beating of a spouse or child that causes bleeding or bruising, but not broken bones, will be punishable by up to 15 days in prison, 120 hours of community service, or a fine, if they do not occur more than once during a single year. For subsequent offenses, perpetrators are subjected to higher fines, six months of community service, and up to three months in jail. Prior to the new law being signed into effect, such abuse was punishable by up to two years in prison.

The bill was sponsored by conservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina, who made international headlines in 2013 after successfully championing a law that banned "gay propaganda." Mizulina and other supporters said that the measure was introduced as a way to keep the state from interfering in what it considers "family matters."

“The question is not whether it’s OK to hit or not. Of course it isn’t," Olga Batalina, one of the MPs who wrote the law, said. "The question is how to punish people and what you should punish them for."

Though information on domestic violence is not centrally collected, as CNN noted, the state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports that 40 percent of violent crimes occur within the family. Each day 36,000 women are beaten by their husbands, and 12,000 women die each year because of domestic violence. And the violence extends to other family members to well—a reported 26,000 children are assaulted annually by a parent.

"It is a very dangerous for the government to draw a line between 'just bruises' or serious physical violence because…the situation in Russia shows that domestic violence very rarely ends with bruises," Yulia Gorbunova of Human Rights Watch told CNN. "It usually almost always goes to the next step."

I wonder what the law says in Nigeria.....Can we walk in these footsteps to draw a line between domestic abuses?

Share your thoughts

Glamour