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Efforts against domestic violence

What do we mean by “Family Violence”?


V.Shakina, Irkutsk Anti-crisis Center, Lawyer
V.Shakin, Lawyer

Historically the society and state’s attitude towards the cruelty in families was changing. Before, many forms of domestic violence were in fact legalized. Formally the state didn’t interfere into family affairs, but in fact, it provided a man with wide power within his family. In London there was a rule at the beginning of the XX century saying “A man to a shrew has the right to beat her on conditions that the cane shouldn’t be thicker than his thumb”. The US 1824 Law officially released all husbands from responsibility for having beaten their wives in case of an “absolute necessity”.

When has the family violence become a social problem due to the negative attitude of the society? It happened in Europe and America in 1970s when men and women’ equal rights in family and at work were widely recognized. It happened due to the activities of women NGOs, gender research specialists and workers of the social sphere.

In the USSR the family violence was a “closed” issue. Only criminologists and other experts were dealing with it. The family violence couldn’t become a civil problem in the country considering the state property and state interests the universal priority.

For the first time in Russia the issue was raised in 1993 at the initiative of women civil organizations. The society got acquainted that 40% of all violence crimes were committed in families. Children, old people, women represent 38% of all people killed because of morbid family relations.

We witness today the criminalization of a family, the special style of life, when the violence, alcoholism, drug addiction become a norm of behavior, passing from one generation to another.
The particularities of the mass attitude to the violence victims sometimes are very interesting. Most helpless – children and old people – provoke most compassion, whereas women are often considered guilty of conflicts and provoking violence. The society shows more respect and sympathy to victims resisting to the violator, than to so called passive victims. Though, it is well known, that the resistance can provoke hard consequences.

The understanding of family violence as an independent social problem is a first step aimed at its solution. There are many obstacles on this way. Among them the absence of clear definitions, theoretical and scientific basis, the lack of complete information about the scope of the events, absence of legislation, providing the protection of family violence victims, the court and law-enforcement practice, high level of latency. This latency has a double nature – first, many victims don’t address for the police’ help, second, the law-enforcement bodies try to conceal the facts about family violence.

One must consider a violence every deliberate act of one member of a family against another, if this act violates his or her constitutional rights and freedoms, distresses him or her or contains a threat of physical or personal damage to minor members of the family.

As this social event is diversified, the forms of the violence are diversified, too. The international legal acts note the following forms of violence.
- physical violence
- psychical violence
- sexual violence
- economic violence

Everyone of family members can be an object of domestic violence. Usually the experts mark three types of family cruelty:
parents’ cruelty towards the child
cruelty of the husband towards his wife or vice versa
cruelty of children towards old parents

According to the statistics of the Anti-crisis centers, usually the psychical violence starts, then it’s being added by another forms of violence – physical or even sexual.

The Russian Penal Code has no special articles providing responsibility for crimes, committed by members of families against another members. On the contrary, the Russian legislation consider a crime committed against an unknown person in a public place more socially dangerous than a crime committed behind the closed door against a member of his or her own family.

Of course, such position is faulty. The violence coming from an immediate relative in which everyone seeks for a support is much more dangerous than the violence coming from a stranger. In such cases there is a violation of the family main principle – the safe existence of every member.

Nowadays the Russian program of social reforms provides the forming a system of state measures to prevent the family violence and social rehabilitation of the violence victims.
The most widespread crimes committed within the family violence regulated by the Russian Penal Code are:
- article 116 – “Battery”
- article 117 – “Torture”
- articles 111, 112, 115 provide responsibility for willfulness damage to the health

Expert opinion

Halter Marek

02.12.06

Halter Marek
Le College de France
Olivier Giscard d’Estaing

02.12.06

Olivier Giscard d’Estaing
COPAM, France
Mika Ohbayashi

02.12.06

Mika Ohbayashi
Institute for Sustainable Energy Poliñy
Bill Pace

02.12.06

Bill Pace
World Federalist Movement - Institute for Global Policy
Peter I. Hajnal

01.12.06

Peter I. Hajnal
Toronto University, G8 Research Group


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