A resident of Yekaterinburg was strangled by her partner – she wrote to the police more than once

Valentina Bushueva, a resident of Yekaterinburg, was strangled by her ex-partner. Prior to this, she repeatedly contacted the police in connection with beatings, threats and persecution, the Women’s Non-Governmental United Consortium found out.

According to the consortium, since 2021, Bushueva has complained to the police at least four times, including those with recorded injuries from beatings. However, criminal cases were never initiated – even after the prosecutor’s office discovered red tape on the part of the police and demanded that violations be eliminated.

The consortium emphasizes that Bushueva did not write a single statement about reconciliation or termination of the case, tried to leave her partner several times, took shelter in a crisis center for women.

In February 2023, after Bushueva’s third appeal to the police, the precinct officer held a conversation with her ex-partner and took a receipt from him, in which he undertook “not to use physical force, not to conflict with his ex-wife Valentina in the presence of their joint child.” After the fourth appeal, the precinct officer promised that the case of beatings “will finally go to court.”

In April, Bushueva was strangled – the police called it an “almost Shakespearean denouement.” Her partner was charged with murder. Bushueva left a two-year-old daughter.

The regional Ministry of Internal Affairs told E1.ru that they were checking Bushueva’s applications and talking to her roommate. According to them, every time the victim refused to file an application to bring her partner to justice.

• Over the past ten years, draft laws on the prevention of domestic violence have been submitted to the State Duma more than 40 times, but have not passed a single reading. In 2017, the article on beatings was removed from the Russian Criminal Code, and administrative responsibility was introduced for domestic violence.
• According to the United Women’s Non-Governmental Consortium, almost two-thirds (61%) of the women killed in Russia in 2018 were victims of domestic violence. According to Rosstat, 8,300 women were killed in that hour, so there were about five thousand victims of domestic violence among them. These data are 20 times higher than the police data on victims of domestic violence.