Most victims of domestic violence in Russia are still women

Domestic violence in Russia is a problem mainly faced by women. This conclusion was reached by the authors of the study from the Women’s Non-Government United Consortium.

The authors of the report analyzed more than 156,500 sentences from 2011 to September 2022 in cases of causing serious harm to health where the victim or the victim survived.

The study showed that the absolute majority of aggressors are men, who mainly cause serious harm to health as men – 81%, and 82% for women. At the same time, no less 43% of female victims suffered at the hands of a partner or relative. Among men, this share is 16%, the report says.

Separately, the report analyzed the statements of the accused about the attack by the victim, as well as about illegal and immoral behavior in order to study whether the court takes into account these factors when passing the sentence as a mitigating circumstance.

The study showed that almost 80% of women who used violence against men said that they were defending themselves. At the same time, in 43% of cases the court found the behavior illegal, and in 16% – immoral.

The authors of the report also studied cases that were considered in general and special proceedings – without holding a trial and evaluating the evidence. The special order in such cases was canceled in July 2020.

When analyzing the verdicts with the usual and with the special order, the share of female defendants who applied for protection is reduced three times — from 79% to 28%. At the same time, for men, it decreases from 17% when personal order is excluded to 9% – when it is included.

Researchers assume that because of Russia’s war against Ukraine, further aggravation of situations related to domestic violence is expected. People who participate in military operations will eventually experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It begins, as a rule, six months after a stressful event, the document notes.

According to the researchers’ conclusions, the official statistics of the judicial department of Russia do not provide an idea of ​​all violent crimes in the country, and victims of violence (according to various data – up to half) often do not contact the police or human rights organizations due to fear of condemnation from society. Such a situation is caused, among other things, by the imperfection of the legislative base in the area of ​​domestic violence, the report says.

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