The country everyone is talking about just now is preparing to decriminalize several domestic violence offenses.A new bill in Russiareferred to in the media as the slapping lawpassed an initial hurdle in the Duma legislative body. It would eliminate criminal penalties for first offenses or attacks that occur only once a yearin which a womanor childis not seriously injured. The measures major proponent, arch conservative female senator Yelena Mizulina, has said the harsher penalties currently on the books areanti-family and a baseless intervention into family affairs, reports CNN.Battery carried out towards family members should be an administrative offense, Mizulina told her colleagues in the Duma. You dont want people to be imprisoned for two years and labelled a criminal for the rest of their lives for a slap.The Russian Orthodox Church is also backing the bill which leaders see as in line with its patriarchal view demanding a wife and childrens absolute submission to the husband and father.The measure applies to violent actions causing injuries, but which do not require hospital treatment or necessitate sick leave from work for the victim, according to one of its authors, reports the BBC.Under the measure a first (or infrequent) offense would not be considered criminal, and punishment would be limited to a fine or community service.The measure is infuriating women and anti-violence activists who say it invites an open season of violence on abused womenand children.Activist Alena Popova has launched a petition on change.orgwith nearly 180,000 names demanding that the Duma pass a completely new law against domestic violence.Novaya Gazeta journalist Olga Bobrova has noted that many violent assaults may not require hospitalization or event leave marks on a victims body, but can still transform her life into a living hell.She complains that domestic violence is a normal way of life in Russia. Theres a saying in the country thatIf he beats you, it means he loves you, notes the Moscow Times.Some 36,000 women are beaten by their husbands daily, according to figures reported by the state-run news agency RIA Novosti. Nearly 12,000 women die each year as victims of domestic violence one woman every 44 minutes. In 2008 the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that two-thirds of all homicides in Russia are attributable to household or domestic confrontations.The controversial bill breezed through its first reading 368 to 1with one abstention but still must go through a second and third reading and votes.type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=5818fbd3e4b0f96eba96796d,57fcfda5e4b090dec0e71d5c,57ed910ee4b082aad9ba73f9 -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Click here to read full news..
