A bill that would remove some forms of family violence from Russia‘s criminal code has passed its first reading with nearly unanimous support.
One lawmaker voted against the move, one abstained, and 368 voted in favour, the Moscow Times reports. Domestic violence offences that did not cause actual bodily harm would be downgraded to a misdemeanour, punishable with a fine. Repeat offences — more than one violent incident a year — would be upgraded to a criminal offence.
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The bill was spearheaded by ultra-conservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina in July 2016.
“Battery carried out toward family members should be an administrative offence,” Mizulina is quoted as saying by the Guardian.
“You don’t want people to be imprisoned for two years and labelled a criminal for the rest of their lives for a slap.”
Mizulina has argued that laws criminalizing abuse are “anti-family.” She argued parents should have the ability to discipline their children as they see fit.
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“In Russian traditional family culture parent-child relationships are built on the authority of the parents’ power,” Mizulina said. “The laws should support that family tradition.”
Family violence in Russia is widespread; an estimated 10,000 to 14,000 women die as a result of abuse by a partner every year.
A Change.org petition has been launched in protest which has so far gathered nearly 200,000 supporters.
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