Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland sent a letter today to the Chairpersons of the State Duma and the Federation Council of the Russian Federation expressing his deep concern at the legislation which, if adopted, would decriminalize domestic violence in Russia.
“I call upon you to do anything within your powers to strengthen the right of Russian families to live free from violence and intimidation,” he said.
The physical and psychological abuse of women is an extremely serious crime and an assault on their human rights, Jagland wrote. Domestic violence also harms children, either as its direct victims or as witnesses.
“Reducing ‘battery within the family’ from a criminal to an administrative offence, with weaker sanctions for offenders, would be a clear sign of regression within the Russian Federation and would strike a blow to global efforts to eradicate domestic violence.”
He reminded that the Russian Federation is bound by the European Social Charter, which requires State Parties to protect children against violence. Russia is one among four out of 47 member States of the Council of Europe who have neither signed nor ratified the Istanbul Convention (“Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence”) that criminalises all acts of physical, sexual or psychological violence within the family and between former or current spouses and partners, Secretary General noted.
