In July of this year, Anastasia Melnichenko from Ukraine listed all the cases of sexual harassment and violence she had gone through, with the message: "We don't have to apologize. It is not our fault, it is always the fault of those who hurt us. I'm not afraid to speak. And I don't feel guilty." After she posted this on Facebook, thousands and thousands of women from Russia and Ukraine, as well as other countries of the former Soviet Union, began to write about their experiences - about how they were abused, intimidated, raped. by their bosses, husbands, partners, relatives, family friends, doctors... Many women wrote that it was the first time they ever spoke and brought to light what happened to them. There were many reactions, and there were no comments accusing the victims of violence because they are the ones who provoke the abuser. Unfortunately, it sounds familiar.
In Russia, the number of women victims of domestic violence is very high. According to official statistics, as many as 40 percent of all crimes involving violence occur within the family. Representatives of the non-governmental sector that help women victims of domestic violence report that more than 14.000 women die annually in Russia due to domestic violence.
Non-governmental organizations have been trying for years to introduce a new law that would comprehensively and adequately deal with domestic violence. Namely, until a few months ago, it was the victim who had to sue the abuser, gather evidence, secure witnesses... So, if a woman was attacked on the street by an unknown assailant, the police and the prosecutor's office could react, but if he did her partner, with whom she lives and where there is a much greater likelihood that the assault and abuse will be repeated, she would have to file a report herself.
If she wouldn't do it, no one else had the right to do it. The police were not authorized to open a case even though they would have evidence and testimonies. It is easy to guess how much unpunished violence has gone on there - a frightened woman and a long-term victim should prosecute the abuser. The question is how much financial resources she has, how much psychological support, how much strength and in general how (un)protected she is if she does that. Also, it was difficult to prove domestic violence except in cases where the woman suffered serious physical injuries. "And even when the perpetrators were brought to court, it was usually treated as a private family matter." In other words, if a man were to beat his wife or girlfriend, the treatment of him, according to Russian law, would be no different than if he had participated in a street fight," writes the journalist of Sputnik in the text "Suffering in Silence".
However, at the beginning of July, the Law came into force that treats domestic violence as a criminal offense that is dealt with and prosecuted by the state, in the same way as, for example, hooliganism and hate crimes. This is a big step, which will certainly make the situation better.
However, criticism came from two sides. Those who advocated for the amendment believe that the changes it brings are not radical enough and regret that Russia has not yet signed the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Also, Russia is one of the few countries where a restraining order is not issued.
As another type of problem, but equally difficult - perhaps even more difficult - the representatives of the non-governmental sector highlight the mentality and atmosphere in which domestic violence is taboo, something that the woman herself is ashamed of and tries to cover up with the attitude that "dirty laundry is not taken out families".
On the other hand, as a reaction to the aforementioned law, which should show in practice that domestic violence is indeed punishable, Russian parliamentarian Yelena Mizulina, known for her extreme right-wing views, proposed a new law that would decriminalize violence within the family. Mizulina, who chairs the Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Russian Duma, explained it this way: you don't want people to be locked up and marked as criminals for the rest of their lives because of a single joke, and that the new law is a threat to unity and harmony. families.
Violence is a threat to the family, not the laws that sanction that violence.
WAITING FOR LAWS: Domestic violence is widespread in other former Soviet Union countries as well, and the situation is aggravated by the attitude that it is a private matter between men and women, as well as insufficiently strict (or non-existent) legislation on the matter.
In Belarus, according to a report from 2014, more than 77 percent of women have experienced some kind of violence - psychological, physical, sexual or economic. The domestic violence law that would respond to this situation is still not ready.
At the same time that there were certain changes in this field in Russia, a law was accepted in Ukraine, that is, amendments to certain laws aimed at harmonizing Ukrainian legislation with the Istanbul Convention. Parliamentarian Irina Luchenko, who worked on that alignment, told local media that the changes referred to by the Council of Europe Convention are changing the psychology of the family - "we are reaching the level where the government will create a policy of non-violence in the family". According to her, domestic violence is a topic that is ignored in Ukraine. On an annual level, hundreds of thousands of women suffer domestic violence and that number is increasing. Ukraine certainly has a long way to go in implementing new measures, that is, moving from paper to the field.
Every forty minutes, every day, a woman in Russia loses her life as a victim of domestic violence. In Ukraine, that number is also frightening. Millions and millions are invested in the eradication of diseases that have such a high mortality rate, campaigns are constantly devised so that people pay attention to possible signs, doctors give advice in public, and the importance of prevention is already commonplace. It would be good if in many countries, such as Russia, Ukraine or Serbia, the problem that takes an equal, even greater number of lives, and which is largely in our hands - in the hands of state institutions, the education system, is approached with the same seriousness , society...
The fact that the Nordic countries, known for gender equality, have a high level of family and partner violence against women is surprising and thought-provoking. Enrique Gracia and Juan Merlo published a paper in the scientific journal "Social Science and Medicine" in which they try to understand this situation, calling it the Nordic paradox. Women in Sweden, Finland and Norway experience much more intimate partner violence than the European average. At first, the most logical answer is that victims in the Nordic countries report more violence. However, Gracia and Merlo believe that the answer is much more complex and that some research shows that it is not about more frequent reporting.
They believe, and in this they are not alone, that it is largely about the reaction of men against women in societies that have reached a high level of gender equality and the anger resulting from the relatively high status that women have in relation to their partners in such societies. Of course, many elements are still present, it is a complex phenomenon that includes alcoholism, employment, growing up, i.e. copying patterns from childhood... But it should not be overlooked that gender equality disturbs traditional gender roles and norms, and thus can strengthen the attitude that blames the victim and violence is justice. Namely, Gracia and Merlo cite a study that shows that women with a higher economic status compared to their partners are at greater risk of partner violence, of course if the partner has more "traditional attitudes" when it comes to gender roles. A woman's success is understood there as a threat.
What is the message of the Nordic paradox? Among other things, that men, regardless of education and status, even in the most developed part of the world, when it comes to gender equality, believe that another human being belongs to them. That progress is not a one-way street, but has its own reverse movements, painful and serious. And first of all, that gender inequality, which lasted for thousands of years, cannot be reversed in a few decades.
The article was published as part of the project "Domestic Violence - A Look at European Law" funded by the European Union (through the EU Delegation in Serbia) through the media program. The publication of this article was made possible with the financial assistance of the European Union. The content of the article is solely the responsibility of the weekly "Vreme" and in no way reflects the views and opinions of the European Union.
