Domestic Violence in Russia

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Post stamps design on topic of domestic violence in Russia / 2019

21,390 cases of domestic violence against women were recorded within 2018.
61% of women killed in Russia within 2018 were victims of their own partners or relatives.
83% of Russian women convicted of exceeding self-defence were defending themselves from their partners.

3% of Russian men convicted of exceeding self-defence were defending themselves from their partners.

In 2017, the law on decriminalization of domestic violence was adopted by the State Duma and signed by the President of Russia. As a result, cases of beatings increased while reporting declined sharply: police began to refuse to investigate domestic violence cases.

Each stamp's visual is based on statistics and real stories of domestic violence in Russia.

In November 2016, district police officer Natalia Bashkatova went on a call to the house where Yana Savchuk lived. She complained about her partner Andrey Bochkov, who threatened her with murder. Police officer knew that Bochkov was previously convicted and inclined to violent actions. Bashkatova openly expressed her thoughts «If you get killed – we will come to take the body, don’t worry». Five minutes after police officer left, Andrey Bochkov killed 36-year-old Yana Savchuk.

Dmitry Grachev took his wife Margarita to the forest where he cut off both her hands. He planned it to the last detail: tortured his wife for an hour and a half and then surrender to police after taking her to the hospital. Margarita survived. One hand was sewn on, the second was replaced with a bionic prosthesis.

When Anastasia Yeshchenko was finishing her third year in Saint Petersburg State University she fell in love with her lecturer Oleg Sokolov. They had common scientific interests: Napoleon and the Napoleonic wars. Anastasia’s brother, Sergey Eshchenko, called her on the night of 7 to 8 November. According to him, she cried after a quarrel with Sokolov. After a while her brother called her again. Anastasia said they worked it out. The same night, while she was sleeping, Sokolov took a sawn-off shotgun and shot her in the head four times in a row. On November 9, Sokolov brought Anastasia’s severed hands to the Moika river to drown them in the river. Later her head and body were found in Sokolov’s apartment.

57-year-old Mikhail khachaturyan was found murdered in his apartment in July 2018. He died from multiple stab wounds. His three daughters (Christina, Angelina and Maria) who were 19, 18 and 17 at the time, were arrested on suspicion of murder. During the investigation, it became known from the testimony of the girls that the father’s harassment and sexual abuse began when their mother decided to leave the house. Christina tried to kill herself after she was forced by her father to perform oral sex. Angelina’s close friend told about at least 10 known acts of sexual abuse. According to the investigation, only the youngest daughter managed to avoid harassment. From the older ones he demanded to undress in front of him and insist on «giving him a child» when they grow up. Years of abuse, sexual violence, tortures and exploitation won’t be taken into account by the court – they might face from 8 to 20 years in prison.

In the Russian language, we have a saying: «Любовь зла – полюбишь и козла», which can be literally translated as «Love is evil – you might fall in love with a goat».

In Russia, established administrative responsibility for the first beating attempt, in particular a fine of 5,000 to 30,000 rubles (approximately 100 to 500 euros), arrest for a period of 10 to 15 days or mandatory correctional labour for a period of 60 to 120 hours. By comparison, the fine for unpaid parking in Moscow is 5,000 rubles (100 euros).