On January 28, 2017, 380 members of Russian parliament voted in favor of a new bill to decriminalize specific degrees of domestic violence under the guise they are simply removing what they feel are excessive restrictions on “slapping” children, spouses, and other family members; apparently good Russian family values include physical punishment as long as the “slapping” does not cause “substantial bodily harm” and/or only happens once per year.
According to the BBC’s interpretation of this alarmingly vague terminology, what the Russian Duma wishes to promote within families via this legislation are assaults that inflict physical pain but do not cause bodily injury that threatens the victim’s health.
So via this ruling, Russia is establishing that someone who is beaten is indeed a victim, however if the chances of them dying or being permanently disfigured are slim, their pain and suffering is tolerable and thus permissible. If a person does not end up dead, they can take that blow to the head.
A popular proverb (see image below) coined in this Eurasian country is “(if you) beat a woman* with a hammer – (she) woman* will be golden” … granted she does not die.
*the direct translation of the word “бабa/бабy” is “grandmother.” When used in a negative connotation and or as an insult, as it most definitely is in this proverb, calling a woman a “бабa” is the equivalent of saying “old hag”
According to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, otherwise known as UN Women, it is estimated that of all women who were the victims of homicide globally in 2012, almost half were killed by intimate partners or family members, compared to less than six per cent of men killed in the same year.
So, according to a subgroup organization of the United Nations, roughly every other woman who was murdered was slain by someone who may have lived within close quarters and/or had a close relationship with them. Roughly half of all murdered women died in domestic, family fights.
The fact that the Russian government could permit this bill to pass, especially with such overwhelming approval – their vote was 380 to 3 – is an act of repulsive ignorance towards human decency and respect. Women’s rights are human rights, but the Russian Parliament is thinking otherwise. The endangerment of millions of mothers and their children is not a cause for concern, is apparently not an issue, and on the contrary, a non-lethal beating once per year is doing fine work.
This ruling is not only devastating for the millions of women and children who reside within Russia, but the countries and people influenced by the Kremlin as well, whether it be politically, economically, or socially.
Americans in particular frequently view Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, as an epitome of masculinity; a man who does what he wants, when he wants, and always gets his way. Oftentimes, he is even photoshopped riding a grizzly bear because apparently, his manliness is so divine it can tame a beast that according to science and past human experience is supposed to devour him. Dominating and controlling people through fear, force, and violence is not masculine. Real men do not need ruthless brutality to prove themselves worthy. This type of masculinity is false and toxic, and is in my opinion a driving force within this recent parliamentary ruling. I find it repulsing and despicable, and you should too.
Taras Shevchenko, a dissident activist famous for creating works of art, literature, and poetry with themes promoting opposition and resistance towards the Russian government, has a short poem regarding knowledge and how to treat the women in our lives that should most definitely be reread and retold today:
Translated from Ukrainian:
Learn, my brothers, think, read,
And from others, gain their knowledge,
Do not reject your people!
Because those who neglect their mothers are those who God punishes;
Those strangers are whom we shun,
And do not permit within our homes.