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One in five Russian women beaten at home: expert
May 13, 2003
AFP

One in every five women in Russia is beaten by her husband or partner, a Russian sociological expert said Tuesday.

Around 100,000 Russian women sought help at crisis centers last year, Natalya Rimashevskaya said at the opening of a two-day conference on family violence, as quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency.

Russian and international human rights groups estimate that around 14,000 women in Russia are killed in domestic violence every year -- a figure that is close to the official death toll of the Afghanistan war and the ongoing war in Chechnya.

One woman in Russia is killed every 40 minuteolence and 36,000 are beaten every day, according to Amnesty International.

The London-based rights group has called on Russian authorities to criminalize domestic violence as a "crime against women," offering victims the possibility of legal recourse.

Representatives of Russia's interior and social and labor ministries, regional officials and nongovernmental organizations are taking part in the Moscow conference, which is due to recommend setting up laws and structures to deal with the rampant problem of domestic violence in Russia.