Russia: Update to RUS23311.E of 8 March 1996 and RUS19184.E of 15 December 1994 on the recourse available to women who are victims of abuse, particularly in Sochi (January 1997 - January 1999)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 January 1999 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | RUS30983.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Russia: Update to RUS23311.E of 8 March 1996 and RUS19184.E of 15 December 1994 on the recourse available to women who are victims of abuse, particularly in Sochi (January 1997 - January 1999) , 1 January 1999, RUS30983.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac3c48.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
For information prior to 1998 on the recourse available to women in Russia who are victims of abuse, please consult the December 1997 Human Rights Watch/Helsinki report, Russia: Too Little, Too Late: State Response to Violence Against Women, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.
An 11 March 1998 Moscow Times article states:
During the last several years, organizations in Russia have started to deal with domestic violence. Fourteen crisis centers have opened, Berezhnaya [Natalya Berezhnaya, a member of the executive committee of the International League of Women] said, where women can get psychological, legal and medical help. These organizations - including the Moscow centers ANNA; Syostry, or Sisters; and Yaroslavna - are working to establish shelters for victims of domestic violence and to help women negotiate medical and legal institutions, Potapova [deputy director of the Association for the End of Violence, known by the acronym ANNA] said. In addition, she said, the organizations run hot lines and support groups and try to educate young people....All the services of the centers are free, funded by foreign organizations, Chernenkaya [Irina Chernenkaya, executive director of Syostry] said. "We have no government support at all. To our shame."
Domestic violence remains a mostly hidden problem in Russia. Existing laws don't protect women and children, Chernenkaya said. The State Duma, parliament's lower house, has been considering the legislation on domestic violence for a long time, but it remains in draft form, Potapova said.
A 26 November 1998 Times article states:
As many as 14,000 Russian women a year are killed as a result of domestic violence, delegates told a joint United States-Russian conference in Moscow on family disputes....Only 3 percent of violent crimes committed in the home are reported to the police and domestic disputes are still regarded by the authorities as a private matter between husband and wife. An article in Komsomolskaya Pravda recently reported that help lines for battered women were dealing with five to six times more calls than usual since the beginning of the Russian economic crisis in August, indicating that financial difficulties can aggravate already difficult domestic situations....
Although few women report domestic violence to the police, there are 15 statutes under which abusive husbands can be imprisoned. Larisa Basova, a counsellor and psychologist for the Sisters helpline, says that many of her callers are the wives of rich men, virtually imprisoned and systematically tyrannised by their husbands. Ms. Basova says that the situation is not improving and that the figure of 14,000 deaths a year has remained stable for more than a decade. "In Russia it is harder to leave your partner because for many there is nowhere to go," she says. "Often it is easier to kill your wife than to find two separate flats."
No information on the recourse available to women abused by men in Sochi could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
The Moscow Times. 11 March 1998. Tanya Mosolova. "Women Seek Artists to Fight War Against Abuse." (NEXIS)
The Times [London]. 26 November 1998. Anna Blundy. "Russia Plagued by Fatal Wife-Beatings." (NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
Electronic sources: IRB databases, Internet, NEXIS/LEXIS, REFWORLD, WNC.
Transitions [Prague]. January 1997 - October 1998.
WEP International News [Rotterdam]. May 1997 - December 1997.
WIN News [Lexington, Mass.]. Winter 1997 - Autumn 1998.
Resource Centre country file on Russia. January 1998 - January 1999.
Unsuccessful attempts to contact oral sources.
