Russian MPs back Bill reducing punishment for domestic violence

Russian MPs have backed a controversial Bill reducing the punishment for some forms of domestic violence in a crucial second reading, despite protests from rights groups.

The amendments reduce the penalty for violence against family members, including spouses and children, as long as it is a first offence and does not cause serious injury, making it punishable by a fine of up to 30,000 Rubles (€468).

Violence against a family member that does not cause serious physical injury is currently defined as battery and punishable by up to two years in jail.

The lower house of parliament, the Duma, overwhelming approved the proposal with MPs voting 358 to two in favour of the proposals, with one abstention. The Bill, dubbed the "slapping law" by some Russian media outlets, will now have a third reading, expected for Friday, before going to the upper house and then to President Vladimir Putin for approval.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was important to distinguish between "family relations" and repeated incidents of violence.

The Bill’s authors say the new measure removes a legal anomaly and will reduce domestic violence by giving first-time abusers a chance to reform.

Conservative backers of the Bill have nicknamed it the “law on slaps” and complain that domestic violence is punished harshly.

“If you slap your naughty child, you risk up to two years in jail. If your neighbour does the same, it would end with a fine,” one of the Bill’s authors, Senator Yelena Mizulina, wrote on her site on Wednesday.

She said the current law allowed a criminal case to be opened on evidence from “a child in a huff against their parents”.