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Domestic abuse: Russia's tragic, hidden secret
Severe housing shortage fuels violence
March 7, 1997
Web posted at: 6:40 p.m. EST (2340 GMT)From Moscow Bureau Chief Eileen O'Connor
In this story
MOSCOW (CNN) -- For police officers at militia station No. 118, responding to complaints of domestic abuse is a nightly, often fruitless drill.
On a recent evening, they arrive at an apartment to find a frightened woman, threatened by a drunken husband. Police lead him away.
The wife, however, refuses to file a complaint and there is no arrest. And no guarantee the situation won't happen again.
"We get two or three calls a night," Officer Victor Ivanovich said. "Usually it's tied to alcohol."
But severe housing shortages also make tempers flare. Because of the scant supply of apartments, even many divorced couples are forced to live together -- often with tragic results.
Suffering in silence
It is estimated that 60 percent of the women murdered in Russia every year are killed by their husbands. Domestic violence occurs in 25 percent of Russian families. Yet it is rarely discussed.
At a recently opened crisis center, workers don't field many calls, because not many women know they can or should get help.
"There is no awareness yet that violence is not allowed. I mean, legally it is not allowed. Very often, even neighbors, they would rather blame a woman, a battered woman, than help her," said Marina Besplokhova, director of the center.
Cry for help unanswered
Help came too late for Natalya Ivanovna, convicted of killing her husband. She says she acted in desperation after complaining for years of abuse. Ivanovna went to the police and, ultimately, the courts for relief but got nowhere. She was refused a divorce.
"This went on for 10 years. And during the entire 10 years, no one tried to help her," said Ivanovna's attorney, Vera Strebizhe.
Strebizhe, who carries around Ivanovna's journal of abuse, is once again appealing to the courts on her client's behalf. But this time she is appealing for the woman's freedom.
Ivanovna was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her husband's death. It was her way of finding an answer.
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