The State Duma [official website], Russia’s lower house of the Federal Assembly, gave final approval to a bill [text, in Russian] Friday that decriminalizes [BBC article] “assaults that inflict physical pain but do not cause bodily injury that threatens the victim’s health.” If the bill passes the upper house and is approved by President Vladimir Putin, it would decrease the penalty for first offenders from two years in jail to 30,000 rubles (USD $500) and up to 15 days detention or up to 120 hours community service. The bill passed with a vote [vote results] of 380-3, with 67 not voting. It is estimated [CNN article] that 36,000 women are beaten daily by their husbands in Russia, and 12,000 women die yearly due to domestic violence.

Domestic violence has recently become a point of contention in Russian politics. The same bill had passed [JURIST report] its second reading just two days ago in the State Duma. In July parliament adopted contentious legislation that criminalized violence against family members. Earlier this week Human Rights Watch reported that the passage of the bill will weaken the country’s protections against domestic violence [JURIST report]. Citing concerns over the impact this legislation has on “traditional family values,” some Russian politicians have introduced a bill to reverse the July legislation. Last March the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), a UN mandate created to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [official websites], called [JURIST report] on Russia to amend, reduce and revise a list of restricted or prohibited occupations and sectors for women established by the law and to give women the appropriate compensation, reparation and access to jobs for which they are qualified. Statistics show [RG report, in Russian] that 40 percent of all violent crimes in Russia are occurrences of domestic violence.