Marina Ishchenko (Saratov State Technical University)
Between Death and Life Combating Domestic Violence Against Women in Provincial Russian City
This paper is focused on the issues of domestic violence against women that are argued to be not only legal but also social, cultural and political problems. The activity of Crisis Center for Women and inter-agency co-operation as well as the attitudes of abused women towards their life situation are analyzed.
Domestic violence against women exists all over the world and concerns all aspects of a womans life. It is immoral, it damages physical and mental health of a woman, causes abandonment and emotional disturbances of children, destroys family and fosters violent relations in society as a whole. The state at any step of the development appeared to be unable to interfere with the family violence matters, declined all further responsibility of descending, endowing a man with broad imperious authority in relation to other members of family.
The problem of dmestic violence has serious consequence for society. Families, where the relationships based on the violence become the risk group, because children who grow up in such atmosphere can become victims of violence or later in life they can
become offenders. Defining the family as one of the main source of reproducing cultural and spiritual values it is necessary to realize that violence tradition can be transmitted through generations as a part of negative life experience. Our society is already dealing with the fruits of such situation when dmestic violence is not recognized as a public problem. Given the growth the violence in the society, its criminalization are closely associated with family relations. In todays Russia family violence exists on a large scale and in different forms. According to the official statistics, about 30-40% of all violent crimes occur within the family. Cases of bodily injuries and homicides have grown up to a degree of social phenomenon and are on a first place among the other crimes. The legal system in todays Russia undergoes significant changes along with changes in social and cultural life, along with growing attention of mass media and international community towards a tragedy of domestic violence. However, while it has become a public issue, domestic violence against women yet has not been properly dealt with by the system of justice neither it is recognized by public opinion. That is why a problem of social and legal protection of women from domestic violence is important topic for research and action.In many cultures, public and governmental institutions confirmed the absolute mans power over a woman. In a society with such attitudes, violence against women becomes legitimized not only in its physical but also emotional, social and economic forms through threats, isolation, exploitation and discrimination all being founded upon the system of power and subjugation.
Due to the activity of international womens organizations during the last ten years understanding of human rights problem has been developed throughout the world and in Russia. The idea of state responsibility for resolving domestic violence issue has become more clear. Social transformations in Russia affected pluralism of family roles, social values and attitudes but the patriarchal family is still in power. It is patriarchal division of roles, that causes domination of gender stereotypes and supports such social phenomenon as domestic violence. This situation is characterized also by economic discrimination of women. Recent transformation of economical process challenged traditional distribution of roles (man as a breadwinner, woman as a housewife). However, the understanding of subjugation of women as a natural phenomenon remain very strong. Equality of rights between women and men is only declared. In everyday practice, within traditions and habits, a society distinguishes between men and women as between unequal casts. Men have much more chances to promote they carrier possessing many festive advantages in choosing professional activity, that provides them higher status and social honors. As thousand years ago, a man is seen as a person possessing all societal significant qualities, while a woman as a deprived creature who belongs to the sphere of family.
I consider rigidity of traditional gender roles as a destructive factor of socialization. So a social worker or a teacher could be the agents of socialization, advocating such male and female roles and models of family behavior, which will respond to a real modern life. An example of such activity conducted on both personal and social levels is a crisis center for women.
In Saratov there is a crisis center for women "I am a Women" which is non-governmental organization, a member of Association of crisis centers for women. Saratov Regional Public Foundation Crisis center began its activity in January 1996 as a womens public organization established by a womens initiative group. The main goal of this organization is to provide psychological support and legal assistance to women who expereince domestic and sexual violence. The occurrence of this organization in Saratov was not accidental. Modern families in Saratov as in many other regions of Russia inherited patriarchal culture which allows violence. Research of the Moscow Gender Studies Center show that in Saratov region in 1996 family violence is a widespread phenomenon, so the situation was identified as critical (Rimashevskaia et al, 1996).
In the city of Saratov there is no specialized service for women suffered from domestic violence, except for Crisis Center I am a Woman. Saratov crisis center has a definitive philosophy, which includes the following principles: confidence in the right for all people to live in safety irrespective of sexual, racial, age and other differences; reject of violence of any form; an assumption that no excuses can be given to beating and degrading and that only the offender is responsible for violence; an assumption that every woman is capable of self-determination and can construct equal relationships with others; awareness about the stereotypes about men superiority over the women in public consciousness and an attempt to change these attitudes, giving the information to the society about the problem of violence against women, collaboration with social and psychological services, official organizations, law enforcement departments, medical and educational entities, citizens.
The activity of this organization is divided in two parts. A first part is associated with a concrete help to the women in crisis center, and a hot-line. A woman is offered psychological and legal counseling. The purposes and tasks of such counseling is to help create such conditions for women, in which they open new capabilities for the solution of psychosocial problems. If a woman after the counseling makes a decision to defend her rights in court, the employees of crisis center afford her charge-free legal accompany tracking a public solicitor or a qualified attorney. A plan of personal safety is offered to each woman addressed behind the direct help, which is designed by the specialists and is focused on a womans individual situation.
The second part of crisis center activity is work on changing social attitudes towards domestic violence. Specialists of center together with the department of social anthropology and social work at Saratov State Technical University (SSTU) conduct trainings and seminars for volunteers and social workers, collaborate with mass media, disseminate information about problem of violence against women, and about crisis center activity, engage into cooperation with state and law enforcement department. Among the volunteers are the graduate students in social work.
The activities of crisis center is an example of how small-scale initiative can advance development on legislative level. The actions of local communities put the state in the face of a fact of necessity of creating the special law concerned with the prevention and avoidance of domestic violence. At the same time crisis centers experience serious difficulties. The main difficulty is connected to a poor financing of this system and as a result, lack of room. That is why the organization of the temporary asylums, shelters for battered women is impossible.
The other relevant problem is insufficient level of cooperation with law enforcement department, on the part of which one often cannot find a comprehension of the significance of domestic violence as a serious social problem. The majority of the employees of law enforcement department are caught in frames of legal doctrine, which considers violence accomplished in the public place as more dangerous comparing to violence within the family. According to a local policeman, majority of criminal acts in family do not severely break the social order, and along with this attitude, criminal cases are risen only in cases of homicide and serious damage of health. All other "conflicts" are considered to be a private affair of a family. By the policemens opinion the law enforcement departments are engaged in the concrete facts, which have criminal and legal outlook. Their aim is to reveal crimes to rise criminal case, to finish it up at court and to punish a guilty person. Thus a preventive work against violence in family and the concerns over other family members are left behind. Besides, let me stress, that the majority of those working in law-enforcement department are men who to more or less extent take for granted the stereotypes concerning gender roles in the family, spousal relationship and intimate lives.
Working as a volunteer in Saratov NGO I am a Woman, I have conducted in March 2000 a series of interviews with clients and staff of this organization, as well as an anonymous survey among the clients of center. The findings of my research show that 30% out of the total number of the respondents do not recognize what happen as a violent act against them. Talking about the meaning of issue, women would recognize a significant physical assault as violence, thereby ignoring emotional, psychological, economical forms of harm. Women at first do not consider violence against them as illigal activity. The research data shows, that the problems are connected with the defects in implementation of current legislation by the law enforcement departments, in poor awareness of their rights by women and failures in defending their rights in legal procedures. I have conducted a comparative analysis of the present Russian legislation, which has shown that even those documents, which are especially planned as the laws against domestic violence, often are not adjusted to defend a woman. It appeared also, that such a legal base is inadequate for the solution of such social phenomenon, as domestic violence in general, and in particular violence against women within the family. Many articles of the law are concerned with all members of family. However, it is necessary to stress the legal prohibition of violence against women as such a group, which must be under a special law protection. Without such legislation it will not be possible to combat practices of abuse and violence in the family. Besides, many laws encompass only restricted number of aspects of domestic violence, and, therefore, we need to adjust these laws with a complex reality.
Thus, today our state is not capable to provide safe living conditions for women including economical safety. Therefore, the role of social work and that of a social worker in a context of this issue, becomes more significant, then earlier. Social work with victims of family violence should be grounded on the assumption, that domestic violence in is a social phenomenon which is caused by different factors and exists in a number of forms. The law should not differentiate between offence committed "publicly" and "at home", esteeming violence it seems apparent, that there is a principal limitation of capabilities of the state to solve this problem by simply increasing social help. A system of social partnership is needed, when a real co-operation of all public forces is implemented including non-governmental agencies, departments of social services, governmental bodies, mass media, law enforcement departments. I consider also, that for a successful elimination of domestic violence the changes in public consciousness, and in legislation are demanded.
The research methods include interviews with clients and personnel of crisis center, comparative analysis of legislative Russian and international documents. I have referred to the published results of the national and international research conducted by the Moscow Gender studies Center, and statistics of Saratov Police Department.
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