21 February 2020
On 19 February 2020, a round table was held to discuss current issues and problems in combating domestic violence in Belarus. It was attended by representatives of the judicial system, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministries of Education, Labour and Social Protection and public associations.
The possibility of living in a family without violence is an important part of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Ensure gender equality and empower all women and girls). Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but also an essential foundation for achieving peace, prosperity and sustainable development. Unfortunately, according to some estimates, one in five women and girls aged 15-49 experience physical or sexual violence at least once in their lives. According to the UN, 49 countries still lack legislation criminalizing domestic violence.
In Belarus there is a mechanism of interaction between the relevant state bodies and public organizations aimed at protecting against violence, providing support to victims and bringing the perpetrators to justice. Nevertheless, there are some problematic issues that need to be discussed and resolved. These issues were discussed at the round table in preparation for the forthcoming session of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus in March this year, which will be devoted to the practice of court consideration of administrative offences cases under Article 9.1 of the CAO.
Valery Kalinkovich, First Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus, noted that the generalization of court practice in cases of this category had revealed a number of problematic issues related to the topic of domestic violence. It is necessary to consolidate efforts to reduce the number of offences in the sphere of domestic violence and to prevent them.
Dmitry Uloga, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus, reported on administrative responsibility in the area of domestic violence based on the data of court statistics. According to the speaker, such cases (under Article 9.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences) make up almost 20% of all administrative offences considered by courts and almost 10% of the total court proceedings. Dmitry Uloga noted that more than six years have passed since the legislator included part two in Article 9.1 of the CAO (providing for administrative liability for beatings that did not cause bodily harm, intentional infliction of pain, physical or mental suffering committed against a close relative or family member). In addition, liability for violation of the protective order has been in force for two years. Even today, it is necessary to assess the effectiveness of measures taken by the state to protect the rights of the victims of domestic violence, as well as to discuss the practice of application of these norms and directions for further development of legislation in this area.
Oleg Karazei, Deputy Head of the Main Department of Law Enforcement and Prevention of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, made a presentation on the activities of internal affairs bodies in combating domestic violence. He drew attention to the fact that the topic of counteracting domestic violence is becoming more and more pressing: last year, 110 people died as a result of crimes committed at home, and according to sociological studies, one in three women faces physical violence. A representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs spoke about a set of measures to counter domestic violence. In particular, about the use of such an instrument of legal protection of the victim as a protective order, i.e. placing restrictions on the commission of certain acts by a citizen who has committed domestic violence. Oleg Karazei recalled that the plan for the preparation of draft laws for 2020 includes the development of the law “On amendments to laws on the prevention of offenses,” which will provide significant adjustments to standards to counter domestic violence. It is assumed that the concept of “domestic violence” will be expanded, the competencies of subjects responsible for violence prevention and the coordinating body will be clearly defined.
Ivan Fedchuk, Deputy Head of the Department of Administrative Activity of IABs of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, made a presentation on the issues of qualification of administrative offences related to domestic violence. Evgeniy Khatkevich, Judge of the Minsk City Court, familiarized the participants of the round table with the practice of consideration of cases on administrative offences, provided by part 2 of article 9.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences in the district courts of Minsk.
Aleksei Podvoiski, head of the department for supervision over the implementation of the legislation on minors and youth of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus, told about the problems of prevention of violence in families with minor children.
Marina Artemenko, Deputy Head of the Department of Population, Gender and Family Policy of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus, spoke about the specifics of assistance in the system of social services for victims of violence. Among the main areas of work she mentioned further monitoring of compliance of crisis rooms with the requirements for the content and quality of social services, improvement of legislation with regard to the formalization of interdepartmental cooperation protocols on assistance to victims of domestic violence, strengthening interdepartmental cooperation in forwarding informed consent, including health and education bodies, and awareness-raising work. Ekaterina Maltseva, Director of the Minsk City Centre for Social Services for Family and Children, spoke about the work of the Centre, the organization of interdepartmental cooperation and social and preventive projects. In particular, she spoke about the correctional programme for male aggressors. This is a program for correction of male violent behavior, teaching aggressors the skills of respectful communication, development and enrichment of skills of adequate, constructive behavior, regulation of social relations, formation of adequate self-esteem, training of practical skills to relieve excessive tension and anxiety.
Irina Alkhovka, Chairwoman of the Board of the NGO “Gender Perspectives”, Coordinator of the Sustainable Development Partnership Group on social issues, informed about the results of the hotline for violence victims. She noted that according to the work of the hotline, 94 per cent of calls were made by women. At the same time, spouses are the most frequent aggressors (51 per cent), and sons are aggressors in 13 per cent of cases. One in six callers suffers from their former spouse violence. Among general tendencies in the sphere of domestic violence there is a low level of psychological culture in the society (fear of going to professional psychologists and psychotherapists), a low level of legal culture (ignorance of the law and of one’s rights), an increase in cases of stalking.
Summing up the work of the round table, Valery Kalinkovich once again stressed the urgency of the problem of domestic violence, its diversity and multiplicity, which require a clear interagency cooperation, deep study of the causes of this dangerous social phenomenon, improvement of legislation.
Based on the materials of the press service of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus.
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