Ultraconservative senator Yelena Mizulina has introduced a bill to Russia's State Duma to decriminalize domestic violence, the RBC news website reported Wednesday.
Under Mizulina's proposals, domestic violence would be categorized as an administrative offense. President Vladimir Putin signed a law decriminalizing other forms of assault and battery that did not cause actual bodily harm earlier this month. Human rights groups lobbied for assault within the family to remain a criminal offense over fears that decriminalization would increase rates of domestic violence, BBC Russia reported Wednesday.
Mizulina has called the policy “absurd” and “anti-family,” maintaining it is unfair for a family member to receive two years in prison "for a slap." She has previously expressed concern that a family could face criminal proceedings if their child is found with cuts or bruises.
Mizulina has been the author of several highly controversial laws, including the infamous “gay propaganda law,” which prohibits the distribution of “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships.”
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