December 1997                                                                          Vol.9, No.13 (D)

SUMMARY
RECOMMENDATIONS
To the Russian Government
To the United States Government
To the United Nations
To the European Union
To the OSCE
To the Council of Europe
To the World Bank

BACKGROUND
Women and the Workplace
Women and Politics
ViolenceAgainst Women and the Absence of Reliable Statistics
Growth of the Women'sRights Movement

RUSSIA'SOBLIGATIONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

DOMESTIC LAW
Sexual Violence
Domestic Violence

STATE RESPONSE TO SEXUALVIOLENCE
Processing of Complaints
Refusal of Complaints
Mistreatment of Victims
Forensic Examinations
Delayed Referrals
Inaccessibility of Doctors
Inadequate and AbusiveExaminations
Investigations
Unwillingness to Investigate
Invasions of Privacy
Biased Use of PsychologicalInterviews
TraumatizingUse of Face-to-face Confrontations
Failure to Protect Complainants
Prosecution
Closing of Cases Priorto Trial

STATERESPONSE TO SEXUAL AND OTHER VIOLENCE WITHIN THE HOME CondoningDomestic Violence
Lack of Civil Remedies
Lack of Shelter

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
U.S. Policy
European Policy

CONCLUSION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In March 1995, Human Rights Watch released Neither Jobs Nor Justice,a report documenting widespread employment discrimination on the basisof sex that was practiced, condoned, and tolerated by the Russian government.The report also described how Russian law enforcement agencies routinelydenied women their right to equal protection of the law by failing to investigateand prosecute violence against women. In April 1996, we returned to Russiato further research this problem. This report examines in-depth the stateresponse to sexual violence outside the home as well as to sexual and otherviolence by intimate partners inside the home.

Violence against women is a pervasive problem in Russia. According togovernment statistics, nearly 11,000 women reported rape or attempted rapein 1996; the government simply does not gather statistics on women assaultedor killed by their partners. Yekaterina Lakhova, President Yeltsin's advisoron women's issues, has estimated that 14,000 women in Russia are killedby husbands or family members each year. These statistics, however, byno means document the extent of the problem of gender-based violence. Accordingto women's rights activists, only about 5 to 10 percent of rape victimsreport to the police, and the rate of reporting by domestic violence victimsis even lower. While myriad factors contribute to a victim's decision toreport or to remain silent, Human Rights Watch found that the inadequacyof the government's response to victims of violence plays a significantrole in perpetuating the silence and underreporting.

The government of Russia fails to afford victims of violence the protectionof the law required by the international human rights treaties to whichRussia is a party. Although Russian law criminalizes acts that constitutesexual or domestic violence, Human Rights Watch found that Russian lawenforcement does not effectively ensure that incidents of violence againstwomen are actually investigated and prosecuted, and in fact has sometimesobstructed their investigation and prosecution. This discrepancy betweenthe law as written and the law as applied demonstrates Russia's failureto fulfill its international human rights obligations. By tolerating violenceagainst women, Russia has failed not only to ensure rights guaranteed towomen in relevant international treaties but to enforce its own laws ina nondiscriminatory manner.

Our researchers visited Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation,and St. Petersburg, the second largest city in the Russian Federation.We also visited Sergeyev Posad, formerly Zagorsk, a city near Moscow; Murmansk,a military port in the northwest of Russia countries; and Nizhni Tagil,an industrial city in the Ural mountains. We collected testimony from womenwho had experienced sexual or domestic violence. We spoke with activistswho work with female victims of violence, police officers, prosecutors,and forensic doctors. Our researchers also met with several present andformer members of the State Duma. Based on this research, Human RightsWatch found that rather than combatting violence against women, the Russianlaw enforcement system creates numerous and substantial obstacles towardthat end. Human Rights Watch documented that from the moment that victimsof violence first seek out the legal system until the close of their cases,these women consistently confront hostility, reluctance, and bias againsttheir cases.

Our research revealed that police and prosecutors typically reject ordiscourage complaints, suggesting that female complainants either provokedor fabricated attacks and thus were not truly victims. In the limited instanceswhen victims' complaints were accepted, this skepticism or hostility nonethelesspersisted, manifesting in flawed investigations. The investigations entailseemingly irrelevant and unnecessarily invasive and broad inquiries intovictims' reputations and sexual histories. Investigations also impose anumber of other dubious requirements that appear to hold complainants ofsexual or other violence to a higher degree of scrutiny than is the casefor complainants of other types of crimes. These requirements include extensivepsychological interviews of victims and traumatizing face-to-face confrontationsbetween victims and alleged offenders. In keeping with their general insensitivityor lack of concern for violence victims, law enforcement officials alsoroutinely fail, during investigations, to protect complainants and theirfamilies from harassment by alleged offenders and their friends who aimto dissuade the victims from pursuing their cases.

Human Rights Watch also discovered serious failings in the government'scollection of forensic evidence, evidence which is a practical requirementin the prosecution of sexual assault cases in Russia. In many instances,we found, police deny or unnecessarily delay giving women the officialreferrals necessary for examinations at government-run evidence centers.This unwarranted interference with prompt examinations is especially egregiousbecause of the transient nature of forensic evidence and its critical importance,particularly in cases of sexual assault. Even when victims do undergo forensicexaminations, we discovered that they still encounter substantial difficultyin securing meaningful evidence. Many of the forensic examinations aresorely inadequate, revealing a bias against women who are not virgins.Instead of collecting evidence to document the extent and severity of women'sinjuries and to identify offenders, many doctors focus exclusively on thehymen to determine whether and when it was broken.

Despite the flaws in the investigative process, Human Rights Watch foundthat all the municipalities that it researched boast perfect or near-perfectconviction rates for crimes of sexual violence. The apparent success inprosecuting such crimes is misleading, however. Upon closer examinationthese figures suggest a practice of closing all but the most foolproofof cases. The probable corollary to this practice is that cases that arenot foolproof are abandoned.

Human Rights Watch also documented the particular difficulties facedby victims of domestic violence. Because law enforcement officials resisteven recognizing that domestic violence is a crime, many police officersrefuse to respond to women's calls for help. In the limited instance whenthe police do respond, they often will hold the batterer, if at all, foronly a brief period of time and release him unattended; after the release,the battering usually resumes. Human Rights Watch found that the police'sfailure to respond is particularly egregious because, at this time, criminalsanctions are the only legal protection available to battered women inRussia: Russia has no civil protection regime that would allow women tosecure state-enforced protection orders from batterers without pursuingcriminal charges.

Human Rights Watch found that the severe shortage of battered women'sshelters--there are only two in all of Russia--and of affordable housingfurther contributes to the physical and mental endangerment of domesticviolence victims. The absence of alternative housing options means thatwomen are substantially restricted in their ability to escape violent partners.In many cases, battered women, even those who have divorced their violentpartners, and their children have no choice but to live in the same apartmentwith their batterers. Although Russian law appears to provide some housingremedies--such as eviction of violent household members or apartment division--fordomestic violence victims, Human Rights Watch found that these remediesare available primarily in theory and rarely in practice.

As a result of significant pressure from Russian women's rights advocatesand international publicity, the government of the Russian Federation hasbegun to acknowledge the gravity of the problem of violence against womenand has indicated a desire to improve protections for women. In February1996, the Yeltsin administration published a policy document or white paperon improving the position of women in the Russian Federation. Issued inresponse to the recommendations of the 1995 United Nation Fourth WorldConference on the Status of Women in Beijing, this white paper called forthe government to conduct an assessment of Russian legislation and to developproposals for revisions necessary to guarantee women's rights. Stressingthat violence should be prohibited in all spheres of life including workplaceand home, the government pledged in the white paper to collect full andobjective statistics relating to violence against women, to coordinateits efforts with nongovernmental women's crisis centers, and to developcriminal and civil sanctions for violence against women. In June 1996,President Yeltsin issued Decree 932, "On the Development of a NationalPlan of Action to Improve the Position of Women and Raise their Role inSociety Before the Year 2000." This decree seeks to facilitate implementationof resolutions made at the Beijing conference and orders a draft plan tobe developed.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the situation of women encounteringviolence will actually improve. Based on current indications, the prospectsappear doubtful. For example, the 1997 budget adopted by the State Duma,the lower house of parliament, allocates no money toward implementing thegoals outlined in the 1996 white paper and decree. The new criminal, labor,and family law codes, all adopted in the past two years, moreover, do littleto improve the protection of women's human rights, particularly in regardto violence. Even the most ambitious step by the government, the draftingof a family violence law by the State Duma, is seriously flawed. As manywomen's groups, which have encountered substantial difficulty in accessingand commenting on drafts of the law, point out, the proposed law threatensto mitigate criminal penalties for violence, endangers the existence ofindependent women's crisis centers, and fails to create a civil protectionregime. If the past and the present are any indication of the future, itappears that the outlook for the lives of real women in Russia, ratherthan the ones envisioned by current political rhetoric, remains bleak.

To the Russian Government

• Ratify the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights andFundamental Freedoms as required under its membership in the Council ofEurope and take immediate steps to integrate its protections into Russianlaw.
• Denounce publicly domestic and sexual violence as crimes and make widelyavailable information about how victims of such crimes can seek redressand identify services.
• Provide funds for nongovernmental and governmental shelters for victimsof domestic violence and their dependent children and provide appropriatetraining for those who staff them. These funds should not carry restrictionson the basis of victim's marital status, family status as dependent orindependent, nationality, language, or sex.
• Enforce housing code provisions to evict violent family members frompublic housing and provide assistance to battered women in dividing theirapartments or in finding alternative housing.
• Work with federal and local legislators to repeal all legislative,judicial and administrative acts that stipulate propiska (officialresidence permit) requirements so that women and batterers are not restrictedin their ability to locate new housing.
• Allow attorneys and advocates to accompany victims of sexual and domesticviolence through the investigatory process, including during psychologicalinterviews of victims.
• Develop appropriate standardized specific protocols for the collectionand preservation of medical evidence for cases of sexual and domestic violenceagainst women. Such protocols should be made available to the public, tohealth care providers, and to groups working on women's rights or women'shealth.
• Ensure that all government medical facilities are adequately suppliedto conduct forensic examinations for physical and sexual violence cases.

Interior Ministry

• Require a training program on domestic violence and sexual assaultfor all existing and incoming police officers. Individuals or organizationswith expertise in investigating and working with victims of such crimesshould be commissioned by the government to develop a training programand to achieve its national implementation. The training program shouldpresent effective procedures for investigating sexual and domestic violence.These should include: procedures for efficient intake of all complaintsof sexual and domestic violence; effective and respectful interviewingprocedures for victims of domestic and sexual violence; methods for gatheringmedical evidence; and methods for protecting victims and witnesses fromharassment by defendants (including physical violence, threats and bribesto withdraw complaints).
• Gather and maintain accurate and comprehensive statistics detailingthe nature and degree of sexual violence. These records should, at a minimum,set forth the number of complaints received, the number of complaints thatare taken to court, and the conviction rates. The Ministry of Interiorshould implement a system for collecting information based on reports filedwith the police and those collected by independent hotlines and make suchinformation publicly available.
• Gather and maintain accurate and comprehensive statistics detailingthe nature and degree of violence in the home, including altering currentstatistical categories to include domestic violence. The Ministry of Interiorshould implement a system for collecting information based on reports filedwith the police and those collected by independent hotlines and make suchinformation publicly available.
• Designate one police officer in each local station to coordinate allcomplaints of sexual and domestic violence. The officer should be responsiblefor ensuring that the intake process functions effectively, i.e., ensuringthat desk officers accept complaints appropriately and give prompt referralsfor medical examinations; monitoring the investigations; communicatingwith complainants; and investigating complainants' reports of harassmentfrom defendants.
• Discipline police officers who refuse complaints of sexual or domesticviolence without cause, close cases without cause, or accept bribes toclose investigations.
• Take affirmative measures to protect complainants and witnesses fromharassment by defendants and their families.
• Provide female victims of violence with information about the namesand methods for contacting groups that assist victims. This informationshould be available in all languages commonly spoken in the station's region.

Legislators

• Amend the criminal procedure code to allow hospitals, clinics, or privatedoctors to be certified to conduct official forensic exams that will beadmissable in sexual assault prosecutions. Require that all doctors inemergency rooms and injury clinics be trained in the collection of medicalevidence for sexual assaults, and provide "rape kits"⁽¹⁾to facilitate the collection of such evidence.
• Provide a civil remedy for domestic violence victims in the form ofa legally enforceable protection order that is easily accessible and readilyavailable. Courts should issue such orders to direct the alleged battererto refrain from contacting, approaching, harassing, and assaulting thecomplainant. Violations of this order should be subject to criminal penalty.The police must enforce such orders diligently.
• Revise the criminal law to reinstate Article 118, which provided criminalsanction for forcing employees into sexual contact.
• Revise the criminal procedure code to institute protections for victimsof sexual violence during psychological interviews and face-to-face confrontationswith the accused offender in the course of police or prosecutorial investigations.Such protections may include provisions to allow women to have a therapistor nonlegal advocate present during the interviews and confrontations,and to train law enforcement officials in the symptoms and results of post-traumaticstress disorder so that they may be sensitive to any additional shock thatwomen may be prone to as a result of the confrontations.
• Allocate funds for the provision of social services to victims of sexualand domestic violence.
• Ensure that crisis centers are not restricted in their ability to provideservices for victims of sexual and domestic violence. Extensive scrutinyshould be given to any proposed licensing scheme, examining whether requirementsas to services provided and staffing prove essential to victims or insteadcreate obstacles to the provision of services.

To the United States Government

• Ensure that the Law Enforcement Assistance Program, which conductsseminars for Russian law enforcement bodies, continues to focus on investigatingand prosecuting sexual and domestic violence.
• Ensure that the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) legaleducation and reform projects include help in reforming the civil and criminallaw to provide equal protection to victims of sexual and domestic violence.
• Amend Section 498A(a)(3) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, whichcovers the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union and requiresthe president to "take into account not only the relative need butalso the extent to which that independent state is acting to" progresstoward democracy, market reform, arms control, and protecting human rights,to mandate specific documentation of the extent that independent stateis acting to protect women's human rights.
• Continue AID funding to nongovernmental and governmental crisis centersin Russia.

To the United Nations

• Draft a manual on the treatment of victims of crimes as directed inthe Ninth U.N. Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offendersin Cairo, Egypt in 1995. This manual should specify particular measuresthat police, prosecutors, and courts should take to safeguard victims ofsexual and domestic violence from retaliation by their assailants.

To the European Union

• Ensure that women's human rights are respected as a condition of thePartnership Agreement on trade and cooperation with Russia.

To the OSCE

• Act on the recommendations adopted at the October 1997 seminar on women'sstatus and participation in society and insist that monitoring and reportingon women's rights are a priority in future OSCE work. To this end, establisha high-level coordinator, preferably based in Vienna, with a mandate toensure that women's human rights are incorporated into all relevant OSCEoperations.
• Call on each member state delegation to the OSCE to report to the PermanentCouncil and the Chairman-in-Office on efforts undertaken by its governmentto implement OSCE standards related to women's status. Require each OSCEfield mission to report on its efforts to monitor the implementation ofsuch standards, on its outreach to local women's organizations, and onthe results of such activities. In Russia, OSCE monitoring of and supportfor women's rights should emphasize the need for legal protection for victimsof sexual or domestic violence.
• Develop the role of the Office for Democratic Institutions and HumanRights (ODIHR) in promoting women's human rights by ensuring that ODIHRstaff be trained in women's human rights and that at least one permanentstaff member has expertise in women's human rights and a mandate to ensurethat OSCE staff and field missions actively monitor and report on women'shuman rights.

To the Council of Europe

• The Parliamentary Assembly should direct the Social, Health and FamilyAffairs Committee to appoint a rapporteur to study the problem of sexualand domestic violence in the Russian Federation and to develop recommendedlegal and policy measures to give women effective redress against suchabuse.
• Monitor actively the problem of sexual and domestic violence and theresponse of law enforcement to such assaults in all member states, includingthe Russian Federation.

To the World Bank

• Require that the health sector reform projects in Russia that addresswomen's reproductive health issues include components for identifying andtreating sexual and domestic violence.
• Facilitate the development and use of rape kits to collect admissibleevidence of sexual assault.

1. Rape kits are designed to collect evidence ofrape and sexual assault from the victim's body and contain items such asseparate evidence bags for vaginal swabs, rectal swabs, pulled head hairs,saliva samples, pubic hair combings, outer clothing, foreign materials,and underwear.