Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a new law easing some penalties for domestic violence, a move which has alarmed women’s rights campaigners who fear it will encourage abuse.

The law reduces battery of a relative to a civil offense instead of a criminal one in first instances, when the victim suffered no serious harm.

READ MORE: Bill O’Reilly will not apologize for calling Vladimir Putin ‘a killer’

Those who support new legislation, including members of Putin’s United Russia party, say they want to protect parents’ right to discipline their children and to reduce the state’s ability to meddle in family life. They say anyone who inflicts serious physical harm will still be criminally liable.

But critics say the move is a step backwards which will exonerate “tyrants in the home” and discourage victims from reporting abuse.

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Each year, about 14,000 women die in Russia at the hands of husbands or other relatives, according to a 2010 United Nations report.

In a statement on its website, the Kremlin said Putin had signed the law after it was approved by both chambers in Russia’s parliament. The State Duma, or lower house of parliament, passed the bill in January in its second of three readings by 385 votes to two.</s>Story highlights Fines and community service introduced for some offenses

More than 85% of legislators the Duma approved the bill

Moscow (CNN) Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that decriminalizes some forms of domestic violence, according to state-run news agency Tass.

Dubbed the "slapping law," it decriminalizes a first offense of domestic violence that does not seriously injure the person, making it a less serious administrative offense.

The punishment carries a fine of up to 30,000 rubles ($507), an arrest up to 15 days, or compulsory community service up to 120 hours.

In cases of repeated assaults, a defendant faces a fine of up to 40,000 rubles ($676), compulsory community service for up to six months, or being held under arrest for up to three months.

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Read More</s>If it doesn’t work the first time, just try it again. That seems to be the Kremlin’s answer to dealing with its most annoying opponents.

The first is Aleksei Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner who has been a thorn in president Vladimir Putin’s side for years. After organizing mass anti-Kremlin protests in 2011 and 2012, he ran for mayor in 2013 and got nearly 30% of the vote.

On Feb. 8 a court in the city of Kirov handed Navalny a five-year suspended sentence for embezzling $500,000 from a state timber company while he worked for the city’s mayor. The conviction is a repeat of one he was given in 2013, before the mayoral election. The Russian supreme court overturned that conviction after objections from the European Court of Human Rights about the quality of the trial—only to order a retrial last November.

Navalny told reporters (paywall) he doesn’t recognize the court’s decision, and will appeal. However, that could take time, and the suspended sentence would prevent him from running in the 2018 presidential race—likely against Vladimir Putin, although the Russian president hasn’t yet announced whether he’ll run. (It would be his fourth term in office.)

The other Kremlin critic is Vladimir Kara Murza. Less known than Navalny, he works for Open Russia, an organization founded by former oil tycoon and Putin enemy Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He lives part of the year in the US, where he has lobbied for the Magnitsky Act—a law intended to sanction Russian officials involved in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in a Russian prison after allegedly being tortured.

Last week Kara Murza fell gravely ill. His wife told RFE/RL on Feb. 6 that he had been diagnosed with “acute poisoning by an undetermined substance,” and was experiencing the same symptoms as in 2015, when he suffered what he said was an attempted poisoning. He is now in a medically-induced coma.

Senator John McCain, a vocal Putin critic, spoke on the Senate floor on Feb. 7 about Kara Murza, whom he calls a friend. He said Kara Murza knew about the numerous political killings attributed to the Kremlin and Putin, including poisonings, but despite this decided to return to Russia after a recovery period in the United States. “Vladimir knew that Putin is a killer, and that he might very well be the next target,” he said.

Coincidentally, two days earlier, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly had called Putin a “killer” in a televised interview with president Donald Trump. That designation drew a demurral from Trump (“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. Well, you think our country’s so innocent?”) and a protest from the Kremlin (“insulting and impermissible,” said Putin’s spokesman).

Concerned about the potential warming of relations between the Kremlin and the US under a Trump administration, a group of US senators from both parties is preparing a bill that would give Congress oversight and veto power if Trump decides to lift US sanctions on Russia.</s>Vladimir Putin has signed a law that decriminalises some forms of domestic violence.

In January, the lower-chamber of the Russian parliament gave its overwhelming backing to the law that would ease some penalties for domestic violence, alarming women’s rights campaigners who fear it will encourage abuse. Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, the Federation Council, passed the bill on 01 February.

Dubbed the “slapping law,” the bill would allow parents to strike their children and husbands to strike their wives or partners.

The law will categorise as administrative offences — instead of criminal acts — cases of domestic violence that result in pain but not bodily harm.

The law, which the State Duma or lower house of parliament, passed in its second of three readings by 385 votes to two, would reduce battery of a relative to a civil offence instead of a criminal offence in first instances, when the victim suffered no serious harm.

Those who support the proposed change, including members of President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, say they want to protect parents’ right to discipline their children and to reduce the state’s ability to meddle in family life.

“This is a historic vote because in certain countries the state’s role in family life is way too much,” said then Andrei Isayev, a deputy representing United Russia. “Today’s vote will end such practices in the Russian Federation.”

Supporters of the amendment say anyone who inflicts serious physical harm will still be criminally liable. But women’s rights campaigners say it is a retrograde step. Women’s and children’s organisations as well as NGOs have vehemently criticised the proposed change in the law.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters it was important to distinguish between “family relations” and repeated instances of violence.

Each year, about 14,000 women die in Russia at the hands of husbands or other relatives, according to a 2010 United Nations report.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that decriminalizes some forms of domestic violence.

The law will categorize as administrative offenses -- instead of criminal acts -- cases of domestic violence that result in pain but not bodily harm.

Dubbed the "slapping law," the bill would affect parents who strike their children and people who strike their spouses or partners.

In the event of any danger to the victim’s health or in the case of repeat offenses, the perpetrator would face criminal charges.

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Under the new law, first-time administrative offenses would be punishable by a fine of up to 30,000 rubles ($500), detention for up to 15 days, or 120 hours of community service.

Supporters say the change is intended to prevent unwarranted interference by the state in domestic matters.

Women's and children's organizations as well as NGOs had criticized the proposed change in the law.

Russia's upper chamber of parliament, the Federation Council, passed the bill on February 1, a few days after it was approved by the lower-chamber of parliament.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that decriminalizes some forms of domestic violence, according to state-run news agency Tass.

Dubbed the “slapping law,” it decriminalizes a first offense of domestic violence that does not seriously injure the person, making it a less serious administrative offense.

The punishment carries a fine of up to 30,000 rubles ($507), an arrest up to 15 days, or compulsory community service up to 120 hours.

In cases of repeated assaults, a defendant faces a fine of up to 40,000 rubles ($676), compulsory community service for up to six months, or being held under arrest for up to three months.

More than 85% of legislators in Russia’s Duma approved the bill last month — seen as part of Putin’s drive to appease conservative pushing “traditional family values.”

The bill’s sponsors, including conservative senator Yelena Mizulina, believe the law would simply bring family law into line with reforms passed last summer that loosened punishment for other minor assaults.

Mizulina, a staunch proponent of traditional values, was also the author of Russia’s controversial “gay propaganda law,” which prohibits “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships.”

The Russian Orthodox Church, with its emphasis on the traditional family, has also influenced the debate. As have the traditional rules of Russian family life, including the “domostroi,” a centuries-old manual prescribing strict rules of behavior and requiring absolute submission to the head of the family.

Human Rights Watch had urged parliament to reject the law, calling it “dangerous and incompatible with Russia’s international human rights obligations.”

“Passage of this law would be a huge step backward for Russia, where victims of domestic violence already face enormous obstacles to getting help or justice,” Human Rights Watch Russia researcher, Yulia Gorbunova said last month.

Official data on domestic violence in Russia is not centrally collected so it’s difficult to verify. But state-run news agency RIA Novosti has reported that 40% of serious crimes in Russia are committed in the family, 36,000 women are beaten by their husbands daily, and 12,000 women die yearly as a result of domestic violence — one woman every 44 minutes.</s>Vladimir Putin has signed a controversial law partially decriminalizing domestic violence, in a move hailed by Russian conservatives but deplored by women’s rights campaigners.

The law ends criminal liability for battery of family members that does not cause bodily harm and is not a repeat offence.

It instead makes domestic battery equivalent to minor assault, which is an administrative offence punishable by a 30,000 ruble (£412) fine, 15 days in jail, or 120 hours of community service.

Repeat offences and attacks that cause injury will still be considered crimes.

Ultra conservative MPs who pushed the legislation through parliament said it eliminates an anomaly in the law that criminalized parents smacking their own children but allowed strangers to do so with impunity, and that serious offenders will still be held accountable.

Women’s groups bitterly opposed the amendment, saying it would lift one of very few legal protections against domestic violence.</s>President Vladimir Putin has signed a new law decriminalising some types of domestic violence.

The Russian leader passed the new law reducing the punishment for the offence of “battery of a relative”.

President Putin changed the offence from a criminal to a civil matter in cases when the victim suffered no serious harm.

The aim is to protect the rights of parents who want to discipline their children, supporters say. Anyone who causes serious harm will still face criminal charges.

But women’s rights campaigners have hit out at the move amid fears that domestic abuse rates could rise.

Others say it will exonerate “tyrants in the home” and discourage victims from reporting abuse.

Each year, 14,000 women in Russia are killed by husbands or relatives, a 2010 United Nations report found.

The lower house of Russia’s parliament passed the bill at its second reading in January by 385 votes to two. It was signed off on Thursday by the Russian President.

The offence of battery of a relative, in cases where there are no broken bones, previously carried a maximum prison sentence of two years. Now offenders face a fine or 15 days in prison if the offence has not happened more than once in a year.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into a law a controversial bill that decriminalizes many cases of domestic violence.

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The bill concerns assaults that inflict physical pain but do not cause bodily injury that threatens the victim’s health.

It means that the new law makes battery on a family member punishable by a $500 fine or a 15-day prison sentence – so long as they don’t break any bones.

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Previously, the Russian law carried a maximum jail sentence of two years.

Assaults causing serious injury or repeat offenses within a year would still be criminal offenses and carry potential jail terms.

Supporters of the new bill insist it does not encourage or sanction violence, but instead gives families a chance to reconcile after what the bill’s co-author, Olga Batalina, described as an “emotional conflict, without malice, without grave consequences”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it was important to tell the difference between serious violence and “various manifestations of family relations”.

But critics say the new law will make holding abusers accountable even more difficult and put lives at risk.

Politician Yury Sinelshchikov, who opposed the bill, said: “Women don’t often go to the police or the courts regarding their abusive husbands, now there will be even fewer such cases, and the number of murders will increase.”

Maria Mokhova, the executive director of the Sisters crisis center for abuse victims, told Reuters: “This law calls for the exoneration of tyrants in the home.”

Click for more from The Sun.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed off on a law that partially decriminalizes domestic abuse , a measure that sailed easily through the country’s socially conservative legislature despite pushback from women's- and children’s-rights advocates.

Under the new law, domestic violence that results in “minor harm,” such as small lacerations and bruising, will now be considered a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 or up to 15 days in jail, the Moscow Times reports. Before Tuesday's amendment, similar offenses carried a penalty of up to two-years in prison.

Second offenses within one year, and cases of extreme violence, will be considered criminal, however.

Legislation was passed last year similarly decriminalizing street assaults. In both cases, the two houses of the country’s legislature voted almost unanimously in favor of the measures.

The new legislation was proposed by ultra-conservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina, who also successfully lobbied for the passage of a law banning so-called “ gay propaganda ” in 2013. She argued for decriminalizing domestic violence on the grounds that parents in Russia should have the right to hit their children.

While premised on preventing lengthy prison sentences for parents who discipline their children by spanking or slapping them, critics of the law say that it marks a clear backslide for child protection and could easily undermine women's rights.

Domestic violence is endemic in Russia and overwhelmingly affects women, who account for about 74% of the country’s victims. Government figures from 2013 indicate that 91% of incidents reported against women were perpetrated by their husbands.

According to the Moscow-based ANNA National Center for the Prevention of Violence, women already see little point in seeking legal recourse for abuse, a situation that could worsen in the new legal environment. Some 74% of women who sought assistance from a national help line never reported abuse to police, the group said.

A 2003 study by Amnesty International concluded that 36,000 women were beaten by their husbands each day in Russia, while government figures from 2008 showed that thousands of women were dying each year at the hands of their spouse or other family member. Independent research also shows links between abuse and alcohol consumption in Russia.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin signs into law the decriminalization of domestic violence.