Original article (in Serbian) was published on 25/9/2024; Author: Milica Ljubičić
“In Russia, a law was passed stating that a woman who experiences rape has the right to kill her rapist without facing criminal responsibility. The number of rapes has decreased by 43 percent in Russia”, claims Sasa Borojevic, a member of the Belgrade City Assembly, in a video recently shared on his Facebook profile. However, it is not true that Russia has such a law, and in recent years there have been several cases in which rape and violence victims were themselves the subjects of police investigations for suspected criminal offences.
In the video Borojevic recently shared on his Facebook profile, he claims that Russian law allows a victim to kill her rapist without criminal responsibility, which has contributed to a decrease in the percentage of rapes in Russia.
He did not specify which law he was referring to, but the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that would “regulate” this issue does not state that a victim can kill her rapist.
In recent years, Facebook has repeatedly shut down Sasa Borojevic’s accounts due to spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories. He gained particular popularity on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic when he made various false claims. He is also known for opposing vaccines and denying climate change. His current Facebook account has over nine thousand followers, and this video was viewed by thousands of people within two days.
That has been confirmed by the organization Nasiliu.net, which has been dealing with domestic violence issues in Russia for years, that such a law does not exist in Russia.
Article 37 of the Criminal Code, which discusses the exclusion of criminal responsibility, specifies that “actions taken in self-defense, that is, to protect against an attack that threatens life and health, are not considered a crime”.
This article, however, does not explicitly mention rape or other examples where self-defence may occur.
The key condition, however, is that the defence must be proportionate to the threat. This means that if a court determines that the victim used excessive force, it could lead to criminal responsibility for the victim.
Russian lawyers and human rights activists claim that the Russian legal system rarely applies this principle and often criminalizes those who attempt to physically defend themselves against sexual assault. This was stated in a 2020 article by one of the largest fact-checking websites, Africa Check. They referred to the case of Darya Ageniy, a Russian 18 years old woman who stabbed a man with a pencil-sharpening knife who tried to rape her and then fled. The police subsequently launched an investigation against her, not the attacker. According to AFP, the case was later dropped.
Furthermore, the mentioned law prescribes prison sentences of three to six years for those who commit rape, and for other cases, such as gang rape or the transmission of certain diseases, the prison sentences are longer. Article 131, which deals more specifically with the crime of rape, only mentions prison sentences for perpetrators.
Another example is the widely known case of the Khachaturyan sisters, who in 2018 killed their father after enduring abuse and sexual assault. Despite evidence of their abuse, the Russian prosecutor’s office charged them with premeditated murder. However, in March 2021, Russia launched an investigation into their deceased father for abuse and sexual assault.
Claims that in Russia a victim can kill her rapist, presented as an example of a justly system, have been circulating for several years in the global public.
In 2019, they were debunked by Croatian Faktograf. The following year, these claims circulated in South Africa, when fact-checking web portal Africa Check wrote about them.
In domestic media, they resurfaced in early 2021 when actress Milena Radulovic accused acting professor Miroslav Aleksic of rape. At that time, they were debunked by Istinomer and the fact-checking web portal of the French Press Agency (AFP).
Diana Barsegyan, spokeswoman for the Center against Violence towards Women, Nasiliu.net, told AFP that “women in Russia are not protected by law in cases of sexual violence. It is more common for the opposite to happen – any attempt by a woman to defend herself could be classified as a crime”.
AFP also reminded that in 2005, there was a debate in Russia about passing a law allowing women to defend themselves in cases of rape after a Russian woman was convicted of killing a man who tried to rape her.
In October 2018, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch published an article titled “I Could Kill You and No One Would Stop Me”, highlighting the many challenges faced by victims of domestic violence in Russia.
“Despite public awareness campaigns and two decades of discussions, as well as ongoing efforts by organizations and women’s rights activists, Russia does not have a national law on domestic violence, and domestic violence is not a distinct offence in the criminal code”, the article stated.
They noted that in 2017, Russia even reduced penalties for domestic violence offenders and made it more difficult for women to seek criminal prosecution. This change, for instance, eliminated prison sentences for the first instance of domestic violence that resulted in “minor injuries”. Domestic violence in Russia is still viewed as a “private” or “family” matter.
Russia also refused to sign the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in 2011.
The Russian state’s attitude toward domestic violence can also be reflected in the fact that in December 2020, the Ministry of Justice designated Nasiliu.net, which fights for victims’ rights and provides protection, as a “foreign agent”.
In his post, Borojevic also claims that the number of rapes in Russia has drastically decreased.
Statistics from recent years do not support this.
According to data from the Statista website, more than three thousand rapes or attempted rapes have been recorded annually in Russia from 2017 to 2021. The Moscow Times reports that Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs registered around 3,300 cases of sexual violence in 2022, but the unofficial number is likely higher.
The Moscow Times also notes that statistics from the Crisis Center for Women in St. Petersburg show that about 70 percent of women who are raped report it to the police, but only 10 percent result in a lawsuit. It is estimated that only one percent of men who commit this crime receive a prison sentence.
