Save a woman: crisis centers will prepare a methodology for work
The State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Paternity, Maternity and Childhood is preparing methodological recommendations for regions on the work of crisis centers for women in difficult life situations, deputy Tatyana Butskaya told Izvestia. The next step after the preparation of methodological recommendations is the development of a bill that will regulate the activities of such institutions. So far, there are not enough of them, although the demand is very high - according to the Moscow Mayor's Office, only one crisis center in the capital has received more than 4.5 thousand people over the year. Read more about how now work in Russia places where women in difficult situations can get help, and what awaits them in the future - in the material "Izvestia".
When the law on crisis centers will be developed
In July 2024, the head of the Duma Committee on Family Protection Nina Ostanina said that will be developed a federal law on the activities of crisis centers for women in difficult life situations. Tatyana Butskaya, the first deputy chairman of the Duma committee, told Izvestia that before the draft law appears, deputies, together with experts, will create methodological recommendations on the activities of crisis centers, both state-run and those founded by NGOs or private organizations.
- This is the work we are doing now. We have already prepared a draft of recommendations on the activities of non-profit centers, and a draft on the work of state institutions is on the way, " she said. - The documents will undergo public and professional discussion, and then the Ministry of Labor will send them to the regions so that they have an understanding of how to organize their work.
Tatyana Butskaya emphasizes that regulations on crisis centers are very important: a woman should be able to get help in a situation of acute crisis - no matter what regulations are adopted on the topic of domestic violence. All the more, as Victoria Chesnokova, a lawyer and senior associate in the private client practice of the Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov & Partners Bar Association, explained to Izvestia, criminal law does not now contain a special crime related to domestic violence: after the decriminalization of a number of articles of the Russian Criminal Code in 2017, it is mostly considered an administrative offense if it has not entailed grave consequences for the victim.
How many crisis centers are there in Russia
The Ministry of Labor told Izvestia that assistance to women in crisis or difficult life situations is now within the authority of the regions: the constituent entities of the Russian Federation determine the volume, duration and list of social services "based on their socio-cultural peculiarities and financial capabilities."
- A total of 134 organizations with almost 2,500 beds operate in 57 regions. In particular, there are 19 state crisis centers and 81 specialized departments created on the basis of social service organizations, - said the ministry. - Also help can be obtained in 16 non-state centers and 18 departments of social hospitals, opened by non-profit organizations and entrepreneurs. As a rule, such organizations are included in the register of social service providers and receive financial support in the form of subsidies from regional budgets.
Tatyana Butskaya notes that not every region has crisis centers, and the numbers vary, as there is no definition of what exactly constitutes a crisis center.
However, the assistance of crisis centers is very much in demand - this is shown, in particular, by the experience of Moscow , where a state crisis center for women and children has been operating for 10 years. In just one year, more than 4.5 thousand people applied for help in inpatient and semi-inpatient form, 108 women lived in the hospital.
-And for 10 years of existence of the crisis center employees in the conditions of hospital helped more than 3 thousand women who turned out to be victims of domestic violence, - said "Izvestia" Deputy Mayor of Moscow Anastasia Rakova. - The beneficiaries are provided with comprehensive support - psychological, legal and, most importantly, social. For the entire period of the center's work, almost 450 thousand services have been rendered to the victims. On average, a woman spends about three months in the center. Here women receive temporary housing, are helped to study, find a job and solve many everyday problems. After rehabilitation, many of them can ensure their financial independence, protect themselves and their children, and start their lives anew.
A large number of people in need also come to the centers of non-profit organizations for help. Marina Medvedeva, head of programs for the prevention of child abandonment and family strengthening at the charity organization SOS Children's Villages, notes that the demand for their crisis centers in the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, and Pskov always exceeds their capacity.
What crisis centers expect from the law
Maria Dugina, head of the Yaroslava Family and Children's Aid Center (Nizhny Novgorod Region), said that her organization sees one of the main problems as the poor awareness of prosecutors and fire inspectors of the mechanism of work of non-profit organizations: during inspections of crisis centers, the supervisory authorities impose the same requirements on them as they do on state organizations, although the specifics of their work are completely different. She believes that it is necessary to develop standards and criteria for inspectors to evaluate 24-hour residential centers.
- It is important that the law should take into account the experience of non-profit organizations in general," Marina Medvedeva added. - For example, the work of state crisis centers is regulated in such a way that all addresses are freely available, they can be found on any maps on the Internet. But this is not safe for those women and children who have sought help for domestic violence: very often husbands and partners find these places and continue to guard and threaten there.
Tatyana Stepanova, director of Smolensk Home for Mothers, also notes that for crisis centers, the law is very important first and foremost to ensure the safety of the wards and the institution itself. She tells the story of one of the wards of the "Home for Mom" who came to them with signs of repeated beatings.
- "A man chased her, at some point climbed up the fire escape and seriously injured the woman on duty," she told Izvestia. - At that moment, his wife and daughter were hiding under the table in the refectory - and the girl was so afraid of her father that she bit her lip to the blood.
At the same time, the woman was legally unprotected: the police regarded her problem as a "family squabble" and found no corpus delicti. Not only that, but the center itself was also extremely poorly protected: when "Home for Mom" demanded to bring the man to responsibility in connection with the penetration into the territory and causing harm to the employee, they also found no corpus delicti. Only through the court with the help of an experienced lawyer was it possible to win the case.
Marina Medvedeva also expressed concern that assistance may be limited if the law prescribes the need to seek help in crisis centers only at the place of residence registration or with a certificate from law enforcement agencies about domestic violence. However, the expert of "People's Front. Analytics" Irina Blinkova notes that in the summer of 2024, the law proposed to include in the standard of crisis centers just the inadmissibility of refusal of assistance due to lack of residence registration or other formal reasons. Anastasia Rakova reported that the Moscow crisis center introduced such a rule at the end of this year: now all women, regardless of registration, can apply for help.
How women in difficult situations are helped
Maria Dugina emphasizes that crisis centers work not only with women who have suffered from domestic violence. In the organization "Yaroslava" this is just one of the target audiences. Women who are facing a choice: to give birth or to have an abortion, to give up a newborn child or to keep it; women who simply need a place to live due to an unforeseen life situation can also turn to crisis centers.
However, it is family violence that becomes the main reason for turning to crisis centers.
- We have more than 70 moms and children who received help in 2023, and seven out of 10 of these mothers suffered from family violence," said the director of "Smolensk Home for Mom".
In the Moscow crisis center, the main reasons for treatment are also related to all forms of domestic violence, although they also accept people in difficult life situations. Including men who are prone to aggression, but are ready to change and keep the family together. In 65% of cases, 65% of crisis center psychologists were women, 13% were men, and 22% of those who applied were children together with their parents or legal representatives.
At the same time, the regional authorities and crisis centers founded by NGOs interact very actively. Thus, the Ministry of Social Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region told Izvestia that in addition to its own eight-bed crisis apartment on the basis of the Solnyshko social rehabilitation center for minors, assistance to women in difficult life situations is also provided on the basis of cooperation agreements with a number of NGOs: the Nizhny Novgorod Crisis Center, the Yaroslava Autonomous Nonprofit Organization, and the Being a Mother Center of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese. This, by the way, is another frequent situation - crisis apartments or homes for moms operate under religious institutions. In particular, the already mentioned "Smolensk Home for Mom" works on the territory of the Church of Archangel Michael and at the same time actively cooperates with local authorities.
- State institutions have stable funding, which allows them to employ highly qualified specialists of different profiles to help and provide a wide range of social services. But when state institutions work in conjunction with NPOs, it creates a unique synergy that greatly enhances the effectiveness of helping people. Thisis exactly the way we are going," Natalia Zavyalova, Director of the Moscow State Crisis Center for Women and Children, told Izvestia.
At the same time, it is very important that information about available help and contacts of crisis centers be as visible as possible, the Polina Crisis Center (St. Petersburg) told Izvestia. They urge such organizations to actively cooperate with the media and socially responsible businesses, so that those who may need help, learned about the opportunities to get it.
Where to go for help
Tatyana Butskaya emphasizes that despite the lack of such centers in some regions and the absence of regulations, women can always get help. There are hotline numbers: in Moscow you can call 8 (499) 977-17-05, and there is also a nationwide helpline for children, teenagers and their parents - 8 (800) 200-01-22, which women in crisis can call.
- They will be helped: they will be guided where to go and what to do, even if there is no crisis center in the region," the Duma deputy said. - It is always possible to find a way out of the situation.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
