Guarding family well-being
Identifying and suppressing domestic crimes is one form of prevention and warning against more serious crimes against citizens' life and health, especially those committed within family relations. However, it is not easy to carry out this prevention without the victim's desire to punish the offender. After all, there are always reasons for reconciliation – the presence of minor children, the desire to preserve the family, the wife's financial dependence on the husband, the payment of a fine which also impacts the family budget, and others. Impunity, in turn, leads to an increase in the offender's self-esteem and a sense of permissiveness in their unlawful actions, and sometimes to irreparable consequences.
As reported at the joint meeting of the Council of the Public Law and Order Post of Beshenkovichi town and the District Interdepartmental Council for Assisting Victims of Domestic Violence held on July 29, the Chairperson of the Beshenkovichi District Court, Natalya Reut, stated that for the current period of 2025, the district court has considered 105 cases under Article 10.1, Part 2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus (assault and battery not causing bodily harm, intentional infliction of pain, physical or mental suffering committed against a close relative, family member, or former family member, or violation of a protective order). Proceedings were terminated in 46 cases, 42 of which were terminated due to reconciliation between the victims and the persons against whom administrative proceedings were conducted. 59 individuals were held accountable: 28 were fined, 10 family rowdies were placed under administrative arrest, and 21 were assigned community service, which is also an effective measure of punishment.
Natalya Petrovna raised the issue "On the application of other measures of influence, besides punitive sanctions, to persons who have committed domestic violence."
The agenda of the meeting also included the work of prevention entities with individuals who have experienced domestic violence, focusing on educational activities with minors and their legal representatives to prevent violence, abuse, and crimes against the sexual integrity of minors. Additionally, it covered the prevention and timely detection of domestic violence, and the provision of medical and psychological assistance to citizens seeking help at the Central District Hospital, as well as the organization of informational, educational, and preventive work with elderly citizens and people with disabilities.
In the past meeting alone, materials concerning 11 citizens who violated the law were reviewed, 4 of whom did so due to domestic disputes.
According to the district internal affairs department, there are currently 57 individuals registered for preventive measures at the district internal affairs department who have committed domestic violence. Individual preventive work is being carried out with each of them. Since the beginning of the year, 11 individuals from our district have been sent to therapeutic and labor rehabilitation centers, including 6 for committing domestic violence, and 3 criminal cases with a preventive focus in the sphere of family and domestic relations have been initiated.
As practice shows, more than 90 percent of crimes and offenses in the domestic sphere are committed while intoxicated. Alcohol is freely available, so much depends on drinking culture. Neither the police nor the punitive bodies can instill this in adults; only the individual can. However, victims of domestic tyranny can be helped.
Although family relationships are hidden from public view, and scandals within a family only become public knowledge when a victim calls the police or a tragedy occurs, to prevent irreparable harm due to the leniency of affected family members, and often due to the indifference of neighbors, and to ensure the perpetrator receives just punishment and does not evade responsibility, it is important in the fight against domestic crime to foster an active life stance among citizens, their intolerance towards the slightest manifestations of domestic violence.
Domestic violence should not be hushed up or tolerated, as impunity contributes to its repetition, and not just once. Do not wait for a tragedy; contact the Department of Internal Affairs, your local police inspector, or call the police at 102.
Larisa PAVLOVSKAYA.