Law on domestic violence: Why are Belarusian officials against it?

Among other things, it's about how to help those who might become abusers or rapists because of their upbringing or desocialization. For example, there are different preventive interventions to reduce aggression or anger. So it's all a pretty big activity that could have been done before.

Nobody is going to do it now. The so-called authorities in Belarus have shown very clearly how to violate the law. The deputy minister also claims that according to the constitution women and men have equal rights. Well, no comment is necessary here. 

Euroradio: The law on domestic violence, which activists and human rights defenders have been fighting for for years, affects not only women but men as well. Is that correct?

Yulia Mitskevich: Of course. It is a problem that affects everyone, not just women. But women are more often in the position of victims. Some are more affected than others. Women are often victims of abuse and violence. For whatever reason, they may live in this situation for a long time and see no way out. As a result, they may even kill their partner in a moment of self-defense and be punished for murder. The law would help everyone. Domestic violence is a global and social problem. 

Euroradio: Is it true that in the post-Soviet space there is no law on domestic violence only in Belarus and Russia? Why do you think the authorities in these countries are so resistant to this initiative? Lukashenka called the project "dope, which was mainly borrowed from the West".

Yulia Mitskevich: It is better to ask this question to the authorities themselves. I think that in Russia the initiative has been suspended, while in Belarus there is no law. I think that passing a law means recognizing violence as a problem and recognizing that it is socially approved in our country.

In Russia, which started a war, there is a lot of violence. In Belarus, where there's also repression, there's a lot of violence. To pass a law means to recognize that the state and the authorities in our countries are represented as rapists. In essence, it means making a law against ourselves. That's how it is.

People who beat other people in the streets don't get warm and fuzzy when they come home. If you are a rapist and you beat up people you think are extremists, you will show up in your family in the same way. 
The highest level of violence is oppression and war.

Background: According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the first 11 months of 2022, 70 thousand cases of domestic violence were registered in Belarus. The records of the Ministry of Internal Affairs contain information about 14 thousand perpetrators of domestic violence.