Russia Wants Women To Be Proud Of Domestic Abuse Bruises: 'If He Beats You, He Loves You'

Last Tuesday, Vladimir Putin signed a controversial law decriminalizing domestic violence in Russia. The law downgrades abuse of a family member from a criminal offense to a civil one.

This week, one of Russia's most popular newspapers, Komsomolskaya Pravda, featured an article supporting the government's controversial decision saying women who are the beaten and abused should be "proud" of their bruises.

The law was heartbreaking to victims of domestic violence and was widely criticized by human rights organizations and leaders across the world, including The Prime Minister of Britain, Theresa May, and Amnesty International.

Yaroslav Korobatov, the writer of the article, goes on to say that women who are victims of domestic violence are more likely to give birth to boys, and they should "find solace" in that fact, DailyMail.com reports.

The article says,

For years, women who have been smacked around by their husbands have found solace in the rather hypocritical proverb, 'If he beats you, it means he loves you!' However, a new scientific study is giving women with irascible husbands new grounds to be proud of their bruises, insofar as women who are beaten, biologists confirm, have a valuable advantage — they're more likely to give birth to boys!

Korabatov uses research by evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa (the same person who wrote a 2005 article titled "Violent Men Have More Sons") to support this theory that abused women should be proud to bear their bruises, as boys are more coveted than girls in Russian culture.

Russian media might be singing the praises in favor of abusing women, but the rest of the world is singing a very different tune.

British Prime Minister Theresa May expressed her disapproval of the Russian law. She said to parliament, "We see this as a retrograde step by the Russian government. Repealing existing legislation sends out absolutely the wrong message on what is a global problem."

Amnesty International also stated the law is a "sickening attempt to trivialize domestic violence," according to DailyMail.com.

Putin's United Russia party (not surprisingly) actively supports the law and say they want to protect parents' rights to "discipline their children." This is surefire jargon for "abuse."

Laws like this delegitimize trauma and violence and will only stop victims of violence from reporting abuse.

Domestic abuse is already an epidemic in Russia. DailyMail.com cites a 2010 United Nations report that says 14,000 women in the country die every year from being abused by their family members.