Petersburg residents protest against domestic violence under heavy police surveillance as Khachaturyan case continues

On August 4, St. Petersburg feminists and their supporters gathered on Lenin Square to demand a law against domestic violence and justice for its victims. Local reporters estimated the number of protesters at between 1,000 and 1,500.

The direct impulse for the picket came from the ongoing murder case against the Khachaturyan sisters, who stand accused of killing their father after suffering physical, verbal, and sexual abuse at his hands for years on end. Protesters demanded the recriminalization of domestic violence in Russia as well as a law supporting victims who use violence in self-defense. “We don’t want anyone to make an exception for the Khachaturyans. We want a self-defense law to be passed and implemented properly,” the protest’s organizers told the crowd.

Among the most prominent slogans on display at the demonstration were “If he beats you, he gets charged” (a variation on the maxim “If he beats you, he loves you”) and “One in five,” the fraction of Russian women who say they have have experienced physical violence. Protesters also expressed solidarity with Moscow demonstrators who had been beaten and arrested by police the day before while calling for free elections. Independent candidates for the Moscow City Duma expressed their support for the St. Petersburg picketers in return.

The protest against domestic violence was conducted under a permit from local authorities, meaning that the risk of arrest for participants was minimal. However, police presence at the event was still heavy, with officers inspecting every poster and waving demonstrators through metal detectors at every entrance to Lenin Square. Official pressure also determined the timing of the protest: It was originally scheduled for July 27, but local officials asked organizers to reschedule the event so that it would not coincide with St. Petersburg’s Navy Day parade.