One woman killed by domestic violence every hour in Russia

Domestic violence kills 14,000 women in Russia each year, which amounts to almost one woman every hour, or about the same number of Soviet soldiers who died fighting in the 10-year Afghan war. And at the moment there is no law to protect them.

Despite a population of about 11 million there’s no shelter in Moscow for abused women. Meanwhile, there are organisations taking steps to raise public awareness and put an end to abuse against women.

Fame and fortune couldn’t save Russian pop singer Valeria from the fists of her ex-husband. “I had no money, no power, I didn’t have anything, if I had said something I would have been killed,” she remembers.

Valeria endured 10 years of beatings and threats before breaking her silence.

Now divorced and happily remarried she hopes to encourage other Russian women to follow her lead and stop living in fear.

With no law on domestic violence in Russia, campaigners say there’s a lack of reliable statistics and the scale of the problem could be even worse. 

Campaigners say the root causes of violence aren’t simply alcoholism or drug abuse but are embedded in society.