Reasons why all forms of domestic violence should be contemplated by international criminal law

Contents
I. Introduction 2
III. Analysis of domestic violence forms in literary sources 5
a. What is domestic violence? 5
b. The forms of domestic violence 8
III. Legal bases of international and national criminal protection against domestic violence 12
a. Criminal and legal protection against domestic violence in international legal acts 12
b. Criminal protection against domestic violence in some national laws 14
IV. Analysis of judicial practice on criminal protection from domestic violence 19
a. The most common types of domestic violence 19
b. Reasons why all forms of domestic violence should be contemplated by international criminal law 21
V. Measures for the prevention of offences in the field of domestic violence 24
a. Prevention of COVID violence 24
b. Policy measures for the prevention of domestic violence 25
VI. Conclusion 28
VII. References 30

I. Introduction
Any violence is a phenomenon that has a negative impact on the healthy state of society. The phenomenon of domestic violence is particularly devastating and manifests itself in all sectors of society, affecting people of all ages.
Domestic violence is a complex and dangerous problem, which is very important to talk about, since no one should be subjected to violence and other cruel or degrading treatment.
Domestic violence has a huge destructive impact, which is projected on the immediate environment, disrupts the functioning of social institutions. This is a matter of security for each individual. Violent crimes on family and domestic grounds have not only an increased social danger, but also a high latency, which makes it necessary to study them more deeply and carefully. This problem is particularly acute during crises, emergencies, social disasters, pandemics, which exacerbate many unresolved issues.
Countering physical and psychological violence in society is carried out via the implementation of various social measures. An important place in their structure is occupied by the criminal-legal impact on the perpetrators and the provision of real legal and other resocialization assistance to domestic violence victims. At the same time, it should be emphasized that in the modern period, not only women and children are among the victims, but also elderly people of different genders and other family members. This is evidenced by the world statistics.
This global trend is determined by many economic and social factors. An important place among them is occupied by the reduction of the role, social status and overall importance of a person in the system of social values, especially in the conditions of economic and social disasters, an exaggerated idea of the need to achieve "life success" by any means, including illegal ones. The positive ideological paradigm is being transformed.
So, according to the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus: "The world countries should pay attention to the increase in the number of domestic violence cases in conditions of forced self-isolation during the coronavirus epidemic”(Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus 11:18 PM · 4 аpr. 2020).
The number of calls to the "hotline" from victims of bullying by spouses and acts of aggression increased in France by 30 %, in China by more than 25 %.
The victim of domestic violence suffers from a violation of their right to personal integrity; in some cases, the right not to be held in servitude, not to be subjected to torture, or even the right to life may suffer.
In this study, we consider the subject of protection from domestic violence within the framework of international law. All these rights are enshrined in international legal instruments, are protected by international bodies and, thus, are included in the system of global human rights law. Within the framework of human rights protection, Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) defines the forms of domestic violence that should be criminalized: psychological, physical, economic, sexual; harassment; forced marriages; genital mutilation; forced abortions and sterilizations. However, this list does not cover all types of domestic violence.
In addition to the above, traditional forms of threats that are characteristic of domestic violence cases are, for example, the threat to take away children, distribute personal photos and confidential information, withhold family money, or any threat of physical violence that does not lead to serious health harm.
All of the above, of course, emphasizes the special relevance and need to discuss the problem of domestic violence, develop fundamentally new solutions, strategies and tactics to combat this problem.
The purpose of the study is to analyze the reasons why all forms of domestic violence should be considered under international criminal law.
Research objectives:
1. Consider the main definitions that reveal the leading signs of domestic violence;
2. Study the legal framework for international criminal protection against domestic violence;
3. To study the jurisprudence on international criminal protection against domestic violence;
4. Analyze the features of legal protection against various forms of domestic violence.

III. Analysis of domestic violence forms in literary sources
a. What is domestic violence?
The unique feature of social relations that are formed between persons who are in a single family and household connection is determined by the lack of universal laws for their implementation and development. The non-standardized nature and methods of ensuring the integrity and preservation of unique intra-family values directly by the members of this social institution also determines its specific content.
At the same time, the fundamental critical factor that can not only create a threat to the security of family traditions, but also contribute to the emergence of new adverse consequences for the family unity maintenance, is now recognized as actively gaining public awareness of the need to prevent the domestic violence phenomenon.
The family is the basis of modern developed society and the state. However, often, the change and formation of a new family values’ concept leads to certain trends, when each subsequent generation takes from the previous one only what is necessary for it, and brings its own, individual for different time realities, family customs and traditions. It should be noted that interaction between people is not always based on mutual understanding, support, assistance, respect and kindness, which, it would seem, should be the fundamental principles for a person in our time, and traditions and customs are significantly dissonant with the interests and development of society.
The problem of family and domestic violence is the most relevant for modern realities. The ongoing deformations of relationships between family members, which manifest themselves in various forms: from insults and beatings to causing serious harm to health, causing death or leading to suicide, are increasingly being introduced into modern society. Often, people who commit acts of domestic violence consider their actions to be humorous, acceptable, or even normal for society.
Acts of domestic violence have a high latency rate, caused by strict control on the part of offenders, fear of violence victims, or the unwillingness of victims to publicize problems that have arisen in the family (due to possible public censure, disclosure of family secrets, psychological shortcomings or deviations). The high latency of these offenses, of course, complicates their actual prevention and disclosure, and as a result, timely suppression.
Unfortunately, modern society also remains on the sidelines. The actions of individuals on the principle of "If I interfere, I will have problems", "They’ll figure it out without me", "These are family issues" do not allow timely identification of problems in couples where there are facts of abusive and violent actions, or families with a high risk of such informal relationships.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), domestic violence is a global problem connected with health and human rights issue worldwide.
Considering the forms of domestic violence, most often in literary sources we see violence against women.
Women are most at risk of violence from intimate partners (husbands, cohabitants, lovers). Violence manifests a form of not only physical, but also psychological coercion. This is due to the fact that a woman was (and still is in many world cultures) the property of her father as the head of the family, and after marriage she is the property of her husband.
Consequently, rape is a crime involved inflicting moral and physical harm not to the victim himself, but to her patron. Encroaching on the female sexuality of someone else's wife equally meant encroaching on the property of the husband. That is why in many legal systems, mainly Anglo-Saxon, as such, the rape of the wife by the husband was considered legally impossible, since after the conclusion of the marriage union, the legal rights of the wife passed to the rights of her husband.
Only since the second half of the 20th century, under the auspices of feminist and other organizations fighting for women's rights around the world, the process of large-scale criminalization of spousal violence began. Despite the fact that in a number of Scandinavian states spousal violence was recognized as illegal even before the 1970s, in most Western European states, the active process of criminalization of spousal violence occurred in the 1980s and 1990s.
Violence against women or gender-based violence occurs in 20-70% of married couples worldwide (Stockl H., Devries K., Rotstein A., Abrahams N., Campbell J., Watts C., & Moreno C. G. 2013), this is due to the peculiarities of the accepted gender models. In the final WHO report on the state of violence prevention (World Health Organization Responding to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women: WHO clinical and policy guidelines) it is stated that up to 30% of women in relationships have been physically and / or sexually assaulted by their partner. Up to 38% of murders of women in the world are committed as a result of domestic aggression.
Domestic violence is a manifestation of violence or ill-treatment of one person against another one, committed at home. Most often it is manifested in the form of violent actions, threats, various kinds of restrictions of a spouse or partner against another spouse or partner. The same applies to domestic violence actions against other family members and other persons. Most often it is accompanied by an attempt to gain power and control over other family members.
Violence can adversely affect the physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health of women, increase the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases or AIDS in a number of circumstances, and in some cases lead to the death of the victim or aggressor. As a rule, information about domestic violence cases is not reported to law enforcement agencies, and the data recorded by health services also does not reflect the real state of affairs.
Lawyers refer such cases to the so-called latent crime. Only a small number of women who have experienced domestic violence report it to their doctor, and very few doctors ever ask them about it. Women often do not report violent acts committed against them to the internal affairs bodies. In this regard, the spread of this crime is not reflected in the statistics.
Over time, the attitude of society and the government to domestic violence has changed, but only in the last century, violence began to be recognized as a social problem and received a negative assessment from experts who deal with this problem. Statistics show that violence is used not only in dysfunctional families, but also among citizens with prestigious jobs, higher education and a stable financial situation. It should also be noted that men, women, children, and the elderly are also subjected to violence.

b. The forms of domestic violence
Approaches to domestic violence vary from country to country. For example, in the Criminal Code of San Marino Republic, Article 235 "Mistreatment" provides for liability for the fact that a person mistreats a family member who is subordinate to him or entrusted to him.
Until 1970s, domestic violence as a type of criminal act was not considered at all. Feminist movements, whose main task was to recognize the equal rights of men and women, played a major role in the fight against domestic violence. Subsequently, Spain and Peru adopted a special amendment on penalties for domestic abuse; in France, an amendment to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code was made that allows public organizations to fight violence to act as plaintiffs in court. Then special laws were developed, the purpose of which was to create a legal framework for the implementation of an integrated approach to solving the problem. Now such laws are in force in more than 20 countries(State Responses to Domestic Violence. WLDI; Wash, 1996).
In 1994, the United States adopted the first law on violence against women – Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). This Law has become a landmark in the history of US law. It contains a detailed list of persons who are subject to the provisions of the Law, the grounds and the list of acts classified as cases of domestic violence. US criminal law is based on the provision that, regardless of the official status of the family relationship, any case of domestic violence is considered a criminal offense. Regardless of the migration status, the human right to security must be respected.
The Violence Against Women Act in the United States (VAWA) includes not only women, but also men and children in the United States of America, regardless of their race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnicity, national origin, or immigration status.
Moreover, in the United States, there is a special "hotline" for victims of domestic violence, it works 24 hours a day, and dispatchers speak 10 languages (including Russian). Calls are received by experienced psychologists, whose main task is to listen to the applicant and give advice on what to do next.
In 2011, the Council of Europe developed the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (). The Istanbul Convention obliges the countries that ratify it to bring their national legislation to the following provisions –
- criminalization of all domestic violence forms, including psychological, physical, economic, sexual; harassment; forced marriages; genital mutilation ; forced abortions and sterilizations;
- state social policy should promote the inadmissibility of domestic violence, including not being justified by national and cultural traditions, customs and religion.
Currently, this document has been ratified by 30 countries. The United States and Russia are not among the countries that have ratified it.
Despite the high social significance of the convention, its ratification is difficult. The first country to ratify this document was Turkey. However, Turkey was the first state to withdraw from the convention. The main reason for the non-adoption of this document and the withdrawal of countries is a vague gender definition. Many countries consider the inclusion of the gender concept as an attempt to popularize homosexuality and a blurring of traditional concepts. Gender refers to socially constructed expectations, attributes, roles, behaviors, and activities that a society attributes and considers acceptable to men and women.
Under German law, domestic violence victims can contact the police within three months, or call police officers directly to the crime scene, and in this case, you do not have to write a statement, the case will be opened without the victim's statement. The police can also impose a ban on contact with the victim on the spot.
In some countries, domestic violence is considered necessary and justified by law. In these countries, as a rule, a patriarchal lifestyle is widely expressed and relations between men and women are not considered as equal(Esquivel-Santoveña, Esteban Eugenio; Lambert, Teri L.; Hamel, John, January 2013).
Despite a certain list of domestic violence types in international legal acts, in some cases, there are such types as forced abortion, forced refusal to eat, forced refusal of medical care, coercion and control in the reproductive sphere, restriction in behavior, restriction to join certain types of culture, forced marriage, incest.
Drawing attention to the high importance of the problem, however, in some countries there are reverse processes of domestic violence decriminalization. The example is Russia. In February 2017, Russia carried out one of the most resonant criminal law reforms of recent years, which is known as the decriminalization of domestic violence. Beatings against family members, for which the maximum penalty was two years in prison, became an administrative offense (Zebnitskaya A. K., 2020).
Without going into a detailed description of the violence forms, let's consider who is the subject and object of domestic violence. As a rule, the subject of violence is a man, and the object is a woman, in relation to whom he is a husband or cohabitant. But since domestic violence is considered an act that occurs at home, it involves all family members and co-habitants of the abuser. These include children, elderly parents, cohabitants, and other persons who live together with the abuser. All these violence objects require legal protection.
At the same time, the list studied in this section is unfairly considered exhaustive, since it is impossible to exclude the potential risk of using other methods of ill-treatment and domestic violence that hinder the full realization of rights and freedoms.
Thus, in the world practice, there is a system of legal protection for domestic violence victims. However, at present, there is no single approach to understanding domestic violence in the world practice. In some countries, a number of monstrous customs and traditions that infringe on the rights of women, children and other family members are the norm and are part of the system of traditional customs. In general, there is no common understanding of domestic violence in the world, hence the different legal approaches to the protection of domestic violence victims.

III. Legal bases of international and national criminal protection against domestic violence
a. Criminal and legal protection against domestic violence in international legal acts
Criminal protection against domestic violence is included in the provisions of many international agreements such as: the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court () ; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights () ; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights () ; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women () ; Convention on the Rights of the Child () ; European Convention on the Implementation of the Children's Rights() ; Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms () ; Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women () and others.
The unifying element is the United Nations (UN). The UN Charter contains the principle of respect for human rights, which is imperative for all participating countries. It also contains the duty of States to develop respect for human rights.
Human rights were explicitly described in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the first time since the founding of the United Nations () . It enshrines, in particular, the right to life, liberty and security of person; the right not to be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, or to be held in servitude. Similar rights are guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The victim of domestic violence suffers from a violation of their right to personal integrity; in some cases, the right not to be held in servitude, not to be subjected to torture, or even the right to life may suffer. All these rights, as shown above, are enshrined in international legal instruments and are protected by international bodies and, thus, are included in the system of global human rights law.
As mentioned above, in 2011 the Council of Europe developed the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (). This document includes a number of forms that characterize the types of domestic violence, considers various aggravating circumstances and measures to prevent them.
International instruments aimed at protecting against domestic violence are of high importance, since they define standards both on a global legal scale and for national legislation.
Despite the active work of legal institutions to protect against domestic violence, a number of authors (Sunstein, C.S 1996, Klugman, J., 2017,) note that to date, the measures are insufficient. The main problem with the weak work of international instruments is, first, their non-ratification by many countries. Even with the ratification of international instruments on criminal protection against domestic violence, local laws are weak or do not work.
The second global reason for weak protection is the cultural peculiarity of attitudes to this problem in certain countries. Cultural traditions change much more slowly than legislative acts, and in this regard, the traditions of domestic violence remain unresolved.
The third global cause of weak protection against domestic violence is the weakness of national institutions for protection against violence and the lack of awareness of the rights of domestic violence victims. Often, victims who accept cultural traditions do not suspect that the violence that is used against them is an offense and is protected by criminal law.
Based on the above, a number of conclusions can be drawn. First, it can be argued that the world is actively forming a system of global human rights law via the creation of special acts on human rights and bodies overseeing their compliance.
Secondly, it can be argued that the global human rights system requires from states to protect the personal rights of citizens, in particular the rights to life and personal integrity affected by domestic violence. Moreover, the protection of these rights should be carried out at the criminal law level.

b. Criminal protection against domestic violence in some national laws
As a result of the conscientious implementation of international obligations, the national laws of individual states, taking into account the careful observance of the principles of implementation and the specifics of their political, economic, ideological and other determining factors, regulate as a criminal offense ill-treatment, causing physical harm, restriction of rights and freedoms, restriction of access to resources, psychological oppression, improper performance of parental duties and many other factors that somehow fall under the definition of domestic violence.
Therefore, in order to get a clear idea of the fundamental and guiding principles that reflect the tasks of the states’ criminal policy in the field of combating domestic crimes, against minors, the elderly and other persons, it is necessary to conduct a comparative legal study of the special criminal law norms in some countries, which allows to identify common and distinctive features of the procedural mechanism for implementing measures to ensure the protection of inalienable rights and freedoms, in terms of criminal protection from domestic violence.
The United States has a set of laws that ensure the safety of violence victims:
1. The Violence Against Women Act (the Violence Against Women Act) made it a federal offense to abuse marital relations, which meant that it was possible to extend this law to the entire country.
Recent amendments to the law also provide for a new type of domestic violence, technological coercion, which is harming, threatening, intimidating, controlling, harassing, harassing, depersonalizing or monitoring another person.
The Brady Act (the Brady Bill and an Extension of Brady into Law) , is the copyright law, which deprived the right to bear arms to persons suspected or found guilty of domestic violence.
The law protecting children from sexual offenses was also adopted ( Megan’s Law and The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act) . The accused under this law is entered in the register of offenders.
In 2004, the Basic Act of the UK Parliament was adopted: Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act. The concept of domestic violence , according to this law, includes physical, psychological, sexual, financial or emotional coercion . This approach is aimed at a systematic fight against domestic violence, preventing the narrowing of domestic violence only to beatings and other types of physical violence.
Walker A., Lenore E. (1979) note that, in general, English law does not distinguish between the prosecution of a crime committed against a stranger and a crime against a family member, except in cases where the family relationship between the victim and the accused is recognized as an aggravating circumstance. What is essential is the question of effective measures applied exclusively in cases of domestic violence, aimed at ensuring the victim’s safety and breaking the so – called cycle of violence, the recurring typical stages of the conflict.
An important advantage of anti-domestic violence legislation in the United States and the United Kingdom is the combination of criminal and civil law measures.
Next, we will consider protection from domestic violence in European countries by the example of child protection.
Article 219 of the Swiss Criminal Code is a clear example that illustrates one of the options for a legislative approach to protecting the interests of children from criminal attacks , establishing criminal liability for violating the duties of guardianship or upbringing in relation to a minor or for negligent attitude towards them, creating a threat to his physical or spiritual development. From this it can be concluded that when assessing the qualitative characteristics of ill-treatment under Swiss criminal law, it is necessary to identify the actual composition of not only non-compliance with the obligations for the minor’s maintenance, but also the presence of negligent attitude towards them, which can ultimately have a negative impact on the state of his psychophysical health.
It is important to note that in a number of European States, guarantees of ensuring humane treatment of children, along with criminal legislation, are also enshrined in other codified acts. For example, Article 1631 of the German Civil Code , declaring the right of children to non-violent education, at the same time does not allow the use of any corporal punishment, bodily harm, as well as other measures that humiliate the individual’s dignity. In case of deviation from these mandatory instructions, the appointment is possible in accordance with Article 171 of the German Criminal of criminal punishment for gross violation of the duties in guardianship and upbringing of a person under 16, which creates a risk of socially dangerous consequences for the physical and psychological development of the ward, to create conditions for his criminal lifestyle or prostitution. Thus, the peculiarity of the German legislation in the field of combating the manifestation of ill-treatment is the normative consolidation of legal sanctions both for the use of physical and psychological violence, and for creating an environment conducive to the formation of immoral views in a minor and, as a result, the development of the minor’s deviant behavior.
A similar kind of state program is followed by the French legislator. Article 227-15 and article 227-17 of the French Criminal Code specify the forms of ill-treatment and, accordingly, provide for criminal liability for the commission by persons who have parental authority over a child of acts that are expressed in depriving a minor of food or care, and pose a danger to his health, as well as the evasion of these persons from performing their duties, entailing a threat to the health, safety, morals and upbringing of a minor child.
By virtue of part 2, Article 207 of the Polish Criminal Code special cruelty is a qualifying sign of a crime under part 1, Article 207 of the Criminal Code, which is expressed in the use of physical or psychological violence against a relative or other person who is permanently or temporarily dependent on the perpetrator, including a minor and a helpless person in connection with their physical or mental state.
Thus, we can say that at the level of national criminal and civil laws, the problem of protection from domestic violence is quite broad and covers many aspects of this offense type.

IV. Analysis of judicial practice on criminal protection from domestic violence
a. The most common types of domestic violence
UN research suggests that the most common crime in the field of domestic violence is the crime characterized by the infliction of physical violence () .
The analysis of criminal cases initiated on the fact of intentional harm to health in the sphere of family and domestic conflicts indicates that most often this type of crime is committed with the help of physical actions that violate the functions or anatomical integrity of vital human organs. In the vast majority of cases, when committing violent crimes against the person, the perpetrators caused harm to health by using a knife or household items (kettles, pans, plates, etc.) as weapons.
So, the methods of committing intentional harm to health, committed on a family-household basis, are very diverse, most often the criminal uses household tools (knives, axes, sticks, broken bottles, stools, pans, dishes, etc.), what came to hand, or physical impact with body parts (punches, kicks, squeezing).
A distinctive feature of intentional harm to health on a family-household basis is that, as a rule, it is impulsive, situational in nature. As evidenced by the materials of judicial practice, intentional harm to health occurs most often as a result of a sudden personal hostility.
The second most frequent crime committed in the family is forced sex or rape by the husband of the wife.
During this time period, many European courts have considered a large number of complaints initiated on the fact of rape by the husband of his wife. A high-profile case heard in the European Court of Human Rights. “S. W. versus United Kingdom” since 1995 has completely led to the abolition of the precedent formulated as early as 1736 by Judge Sir Matthew Hale: "143 A husband cannot be guilty of violence committed by him against his lawful wife, because by their consent and the marriage contract, the wife is given to her husband and cannot refuse him anything. 79” . In 1993. the UN General Assembly adopted the "Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women", which meant the recognition of marital rape as a crime against sexual integrity and a violation of human rights throughout the world community. However, despite the tendency to criminalize marital rape in most modern developed and developing countries, where this type of crime is legally formalized, there are still those that directly contrast marital rape with a crime in their legislation.
Such countries include Ethiopia, according to the laws of which rape is considered any act that infringes on the sexual integrity of a woman outside of marriage, and the legislation of South Sudan explicitly states that any sexual intercourse of a married couple, even with the use of coercion, is not rape.
The main problem that hinders the criminal regulation of marital rape in principle is that the absolute majority of victims of single or long-term sexual violence in marriage do not complain to the relevant law enforcement agencies. The reasons for this fact are many, ranging from banal shame and fear of public censure, ending with the systematic infliction of moral and physical harm by the rapist for the purpose of intimidation.
It is also possible to identify such subjective factors that prevent victims of domestic violence from reporting a crime, such as moral and economic dependence on the aggressor. Indeed, such circumstances occur quite often. Victims of spousal violence, who are directly financially dependent on their spouse, quite often do not have the opportunity to break off their relationship with him, file for divorce, because they do not have the financial opportunity to live independently. Also, this situation worsens with the presence of joint children in the spouses. As for the moral dependence on the spouse-rapist, everything is not so clear.

b. Reasons why all forms of domestic violence should be contemplated by international criminal law
In the previous sections, we have considered the forms of domestic violence defined by international legislation. Without repeating in the list of their types and forms, we will proceed to consider a number of domestic violence forms that are not included in the targeted criminal protection.
These include such forms as control and coercion.
Special attention is paid to a new gender — neutral crime-forced control, the criminalization of which is considered unprecedented and highly controversial.
Illegal control is recognized as a number of actions aimed at subjugating a person, isolating him from his relatives, depriving him of the means necessary for independence, resistance or escape.
Coercion, in turn, is a continuing act or pattern of behavior (assault, threats, humiliation, etc.) aimed at harming, punishing, or intimidating the victim.
The forms of coercion carried out by them within the framework of domestic relations include the following: coercion to abortion, coercion to refuse or eat food, coercion to refuse medical care, coercion and control in the reproductive sphere, restriction in behavior, coercion to certain types of culture, coercion to marriage, coercion to terminate pregnancy, and others.
As we can see from the list of types of coercion, there are types related to sexual coercion. Although forced marriage or forced termination of pregnancy are not directly sexual in nature, they are often classified as sexual crimes.
The problem is that violence through coercion is difficult to qualify. It is not always possible within the framework of criminal law to determine a direct connection between the actions of the one who compels and the actions of the coerced. Based on public practice, such forms of action as the decision to terminate a pregnancy and actions of a reproductive nature can only be of a personal nature. It is believed that a woman herself decides to terminate a pregnancy or not, and all responsibility, both legal, moral and spiritual, falls on her. However, often an unwanted pregnancy becomes a problem for the family and the decision to give birth to a child is not always made by a pregnant woman.
In this regard, coercive measures may be taken, both by the father of the unborn child, and by the parents or other family members. In this case, enforcement measures may not look at all criminal and are overlooked from the category of crimes.
In our opinion, there is a clear division between forms of criminally punishable domestic violence and forms that are not criminal. One of the signs of a criminal offense is causing direct damage to the health of the violence victim. In this case, both the criminal norms of national legal systems and international legal norms are fully applied.
Such forms as restriction of certain actions, restriction of access to technological means, coercion or restriction of cultural values are also a complex problem of proving and legal qualification of domestic violence. These categories themselves are difficult to measure, and the diagnosis and determination of the offenses’ composition in such forms of domestic violence can be attributed to the norms of family culture, etiquette, and pedagogical elements of education.
It should be noted that the most popular high-profile cases of criminal protection against domestic violence today are caused by offenses against women and children. In this regard, there is a clear trend of strengthening women's rights with the increasing role of feminist movements in the world and against the background of these cases, offenses of other forms often go unnoticed. Based on the above, it is necessary to work more carefully on the methodology for identifying all types of domestic violence and actively work to improve the world-class criminal legislation against domestic violence.
Based on the above, we can draw a number of conclusions. First, it can be argued that the world is actively forming a system of global human rights law via the creation of special acts on human rights and bodies overseeing their compliance.
Secondly, it can be argued that the global human rights system requires states to protect the personal rights of citizens, in particular the rights to life and personal integrity affected by domestic violence. Moreover, the protection of these rights should be carried out at the criminal law level.

V. Measures for the prevention of offences in the field of domestic violence
a. Prevention of COVID violence
As mentioned above, domestic violence is on the rise worldwide during the COVID pandemic, when people are forced to spend significant time at home. In this regard, the problem of domestic violence is becoming more acute, since the victims are literally locked up with their abusers. In addition, domestic violence directly depends on all kinds of social tensions, including pandemics and unemployment, when stress increases, hence the need for aggressors to exercise control over those who are more vulnerable, and when people are also in a closed space for a long time, the increase in domestic conflicts and family violence is inevitable.
Data collected from US police departments gives us an idea of the impact of COVID-19 on domestic violence in some states, for example, in Portland, Oregon, public schools were closed since March 16, 2020, and people were at home on March 23 due to self-isolation measures. In the aftermath, the police bureau recorded an increase in arrests of as much as 20% related to domestic violence.
In San Antonio, it is noted that in March 2020, 18% more phone calls related to domestic violence were received than in March 2019. Jefferson County, Alabama, also saw a 27% increase in reports of domestic violence.
In France, reports of domestic violence have increased by as much as 30%, according to the United Nations on Gender Inequality and Women's Empowerment.
In Argentina, since the self-isolation, there has been an increase of 20%, in Cyprus, a 30% increase in calls to the helpline is reported.
One way or another, the house does not always become a safe place to live.
For children and adults, the home is sometimes a place where they are subjected to both physical and psychological violence, sexual acts. Therefore, in the context of a pandemic, the call for "stay home" has serious consequences for those who already live with the so-called abuser.
The pandemic has allowed the authorities to look at the problem from a different angle.
Realizing that prolonged self-isolation has only made the situation worse, the authorities should provide a kind of "shelter" for those who have been subjected to domestic violence. You should also speed up the consideration of appeals, conduct consultations and respond to any call for help. All this is necessary, as a huge number of people are in danger.
The famous British social thinker Elias Salomon Canneti said: "Violence, if it can be delayed, becomes power." And, unfortunately, these are the harsh realities. Drastic measures are needed to combat domestic violence, which, if the authorities fail to act, will become the "norm" for us.

b. Policy measures for the prevention of domestic violence
In order to prevent family conflicts at the early stages, which are still safe for all members of these relationships, it is necessary to contact qualified specialists in this field; this will significantly reduce the number of victims of domestic violence and crimes of a family-household orientation. To do this, it is necessary to learn from the experience of the United States and the United Kingdom and create psychological and material support services for domestic violence victims.
Often, the suppression of the aggressor’s illegal behavior does not mean the actual escalation of the conflict. The person brought to justice may continue to put pressure on the violence victim, harassing them either personally or indirectly: via third parties or in the Internet space (via social networks, messengers, etc.), transferring the actual abuse to the zone of stalking or cyberbullying.
The way out of this situation is seen in improving the existing system of protection for witnesses and victims, the allocation of a separate segment in law enforcement activities, programs for the protection of domestic violence victims.
These programs should be implemented in conditions of a high secrecy degree, with the assignment of direct interaction with violence victims only to a narrowly defined circle of officials. In exceptional cases, apply measures for the resettlement of such victims within the framework of state programs for assistance to domestic violence victims, assistance in their re-socialization and psychological adaptation to new conditions.
As part of the resolution of this problem, it is necessary to remember that it is impossible to prevent the violence manifestation only by means of coercive measures of a suppressive nature on the state’s part. Law enforcement agencies play an important role in the prevention of domestic crime, but the primary task of preventing and detecting domestic violence should be performed by psychological and social support services, as well as society, the environment of problem families and partners.
However, it should be taken into account that all this is only one structural element in the overall system of countering domestic violence. This is important to keep in mind, also because the participants in these relationships are usually close people in this microenvironment: children, close and distant relatives, wives and husbands, cohabitants and other persons.
An important factor, in our opinion, is the introduction of the legal liability institution for failure to report information to law enforcement agencies on each case of domestic violence that has become known to any member of the above-mentioned reference groups.
Then, as noted above, the current policy aimed at preventing illegal behavior in the family, of course, is its timely prevention. It is impossible to carry out such actions without proper public attention to this problem on the part of law enforcement agencies.
An additional institution of legal responsibility for refusing to provide information that has become known to third parties about the facts of domestic violence, unwillingness to assist officials of state authorities in preventing and suppressing these facts, will further focus the citizens’ attention on the identified issues, more consciously approach the performance of their civic duty, and will help law enforcement agencies to respond in a timely manner to any reports of domestic violence.
Of course, the identified problems of domestic violence are not exhaustive, however, it should be said that their resolution at the present stage will significantly reduce the level of illegal behavior for persons who commit offenses in the family and household sphere, will allow implementing state policy in the field of family and childhood security, and will also lead to the necessary state and legal transformations that modern Russian society really needs.
Also, when talking about domestic violence, the role of the justice system in preventing and combating violence should not be underestimated, since justice is of paramount importance not only for preventing violence, protecting citizens from violence and punishing perpetrators, but also for ensuring that victims have access to a range of remedies that allow them to recover for all violations of their rights.

VI. Conclusion
Domestic violence is a manifestation of violence or ill-treatment of one person against another one, committed in the home. Most often it manifests itself in the form of violent actions, threats, various kinds of restrictions of a spouse or partner against another spouse or partner. The same applies to domestic violence actions against other family members and other persons. Most often it is accompanied by an attempt to gain power and control over other family members.
As a rule, the subject of violence is a man, and the object is a woman, in relation to whom he is a husband or cohabitant. But because domestic violence is seen as an act that occurs in the home, it involves all family members and co-habitants of the abuser.
These include children, elderly parents, cohabitants, and other persons who live together with the abuser. All these violence objects require legal protection.
At the same time, the list studied in this section is unfairly considered exhaustive, since it is impossible to exclude the potential risk of using other methods of ill-treatment and domestic violence that hinder the full realization of rights and freedoms.
Thus, in the world practice, there is a system of criminal protection for victims of domestic violence. However, there is currently no single approach to understanding domestic violence in the world practice. In some countries, a number of monstrous customs and traditions that infringe on the rights of women, children and other family members are the norm and are part of the system of traditional customs. In general, there is no common understanding of domestic violence in the world, hence the different legal approaches are used to the protection of victims of domestic violence.
In our opinion, there is a clear division between criminally punishable forms of domestic violence and forms that are not criminal. One of the criminal offense signs is causing direct damage to the health of the violence victim. In this case, both the criminal norms of national legal systems and international legal norms are fully applied.
Other forms of domestic violence, such as restrictions on certain actions, restrictions on access to technological means, coercion or restrictions on cultural values, are also a complex problem of proving and legally qualifying domestic violence. These categories themselves are difficult to measure, and the diagnosis and determination of the offenses’ composition in such forms of domestic violence can be attributed to the norms of family culture, etiquette, and pedagogical elements of education.
It should be noted that the most popular high-profile cases of criminal protection against domestic violence today are caused by offenses against women and children. In this regard, there is a clear trend of strengthening women's rights with the increasing role of feminist movements in the world and against the background of these cases, offenses of other forms often go unnoticed. Based on the above, it is necessary to work more carefully on the methodology for identifying all types of domestic violence and actively work to improve the world-class criminal legislation against domestic violence.

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