Directions for improving the legislative regulation of beatings in the light of countering domestic violence

The analysis of changes in the Russian criminal legislation establishing responsibility for the commission of beatings is carried out in terms of their impact on the prevention and counteraction of domestic violence. The inconsistency of the legislator in adopting these changes has been revealed, which is a consequence of the lack of consistency in the legislative regulation of countering domestic violence, insufficient use of the potential of criminological science in the legislative process. The analysis of statistical data for 2016-2022 allowed us to conclude that the latency of family and domestic crime has increased due to the decriminalization of single beatings against loved ones, as well as the artificial latency of torture (Part 1 of Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Based on the results of the analysis of the empirical base, the authors concluded that the commission of serious domestic violence is preceded by the infliction of beatings and minor harm to the victims and convicts. The suppression and prevention of beatings as a crime with double prevention is a prerequisite for an effective fight against the grave consequences of domestic violence. It is proposed to return the criminalization of single beatings against close people, expanding this concept by including other close people in addition to relatives and relatives.