"When a woman calls the police and says, ‘My husband is killing me,' they respond by saying, ‘Call us when he kills you'", says Natalya Feshenko. She works at a shelter for victims of domestic violence, and has seen more people flock to the center since a new law downgrading certain crimes was passed by the Russian Parliament earlier this year. "This is already evidence that the freedom to beat up has begun", says Feshenko. In June 2016 Russia passed a law making domestic abuse a crime punishable by up to two years in prison. These penalties were eased to 15 days in prison, or a $500 fine, for cases where abusers failed to break bones, or only abused once a year. "We think it was causing serious damage to the traditional family... We want to stay Russian", says All-Russian Parents Resistance Movement member Anna Kulchitskaya, defending the new policy. Anna Zhavnerovich, beaten unconscious by her boyfriend in 2014, found an unexpected silver lining in the new law that led to her publishing her experience. "When it’s only administrative punishment, it takes away the psychological barrier, and women will start to tell police", she says.