“Women have been emancipated since the Soviet Union, but they have never been feminists; that movement is beginning now”

In December of 2013, Anna was fighting with her boyfriend of many years. They had been discussing their relationship and where it was going and when she brought up the idea of ending the relationship- he proceeded to beat her until she was black and purple.

Though she wasn’t helped by the police, Anna escaped that situation and posted her story online. Such an uproar came from her publishing her story that she was found by lawyers that wanted to help, resulting in her ex boyfriend being prosecuted.

Anna did an interview for a Russian online news site called The Daily Afisha where she tells of all that has come from sharing her story and what she feels about what is now going on in Russia involving domestic violence.

When asked if she regrets publicly publishing her story and shaming her once boyfriend, she is quick to say that there is no regret existing in her mind. “ But I have[for] the first time in [t]his life, as though it may sound pathetic, feeling that I had done something important.”

She expresses how she never expected her story to have such an outcome. So many women sending her letters and talking to others about their experiences with domestic violence- a feat that would not have occurred if she hadn’t bravely shared her story.

In her story, she didn’t shy away from details and that includes not trying to hide the identity of her attacker. “ Despite the fact that we have repeatedly talked with him over the past three months, after the publication of the relationship, he did not leave. All pretty quickly figured out who it was.”

ven slightly identifying her attacker is a huge feet. Many women, Russia and other countries included, do not come forward because they are afraid of their attackers which is understandable. They don’t want to be attacked again, but putting the public eye on a monster is just the way to make sure they can’t escape from their wrong doings.

That’s the between the lines message gotten from Anna’s story. By the looks of the amount of woman that have come out since she shared her story, it’s safe to say others got the message too.

She mentions in the interview quite a serious fact. That is that people aren’t informed about the ever changing domestic laws as they should be.

The interviewer asked her if she could have provided documents as evidence for the domestic abuse if she was asked in court and she replied,“If they told me that it is necessary to remove a beating and come with documents in the Court, I would have gone there, but I was not informed about it. Nobody knows about this procedure, and the law on domestic violence[.]”

It’s hard enough for women to come forward, but if they aren’t informed on the laws set in place it’s harder, because they don’t know how.

It’s important to know that when Anna’s story blew up, the Domestic Violence Law was that men could get up to 20 years in jail and would have to pay a quarter of the woman’s wages. Of course it didn’t matter the law if people didn’t come forward about their experiences. Anna said a good way to get out of a bad situation was to make sure your abuser knew this fact. While the thought at the time was a good one, it’s now devastatingly no longer an answer.

Anna Zhavernovich didn’t have to share her story. It’s an incredibly terrifying thing to do, but she felt that she could help by doing it. There was no greed for revenge, though her friends offered by way of baseball bat, and she didn’t want to put herself out there to become famous. What she did was to help woman realize that they aren’t to just be stepped on.

https://medium.com/russias-war-on-domestic-violence/anna-zhavnerovich-journalist-victim-of-domestic-abuse-2753387be4e5