Tens of thousands of domestic violence incidents registered in Belarus in 2022

November 25, BPN. Belarusian authorities have registered 70,000 domestic violence incidents since the start of 2022, Kanstancin Ruc, a senior interior ministry official, has told journalists.

Some 15,000 incidents were classified as administrative offenses, while about 2,500, as criminal offenses, he added.

He noted a reduction in grave and especially grave crimes, including murders and serious injury. As of November 1, 69 murders were attributed to domestic violence, a decline by seven year on year, he said. Serious injury cases fell to 126 in the first ten months of 2022 from 156 in 2021.

Interior ministry has compiled a list of 14,000 domestic abusers.

In July 2022, authorities expanded the definition of domestic violence to include violence between ex-spouses, people who have children in common, and close relatives living apart, according to Ruc.