Mamina opora: there are not enough crisis centers for women in Russia
A crisis center for women has been opened in the Republic of Tyva. This happened shortly after several high—profile cases of domestic violence in the region, although these events are not directly related, as it was reported in the summer that such a center would appear in the republic. There are more crisis centers in the country, but there are still not enough of them: not all regions have them, and those that work are usually overcrowded, public activists say. Methodological recommendations for such institutions, which have been prepared in the State Duma, will appear in the near future, but so far the situation in this area is changing slowly. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
Why is a crisis center opening in Tuva?
The crisis center for women with children "We are Together" was opened by government agencies: on the basis of the integrated center for social services for the population of the Kyzylsky district and with the support of the Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, but with grant funds (3 million rubles) from the "Centers for New Opportunities" competition.
The location of the crisis center is announced: the village of Kaa-Khem, Shchorsa str., 10, is a suburb of Kyzyl. There are five living rooms for temporary accommodation. A psychologist, lawyer and social work specialists will work with the families. The main goal of the center is to provide women and children with the necessary assistance to "help families strengthen and unlock their inner potential." Workshops, meetings, and play sessions for women and children will be held there. Women will also be able to receive temporary shelter, clothing, food, assistance in finding employment and social adaptation. It is emphasized that the woman will be safe there.
A number of media outlets noticed that the center opened two months after the high-profile tragedies that occurred in Tuva. At first, it became known that the husband had killed his 31-year-old wife in the Dzun-Khemchik district. Then a 36-year-old resident of the village of Shui Bai-Taiga district beat his roommate to death. Both men have been charged with murder. At the same time, for example, in the first case, a resident of Tuva regularly beat his wife.
However, it is known that the crisis center was going to be opened in the village of Kaa-Khem for a long time: in the summer it was reported that it was preparing to open.
What is the situation with domestic violence in the country?
There is no open data on the situation of domestic violence in the republic, but in early November the issue of increasing such cases was discussed in the government.
There is no official data on beatings and murders within the family and in Russia as a whole. However, at the beginning of 2024, an article "Administrative and legal measures to prevent offenses in the family and household sphere" appeared in the issue of the Scientific Portal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. It stated that in 2021, 448 women were killed "in the family and household sphere", 1169 were seriously injured. During the preventive inspection, 42.4 thousand facts of beatings in the family were revealed, according to statements from citizens — more than 114 thousand.
In 2022, the figures are similar: 447 women were killed, 30.6 thousand cases of beatings in the family were revealed during preventive rounds, and according to statements, more than 122 thousand. The situation in the first half of 2023 was also described as stably tense.
The Center for the Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence at the Consortium of Women's Non-Governmental Organizations independently analyzed more than 15,000 court verdicts from open sources and estimated the number of women killed in 2022 and 2023 as a result of domestic violence at 2,284, of which 93% died at the hands of their partners.
How many crisis centers are there in Russia
According to the Ministry of Labor, the number of crisis centers in Russia is growing. A year ago, the figure was 134 organizations in 57 regions, but now the data is new: a total of 205 organizations operate in 68 regions, designed for 2.5 thousand inpatient beds.
—There are 31 state crisis centers and 142 specialized inpatient departments established on the basis of state social service organizations," the ministry told Izvestia. — In addition, assistance can be obtained in 21 non-governmental centers and 11 inpatient crisis departments opened by non-profit organizations and entrepreneurs.
According to the Ministry of Labor, according to the results of the first half of 2025, about 11 thousand people received support, and in 2024 — 20 thousand people.
The Ministry emphasizes that assistance to women in crisis or difficult life situations is a regional responsibility, and it is the region that determines the scope, duration and list of such social services "based on its socio—cultural characteristics and financial capabilities."
Since 2022, the Ministry of Labor, together with the Foundation for the Support of Children in Difficult Situations, has launched a pilot project to develop multifunctional family centers, where parents are informed about all the services and support measures available in the region. Such family-owned MFCs operate in 59 regions.
Tatiana Stepanova, director of the Smolensky House for Mom, provides statistics on crisis centers of the Synodal Department for Church Service and Charity, according to which there are 86 shelters and crisis centers in Russia at Orthodox churches.
Are there enough crisis centers
"There are still regions or large cities where there are no crisis centers,— Tatiana Stepanova told Izvestia. — Meanwhile, there should be one crisis place per 10,000 people. We rely on these statistics for calculations. It was collected by foreign colleagues (these data are Council of Europe standards on assistance to victims of violence. — Izvestia).
Sofya Rusova, an employee of the legal organization Consortium of Women's NGOs, explained that currently, according to the law "On the Basics of Social Services for Citizens in the Russian Federation," domestic violence is recognized as the basis for providing social services by both state and non-governmental organizations. At the same time, the law does not consider temporary housing for victims of domestic violence to be a specialized service. Accordingly, there are no standards for the number of such shelters, the volume of services, confidentiality, security of such institutions, etc.
"In practice, there is a situation that most of the state institutions are not specialized centers for victims of violence against women," she told Izvestia.
The Commissioner for Children's Rights in Russia, Maria Lvova-Belova, also noted that there are not enough crisis centers for families with children in the country.
"It often happens that there is only one center operating in the entire region, which cannot cover the existing needs of the region," she told Izvestia. — In addition, the scope is limited by a specific specialization: for example, if it is a crisis center for underage mothers, accordingly, they no longer work with those over the age of 18. Or if it is a center for women who have been subjected to violence, then this very specificity is spelled out in the charter.
Indeed, crisis centers are not always just for those who are hiding from domestic violence. According to Tatiana Stepanova, 70% of applications to her orphanage are from orphaned mothers who have not yet received housing from the state and do not have relatives who would be willing to accept them in a difficult situation. And very often crisis centers are engaged in androgogy, that is, the pedagogy of adults, the "nurturing" of psychologically immature women.
SOS Children's Villages, which operate in four regions, accommodate not only mothers, but the whole family in crisis accommodation homes — loved ones are not separated. A father, grandmother, or grandfather can be adopted with a child if they "form the basis of the child's world." Marina Medvedeva, head of programs for the prevention of social orphanhood and family strengthening at the SOS Children's Villages charity organization, explained that crisis homes also work with situations of escape from domestic violence, but most often families who have lost their roof over their heads overnight due to a fire, the need for urgent sanitation, loss of jobs and salaries apply. and a rental apartment.
— Recently, the youngest child in one of the families had severe allergies, and the guardianship authorities urgently demanded disinfection of the entire apartment. Mom brings up three children alone. At first, we only accommodated the mother and baby, but soon realized that the older weather children and the grandmother also needed support. We reunited the whole family under one roof so that they could survive the crisis together," she told Izvestia.
Sofya Rusova noted that another problem is the uneven distribution of crisis centers. Most of them are located in large cities. In practice, there have been cases when a woman had to be placed in a shelter thousands of kilometers from her native region, she says.
And Marianna Ustinova, founder and CEO of the charity fund for victims of domestic violence, There is a Way Out, notes that public and private centers are often simply overcrowded and it becomes very difficult to find a place.
Tatiana Stepanova said that this year there were 35 people at the same time in the Smolensky Mama's House for 18 planned places. However, now there are only 11, of which six are small children.
— We had mothers from the Leningrad region, from St. Petersburg, from the Nizhny Novgorod region, from other regions of Russia and even from abroad. All these women needed temporary accommodation and came to us because they trusted us or simply did not know about the centers that exist in their regions. Another option was that they had to leave for another region, because they were being persecuted in their region," explained Tatiana Stepanova.
Sofya Rusova notes that state crisis centers sometimes require a full package of documents that a woman does not have. A local residence permit is often required. She calls non-profit projects and private initiatives more flexible in this sense.
Tatiana Stepanova notes that women often receive help for a limited amount of time: for example, exactly one month or three weeks. In fact, the crisis center is turning into a "sanatorium treatment" without fulfilling its functions.
How to change the sphere
Maria Lvova-Belova notes that crisis centers should become an integral part of the family support infrastructure and be accessible to those who are faced with a difficult life situation. And this is one of the recommendations of the All-Russian Inspection of the system of prevention of social orphanhood, which was carried out on behalf of the President of Russia.
— Legislation allows for the opening of crisis assistance offices for government and non-profit organizations based on existing institutions. However, difficulties often arise due to the fact that the premises for such centers must comply with certain sanitary and fire safety standards, and it can be difficult to find them. We will consider these issues requiring improvement of legislation within the framework of the interdepartmental working group on family assistance and prevention of social orphanhood," she said.
A year ago, Izvestia also reported that the State Duma was preparing guidelines on the activities of crisis centers, both private and public. Tatyana Butskaya, First Deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood and Childhood, told Izvestia that methodological recommendations have already been developed and the final meeting of the working group will be held next week. After that, the final document will be sent to the Ministry of Labor.
In addition, she said, a section about crisis centers has appeared on the public services portal. Using the feedback form on the service, you can find the nearest one to get temporary housing, food, psychological and legal assistance there. So far, there are only government centers, but after the adoption of methodological recommendations, NGO institutions will also appear.
— Crisis centers are needed in every region, and that is why we accept these recommendations. But to find out how many there are already, we need to understand what is considered a crisis center," said Tatiana Butskaya. — Some regions have their own understanding of the crisis center. We will work out these individual features after adopting the methodological recommendations.
Tatiana Stepanova notes that the community is also waiting for a law that will regulate the safety of women fleeing domestic violence and stalking.
— We have several women in the shelter right now who are forced to hide from persecution. And we are not able to achieve the safety of these mothers through judicial proceedings. It is very difficult for us to solve this problem at the level of a non—profit organization without government support," she said.
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