Consideration of Criminal Cases against Bodily Integrity in the Provincial Regions of the Russian Empire in the Second Half of the 19th – Early 20th Century

The article examines the issue of domestic violence in the second half of the 19th – early 20th century on the basis of legislative acts and unpublished materials of Tobolsk, Tver, and Yaroslavl governorates. The authors described criminal cases related to assault, beatings, and torture offences selected from those stored in the regional archives of Tobolsk, Tver, Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, and Rostov as well as the Russian State Historical Archive. Criminal cases considered by volost, uyezd, magistrate’s, and district courts were analysed, which allowed the authors to understand the specifics of how those cases were solved by various regional judicial institutions. The authors described stages of the legal procedure depending on the court where cases were heard and presented an analysis of how certain articles of the Code of Penalties were applied. The main reasons for marital conflict and aggression of husbands towards their wives were identified through the perspectives of both sides (victims and defendants).
In the cases under consideration, a discrepancy was noted between the fairly strict legislation regarding this type of crime and the relatively light real consequences for the guilty party. Beatings that did not result in serious bodily harm were not considered an extraordinary occurrence in the family life and thus were not punished by current legislation. Crimes with varying degrees of severity of consequences were considered in various instances, so the most serious and life-threatening and health-threatening crimes reached district courts. Practice showed that not all cases resulted in any punishment of abusive husbands and women had to reconcile with their husbands. With the lack of intent of the guilty party and the absence of evidence of systematic beatings (for example, testimony from witnesses or neighbors) and the severity of injuries, it was practically impossible to secure serious penalties for defendants.
Fear of their husbands and respect for tradition prevented women from fully exercising their rights to protection. The position of women after the return of their husbands after serving a sentence was another serious problem.

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