Measures againts child abuse may prove abusive for parents?

Recently an initiative gruop including the Duma vice-speaker Oleg Morozov has put forwad a legislative draft of sanctions for "inappropriate parenting". The lawmakers defined the concepts of parenting and childrearing in a very broad way, fitting rather a programm document than a concrete law that implies fees of 2500 roubles for "inappropriate" parenting.

If such parenting is combined with "child abuse" it may lead to 3 years in prison. "Abuse" is "cruel, neglectful or degrading treatment of children, including physical and psychological abuse". Unfortunately, there is no offcial body to provide comprehensive professional psychological expertise. Also, the lawmakers do not comment on how a caregiver's imprisonment correlates with a child's psychological well-being.

Michael Borschevsky, a well-known Russian lawyer and adoptive father, says: "Such measures will simply end in decrease of childbirths and, first of all, adoption and fostering. People don't want children to be just another occasion to be convicted".

After Boris Klin, Izvestia