MOSCOW, January 19 (RAPSI) – The State Duma Committee on development of government and legislation has recommended to pass a bill aimed to soften penalties for perpetrators of domestic violence in the second hearing, United Russia party’s website reads on Thursday.

The Committee has approved only one amendment, of technical character, and recommended to dismiss six others.

The bill was approved by the State Duma on January 11 in the first hearing. It envisages that offenders should face administrative penalty instead of a criminal probe.

In July, the State Duma voted for softening penalty for a number of offences, including battery, threat of homicide or injury, malicious evasion from payment of alimony, use of forged documents. Perpetrators of domestic violence still faced a criminal probe.

Olga Batalina, one of the bill’s authors, told journalists earlier that the initiative is aimed at removing this collision and adjusting the legislation. According to Batalina, administrative liability is a serious matter in this case and that repeated violence may induce criminal one.

About 40% of all violent crimes are committed within the family, according to official Russian government statistics. This amounts to 36,000 women being assaulted by their partners every day and 26,000 children being beaten by their parents every year.