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Journal of Family Violence

Open Access 25-08-2023 | Original Article

Violence in Queer Families: Symbolic Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships in Russian Law

Author: Alexander Sasha Kondakov

Published in: Journal of Family Violence

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper deals with criminal court cases of intimate partner violence in queer families (IPV) in Russia. It aims to uncover ways for these families to be recognized in law, even if only for the purposes of deciding cases of violence among LGBT + partners.

Methods

The study deploys methods of discourse analysis to uncover powers which produce the texts of court rulings. The article is based on close examination of nine cases of IPV occurred in various places across Russia. Eight cases concern bisexual and lesbian women; one case is about men in a same-sex partnership.

Results

The analysis suggests that only the most severe cases of IPV reach criminal courts in Russia (murder, manslaughter, and serious injuries). As courts deal with violence among intimate same-sex partners, they have to discuss LGBT + identities, queer sexualities, and same-sex families more broadly, as well as such forms of violence which are not criminalized but build up to the ultimate violent act (psychological and financial violence, battery).

Conclusions

Regardless of reluctance to recognize queer families in family law, same-sex relationships are already recognized in the legal discourse with the help of various categories for the purposes of processing criminal cases. However, this recognition casts queer families as subordinate and pathological, especially through the widespread invocation of traditional values rhetoric.
Footnotes
1
See more details of my method in other publications from this research project following cases which involve something queer across Russia and through seven years, 2010–2016 (Kondakov, 2021b, 2022; Kondakov and Shtorn, 2021; Shtorn, 2018); as well as analysis of newer cases up to 2020 (Katsuba, 2023).
 
2
Case identifiers include case’s official index number (which indicates the year of decision), location, and region (if the location is not region’s capital that gives it its name).
 
3
The defamation cases were processed by courts under private prosecution (hence, when law enforcement and state prosecutors involvement is minimal, while parties have to collect evidence and present it to the court themselves). This does not influence my analysis too much because I am not interested in legal matters but in language and reported observations about queer relationships in the case files. However, it is a significant detail to keep in mind when reviewing the defamation cases results.
 
4
This case file was originally anonymized to such an extent that no information on the place of the crime, date of the ruling, or index number was revealed. Judging from the ruling’s narrative, the case occurred in the time when dating apps and websites had not yet gained popularity. My cases are from 2010 to 2016, so this places it early in the period. As for the location of the crime, it appears to be a relatively big provincial city such as Kirov or Saratov, but definitely not a major capital city.
 
5
All names are fictional and created specifically for this publication to preserve anonymity of the people involved in the criminal incidents. The texts are originally published in Russian and are translated by the author paying attention to stylistic arrangements and fluctuations in the texts.
 
6
Alcohol is a very important factor of family violence among both same-sex and opposite-sex partners (Kondakov & Shtorn, 2021; Lysova & Hines, 2008).
 
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Metadata
Title
Violence in Queer Families: Symbolic Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships in Russian Law
Author
Alexander Sasha Kondakov
Publication date
25-08-2023
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Family Violence
Print ISSN: 0885-7482
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2851
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00630-7