Crimes against children, including battery of minors, carry harsher penalties than similar acts against persons over 18 years of age. Parents or guardians of the victim can file a complaint with the court or police
The Russian Federation has created a system of measures that protect the rights and interests of minor citizens. If a crime is committed against a child, special attention is paid to its investigation, identification and prosecution of the perpetrators. Quite severe punitive measures are provided for beating a child, because the very fact of beating a minor is an aggravating circumstance.
Beating a minor by another minor
Battery is the impact of physical force on the health of another person, as a result of which various types of damage appear on the body: scratches, bruises, abrasions. Professional experts or traumatologists can assess the degree of damage caused to a person’s health during beatings. Conflict situations between children in schools can manifest themselves in different ways. Teenagers can show real aggression towards each other, which leads to beatings on one or both sides of the conflict.
Beating a child by his parents
Often, in response to allegations of harsh treatment of children, parents motivate their actions by the accepted method of education . And they refer to traditions accepted in the family, according to which disciplinary measures against the offender may imply physical punishment.
They consider torn hair, bruises and hematomas to be the norm. However, the law, which has become quite friendly to spanking on the street or at home, is still strict in relation to parents who regularly beat their children.
For beating a minor that causes physical pain but does not result in health problems, parents may face a fine or even restriction of freedom and mandatory community service. The fact of family relations is not significant here.
Battery is a blow inflicted intentionally that causes physical pain.
To prove the fact of beatings, a forensic expert can record:
- bruises (usually on soft tissues);
- bruises and bruises;
- superficial abrasions, wounds, hematomas.
In addition, other signs of violent acts may be considered evidence.
These may be marks from compression of limbs and other parts of the body, pinches, bite marks, torn hair. Important: violent actions against children also include tying up, restricting freedom in a cramped enclosed space, prolonged kneeling, especially on peas (there are also those who use such a barbaric method of punishment among supporters of “traditional methods of education”).
Differences between physical abuse and torture
Education using physical force cannot be considered beating. Disciplinary measures that involve striking for certain offenses are considered acceptable by some. Moreover, among the supporters of such methods there are even teachers and law enforcement officers.
It is believed that a child should clearly understand why this kind of punishment awaits him, and not live in constant fear that he will be hit, or even beaten.
The effectiveness of this method of education is highly questionable. If the law protects the physical integrity of citizens, then on what basis can it be violated in relation to the youngest Russians?
The usefulness of this method, which only convinces the child that the one who is stronger is right, also raises doubts. Paradox: a slap, a slap on the head, or a blow from a boss for a job done incorrectly will be perceived by any subordinate as, at best, an insult. But the same subordinate will consider it normal to hit his son for unfinished homework or a bad grade.
Supporters of physical punishment, no matter what family values they refer to, are simply unable to use other methods of education, and are not smart and educated enough to establish a relationship with a child without causing him pain .
The consequences of even one blow can be very disastrous.
- The child withdraws into himself and does everything to prevent his parents from finding out about his misdeeds.
- There is growing distrust in the world, the family, and the state, which is unable to protect.
- The pain inflicted on a child in a family, in a home where he considered himself safe, makes him realize his own defenselessness against brute force and begin to either learn to respond to aggression with aggression, or to lie, dodge, hide information for which he can be punished, in any way. including illegal methods.
Reasons for the start of the fight
There are situations in schools when peers mock each other in a rather rude manner, but not every such conflict leads to beatings. Each parent raises their child differently from others. There are secretive and uncommunicative children who are afraid to express their opinion or defend it. Another category of children feels that they are permissive and commits actions that can cause a conflict of interest.
Almost all teenagers know that there are certain boundaries of behavior that cannot be violated, but they do it. There is a widespread belief among underage teenagers that with the help of a fight you can solve any issue and gain additional respect from friends, classmates and girls. Today, computer games, the Internet, and films have become an integral part of almost every modern teenager. In the overwhelming majority of cases, they all promote and demonstrate to the child aggression and hatred, which they transfer into real life onto their peers.
It is for these reasons that conflicts arise between teenagers, which result in beatings. A showdown between teenagers can develop into a similar showdown between their parents.
Reasons and motives
Among the reasons why parents physically punish a child or minor are often cited family traditions of upbringing , the inability to cope with other methods of influence, and the uncontrollability of a son or daughter.
However, most often the root of the problem is the incompetence of mothers and fathers, inability to educate or unwillingness to fulfill the responsibilities of raising children. Often they take it out on children for failures at work and in their personal lives, considering them to be the culprits of all troubles.
Most often, beatings are inflicted on children under 5 years of age: the child is obviously helpless, he does not yet understand where and how to turn for help, or who to tell about the fact that he is being beaten.
Sometimes such children do not even know how to speak, or they have been told that it is shameful and forbidden to talk about such things with strangers , or minors are intimidated and are afraid of more serious punishment if they let slip about where they got the bruises.
As a rule, already at school, where children are in front of many strangers - peers, teachers, psychologists, it becomes impossible to hide the truth. Kids are already able to correctly assess the mood of their parents and the level of threat, run away, hide, and call for help.
Bruises and abrasions will certainly attract attention, and the student himself is able to talk frankly with the teacher. That is why the very facts of beatings of school-age children become known more often, but offenses and crimes against them occur less often in families.
How to determine the actual fact of a fight
Every parent whose child has been bullied by other teenagers wants to hold the abusers accountable. It must be remembered that criminal liability for beating a person begins after turning 16 years old.
Procedure for parents whose minor children have been physically abused:
- Removing beatings. The harm caused must be documented. The document received will be of decisive importance at the court hearing when considering the case.
- Visit to an educational institution. Find and personally speak with the child abuser. It is necessary to calmly and without emotions find out from him the reasons for the committed act and the circumstances of what happened.
- Meeting with the juvenile affairs inspector. Each educational institution is assigned a juvenile police officer. It is necessary to meet with him and clarify all the information that he currently has.
- Meeting with the offender's parents. If the parents of the attacker adequately perceive the situation, they will try to apologize and make amends for their child.
After the first attack, police officers try to convince the representatives or the victim himself to write a statement to the police. They try to have a conversation with each of the parties and convince them of the need for reconciliation.
Features and nuances
Any case of domestic violence is unique; it is impossible to judge the situation as a whole based on one fact that has become known. Some nuances also become important. For example, this is beating a minor of his peer.
Beaten by father
The child takes punishment from the father for granted, but what is worse is that the mother, the other person in her family, considers violence to be the norm and does not consider it necessary or is simply afraid to report the beatings. In this case, the testimony of witnesses and teachers, whose responsibilities also include protecting the child, is valuable.
Babysitter beating
It is not always possible to immediately notice the fact of beating, or even systematic beating of a child by a nanny. The baby will be afraid to say where he got the bruises; the nanny herself may intimidate him, saying that the parents will punish him in the same way for what he did.
Important! Parents are obliged to be vigilant, pay close attention to the appearance of wounds and bruises on the child’s body, and thoroughly find out where they came from. Rough treatment of a small child is simply unacceptable.
Contacting law enforcement agencies
If bodily harm to a minor is systematic, you must immediately contact the police. Every time you receive a physical injury, you must document it. These documents will be of decisive importance in sentencing. To contact law enforcement agencies, you must fill out an application that will contain the following information:
- Description of the circumstances that led to the incident.
- A list of measures that was developed and applied after the first case of beating a child was recorded.
- Documents from the emergency room or a medical examination report on the level of harm caused to the victim.
- Demands to bring the offender to justice.
The police take from three to ten days to consider a submitted application. After the expiration of the established period, law enforcement agencies must initiate a criminal case or give a substantiated response about the absence of corpus delicti in the acts described in the application.
If there is a real threat to a teenager, and the police refuse to initiate a criminal case, it is necessary to write a statement to the prosecutor's office requesting an investigation.
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Responsibility for beating children
Beating of minors under Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for various punishments, depending on the circumstances of the crime. For beating a minor, the offender faces the following penalties:
- Light damage: 3 months of arrest or a fine of no more than 40,000 rubles.
- The beatings are carried out systematically: detention in places of detention for up to three years.
- If the harm caused to health is determined to be of moderate severity, the aggressor faces up to five years in custody.
- Causing a high degree of harm to a minor child, the offender will be sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Qualifying features
In order to clearly differentiate a crime, it is important to understand that the main criterion is:
- frequency of beatings;
- harm caused to the victim.
According to the Criminal Code, there are 4 degrees of harm:
- Beatings are actions that caused physical pain, but did not result in health problems or loss of ability to work. This is a one-time offense, since systematic beating is qualified under Art. 117 of the Criminal Code – Torture.
- Minor harm to health (Article 115 of the Criminal Code) implies a slight loss of ability to work and health problems.
- Harm of moderate severity (Article 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is not life-threatening, but causes long-term damage to health and loss of ability to work by less than 1/3.
- Grave harm (Article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) – life-threatening or leading to the loss of an organ or the loss of any human organ’s functions, including permanent disfigurement.
The degree of harm is determined only after a forensic medical examination.
Speaking about beating children, it is important to take into account that one of the signs aggravating responsibility in Art. 111 and 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is causing harm to a minor or someone in a helpless state. Thus, beating a minor will be punished more severely than beating an adult.
Circumstances that increase punishment
Establishing the presence of aggravating circumstances in the commission of a crime significantly increases the punishment. If the teenager was inflicted minor bodily harm, the measure of liability will be stricter in the following circumstances:
- Hooligan behavior of the attacker.
- The beatings were inflicted due to national or racial hatred.
- When committing a crime, the attacker used a weapon or an object similar in appearance to it.
If the listed aggravating circumstances are determined, the attacker faces 180 days of arrest or imprisonment for a term of no more than two years.
If the beatings are systematic, the following circumstances will be aggravating:
- The crime was committed by two or more persons
- The attacker used torture or carried out actions that caused moral suffering to the victim
- Dislike of a person because of his race, nationality or religion.
In these cases, the punishment can be increased to seven years in prison. If, as a result of the beatings, the victim received moderate or severe bodily injuries, the court considers the following factors as aggravating circumstances:
- Long recovery time for the victim.
- The presence of permanent injuries on the victim’s body.
- The beatings were carried out with harshness or with the use of torture.
- The goal of the criminal is to transplant the internal organs of the victim.
- Hooligan motives.
The minimum punishment for persons who have committed such a crime is 10 years in a maximum security colony.
