Domestic violence is a huge problem here,

where police say 40 per cent of all violent crime

takes place within the family.

The 26-year-old was locked up in an apartment for over seven

years by a family member.

She managed to escape with the help of a friend who sneaked in

with a mobile phone.

She used it to make contact with the outside world.

The case of Margherita Gracheva shocked Russia

and turned the spotlight on the problem of domestic violence.

She refused to become a victim, and wrote a book

about her ordeal.

When she asked for a divorce, her husband

beat her and threatened her with a knife.

She went to the police, but the desk officer

complained of being swamped with paperwork,

and discouraged her from making a complaint.

The case was dropped.

A change in the law in 2017, signed off

by President Vladimir Putin, decriminalised many offences

as long as the victim didn't end up

in hospital with a broken bone or concussion.

The lack of punishment means many women live in fear.

Alena Popova is a social and political activist.

She is part of a group of women who

are campaigning for Russia's first domestic violence bill.

Her Change.org petition has now collected

over 900,000 signatures.

She is fighting for free legal and psychological assistance,

protection of victims through restraining orders,

and she wants a clear definition of what

constitutes domestic violence.

Opponents of the bill include politicians and the church.

They believe it interferes in the family unit,

subverts traditional norms, and imports western thinking.

The Orthodox Church has become increasingly powerful in Russia

since the collapse of the Soviet Union

in 1991, with an ever strengthening alliance

between orthodoxy and the Putin regime.

Nikolay Valuev is an MP for the ruling party, United Russia.

Pushing for change comes at a cost.

Alena says her car has been vandalised.

She constantly receives threats.

But it's a cause worth fighting for.

Even if the law passes, it's likely to be watered down.

And with Putin's plan to rewrite the constitution,

the deadline could be pushed back,

leaving more victims without protection.