Moscow, May 2 (IANS/RIA Novosti) About a third of Russian women suffer domestic violence but put up with beatings from their partners and husbands in order not to lose them, an NGO said Wednesday.

Last year, Moscow's Anna National Centre for the Prevention of Violence launched the first free helpline in Russia for women who suffer domestic violence.

"The first problem is the number of physical domestic violence, more than 30 percent of callers faced it, and the second is family relationship problems (about 20 percent of requests). The majority of Russian women put up with violence from their husbands in order to preserve the family," the centre said in a report.

According to the results of the national free telephone hotline for women, last year women aged 30-40 years (30 percent of callers) were the most frequent victims of domestic violence. Most of the women seeking help said they are regularly beaten by their husbands, sometimes several times a month.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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