Four out of five women convicted for premeditated murder in Russia had been defending themselves from domestic violence, according to machine-learning research published by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper and the Mediazona news website Monday. Critics say Russia’s 2017 decriminalization of some forms of domestic violence has eroded protections for women, while supporters defend it for allowing parents to discipline children. A recently proposed bill re-criminalizing domestic violence has been met with protests and criticism by activists claiming that it seeks to “destroy” traditional family values.

An analysis of 2,500 premeditated murder sentences handed down between 2016-2018 found that 79% of the convicted women acted in self-defense, Novaya Gazeta and Mediazona reported. Meanwhile, more than half (52%) of 1,700 women who were convicted for assault that resulted in death were found to have acted in self-defense, said the study published on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Both charges carry jail sentences of up to 15 years. Investigators have a “powerful motive” to qualify acts of self-defense as murders to meet their quotas, an unnamed veteran investigator from St. Petersburg told Mediazona. “The main thing for law enforcement agencies is that there are no acquittals,” the 20-year veteran was quoted as saying.