Іncrease in the number of sentences for commitment of family violence as an indicator of increase in the level of legal culture of the society

The article highlights the issue of the increase in the number of cases of domestic violence known to law enforcement agencies. Factors affecting the increase of legal awareness of citizens and encouraging them to take decisive actions for zero tolerance to various types of violence in families are analyzed in detail. We analyzed the changes in the legislation of Ukraine, which became the driving force for the fight against domestic violence, the protection of victims and the punishment of offenders. An important step for this was the introduction of amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the addition of Article 126-1 “Domestic violence”. At the same time, an important factor in the formation of public awareness of the inadmissibility of domestic violence is the activity of public organizations, public figures, the media community, and mass media. The trend of increasing the level of legal culture of the individual in terms of zero tolerance for the actions of offenders is being followed. Society increasingly does not tolerate violence and strives for justice. It also shows that the legal culture of the individual is growing, people respect the law more and more and understand the importance of human rights. The connection is investigated, according to which increasing the level of awareness of citizens about their rights and about the possibilities of protection against violence leads to an increase in the number of appeals to the police and restoration of their rights by legal means. It has been proven that people seek help more and more often, knowing that they have support from the state. The number of sentences contained in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions for domestic violence in the period 2020–2024 is analyzed. It has been studied that the increase in the number of sentences for committing domestic violence is directly proportional to the increase in the level of legal culture of the individual and society. This fact confirms the opinion, however, that domestic violence is gradually leaving the category of latent crimes and victims are no longer ready to put up with violence in families. It was concluded that the development of legal culture in this context means that people not only know about the inadmissibility of violence, but also realize the importance of observing laws and actively participating in the fight against this problem.