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Russians opposed to the decriminalisation of domestic violence say they have not given up hope of bringing in a new law to protect women.
But they are up against changing cultural norms that are seeing Russia become increasingly conservative.
President Vladimir Putin signed the law in early February, softening the penalties if the victim suffered no serious harm and it was not a repeat offence.
It was a move praised by ultra conservative MPs like Vitaly Milonov.
"If you want to kill someone for beating his wife or her husband it's not the way to solve the problem," he said.
There was no death penalty attached to battery offences but violence against a family member that did not cause serious physical injury could be punishable by up to two years in jail.
Mr Milonov said that was unacceptable.
"So how do you think this family can be restored after putting someone for two years into the prison for not harmful, for not hard beating?" he said.
The ultra-Orthodox member of Mr Putin's United Russia Party is also a well-known campaigner against homosexuals.
"Family can only be heterosexual," he said, speaking at the Duma (parliament) in Moscow.
"All other versions with animals, vacuum cleaners or same sex, it cannot be called family."
'There is general disappointment in liberalism'
The director of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrey Kortunov, said Russia was definitely becoming more conservative.
"The prevailing moods are more conservative than they used to be," he said.
"There is general disappointment in liberalism. The country is more nationalistic."
But Mr Kortunov said the messages coming from Russians were mixed.
"The most recent opinion polls show 70 per cent of Russians want better cooperation with the West. But they believe the West doesn't treat them fairly," he said
The latest step in this conservatism — the decriminalisation of domestic violence — attracted widespread condemnation.
Activists say they are already seeing an increase in the number of women being attacked because men had been sent a signal that the offence was no longer being treated seriously.
After several attempts to get a permit to protest against the law, dozens of people, mostly women, rallied on a snowy Sunday afternoon in a Moscow park.
The crowd was smaller than expected and some blamed it on the fact the law had already been signed by Mr Putin by the time they were allowed to legally gather.
Natasha Shargatova, a 24-year-old Muscovite, said people closed their eyes to the crime.
"They think if it does happen, it happens in far away villages where there's nothing to do but drink. That's where Muscovites think domestic violence is," she said.
"But that's just not true because it happens here too, but I guess people are just too ashamed to think about it."
According to official figures, up to 14,000 women die every year in Russia and thousands more are injured.
There are very few shelters to help them.
The director of one shelter in a rural area outside of Moscow said she was overwhelmed with requests. The shelter has 12 beds and little support.
"Every year we get about 200 calls, some days four or five calls, and almost two thirds of them ask to stay with us," Alyona Sadikova said.
'People don't want the protests'
But the issue has not sparked great debate amongst Mr Putin's biggest supporters.
Young Russians, who are members of a youth movement called Project Set, say they are proud of the direction their leader is taking the country.
"I wouldn't say it's getting more patriarchal but it's more conservative," Tatiana Rybakova said.
Project Set was established in 2013 and members are free to use the space and resources to use their artistic skills, creating videos, painting, designing clothes.
But all of their work is in support of Mr Putin and many of their paintings are of him.
A friend of Tatiana's, Stepan Shatrov, said he remembers the town where he grew up.
Before Mr Putin came to power it was "all broken, no asphalt, everything from Soviet times was rusting and collapsing and there was no money to maintain it".
"Now I live in Moscow, you'd think twice about throwing a candy paper on the streets," he said.
"As for people, I think they became more open and the life became calmer and easier because we recovered our country.
"Now you can see unity more or less. People don't want the protests and everything that follows."
To outsiders Russia appears to be a resurgent nation — more confident than it has been in years, striding aggressively back onto the global stage.
And while there are internal rumblings and dissent over changes such as the domestic violence laws, there is a clearly defined shift going on as Russia becomes more conservative.
Mr Putin is expected to seek re-election next year and continue shifting his country in that direction.