She, Ms. Gracheva and two other women are suing Russia before the European Court of Human Rights for failing to protect them.
Ms. Petrakova, who also works as a life coach, said she supported Ms. Popova, whose district is adjacent to hers. But she shrugged when asked if United Russia’s refusal to combat domestic violence could pull women away from the party. Many of its voters, she said, had lived through the turbulent 1990s and prized stability.
She planned to vote, but said there were no worthy candidates in her district.
“If I could make check mark against everyone, I would,” she said.
Most of Russia’s opposition has been jailed, exiled, or prohibited from running in this weekend’s elections. At a small meeting with potential constituents in a park on Sunday, Ms. Popova, who is facing 10 other candidates, said she was committed to participating in elections, even uncompetitive ones, for as long as possible.
And she was optimistic about polls her team had commissioned, showing very strong support for her among women aged 25 to 46.
“It means that females are uniting for the future, for changes,” she said. “This is the main victory that we can imagine during our campaign.”
Two young women in the audience said they planned to vote for her.
“Maybe women in an older generation see domestic violence as normal,” said Maria Badmayeva, who is 26. “But we in the younger generation are more progressive. We think the values that Alyona stands for are essential.”