Blair is right to join Dublin in an anti-terror crackdown

Peter Cunningham IN THE days after the Omagh bomb, Tony Blair, in consultation with the Irish government, decided on today’s recall of Parliament in order to push through sweeping anti-terrorist measures. Blair’s critics have not been slow off the mark. They accuse him of making a selective attack on terrorism, in this case Irish, and for a misguided abandonment of reliance on existing domestic law, which, they claim, is already adequate. More, Blair is accused of fitting Britain with a noose of emergency powers that will lead in jig time to a choking of civil liberties. But with his eye unwaveringly on the Irish problem as it has been since he came into power, Blair knows that by far the greater risk will be to ignore the rare opportunity which has arisen as a result of the Omagh atrocity.

These are times of rapid change in Ireland. In a political landscape notorious for its dogged lack of change, the speed of the current transformation is awe inspiring. The hope over long years by a committed few, sustained in the face of odds beyond imagination, has finally found fertile opportunity in a confluence of factors: an American President who has been persuaded to make peace in Ireland a priority of his administration, and a British Prime Minister who, uniquely, is both interested in solving the problem in Ireland once and for all, and who has the political means to do so.

Once and for all. Or, “over, done with and gone”. The words of resolute men and women, they ring with the finality of the utterly determined. Gerry Adams used just this language two days ago in drawing a line under the violence of the past, and whether or not his motivation sprang from expediency dictated by the prospect of his meeting at last with David Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionists and Northern Ireland’s first minister, or from a wish to ingratiate himself further with Bill Clinton who comes to Omagh today, or because Sinn Fein thought such a statement might head off Britain’s emergency legislation, or for all or none of these reasons - the fact remains that he said it. Add that to Sinn Fein’s unique and unequivocal condemnation of Omagh, and the speed of change in current Irish politics becomes apparent.

The problems of Northern Ireland are not solved, of course, but the dreadful events in Omagh on the afternoon of 15 August may just have tipped the scales at a crucial moment. On the following morning, I drove half the length of Ireland, listening on the car radio to seasoned reporters speak in breaking voices of the scenes of desolation all around them. I went that afternoon to Croke Park in Dublin with 50,000 others to watch Waterford play Kilkenny in a hurling match. We stood for a minute’s silence before the game. Men and women wept. The silence could have lasted 30 minutes and no one would have been the first to speak. This was the Irish heartland come to Dublin - and it was shocked and shamed and heartsick to a man.

But mood is ephemeral. Five years ago, in the wake of the Warrington bomb when, in a British newspaper, I called for Ireland to confront the ghost in its psyche and repeal those articles of its constitution repugnant to Unionists, going on a popular Irish radio programme to defend my case, my voice was in a minority of one. Callers to the programme were overwhelmingly opposed to my suggestion, despite Warrington and the deaths of children. Militant Irish republicanism is deeply entrenchedand its followers are never on the back foot for long,

But they are a tiny minority. Moderate republicanism in Ireland is a proud and honourable tradition, but where England is concerned, one which is rooted in mistrust. What has there been in the canon of history between the two countries which might persuade the Irish that England or its justice can be trusted? Not a lot. The cases of the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six were spectacular failures in the responsibility which the justice system of one sovereign country is obliged to extend to the citizens of another. Trust is slow to grow in such a hinterland.

Bertie Ahern understands this. A canny political operator, already backed by a massive 94% vote in last May’s referendum which at last jettisoned Ireland’s constitutional claims over Northern Ireland, Ahern has now seized the new mood of revulsion which has swept Ireland and has moved ruthlessly into territory which before, due to the historical lack of trust, would never have allowed him a safe passage. Ahern was the first to use the term “draconian” to describe the new legislation, also being debated in Dublin this week in tandem with that at Westminster. The Irish courts will be girded with new powers. Terrorists from now can be arrested on the word of a police officer of, or above, the rank of superintendent and brought to trial on such a basis. The courts may order the seizure of the assets of those so convicted, similar measures to those already successfully introduced in Ireland to curtail drug smuggling. Omagh, designed by the executioners of 28 people to destroy the Good Friday Agreement, has been a tactical disaster for the terrorists. Far from shaking Ahern, the taoiseach’s hand has been strengthened even more.

But for Ahern to have attempted such legislation alone would have been a nonsense. If terrorists could skip across the border to a safe haven in Northern Ireland or in England, finding a sanctuary within the very body politic they are sworn to destroy, then Ahern’s new legislation would have been toothless. And without Ahern’s measures, when the mood of Omagh eventually ebbed, the men and women, for whom no greater ideal exists than the blood sacrifice of 1916, would rise up, or crawl out, again, and the cycle of violence would be resumed.

Like Blair, Ahern is a man for his time. The time is now and it is for a final end to the misery. Over, done with and gone. The people of Ireland have spoken and although only some of them are his people, Blair believes in the integrity of the argument and is prepared to take risks for what he believes in. Recalling parliaments and giving laws both sides of the border a sound footing is another step in the new era of trust between the countries. Anything less from Britain at this moment, and Ireland, a young country with a long memory, will never reach the promised land that the overwhelming majority of her people north and south wish for.

Smack addicts

Philip Hodson Last November, a young English boy protested to the highest court in the land that his stepfather had no right to cane him. During his trial, it was noted that the beatings had been frequent and “hurt a lot, particularly when he was beaten on the legs”. He was severely bruised and had several linear scars. He was repeatedly beaten between the ages of five and eight. As expected, this week the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg found in his favour.

The problem for British parents is: what happens next? One of the most perplexed appears to be Paul Boateng, father-of-five and Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Ministry of Health. He gave an undertaking last March that the Government would adopt the European Court ruling as final. He promised that our domestic law would be brought in to line with the general trend where at least eight other European countries, including Austria and most of Scandinavia, have already outlawed the corporal punishment of children. Since July, such punishment has also been banned in British schools by the School Standards and Framework Act.

You might think that today, Mr Boateng would proudly be announcing the death by law of ALL violent parental chastisement in Britain. A recent pamphlet from Boateng’s own department had said: “It’s never OK to shake or smack a baby.” Of course, you’d be wrong. With William Hague and the Tories screaming about Euro interference, what you actually find is Mr Boateng’s department defending a parent’s right to smack to their heart’s content, just so long as they don’t use an “implement”. We are told that “smacking has a place within parental discipline and our law will not be changed to outlaw smacking”.

This is totally confusing for the rest of us, both parents and children alike. It was hoped that the ruling would mark a change in the culture of British childcare which, at present, by the Government’s own research, results in a fifth of children under 16 being hit with implements and three quarters of babies being smacked in the first year of life. What Mr Boateng has now done is the equivalent of introducing a drink-drive law which says it’s all right to drive a car so long as you’re only two- thirds tipsy. On the one hand, Mr Boateng is telling parents that you may smack as hard as you want. On the other, he’s saying that, if like the father of Dennis the Menace, you take a slipper to your son’s backside, you may be prosecuted for assault.

I understand that frustrated parents sometimes lose their rag. I’ve done it. My teachers did the same. But we know that hitting children only causes resentment and inculcates a philosophy that “might is right”. Hitting your child is only justifiable on the basis that it was a mistake in the first place and that you make amends afterwards. You try to learn from your mistakes. Yet here’s the Government giving the oxygen of approval to our worst instincts.

This is all the more serious because a concerted family values campaign already exists to promote parental violence which may become abusive. Perhaps you’re prepared to overlook the odd smacking of a 10-year-old by frustrated parents. It gets more difficult when you see the colour photographs of the bruises and broken skin. But what should the Government do about those who advocate the beating of babies?

Earlier this month, self-styled parenting gurus, Gary and Anne- Marie Ezzo, flew into Britain from California to preach their gospel of childcare. Since the mid-1990s, they claim to have “educated” more than 1.5 million parents worldwide. In America, they run a profitable business called “Growing Families International”. They present a radio show and peddle a 17-cassette audio-pack. But their special message for parents boils down to: they want you to beat your kids, even babies as young as 14 months and children up to 40 months, with a ritual rod or “implement”.

Like Jesuits, the Ezzos favour early propaganda. They believe that “hitting ‘em while still young” is the only way to instill “lifetime obedience”. Parents are even told they can expect “first-time compliance” to their orders. This means that if you command your two-year-old to stop playing in the cupboard and he says “I haven’t finished yet”, you march him upstairs for a beating.

Gary and Anne-Marie explain that smacking by hand is unsuccessful because it lacks sufficient “sting”. You have to use an “instrument”. “Don’t use a wooden spoon,” they say. “It doesn’t have enough `flex’. You need an instrument that has `flex’. The goal is to produce a high sting. The tissue must absorb the impact. Only this produces the type of pain that re-directs the child’s attention.” Then the loving personal touch: “In our household, we use a piece of vinyl leather 10-12 inches long, an inch- and-a-half wide and a quarter-inch thick. This produces a sting but doesn’t cause damage.”

Avoiding damage is a high priority for Gary and Anne-Marie. “If the instrument is too heavy, it will leave marks; if it’s too light, it will be meaningless.” In case of doubt, they say, “anything that cuts the skin is too heavy”. They make a light-hearted reference to nobody wanting the social services getting involved.

In classic cases of abuse, the violator always seeks to isolate the victim. The idea is to rule out witnesses. By an insidious parallel, this is exactly what the Ezzos do. While claiming to be protectors, they advise: “Don’t beat in front of other adults. Don’t beat in front of other children. If Gran and Grandma come over, don’t do it in front of them. Rarely do it in front of other siblings. And don’t do it on bare skin.” But what if it’s a baby? “With a toddler in a diaper you may have to pull off the diaper and hit just below the diaper line.” Or if it’s a well-covered girl? “Suppose there’s a corduroy skirt that you can’t get through, then you may have to drop that down a little bit too.”

Anne-Marie even describes her favourite method of pinning down a child (a difficult phrase in Britain after the Beck scandal) while delivering chastisement. “To keep your kids still, cross your ankles then put their little legs between your legs and that way you won’t miss. Then take their little hands and hold them out here - I’m talking one, two- and three- year-olds - then their little bottoms are right there and you won’t miss”.

You don’t have to be Freud to see that these people are seriously deluded. When they claim that beating a child for them is an “act of love”, you wonder what they mean. Self-righteous relish drips fro their spanking descriptions. In classic abuse, the truth does a headstand. Confront a paedophile and he’ll say “kids like being touched up”. How bizarre to find the Ezzo’s using a similar construction.

The dangers are clear-cut. We do not live in a society where parents are always right. We live in a society where children need to think for themselves. We need to live in a society where children are free to grow without emotional and physical abuse - not to mention the risk of being turned into adults who will probably take sexual pleasure from pain. There is research showing that spanking by parents causes anti-social behaviour in children. It’s not enough that Mr Boateng sits on the fence to defend the old brutal culture. He has an opportunity to think again and improve the culture. With the new ruling from Strasbourg, the Home Office should not only prosecute abusive parents but also deport their vile mentors.

Gov’t to submit bills on defense cooperation with U.S

TOKYO, March 13 Kyodo

The government Friday expressed its intention to submit to the Diet within three months bills to legislate domestic laws governing the updated guidelines for defense cooperation with the United States, Foreign Ministry officials said.

During a series of talks in Tokyo of the bilateral Subcommittee for Defense Cooperation and the Security Subcommittee at the bureau deputy director general-level, Japan told the U.S. that it plans to refer the measures to the Diet during the ongoing 150-day ordinary parliamentary session which runs through June 10, the ministry officials said.

The bills being considered include one that would result in a law stipulating under what situations, in undefined “areas surrounding Japan,” the country will provide U.S. forces with logistic support, the officials quoted Japanese negotiators as saying.

The guidelines, updated in September, say Japan will provide logistic support to the U.S. in the event of an emergency in the region.

The law will also specify procedures under which Japan will provide the support.

The Japanese government also envisions submitting to parliament a bill to amend the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) law so that SDF vessels can legally carry Japanese evacuees and refugees in an emergency.

Due to a tight parliamentary schedule, it is uncertain whether the government can submit all of intended bills to the Diet before it wraps up June 10.

However, senior officials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said Friday the government is aiming at submission of the bills before the “Golden Week” holidays, which extend from April 29 to May 5.

LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato and LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Taku Yamasaki made the remarks in separate meetings with Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asian and Pacific affairs, who was in Japan to discuss security issues.

Yamasaki was quoted as saying three or four bills are likely to be submitted.

During Friday’s security talks, Japan and the U.S. also vowed to cooperate in updating the June 1996 Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) during the same time period, according to government officials.

The pact currently provides for mutual logistic support of supplies and services only in peacetime.

It therefore needs to be revised or replaced with a new treaty in order to have it apply in an emergency.

Japan also pledged that it will continue efforts to obtain understanding from local residents on the planned construction of a U.S. offshore military heliport in Okinawa Prefecture, the officials said.

The U.S. side agreed to continue supporting the Japanese central government’s stance to search for ways to build a sea-based heliport off the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Schwab in the city of Nago in Japan’s southwestern island prefecture of Okinawa despite resistance from local residents.

The heliport construction has been proposed in order to relocate the helicopter operations of the Futemma Marine Corps Air Station, located in the city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.

Washington agreed in December 1996 to close the Futemma base in five to seven years on condition that the helicopter operations be relocated to another site in the prefecture

Howard attack on European powers

Michael Howard, the most senior Euro-sceptic in the Cabinet, is in conflict with the government’s law officers and some ministers over a radical new proposal which could significantly reduce the influence of the European Court of Justice in Britain. The Home Secretary, a persistent critic of the European Court, has circulated a paper to Cabinet colleagues proposing changes to the 1972 European Communities Act that would prevent courts reaching findings based on European, rather than domestic law.

Leading Article: Too many fishers on the sea

The great fish finger war of ‘95 is difficult to take seriously: shots fired, trawlers arrested, warships ordered to sea, pompous exchanges in the House of Commons, European-Canadian contacts frozen - all for the right to trawl for an obscure kind of fish among the icebergs of the North Atlantic. But this, remember, is the latest in a long line of piscine squabbles: fish geo-politics will be a recurring theme of the Nineties.

The issues in dispute 300 miles east of Newfoundland are (as always with fish politics) as slippery as a trawler’s deck. The Canadians have no right to pass domestic laws and enforce them in international waters: Tory MPs who cheered Canada may remember that Britain fought two Cod Wars in the 1970s to assert that principle. On the other hand, the vast Spanish fleet, as large as all other European Union fleets combined, is notoriously ill-disciplined. The Spanish owners’ threat yesterday to send all their deep-water vessels lumbering into the disputed zone was stupidly unhelpful. The once bountiful cod and flounder stocks of the Grand Banks have already been hoovered up (mostly by American boats). The EU should be more sensitive to Canadian anxieties about the remaining stocks of turbot (or, as stubborn European fish experts insist, Greenland Halibut).

The rights and wrongs of the wider issues are more easily grasped. We are fighting with the Canadians over turbot because stocks of the fish we prefer to eat are at desperately low levels. The combination of failed international control policies, increased boat numbers and hi-tech trawling - sonar spotting of fish shoals, powerful engines and huge lightweight nets - have scoured the seven seas of cod, haddock and tuna. According to the UN, 70 per cent of world fish stocks are endangered, the number of fishing boats in the world has doubled in the past 20 years, and the EU has 40 per cent more vessels than its stocks can sustain.

Fish respect no national limits; they must be conserved and managed internationally. Fisheries ministers from 80 nations will meet in Rome next week to discuss a voluntary code for protection of the remaining stocks. A voluntary code, if enforced by national or EU laws, would be a step forward. But a fundamental change of approach is also needed.

International fisheries policies - including the EU Common Fisheries Policy - have had some successes. But mostly they have failed. They have failed because they have been based on the principle of restricting overall catches and dividing them into national catch quotas. This is almost impossible to enforce. It has proved as effective as squeezing fish paste back into the tube. Some sort of overall catch limits are essential but they must be enforced by limiting, and licensing, the numbers of boats: in other words, by establishing quotas of fishermen, not quotas of fish.

Letter: Risky judgments

From Professor John Griffith

Sir: You report (”Ministers `not above the rule of law’ “, 27 February) the Lord Chief Justice in BBC 1’s On the Record as calling for Britain to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law. In the same programme, I warned of the great dangers of such a step, as it would deeply involve judges in the political process.

Article 2 of the Convention, for example, provides: “Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law.” Interpreting this Article, judges would be called on to decide the legality of abortion.

Lord Taylor deplored the scrutiny of the appointment of individual judges as happens in the US. But if judges are to determine such social and political questions, their views are a proper subject for examination prior to appointment.

More fundamentally, one question is consistently evaded by the proponents of incorporation. Under a Bill of Rights, Acts of Parliament may be declared unconstitutional and invalid by the courts. The democratic process is set aside in favour of the political. Does the Lord Chief Justice subscribe to that?

Yours truly,

JOHN GRIFFITH

Marlow, Buckinghamshire

27 February

Top judges support rights Bill in Lords

Stephen Ward The Government was put under renewed pressure last night to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into British law. Senior judges, including the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Taylor of Gosforth, backed a private member’s Bill in the Lords .

Britain ratified the convention, which guarantees basic rights such as free speech, access to courts and protection against any discrimination, 44 years ago, but it has only been enforced by international judges in the European Court in Strasbourg.

Although their rulings are binding on the British Government, citizens can only appeal there after all British courts have been exhausted.

If it was incorporated into domestic law, judges at lower courts could give immediate rulings on alleged breaches. If the bill passes all its hurdles in the Lords, it is likely to reach the Commons later this year.

Lord Lester QC, of Herne Hill, a Liberal Democrat, introduced the bill for a Second Reading last night. He said: “Successive governments have refused to incorporate the conventions’ rights into domestic law . . . British judges are unable to help at home because they have no parliamentary mandate to do so.”

For the Government, Baroness Blatch, Home Office Minister of State, said the Bill would strike at the heart of the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty. She said it was not for unelected judges to decide when laws should be changed.

Domestic Violence Against Women & Girls of Annie Get Your Gun!

Take a look at these stats. Maybe our youg women of marrying age shoot get lessons on how to shoot a gun for their Confimation, Graduation and/or Engagements gifts (and this from a pece loving and anti gudssssssssss:

DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
AGAINST
WOMEN AND GIRLS
 OVERVIEW
 SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM
 MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM
 CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
 CONSEQUENCES
 CALCULATING THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC
COSTS OF VIOLENCE
 STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS:
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
 COMBATING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
OBLIGATIONS OF THE STATE
INNOCENTI DIGEST
No . 6 - J u n e 2 0 0 0
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL 1
OVERVIEW 2
SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM 3
MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM 4
Physical abuse 4
Sexual abuse and rape
in intimate relationships 4
Psychological and emotional abuse 4
Femicide 6
Sexual abuse of children
and adolescents 6
Forced prostitution 6
Sex-selective abortions, female
infanticide and differential access
to food and medical care 6
Traditional and cultural practices
affecting the health and lives
of women 6
CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 7
CONSEQUENCES 8
Denial of fundamental rights 8
Human development goals
undermined 9
Health consequences 9
Impact on children 9
CALCULATING THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC
COSTS OF VIOLENCE 12
STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS:
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH 13
The family 14
Local community 15
Civil society 15
The state machinery 17
International organizations 19
LINKS 20
REFERENCES 25
Also includes
COMBATING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
OBLIGATIONS OF THE STATE
by Radhika Coomaraswamy 10

EDITORIAL
Women and children are often in great danger in the place where they should be safest:
within their families. For many, ‘home’ is where they face a regime of terror and violence
at the hands of somebody close to them – somebody they should be able to trust. Those
victimized suffer physically and psychologically. They are unable to make their own
decisions, voice their own opinions or protect themselves and their children for fear of
further repercussions. Their human rights are denied and their lives are stolen from them
by the ever-present threat of violence.
This Innocenti Digest looks specifically at domestic violence. The term ‘domestic’
includes violence by an intimate partner and by other family members, wherever this
violence takes place and in whatever form. The Digest builds on the research carried out
by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre for an earlier Digest on Children and Violence.
In recent years, there has been a greater understanding of the problem of domestic
violence, its causes and consequences, and an international consensus has developed on
the need to deal with the issue. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women adopted by the United Nations General Assembly some
20 years ago, the decade-old Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Platform
for Action adopted at the Fourth International Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995,
all reflect this consensus. But progress has been slow because attitudes are deeply
entrenched and, to some extent, because effective strategies to address domestic violence
are still being defined. As a result, women worldwide continue to suffer, with estimates
varying from 20 to 50 per cent from country to country.
This appalling toll will not be eased until families, governments, institutions and civil
society organizations address the issue directly. Women and children have a right to
State protection even within the confines of the family home. Violence against women
is perpetrated when legislation, law enforcement and judicial systems condone or do not
recognize domestic violence as a crime. One of the major challenges is to end impunity
for perpetrators. So far, only 44 countries (approximately) have adopted specific legislation
to address domestic violence.
As this Digest demonstrates, domestic violence is a health, legal, economic, educational,
developmental and, above all, a human rights issue. Much has been done to create
awareness and demonstrate that change is not only necessary, it is also possible. Now
that strategies for dealing with it are becoming clearer, there is no excuse for inaction.
Mehr Khan
Director, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre
Innocenti Digest no. 6
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
2
Main issues
Violence against women and girls continues
to be a global epidemic that kills, tortures,
and maims – physically, psychologically,
sexually and economically. It is one
of the most pervasive of human rights violations,
denying women and girls equality,
security, dignity, self-worth, and their
right to enjoy fundamental freedoms.
Violence against women is present in
every country, cutting across boundaries
of culture, class, education, income, ethnicity
and age. Even though most societies
proscribe violence against women,
the reality is that violations against
women’s human rights are often sanctioned
under the garb of cultural practices
and norms, or through misinterpretation
of religious tenets. Moreover, when the
violation takes place within the home, as
is very often the case, the abuse is effectively
condoned by the tacit silence and
the passivity displayed by the state and
the law-enforcing machinery.
The global dimensions of this violence
are alarming, as highlighted by studies on
its incidence and prevalence. No society
can claim to be free of such violence, the
only variation is in the patterns and trends
that exist in countries and regions.
Specific groups of women are more vulnerable,
including minority groups,
indigenous and migrant women, refugee
women and those in situations of armed
conflict, women in institutions and detention,
women with disabilities, female
children, and elderly women.
This Digest focuses specifically on
domestic violence – the most prevalent
yet relatively hidden and ignored form of
violence against women and girls. While
reliable statistics are hard to come by,
studies estimate that, from country to
country, between 20 and 50 per cent of
women have experienced physical violence
at the hands of an intimate partner
or family member.1
For the purpose of this Digest, the
term “domestic violence” includes violence
against women and girls by an intimate
partner, including a cohabiting partner,
and by other family members,
whether this violence occurs within or
beyond the confines of the home. While
recognizing that other forms of violence
are equally worthy of attention, this
Digest does not cover the violence inflicted
on women by strangers outside the
home – in public places such as streets,
workplaces or in custody, or in situations
of civil conflict or war. It does not look at
the issue of violence against domestic
workers, as this is perpetrated by individuals
who are not related. In other words,
the term “domestic” here refers to the
types of relationships involved rather than
the place where the violent act occurs.
The Digest attempts to set out the magnitude
and universality of domestic violence
against women and girls, and its
impact on the rights of women and children.
It emphasizes the need for coordinated
and integrated policy responses;
enhancing partnerships between stakeholders;
setting up mechanisms for monitoring
and evaluating programmes and policies;
implementing existing legislation; and
ensuring greater transparency and accountability
from governments in order to eliminate
violence against women and girls.
Women’s groups have long pushed for
OVERVIEW

Definitions and Key Concepts
There is no universally accepted definition of violence against women. Some human rights
activists prefer a broad-based definition that includes “structural violence” such as poverty,
and unequal access to health and education. Others have argued for a more limited
definition in order not to lose the actual descriptive power of the term.2 In any case, the
need to develop specific operational definitions has been acknowledged so that research
and monitoring can become more specific and have greater cross-cultural applicability.
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993)
defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is
likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including
threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public
or in private life.”3
This definition refers to the gender-based roots of violence, recognizing that “violence
against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a
subordinate position compared with men.” It broadens the definition of violence by
including both the physical and psychological harm done towards women, and it includes
acts in both private and public life. The Declaration defines violence against women as
encompassing, but not limited to, three areas: violence occurring in the family, within the
general community, and violence perpetrated or condoned by the State.
Domestic violence, as defined for this Digest, includes violence perpetrated by intimate
partners and other family members, and manifested through:
Physical abuse such as slapping, beating, arm twisting, stabbing, strangling, burning,
choking, kicking, threats with an object or weapon, and murder. It also includes traditional
practices harmful to women such as female genital mutilation and wife inheritance (the
practice of passing a widow, and her property, to her dead husband’s brother).
Sexual abuse such as coerced sex through threats, intimidation or physical force, forcing
unwanted sexual acts or forcing sex with others.
Psychological abuse which includes behaviour that is intended to intimidate and
persecute, and takes the form of threats of abandonment or abuse, confinement to the
home, surveillance, threats to take away custody of the children, destruction of objects,
isolation, verbal aggression and constant humiliation.
Economic abuse includes acts such as the denial of funds, refusal to contribute
financially, denial of food and basic needs, and controlling access to health care,
employment, etc.
Acts of omission are also included in this Digest as a form of violence against women
and girls.4 Gender bias that discriminates in terms of nutrition, education and access to
health care amounts to a violation of women’s rights. It should be noted that although the
categories above are listed separately, they are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, they often
go hand in hand.
“Violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to
domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women…”
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, General Assembly Resolution, December 1993.
such responses, and have placed women’s
rights firmly on the agenda of international
human rights through their advocacy.
The 1990s, in particular, witnessed concentrated
efforts on the part of the world
community to legitimize and mainstream
the issue. The World Conference on
Human Rights in Vienna (1993) accepted
that the rights of women and girls are “an
inalienable, integral and indivisible part of
universal human rights.” The United
Nations General Assembly, in December
1993, adopted the Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women. It
is the first international human rights
instrument to deal exclusively with violence
against women, a groundbreaking
document that became the basis for many
other parallel processes.
In 1994, the Commission on Human
Rights appointed the first UN Special
Rapporteur on Violence against Women,
entrusting her with the task of analyzing
and documenting the phenomenon, and
holding governments accountable for violations
against women. The Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing (1995)
included elimination of all forms of violence
against women as one of its twelve
strategic objectives, and listed concrete
actions to be taken by governments, the
United Nations, international and nongovernmental
organizations.
While gender-based violence is not
specifically mentioned in the 1979
Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), in 1992 the Committee overseeing
CEDAW implementation adopted
General Recommendation 19, which
states that it is a form of discrimination
that inhibits a woman’s ability to enjoy
rights and freedoms on a basis of equality
with men. It asks that governments take
this into consideration when reviewing
their laws and policies.
Under the new Optional Protocol to
CEDAW, adopted by the UN General
Assembly in October 1999, ratifying
States recognize the authority of the
Committee to receive and consider complaints
from individuals or groups within
that State’s jurisdiction. On the basis of
such complaints, the Committee can then
conduct confidential investigations and
issue urgent requests for a government to
take action to protect victims from harm,
bringing the Convention into line with
other human rights instruments such as
the Convention against Torture.
This growing momentum has compelled
a better understanding of the causes
and consequences of violence against
women, and positive steps have been
taken in some countries, including reforming
and changing laws that deal with this
issue. Some regions have developed their
own conventions on violence against
women, examples of which are the Inter-
American Convention on the Prevention,
Punishment and Eradication of Violence
against Women, and the African
Convention on Human and People’s
Rights, including its Additional Protocol
on Women’s Rights.
Main issues
3
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
The family is often equated with sanctuary
– a place where individuals seek love, safety,
security, and shelter. But the evidence
shows that it is also a place that imperils
lives, and breeds some of the most drastic
forms of violence perpetrated against
women and girls.
Violence in the domestic sphere is usually
perpetrated by males who are, or who
have been, in positions of trust and intimacy
and power – husbands, boyfriends,
fathers, fathers-in-law, stepfathers, brothers,
uncles, sons, or other relatives. Domestic
violence is in most cases violence perpetrated
by men against women. Women can also
be violent, but their actions account for a
small percentage of domestic violence.
Violence against women is often a cycle
of abuse that manifests itself in many forms
throughout their lives (see Table 1). Even
at the very beginning of her life, a girl may
be the target of sex-selective abortion or
female infanticide in cultures where sonpreference
is prevalent. During childhood,
violence against girls may include enforced
malnutrition, lack of access to medical care
and education, incest, female genital mutilation,
early marriage, and forced prostitution
or bonded labour.
Some go on to suffer throughout their
adult lives – battered, raped and even murdered
at the hands of intimate partners.
Other crimes of violence against women
include forced pregnancy, abortion or sterilization,
and harmful traditional practices
such as dowry-related violence, sati (the
burning of a widow on the funeral pyre of
her husband), and killings in the name of
honour. And in later life, widows and elder-
SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

Table 1 - Examples of Violence against Women
Throughout the Life Cycle
Phase Type of violence
Pre-birth Sex-selective abortion; effects of battering during pregnancy on birth
outcomes.
Infancy Female infanticide; physical, sexual and psychological abuse.
Girlhood Child marriage; female genital mutilation; physical, sexual and
psychological abuse; incest; child prostitution and pornography.
Adolescence and Dating and courtship violence (e.g. acid throwing and date rape)
Adulthood economically coerced sex (e.g. school girls having sex with “sugar
daddies” in return for school fees); incest; sexual abuse in the
workplace; rape; sexual harassment; forced prostitution and
pornography; trafficking in women; partner violence; marital rape;
dowry abuse and murders; partner homicide; psychological abuse;
abuse of women with disabilities; forced pregnancy.
Elderly Forced “suicide” or homicide of widows for economic reasons; sexual,
physical and psychological abuse.
(Source: “Violence Against Women”, WHO., FRH/WHD/97.
The extent, validity and reliability of the
data available are critical in determining
the magnitude of the problem and in identifying
priority areas for intervention.
Prevalence studies with samples of representative
populations are relatively new in
developing countries. Such studies were
initially conducted in industrialized countries
– the United States, Canada, and
Europe. For example, one very influential
survey conducted in Canada in 1993 under
the auspices of the Canadian government
was developed in consultation with
women’s organizations and ensured adequate
support and services for women participating
in the survey.
When designing research on violence
against women, it is important that the
research itself does not put women at risk.
The World Health Organization (WHO)
has developed specific ethical and safety
recommendations that take into account,
among other issues, the safety of respondents
and the research team, protecting
confidentiality to ensure both women’s
safety and data quality, and specialized
training of interviewers.6
Most of the data available on violence
against women are believed to be not only
conservative, but unreliable. Studies vary
in the sample size of women chosen, and
the ways in which questions have been
posed. It is difficult to compare these studies
because of inconsistency in the definition
of domestic violence and in the parameters
used, which can range from physical
abuse alone, to physical, sexual and
psychological abuse.
Debate regarding the magnitude of the
problem is also clouded by the fact that
domestic violence is a crime that is underrecorded
and under-reported. When
women file a report or seek treatment,
they may have to contend with police and
health care officials who have not been
trained to respond adequately or to keep
consistent records. On the other hand,
shame, fear of reprisal, lack of information
about legal rights, lack of confidence in,
or fear of, the legal system, and the legal
costs involved make women reluctant to
report incidents of violence.
Physical abuse
A growing body of research studies confirms
the prevalence of physical violence
in all parts of the globe, including the estimates
of 20 to 50 per cent of women from
country to country who have experienced
domestic violence7. Statistics are grim no
matter where in the world one looks. Data
from industrialized and developing countries
as well as from transitional countries
(see Table 2) provide an overview of the
global problem. The data in this table
focus only on physical assault. There are
few comparable statistics on psychological
violence, sexual abuse, and murder of
women at the hands of intimate partners
and other family members. As already
mentioned, physical violence is usually
accompanied by psychological abuse, and
in many cases by sexual assault.
Sexual abuse and rape
in intimate relationships
Sexual abuse and rape by an intimate partner
is not considered a crime in most countries,
and women in many societies do not
consider forced sex as rape if they are married
to, or cohabiting with, the perpetrator.
The assumption is that once a woman
enters into a contract of marriage, the husband
has the right to unlimited sexual
access to his wife. Surveys in many countries
reveal that approximately 10 to 15 per
cent of women report being forced to have
sex with their intimate partner.8
Some countries have begun to legislate
against marital rape. These include
Australia, Austria, Barbados, Canada,
Cyprus, Denmark, the Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Finland, France,
Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Namibia, New
Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland,
Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden,
Trinidad & Tobago, the United Kingdom
and the United States of America.
Although provision of such laws represents
considerable progress, it is often difficult
for a woman to press charges because of
the evidential rules concerning the crime.
Psychological
and emotional abuse
Because psychological violence is harder
to capture in quantitative studies, a full
picture of the deeper and more insidious
levels of violence defies quantification.
Victim-survivors report that ongoing psychological
violence – emotional torture
and living under terror – is often more
unbearable than the physical brutality,
with mental stress leading to a high incidence
of suicide and suicide attempts. A
close correlation between domestic violence
and suicide has been established
based on studies in the United States, Fiji,
Papua New Guinea, Peru, India,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Suicide is 12
times as likely to have been attempted by
a woman who has been abused than by
one who has not.9 In the United States, as
many as 35 to 40 per cent of battered
women attempt suicide.10 In Sri Lanka, the
number of suicides by girls and women
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
4
Main issues
ly women may also experience abuse.
While the impact of physical abuse
may be more ‘visible’ than psychological
scarring, repeated humiliation and insults,
forced isolation, limitations on social
mobility, constant threats of violence and
injury, and denial of economic resources
are more subtle and insidious forms of violence.
The intangible nature of psychological
abuse makes it harder to define and
report, leaving the woman in a situation
where she is often made to feel mentally
destabilized and powerless.
Jurists and human rights experts and
activists have argued that the physical, sexual
and psychological abuse, sometimes
with fatal outcomes, inflicted on women is
comparable to torture in both its nature and
severity. It can be perpetrated intentionally,
and committed for the specific purposes of
punishment, intimidation, and control of
the woman’s identity and behaviour. It takes
place in situations where a woman may
seem free to leave, but is held prisoner by
fear of further violence against herself and
her children, or by lack of resources, family,
legal or community support.5
MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM

Main issues
5
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
Table 2 - Domestic Violence against Women
Industrialized Countries
Canada
 29% of women (a nationally representative sample of 12,300 women) reported being physically assaulted by a current or former
partner since the age of 16.
Japan
 59% of 796 women surveyed in 1993 reported being physically abused by their partner.
New Zealand
 20% of 314 women surveyed reported being hit or physically abused by a male partner.
Switzerland
 20% of 1,500 women reported being physically assaulted according to a 1997 survey.
United Kingdom
 25% of women (a random sample of women from one district) had been punched or slapped by a partner or ex-partner in their lifetime.
United States
 28% of women (a nationally representative sample of women) reported at least one episode of physical violence from their partner.
Asia and the Pacific
Cambodia
 16% of women (a nationally representative sample of women) reported being physically abused by a spouse; 8% report being injured.
India
 Up to 45% of married men acknowledged physically abusing their wives, according to a 1996 survey of 6,902 men in the state of
Uttar Pradesh.
Korea
 38% of wives reported being physically abused by their spouse, based on a survey of a random sample of women.
Thailand
 20% of husbands (a representative sample of 619 husbands) acknowledged physically abusing their wives at least once in their marriage.
Middle East
Egypt
 35% of women (a nationally representative sample of women) reported being beaten by their husband at some point in their marriage.
Israel
 32% of women reported at least one episode of physical abuse by their partner and 30% report sexual coercion by their husbands in
the previous year, according to a 1997 survey of 1,826 Arab women.
Africa
Kenya
 42% of 612 women surveyed in one district reported having been beaten by a partner; of those 58% reported that they were beaten
often or sometimes.
Uganda
 41% of women reported being beaten or physically harmed by a partner; 41% of men reported beating their partner (representative
sample of women and their partners in two districts).
Zimbabwe
 32% of 966 women in one province reported physical abuse by a family or household member since the age of 16, according to a
1996 survey.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Chile
 26% of women (representative sample of women from Santiago) reported at least one episode of violence by a partner, 11%
reported at least one episode of severe violence and 15% of women reported at least one episode of less severe violence.
Colombia
 19% of 6,097 women surveyed have been physically assaulted by their partner in their lifetime.
Mexico
 30% of 650 women surveyed in Guadalajara reported at least one episode of physical violence by a partner; 13% reported physical
violence within the previous year, according to a 1997 report.
Nicaragua
 52% of women (representative sample of women in León) reported being physically abused by a partner at least once; 27% reported
physical abuse in the previous year, according to a 1996 report.
Central and Eastern Europe/CIS/Baltic States
Estonia
 29% of women aged 18-24 fear domestic violence, and the share rises with age, affecting 52% of women 65 or older, according to
a 1994 survey of 2,315 women.
Poland
 60% of divorced women surveyed in 1993 by the Centre for the Examination of Public Opinion reported having been hit at least
once by their ex-husbands; an additional 25% reported repeated violence.
Russia (St. Petersburg)
 25% of girls (and 11% of boys) reported unwanted sexual contact, according to a survey of 174 boys and 172 girls in grade 10 (aged 14-17).
Tajikistan
 23% of 550 women aged 18-40 reported physical abuse, according to a survey.
(Adapted from “Violence Against Women,” WHO, FRH/WHD/97.8, “Women in Transition,” Regional Monitoring Report, UNICEF 1999, and a study by Domestic Violence Research Centre, Japan.)
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
6
Main issues
15-24 years old is 55 times greater than
the number of deaths due to pregnancy
and childbirth.11
Femicide
Femicide – murder of women by their batterers
– is another phenomenon that
should be regarded as a separate category
when recording domestic violence. Studies
carried out in Australia, Bangladesh,
Canada, Kenya, Thailand and the United
States of America have documented the
incidence of femicide within the domestic
sphere.12 In Southern Africa, women’s
groups have begun to document the
increasing incidence of femicide, and data
on this issue are available from Botswana,
South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe.13 A comparative analysis of
spousal homicide, based on 1991 data,
concluded that Russian women are 2.5
times more likely to be murdered by their
partners than American women. However,
American women are already twice as likely
to be killed by their partners than
women in Western European countries.14
Sexual abuse of children
and adolescents
Considering the taboo in most countries
that surrounds incest or the sexual abuse of
children and adolescents within the family,
this is one of the most invisible forms of
violence. Because the crime is perpetrated
most often by a father, stepfather, grandfather,
brother, uncle, or another male relative
in a position of trust, the rights of the
child are usually sacrificed in order to protect
the name of the family and that of the
adult perpetrator. However, studies have
shown that from 40 to 60 per cent of
known sexual assaults within the family are
committed against girls aged 15 years and
younger, regardless of region or culture.15 A
recent study in the Netherlands showed
that 45 per cent of the victims of sexual violence
within the domestic sphere are under
the age of 18. Of these, girls are far more
likely to be victims of incest than boys.16
Forced prostitution
Forced prostitution or other kinds of commercial
exploitation by male partners or
parents is another form of violence against
women and children reported worldwide.
Destitute families, unable to support their
children, often hire out or sell their children,
who may then be forced into prostitution.
Very often the young girl is sent as
a domestic worker, in which case she may
be physically and sexually exploited by
her employers. For example, in West
Africa – from Senegal to Nigeria – tens of
thousands of children of destitute families
are reportedly sent to the Middle East
each year, many of them ending up as
prostitutes.17 In South Africa, child prostitution
is on the rise and has become an
increasingly organized activity. In certain
hill districts of Nepal, prostitution has
become an almost ‘traditional’ source of
income. Women and girls are tricked or
forced by their husbands and relatives
into being trafficked to India for prostitution.
In the poor rural areas of Thailand,
where poverty has given rise to the phenomenon
of debt bondage, it is believed
that it is the daughter’s duty to sacrifice
herself for the well-being of her family.
Traffickers buy the “labour” of young
women and girls in exchange for money.
The high incidence of HIV/AIDS in the
country has been attributed to this trafficking
in young girls.18 In Northern
Ghana and parts of Togo, girls are “donated”
to priests, and are forced to live as
“wives” and submit sexually to the shrine
priests in return for protection for the
family. A similar practice exists in southern
India where young women and girls
(devadasis) are “donated” to serve a temple;
and very often end up being prostituted.
Sex-selective abortions,
female infanticide
and differential access
to food and medical care
In societies where a higher value is placed
on sons, discrimination towards female
children can take extreme forms such as
sex-selective abortions and female infanticide.
In India, a recent survey reported
10,000 cases of female infanticide annually.
The figure does not take into account
the number of abortions performed to
prevent the birth of a child.19 An official
survey in China revealed that, with its
one-child policy, 12 per cent of all female
embryos were aborted or otherwise unaccounted
for.20 And in many countries the
discrimination that leads to the neglect of
girl children is the greatest cause of sickness
and death among girls between the
ages of two and five years.21 Girls in many
developing countries receive less nourishment
than boys, and they are more likely
to suffer mental or physical disability or
even die, as a result of poor nutrition. Less
access to health care also exacerbates the
much higher mortality rate among girls.
Sex-selective abortion, female infanticide,
and systematic differential access to
food and medical care have led to the
phenomenon known as the “missing millions”
of women and girls. An estimated
60 million women are simply missing
from the population statistics. In other
words there are 60 million fewer women
alive in the world than should be expected
on the basis of general demographic
trends. The phenomenon is observed primarily
in South Asia, North Africa, the
Middle East and China.22
Traditional and cultural
practices affecting
the health and lives
of women
Around the world, women and girls suffer
the harmful and life-threatening effects of
traditional and cultural practices that continue
under the guise of cultural and social
conformism and religious beliefs.
Examples include:
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): It has
been estimated that nearly 130 million
women worldwide have undergone FGM
and that approximately two million
undergo the procedure every year. FGM
Killing in the Name of Honour
The issue of killings in the name of honour began to appear on the political agenda in
Pakistan in 1999 as a result of growing pressure from NGOs, the media, activists, and
UN agencies including UNICEF. On 21 April, 2000, at a National Convention on Human
Rights and Human Dignity, General Pervez Musharraf, The Chief Executive of Pakistan
announced that such killings would be treated as murder. “The Government of Pakistan,
vigorously condemns the practice of so-called ‘honour killing’. Such actions do not find
any place in our religion or law.” The killings continue, but steps are now being taken to
address the issue.
takes place in 28 countries in Africa (both
eastern and western), in some regions in
Asia and the Middle East, and in certain
immigrant communities in North
America, Europe and Australia. It can lead
to death and infertility, and long-term
psychological trauma combined with
extreme physical suffering.
Dowry-related violence: Even though India
has legally abolished the institution of
dowry, dowry-related violence is actually
on the rise. More than 5,000 women are
killed annually by their husbands and inlaws,
who burn them in “accidental”
kitchen fires if their ongoing demands for
dowry before and after marriage are not
met. An average of five women a day are
burned, and many more cases go unreported.
Deaths by kitchen fires are also on the
rise, for example, in certain regions of
Pakistan. The Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan reports that at least four
women are burned to death daily by husbands
and family members as a result of
domestic disputes.
Acid attacks: Sulphuric acid has emerged
as a cheap and easily accessible weapon to
disfigure and sometimes kill women and
girls for reasons as varied as family feuds,
inability to meet dowry demands, and
rejection of marriage proposals. In
Bangladesh, it is estimated that there are
over 200 acid attacks each year.
Killing in the name of honour: In several
countries in the world including, but not
limited to, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan,
Lebanon, Pakistan, and Turkey, women are
killed in order to uphold the “honour” of
the family. Any reason – alleged adultery,
premarital relationships (with or without
sexual relations), rape, falling in love with
a person of whom the family disapproves –
are all reason enough for a male member
of the family to kill the woman concerned.
In 1997, more than 300 women were victims
of these so-called “honour” crimes in
just one province of Pakistan. In Jordan,
the official toll is rising and in reality the
numbers are higher because many such
murders are recorded as suicides or accidents.
Victim-survivors of attempted murders
are forced to remain in protective custody,
knowing that leaving custody would
result in death at the hands of the family.
The penal codes in Jordan that govern
crimes of honour also sanction killing by
making the penalty disproportionately
lenient, particularly if the crime is committed
by boys under 18 years of age.
Early marriages: Early marriage, with or
without the consent of the girl, constitutes
a form of violence as it undermines
the health and autonomy of millions of
young girls. The legal minimum age of
marriage is usually lower for females than
for males. In many countries, the minimum
legal age for marriage with parental
consent is considerably lower than without
it; more than 50 countries allow marriage
at 16 or below with parental consent.
23 Early marriage leads to childhood/
teenage pregnancy, and can expose
the girl to HIV/AIDS and other sexually
transmitted diseases. It is also associated
with adverse health effects for her children,
such as low birthweight.
Furthermore, it has an adverse effect on
the education and employment opportunities
of girls.
Main issues
7
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
Table 3 - Factors That Perpetuate Domestic Violence
Cultural  Gender-specific socialization
 Cultural definitions of appropriate sex roles
 Expectations of roles within relationships
 Belief in the inherent superiority of males
 Values that give men proprietary rights over women and girls
 Notion of the family as the private sphere and under male control
 Customs of marriage (bride price/dowry)
 Acceptability of violence as a means to resolve conflict
Economic  Women’s economic dependence on men
 Limited access to cash and credit
 Discriminatory laws regarding inheritance, property rights, use of
communal lands, and maintenance after divorce or widowhood
 Limited access to employment in formal and informal sectors
 Limited access to education and training for women
Legal  Lesser legal status of women either by written law and/or by practice
 Laws regarding divorce, child custody, maintenance and inheritance
 Legal definitions of rape and domestic abuse
 Low levels of legal literacy among women
 Insensitive treatment of women and girls by police and judiciary
Political  Under-representation of women in power, politics, the media and in the
legal and medical professions
 Domestic violence not taken seriously
 Notions of family being private and beyond control of the state
 Risk of challenge to status quo/religious laws
 Limited organization of women as a political force
 Limited participation of women in organized political system
(Source: Heise. 1994)
CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

There is no one single factor to account
for violence perpetrated against women.
Increasingly, research has focused on the
inter-relatedness of various factors that
should improve our understanding of the
problem within different cultural contexts.
Several complex and interconnected
institutionalized social and cultural factors
have kept women particularly vulnerable
to the violence directed at them, all of
them manifestations of historically
unequal power relations between men and
women. Factors contributing to these
unequal power relations include: socioeconomic
forces, the family institution
where power relations are enforced, fear of
and control over female sexuality, belief in
the inherent superiority of males, and legislation
and cultural sanctions that have
traditionally denied women and children
an independent legal and social status.
Lack of economic resources underpins
women’s vulnerability to violence and
their difficulty in extricating themselves
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
8
Main issues
from a violent relationship. The link
between violence and lack of economic
resources and dependence is circular. On
the one hand, the threat and fear of violence
keeps women from seeking employment,
or, at best, compels them to accept
low-paid, home-based exploitative labour.
And on the other, without economic independence,
women have no power to
escape from an abusive relationship.24
The reverse of this argument also holds
true in some countries; that is, women’s
increasing economic activity and independence
is viewed as a threat which leads to
increased male violence.25 This is particularly
true when the male partner is unemployed,
and feels his power undermined in
the household.
Studies have also linked a rise in violence
to the destabilization of economic patterns
in society. Macro-economic policies such as
structural adjustment programmes, globalization,
and the growing inequalities they
have created, have been linked to increasing
levels of violence in several regions, including
Latin America, Africa and Asia.26 The
transition period in the countries of Central
and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet
Union – with increases in poverty, unemployment,
hardship, income inequality,
stress, and alcohol abuse – has led to
increased violence in society in general,
including violence against women. These
factors also act indirectly to raise women’s
vulnerability by encouraging more risk-taking
behaviour, more alcohol and drug abuse,
the breakdown of social support networks,
and the economic dependence of women on
their partners.27
Cultural ideologies – both in industrialized
and developing countries – provide
‘legitimacy’ for violence against women in
certain circumstances. Religious and historical
traditions in the past have sanctioned
the chastising and beating of wives.
The physical punishment of wives has been
particularly sanctioned under the notion of
entitlement and ownership of women.
Male control of family wealth inevitably
places decision-making authority in male
hands, leading to male dominance and proprietary
rights over women and girls.
The concept of ownership, in turn,
legitimizes control over women’s sexuality,
which in many law codes has been
deemed essential to ensure patrilineal
inheritance. Women’s sexuality is also tied
to the concept of family honour in many
societies. Traditional norms in these societies
allow the killing of ‘errant’ daughters,
sisters and wives suspected of defiling the
honour of the family by indulging in forbidden
sex, or marrying and divorcing
without the consent of the family. By the
same logic, the honour of a rival ethnic
group or society can be defiled by acts of
sexual violence against its women.
Experiences during childhood, such as
witnessing domestic violence and experiencing
physical and sexual abuse, have
been identified as factors that put children
at risk. Violence may be learnt as a means
of resolving conflict and asserting manhood
by children who have witnessed
such patterns of conflict resolution.
Excessive consumption of alcohol and
other drugs has also been noted as a factor
in provoking aggressive and violent male
behaviour towards women and children.
A survey of domestic violence in Moscow
revealed that half the cases of physical
abuse are associated with the husband’s
excessive alcohol consumption.28
The isolation of women in their families
and communities is known to contribute
to increased violence, particularly
if those women have little access to family
or local organizations. On the other hand,
women’s participation in social networks
has been noted as a critical factor in lessening
their vulnerability to violence and in
their ability to resolve domestic violence.
These networks could be informal (family
and neighbours) or formal (community
organizations, women’s self-help groups,
or affiliated to political parties).29
Lack of legal protection, particularly
within the sanctity of the home, is a
strong factor in perpetuating violence
against women. Until recently, the public/
private distinction that has ruled most
legal systems has been a major obstacle to
women’s rights. Increasingly, however,
States are seen as responsible for protecting
the rights of women even in connection
with offences committed within the
home. In many countries violence against
women is exacerbated by legislation, law
enforcement and judicial systems that do
not recognize domestic violence as a
crime. The challenge is to end impunity
for the perpetrators as one means of preventing
future abuse.
Investigations by Human Rights
Watch have found that in cases of domestic
violence, law enforcement officials frequently
reinforce the batterers’ attempts
to control and demean their victims. Even
though several countries now have laws
that condemn domestic violence, “when
committed against a woman in an intimate
relationship, these attacks are more often
tolerated as the norm than prosecuted as
laws….In many places, those who commit
domestic violence are prosecuted less vigorously
and punished more leniently than
perpetrators of similarly violent crimes
against strangers.”30
CONSEQUENCES

Denial of
fundamental rights
Perhaps the most crucial consequence of
violence against women and girls is the
denial of fundamental human rights to
women and girls. International human
rights instruments such as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),
adopted in 1948, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW), adopted in
1979, and the Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC), adopted in 1989, affirm
the principles of fundamental rights and
freedoms of every human being. Both
CEDAW and the CRC are guided by a
broad concept of human rights that
stretches beyond civil and political rights
to the core issues of economic survival,
health, and education that affect the quality
of daily life for most women and children.
The two Conventions call for the
right to protection from gender-based
abuse and neglect.
The strength of these treaties rests on
an international consensus, and the
assumption that all practices that harm
women and girls, no matter how deeply
they are embedded in culture, must be
eradicated. Legally binding under international
law for governments that have ratified
them, these treaties oblige governments
not only to protect women from
crimes of violence, but also to investigate
violations when they occur and to bring
the perpetrators to justice.31
Human development goals
undermined
There is a growing recognition that countries
cannot reach their full potential as
long as women’s potential to participate
fully in their society is denied. Data on the
social, economic and health costs of violence
leave no doubt that violence against
women undermines progress towards
human and economic development.
Women’s participation has become key in
all social development programmes, be
they environmental, for poverty alleviation,
or for good governance. By hampering
the full involvement and participation
of women, countries are eroding the
human capital of half their populations.
True indicators of a country’s commitment
to gender equality lie in its actions to eliminate
violence against women in all its
forms and in all areas of life.
Health consequences
Domestic violence against women leads to
far-reaching physical and psychological
consequences, some with fatal outcomes
(see Table 4). While physical injury represents
only a part of the negative health
impacts on women, it is among the more
visible forms of violence. The United
States Department of Justice has reported
that 37 per cent of all women who sought
medical care in hospital emergency rooms
for violence-related injuries were injured by
a current or former spouse or partner.32
Assaults result in injuries ranging from
bruises and fractures to chronic disabilities
such as partial or total loss of hearing or
vision, and burns may lead to disfigurement.
The medical complications resulting
from FGM can range from haemorrhage
and sterility to severe psychological trauma.
Studies in many countries have shown
high levels of violence during pregnancy
resulting in risk to the health of both the
mother and the unborn foetus. In the worst
cases, all of these examples of domestic violence
can result in the death of the woman
– murdered by her current or ex-partner.
Sexual assaults and rape can lead to
unwanted pregnancies, and the dangerous
complications that follow from resorting
to illegal abortions. Girls who have been
sexually abused in their childhood are
more likely to engage in risky behaviour
such as early sexual intercourse, and are at
greater risk of unwanted and early pregnancies.
33 Women in violent situations are
less able to use contraception or negotiate
safer sex, and therefore run a high risk of
contracting sexually transmitted diseases
and HIV/AIDS.34
The impact of violence on women’s
mental health leads to severe and fatal
consequences. Battered women have a
high incidence of stress and stress-related
illnesses such as post-traumatic stress syndrome,
panic attacks, depression, sleeping
and eating disturbances, elevated blood
pressure, alcoholism, drug abuse, and low
self-esteem. For some women, fatally
depressed and demeaned by their abuser,
there seems to be no escape from a violent
relationship except suicide.
Impact on children
Children who have witnessed domestic
violence or have themselves been abused,
exhibit health and behaviour problems,
including problems with their weight,
their eating and their sleep.39 They may
have difficulty at school and find it hard
to develop close and positive friendships.
They may try to run away or even display
suicidal tendencies.
Main issues
9
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
Table 4 - Health Consequences
of Violence Against Women
NON-FATAL OUTCOMES
Physical health outcomes:
 Injury (from lacerations to fractures
and internal organs injury)
 Unwanted pregnancy
 Gynaecological problems
 STDs including HIV/AIDS
 Miscarriage
 Pelvic inflammatory disease
 Chronic pelvic pain
 Headaches
 Permanent disabilities
 Asthma
 Irritable bowel syndrome
 Self-injurious behaviours
(smoking, unprotected sex)
Mental health outcomes:
 Depression
 Fear
 Anxiety
 Low self-esteem
 Sexual dysfunction
 Eating problems
 Obsessive-compulsive disorder
 Post traumatic stress disorder
FATAL OUTCOMES
 Suicide
 Homicide
 Maternal mortality
 HIV/AIDS
(Source: “Violence against Women”, WHO
Consultation, 1996)
Domestic Violence and HIV/AIDS
Nearly 14 million women today are infected with HIV and the rate of female infection is
rising. A forthcoming study from WHO finds that the greatest risk of HIV infection for many
women comes from a regular partner, and is heightened by an unequal relationship that
makes it difficult, if not impossible, to negotiate safe sex. For these women, sex is not a
matter of choice.35
A study of women aged 18 and over in one province in Zimbabwe found that 26 per cent
of married women reported being forced to have sex when they did not want to. It is widely
acknowledged that, even when a woman is aware that her partner has other sexual partners,
or is HIV infected, she may not be in a position to insist on condom use or monogamy. Most
HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, however, advocate both methods. Many women would
feel that any attempt to discuss such measures would provoke yet more violence.36
Other studies have found that the spread of HIV/AIDS in some parts of Africa is being
exacerbated by practices that see women as the ‘property’ of men. The tradition of wife or
widow inheritance, for example, is fairly common in eastern and southern Africa. When a
woman’s husband dies, his wife and property are often inherited by his eldest brother. In
western Kenya women have been forced to marry, even when their husbands have died of
AIDS, when they themselves are infected, or when their future husband has AIDS. There are
no laws to address this practice in Kenya.37
Sexual cleansing is a more recent phenomena, resulting from, and contributing to, the
spread of HIV/AIDS. Practised within extended families in western Kenya, Zimbabwe and
parts of Ghana, it is based on the belief that a man can be cured of HIV/AIDS if he has sex
with a young girl who is a virgin. Girls as young as eight are selected to ensure their purity.38
A new approach is required that acknowledges the links between violence against
women and the spread of HIV/AIDS, and translates this into policies and programmes for
HIV prevention and care.
(continued on page 12)
Domestic violence, whether it is perpetrated
by private or state actors, constitutes a violation
of human rights. It is the duty of states
to ensure that there is no impunity for the
perpetrators of such violence. Often state
policies and inaction perpetuate or condone
such violence within the domestic sphere.
States have a double duty under international
human rights law. They are not only
required not to commit human rights violations,
but also to prevent and respond to
human rights abuses.
In the past, human rights protection was
interpreted narrowly – state inaction to prevent
and punish violations was not viewed as
a failure in its duty to protect human rights.
The concept of state responsibility has now
developed to recognize that states also have
an obligation to take preventive and punitive
steps where rights violations by private
actors occur.
International
legal standards
Three doctrines, developed by human rights
scholars and activists, have to be taken into
account when dealing with the issue of violence
against women by private actors. The
first is that states have a responsibility to
exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate
and punish international law violations
and pay just compensation.
Due diligence
In 1992, the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) adopted General
Recommendation 19, in which it confirmed
that violence against women constitutes a
violation of human rights and emphasizes
that “States may also be responsible for private
acts if they fail to act with due diligence
to prevent violations of rights or to investigate
and punish acts of violence, and for providing
compensation”.1 The Committee
made recommendations on measures states
should take to provide effective protection of
women against violence, including:
(1) effective legal measures, including penal
sanctions, civil remedies and compensatory
provisions to protect women against all
kinds of violence, including violence and
abuse in the family, sexual assault and sexual
harassment in the workplace;
(2) preventive measures, including public
information and education programmes to
change attitudes concerning the roles and
status of men and women;
(3) protective measures, including refuges,
counselling, rehabilitation action and support
services for women who are experiencing
violence or who are at risk of violence.
The United Nations Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence Against Women
also calls on States to “pursue by all appropriate
means and without delay a policy of
eliminating violence against women” and,
further to “exercise due diligence to prevent,
investigate and, in accordance with national
legislation, punish acts of violence against
women, whether those acts are perpetrated
by the State or by private persons”.2
The concept of due diligence has been
taken forward by the judgement of the Inter-
American Court of Human Rights in the
case of Velásquez Rodríguez. The Court
required the government to “take reasonable
steps to prevent human rights violations and
to use the means at its disposal to carry out
a serious investigation of violations committed
within this jurisdiction, to identify those
responsible, to impose the appropriate punishment
and to ensure the victim adequate
compensation”.3
Thus, the existence of a legal system
criminalizing and providing sanctions for
domestic assault would not in itself be sufficient;
the government would have to perform
its functions to “effectively ensure” that
incidents of family violence are actually
investigated and punished.4
Equal protection of the law
This doctrine is related to the concept of
equality and equal protection. If it can be
shown that law enforcement discriminates
against the victims in cases involving violence
against women, then the State may be
held liable for violating international human
rights standards of equality.
The Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, in Article 2, requires State parties
to “pursue by all appropriate means and
without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination
against women”, which includes
the duty to “refrain from engaging in any act
or practice of discrimination against women
and to ensure that public authorities and
institutions shall act in conformity with this
obligation” and “to take all appropriate measures,
including legislation, to modify or
abolish existing laws, regulations, customs
and practices which constitute discrimination
against women”.
Domestic violence as torture
This school of thought argues that
domestic violence is a form of torture and
should be dealt with accordingly. The argument
is that, depending on the severity and
the circumstances giving rise to state
responsibility, domestic violence can constitute
torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment under the
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, and the Convention
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
It is argued that domestic violence
involves the very four critical elements that
constitute torture: (a) it causes severe physical
and or mental pain, it is (b) intentionally
inflicted, (c) for specified purposes and (d)
with some form of official involvement,
whether active or passive.
Proponents of this argument call for
domestic violence to be understood and
treated as a form of torture and, when less
severe, ill-treatment. This argument deserves
consideration by the rapporteurs and treaty
bodies that investigate these violations,
together perhaps with appropriate NGO
experts and jurists.
Responses to combat
domestic violence
Today, many States recognize the importance
of protecting women from abuse and
punishing the perpetrators of the crimes.
One of the major questions facing law
reformers is whether to ‘criminalize’ wife
battery. There is a sense that domestic violence
is a crime between those who are
COMBATING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
OBLIGATIONS OF THE STATE
by Radhika Coomaraswamy
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women*

Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
10
Discussion site
linked by bonds of intimacy. The question
of intimacy, i.e. whether wife-battering
should be treated as an ordinary crime or
whether there should be an emphasis on
counselling and mediation, poses a major
dilemma for policy makers.
Criminalization
Advocates of the criminal justice
approach point to the symbolic power of
the law and argue that arrest, prosecution
and conviction, with punishment, is a
process that carries the clear condemnation
of society for the conduct of the abuser and
acknowledges his personal responsibility
for the activity. Research conducted by the
Minneapolis Police Department has shown
that 19 per cent of those involved in mediation
and 24 per cent of those ordered to
leave their matrimonial homes repeated the
assault, but only 10 per cent of those who
were arrested indulged in further violence.5
It is, however, critical that those involved
in policy making in this area take into
account the cultural, economic and political
realities of their countries. Any policy
which fails to acknowledge the singular
nature of these crimes and which is unaccompanied
by attempts to provide support
for the victim-survivor and help for the
abuser is doomed to fail.
Legislation
Legislation with regard to domestic violence
is a modern phenomenon. There is an
increasing belief that special laws should be
drafted, having special remedies and procedures.
The first problem that arises with
regard to legislation is to allow for prosecution
of men who beat their spouses even if
the latter, under pressure, want to withdraw
their claims. In response some countries
have instructed police and prosecutors to
proceed with cases even in situations where
women indicated that they would rather
not proceed.6 In addition, since the spouse
will be the main witness, some jurisdictions
have introduced legislation making the
woman a “compellable witness” except in
certain situations. Other countries, such as
the United States, are moving towards
advocacy support.
Quasi-criminal remedies are also being
utilized by several countries. The most
important of these are the “protection” or
“bound over” orders. These are procedures
by which a person can complain to a magistrate
or a justice that violence has taken
place and the violent party is then “bound
over” to keep the peace or be of good behaviour.
The standard of proof is lower than
with strictly criminal proceedings and this
may provide some women with appropriate
relief, with a court order obtainable on the
balance of probabilities. Breach of the order
is a criminal offence and the police may
arrest, without a warrant, a person who has
contravened a protection order.
Civil law remedies, such as an injunction
which is used to support a primary cause of
action such as divorce, nullity or judicial
separation, can also be utilized. Some jurisdictions
have enacted legislation removing
the requirement of applying for principle
relief and allowing the woman to apply for
injunctive relief independently of any other
legal action.7 Another civil remedy which is
available in certain states in the USA is an
action in tort claiming damages from the
marital partner.8
Police action
In most jurisdictions the power of the
police to enter private premises is limited.
In the context of domestic violence this can
protect the violent man at the expense of
the woman. Some legislations allow the
police to enter if requested to do so by a
person who apparently resides on the
premises or where the officer has reason to
believe that a person on the premises is
under attack or imminent attack.9 In many
cases of domestic violence, immediate
release of the offender on bail may be dangerous
for the woman and, certainly,
release without prior warning may have
serious consequences for her. A number of
Australian jurisdictions attempt to strike a
balance between the interests of the
offender and the woman by specifying conditions
designed to protect her to be
attached to the release of the offender.10
Training and community
support services
Most police, prosecutors, magistrates,
judges and doctors adhere to traditional values
that support the family as an institution
and the dominance of the male party within
it. It is therefore necessary to train law
enforcers and medical and legal professionals
who come in contact with those experiencing
violence to understand gender violence,
to appreciate the trauma of those suffering
and to take proper evidence for criminal
proceedings. Professionals in law and
medicine are often resistant to this type of
training and to learning from anyone outside
their speciality. It would therefore be
more effective to involve other professionals
in the training programme.
The nature of the crime of domestic violence
requires the intervention of the community
to assist and support victim-survivors.
Community workers should be
trained to give them information on the law
and law enforcement, available financial and
other support offered by the State, the procedures
for obtaining such assistance, etc.
Community workers can also play an important
role in identifying violence, raising
awareness about such issues and directing
survivors to the correct procedures for seeking
redress.
Any relief given to domestic violence
victims should also include counselling for
both the battered and the batterers. These
programmes can even serve as alternative
sentencing options especially in cases where
women prefer that their partners “get help”
rather than be punished. In order to be
effective, all these approaches should utilize
formal and informal methods of education
and dissemination of information.
Cooperation at all levels
Overwhelmingly, governments lack the
necessary expertise to develop and implement
policy relating to violence against
women. Therefore, a more cooperative relationship
between governments and civil
society should be built to combat violence
against women.
An integrated, multidisciplinary approach
with lawyers, psychologists, social workers,
doctors and others working together to gain
a holistic understanding of each particular
case and the needs of the individual is the
best option. Giving attention to the real-life
context of the battered woman, her hopelessness,
dependency, restricted options, and
her consequent need for empowerment,
should underpin every approach. The goal is
to work with her to develop her capacity to
decide her own future.
*The Special Rapporteur on Violence Against
Women was appointed by the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights in 1994 with a
mandate to: seek and receive information from
governments, organizations and individuals on
violence against women; recommend measures to
eliminate such violence and remedy its consequences;
and carry out field visits.
1 Committee on the Elimination of Violence
Against Women, Eleventh Session, General
Recommendation 19, Official Records of the
General Assembly, Forty-seventh Session,
Supplement No. 38 (A/47/38), Ch.1.
2 General Assembly Resolution 48/104 of 20
December 1993, Article 4.
3 Veláquez Rodríguez Case (Honduras), 4 Inter.
Am. Ct. HR, Ser. C, No.4, 1988, para 174.
4 Ibid, para 167.
5 Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment.
6 Confronting Violence: A Manual for Commonwealth
Action, Women and Development
Programme, Human Resource Development
Group, Commonwealth Secretariat, London,
June 1992.
7 Australia, Family Law Act, 1975, Sections 114,
70 C’ Hong Kong, Domestic Violence Order,
1986; Matrimonial Causes Act, 1989, section 10.
8 “Developments in the law- Legal responses to
domestic violence”,106 Harvard Law Review,
1993, p.1531.
9 Justices Act, 1959 (Tas) section 106F; Crimes
Act 1900 (NSW), section 349A.
10 Bail Act 1978 (NSW) section 37; Bail Act 1980
(Qld); Bail Act 1985 (SA) section 11.
Discussion site
11
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
12
Main issues
Witnessing and experiencing violence as
a child can also result in internalizing violence
as a form of conflict resolution. Girls
who witness their mother being abused may
*The Bank estimates count every year lost due to premature death as one disability-adjusted life year (DALY), and every year spent sick or incapacitated as a fraction of a
DALY, with the value depending on the severity of disability.
CALCULATING THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC COSTS OF VIOLENCE

be more likely to accept violence as the
norm in a marriage than those who come
from non-violent homes. While many children
from violent homes do not grow up to
be violent, those who have witnessed violence
in childhood are more likely to
become adults who engage in violent behaviour
both inside and outside the home.
Violence in the Home Undermines Child Survival
A study in León, Nicaragua reports that children of women who were physically and sexually abused by their partners were six times
more likely than other children to die before the age of five.40 Similarly, children of beaten women were more likely than other children to
be malnourished and to have had a recent episode of diarrhoea, and less likely to have received oral rehydration therapy or be
immunized (see Figure 1). The study was carefully controlled to exclude other possible factors affecting infant and child survival.
A study in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh also found that women who had been beaten were significantly more
likely than non-abused women to have had a pregnancy loss from abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth, or to have lost an infant. The study
controlled for other influences on infant
mortality such as mother’s education, age, and
parity.41 In rural Karnataka, India, a study found
that children of mothers who were beaten
received less food than other children did,
suggesting that these women could not
bargain with their husbands on their children’s
behalf.42
While the exact manner in which violence
against women affects child survival is not
known, one possible explanation is that
children of mothers who are abused are more
likely to be born underweight, and thus carry a
higher risk factor of dying in infancy or
childhood. Another explanation is that women
in abusive relationships suffer from lower selfesteem,
weaker bargaining position, less access
to food and resources, and are therefore less
able to care for their children.43
Figure 1 - Domestic Violence and Child Health, Nicaragua
Infant mortality Under-5
mortality
Diarrhoea Malnutrition % children
immunized
Mother experiencing
violence
Mother not
experiencing violence
All differences significant
at the level of p<.05;
Source: Rosales Ortiz 1999;
cited in Heise (1999).44 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Calculating the costs of violence is a strategic
intervention to make policy-makers
more aware about the importance and
effectiveness of prevention. Studies carried
out in Canada, the United States,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and
Australia calculate costs using different
parameters.45 The Canadian study, which
estimated the costs of violence against
women in the larger context of violence
both within and outside the home, concluded
that the state spends over CDN$1
billion annually on services, including
police, criminal justice system, counselling,
and training.46 For the United States,
according to one study, cost estimates
range between US$5 and US$10 billion
annually.47These studies, it should be noted,
refer only to direct service-related costs and
do not address the human costs of violence.
In 1993, the World Bank estimated
that in industrialized countries health
costs for domestic violence and rape
accounted for nearly one in five disabilityadjusted
life years* lost to women age 15
to 44.48 The health costs of domestic violence
and rape are the same in industrialized
and developing countries, but
because the overall burden of disease is
much higher in developing countries, a
smaller percentage is attributed to genderbased
victimization. In developing countries,
depending on the region, estimates
range from 5 to 16 per cent of healthy
years lost to women of reproductive age
as a result of domestic violence. 49
The Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) has recently carried out studies in six
countries in Latin America – Brazil,
Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru and
Venezuela – taking a more holistic look at
the socio-economic cost of domestic violence.
50 For analytical purposes, the IDB
has divided the costs of domestic and
social violence into four categories using
the following framework (see Table 5)51:
(i) Direct costs take into account expenditures
on psychological counselling and
medical treatment (emergency room care,
hospitalizations, care in clinics and doctors’
offices, treatment for sexually transmitted
diseases); police services including
time spent on arrests and responding to
calls; costs imposed on the criminal justice
system (prison and detention, prosecution
and court cases); housing and shelters for
women and their children; and social services
(prevention and advocacy programmes,
job training, and training for
police, doctors, the judiciary and the
media).
(ii) Non-monetary costs that do not draw
upon medical services, but in themselves
take a heavy toll on the victim-survivors
by way of increased morbidity and mortality
through homicide and suicide,
increased dependence on drugs and alcohol
and other depressive disorders. These
are the intangible costs that are comparable,
according to World Bank estimates, to
other risk factors and diseases such as
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, cancer, cardiovascular
disease, and sepsis during childbirth.
(iii) Economic multiplier effects include,
for example, decreased female labour participation
and reduced productivity at
work, and lower earnings. In the United
States, it has been reported that 30 per
cent of abused women lost their jobs as a
direct result of the abuse.52 A study in
Santiago, Chile estimates that women
who do not suffer physical violence earn
an average of US$385 per month while
women who face severe physical violence
at home earn only US$150 – in other
words, less than half the earnings of other
women.53 The study also focuses on the
macro-economic impact as a result of loss
of women’s earnings.
Another effect under this category is
the potential impact of domestic violence
on the future capacity of children to obtain
adequate employment. Apart from the loss
of human capital, there are direct costs on
the school system as children from violent
homes may perform badly and have to
repeat grades. According to an IDB study
in Nicaragua, 63 per cent of children from
families in which women are subjected to
domestic violence repeat a grade at school,
and on average drop out at age 9, compared
with age 12 for children of women
who are not victims of severe abuse.54
(iv) Social multiplier effects include the
inter-generational impact of violence on
children, erosion of social capital, reduced
quality of life and reduced participation in
democratic processes. These effects are difficult
to measure quantitatively, but their
impact is substantial in terms of a country’s
social and economic development.
It is clear that all sectors of society are
deeply affected by, and bear the consequences
of, violence against women. More
studies need to be carried out in both
developing and industrialized countries to
estimate the costs of domestic violence in
order to advocate for national policies to
eradicate this largely preventable crime.
A major knowledge gap also exists on
the cost-effectiveness of interventions for
domestic violence.55 This is an important
area of research that would provide guidance
on effective, workable and replicable
programmes, and thereby help channel
resources and energy in the right direction.
Main issues
13
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
Table 5 - The Socio-Economic Costs of Violence: a Typology
(Source: Buvinic et al, 1999)
 Medical
 Police
 Criminal justice system
 Housing
 Social services
 Increased morbidity
 Increased mortality via homicide and suicide
 Abuse of alcohol and drugs
 Depressive disorders
 Decreased labour market participation
 Reduced productivity on the job
 Lower earnings
 Increased absenteeism
 Intergenerational productivity impacts via grade
repetition and lower education attainment of children
 Decreased investment and saving
 Capital flight
 Intergenerational transmission of violence
 Reduced quality of life
 Erosion of social capital
 Reduced participation in democratic process
Direct costs: value of goods
and services used in treating
or preventing violence
Non-monetary costs:
pain and suffering
Economic multiplier effects:
macro-economic, labour
market, inter-generational
productivity impacts
Social multiplier effects:
impact on interpersonal
relations and quality of life
STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS:
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

Domestic violence is a complex problem
and there is no one strategy that will
work in all situations. To begin with, violence
may take place within very different
societal contexts, and the degree to
which it is sanctioned by a community
will naturally influence the kind of strategy
needed.
Considering the interconnections
between the factors responsible for
domestic violence – gender dynamics of
power, culture and economics – strategies
and interventions should be designed
within a comprehensive and integrated
framework. A multi-layered strategy that
addresses the structural causes of violence
against women while providing immediate
services to victim-survivors ensures
sustainability and is the only strategy that
has the potential to eliminate this scourge.
When planning strategies and interventions,
there are a variety of stakeholders
that should be borne in mind.
Partnerships with these stakeholders can
operate on several levels at once.
 At the level of the family, the
stakeholders include women, men,
adolescents and children.
 Within the local community, partnerships
have to be developed with
traditional elders, religious leaders,
community-based groups, neighbourhood
associations, men’s groups (e.g.,
village farmers’ associations), local
councils and village level bodies.
 Within civil society, the range of
partners include professional groups,
women’s and men’s groups, NGOs, the
private sector, the media, academia, and
trade unions.
 At the state level, strategies must be
designed in partnership with the criminal
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
14
Main issues
justice system (the police, judiciary and
lawyers); the health care system;
parliament and provincial legislative
bodies; and the education sector.
 At the international level, the
stakeholders include international
organizations (such as the United
Nations agencies, the World Bank, and
the regional development banks).
Domestic violence is a health, legal,
economic, educational, developmental
and human rights problem. Strategies
should be designed to operate across a
broad range of areas depending upon the
context in which they are delivered. Key
areas for intervention include:
 advocacy and awareness raising
 education for building a culture of nonviolence
 training
 resource development
 direct service provision to victimsurvivors
and perpetrators
 networking and community mobilization
 direct intervention to help victimsurvivors
rebuild their lives
 legal reform
 monitoring interventions and measures
 data collection and analysis
 early identification of ‘at risk’ families,
communities, groups, and individuals.
These areas are not mutually exclusive;
interventions may touch upon several
areas at once.
Above all, five underlying principles
should guide all strategies and interventions
attempting to address domestic violence:
 prevention
 protection
 early intervention
 rebuilding the lives of victim-survivors
 accountability
This section of the Digest attempts to
formulate a framework for coordinated
action at the policy and programme level.
An effective strategy is one that is
designed to be culture- and region-specific,
providing victim-survivors easy access
to wide-ranging services, and involving
the community and individual stakeholders
in the design of interventions. By
focusing on the stakeholders and by highlighting
responsibilities of the family, the
local community, the civil society, the
state, and international organizations, this
framework points to relevant areas of
action.
The family
WOMEN Because their life and dignity are
at stake, women have emerged as the most
significant agents of change in the struggle
against gender-based violence. While
women’s organizations have played a critical
role (see section on civil society), the
collective strength and courage of individual
women has been notable in fighting
many forms of violence. Poor and
often illiterate, these women have managed
to mobilize hundreds of other
women, raised resources, designed strategies
and forced policy-makers to revise
laws and policies. A systematic effort has
to be made to listen to the voices of grassroots
women and survivors of domestic
violence, and to incorporate solutions
they have to offer. Their perspectives will
provide valuable lessons in making programmes
and services effective and targeted
to their needs.
Women need to be empowered
through education, employment opportunities,
legal literacy, and right to inheritance.
Human rights education and information
regarding domestic violence
should be provided to them because this is
a matter of their absolute rights.
Integrated supportive services, legal intervention
and redress should be made available
in situations of domestic violence.
Assistance to help women rebuild and
recover their lives after violence should be
part of the intervention strategy, including
counselling, relocation, credit support,
and employment.
Consistent support for women must be
provided by all relevant sectors – the
criminal justice system, health, welfare,
and the private sector. Support must also
be available to women via informal networks
such as family, friends, neighbours,
and local community groups.
Community groups and government
institutions should be trained to identify
women, men, adolescent boys and girls,
and children at risk of domestic violence,
and to refer them to confidential and
accessible services. Where such services
are not available, communities must be
helped to establish local culturally appropriate
mechanisms to support women.
MEN There are a growing number of
male professionals designing and facilitating
training events on gender inequality,
including the issue of violence. Some are
working with other men to review male
behaviour and to develop new models of
masculinity (see section on civil society).
There are examples of male leadership on
gender violence in most parts of the world
and the involvement of men is critical in
changing behaviour.
Men should receive one consistent
message from all sectors and levels of
society – that those who perpetrate violence
will be held accountable. The criminal
justice system must act to reinforce
this message by taking action against perpetrators,
as well as providing rehabilitation
options for those who offend.
Services need to be developed that provide
the possibility to change violent
behaviour. These services, offered at the
local level, also need to address associated
issues of drug and alcohol problems.
Men need to challenge other men to
stop abusing women, and to change the
norms that encourage this violence. This
requires support for men to act as healthy
role models to younger men, and the raising
of boys in a non-violent climate to
respect women.
ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND BOYS Adolescent
girls need all the protection and
support that should be available to adult
women. They need clear messages about
their rights from society and the educational
system. Educational programmes
that equip girls with self-esteem and
negotiation skills, and enhance participation
of girls in leadership roles should
become part of the school curriculum.
Adolescent boys need positive role
models and clear messages from the men
in their families and society in general that
violence against women is not acceptable
and that they will be held accountable.
Like adult men, adolescent boys need
access to services to help them deal with
any violent behaviour they may have.
Support services need to address associated
behaviour patterns such as drug
and alcohol problems, or the risky sexual
behaviour in which adolescent girls and
boys may indulge as a result of being victimized
themselves.
CHILDREN need to be identified as victims
of domestic violence, and their safety
has to be ensured. This requires ensuring
the safety of their mothers and making
childcare facilities available to women in
shelters. Appropriate programmes should
be developed by the community and the
state to assist children to recover from the
violence and abuse they have suffered
and/or witnessed.
Local community
In traditional societies, families have
relied upon community-based support
mechanisms to resolve issues of conflict.
The local community therefore needs to
be mobilized to oppose domestic violence
in its midst. Actions taken by local people
may include greater surveillance of
domestic violence situations, offering support
for victim-survivors, and challenging
men to stop the violence.
Complacency needs to be replaced
with active intervention and education.
Community information and education
programmes regarding the nature and
unacceptability of domestic violence
should be developed. Such programmes
should address cultural forms of behaviour
that uphold male aggression, beating,
punishment and abuse of women as
acceptable. Traditional cultural practices,
such as FGM, that violate women’s
integrity need to be re-examined and
challenged. Culture is not static, and
newer forms of cultural norms need to be
developed that respect women and promote
their dignity and safety.
Community elders and religious leaders
have the responsibility to demonstrate
leadership in this area. For example, religious
leaders should be encouraged to reexamine
doctrines and cultural practices
that lead to the subordination of women
and violation of their rights. Local council
bodies (e.g., the ‘panchayat’ system in
India) should play a strong role in creating
a culture of non-violence, in setting up
sanctions, negotiating appropriate local
cultural responses to preventing violence,
and monitoring respect for, and implementation
of, the sanctions that are in place.
Creating awareness about the impact
of domestic violence on communities
conveys the importance of preventing
such violence against women and children.
Developing integrated responses to
domestic violence through involvement
of local community groups, community
health workers and women serves to create
sustainability and accountability,
which in itself is a significant step.
However, since adapting to change is difficult,
protection should be provided to
activists, human rights advocates and
community workers. Ultimately, human
and financial resources are key to any programme
development and delivery.
Civil society
WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS For nearly a
quarter of a century, women’s organizations
have provided leadership in boosting
the visibility of violence against
women; giving victim-survivors a voice
through tribunals and personal testimonies;
providing innovative forms of
support to victims of violence; and forcing
governments and the international community
to recognize their own failure to
protect women. From local, collective
Main issues
15
Innocenti Digest 6 – Domestic Violence
Female Genital Mutilation
As a “traditional practice prejudicial to the health of children”, governments now have
to take measures to abolish FGM in accordance with their obligations under the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 24.3).
While legislation to address FGM is important, cooperation at the community level is
essential to the process of FGM eradication. The most successful campaigns of recent
years have had their roots very firmly in the villages and communities where FGM is
traditionally practised.
One of the most striking examples of change has taken place in Senegal, where the
movement to end FGM began with the women of one village – Malicounda Bambara.
As a result of their courage, 148 communities have now publicly renounced the<